LightWorks Design has released LightWorks 8.0, a major upgrade of its 3D graphics rendering software. Pricing and upgrade information is provided by request if you contact the company.
LightWorks 8.0, now in its 20th year of development, provides a broad range of 3D graphics rendering techniques together in one package, including radiosity, global illumination, ambient occlusion, final gather and ray tracing.
The new release supports progressive rendering, which provides immediate feedback of the final image with a fast preview of lighting and materials in the scene. It provides users with a way to get their desired image with less iteration.
A new “View through Walls” feature has been implemented which lets users have complete views of an interior without removing an entire wall from the scene, which would affect light flow. Essentially, it lets you view through the wall instead of without the wall. You tag relevant geometry in the scene. It also supports dynamic tagging, so the room can be rotated.
Tone mapping has been optimized and features a new white balance shader which gives a more true representation of colors. New complex reflectance shaders have been added which create a wider range of more realistic effects.