Version: 8.2.2
Build Date: 2024.0701
Released: 16 July 2024
Requirements:
Windows: 10, 11
Mac OS: 11.4 (Big Sur) or later
Linux: Centos 7.9 and compatible distributions
Plug-in Connection Requirements:
3ds Max - 2025 - Plug-in build 2024.0404 Release Notes
3ds Max - 2022, 2023, 2024 - Plug-in build 2024.0325 Release Notes
Blender - 3.6.12 LTS and higher (inc Apple Silicon support) - Plug-in build 2024.0718 (updated) Release Notes
Cinema 4D - 26, 2023, 2024 (inc Apple Silicon support) - Plug-in build 2024.0222 Release Notes
DeltaGen - 2019x and higher, Stage 2019x and higher - Plug-in build 2023.0327 Release Notes
Houdini - 19.0, 19.5, 20 (with Python 2.7, 3.7 & 3.9) (inc Apple Silicon support 19.5+) - Plug-in build 2023.1115 Release Notes
LightWave 3D - 2018, 2019, 2020 - Plug-in build 2022.0513
Maya - 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 - Plug-in build 2024.0327 Release Notes
MODO - 15, 16, 17 (Windows and OSX) - Plug-in build 2024.0318 Release Notes
Octane Standalone: 2021.1, 2022.1, 2022.1.1, 2023.1 (Windows only) , Plug-in build 2023.1115 Release Notes
Omniverse - Create 2023.2.2 and higher (now called USD Composer) (Windows only) - Plug-in build 2024.0403 Release Notes
Rhino 6, 7, 8 (Windows only) - Plug-in build 2024.0307 Release Notes
Unreal Engine - 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 - Plug-in build 2024.0603 (updated) Release Notes
Maxwell Studio - 5 (Windows only) - No additional plug-in installation required
Patchwork 3D 2023 - Windows - No additional plug-in installation required
SOLIDWORKS Visualize - 2017 and higher (Windows) - No additional plug-in installation required
VRED - 2020.1 and higher (Windows only) - No additional plug-in installation required
What's New?
15 August 2024 - Unreal Plug-in Update (Build 2024.0807)
Bug fixes related to how final rendered HDR content is stored and named in Unreal.
25 July 2024 - Blender Plug-in Updated to function correctly with Blender 4.2 (Build 2024.0718)
Updated to work with Eevee Next.
New Workflow with Blender (New Minimum version supported) - (Build 2024.0701)
The Blender viewport now streams into the HDR Light Studio interface. This is a superior workflow and means there is no longer a need to export the Blender scene into HDR Light Studio for LightPainting.
The new workflow works with Blender 3.6.12 and higher. See the new workflow here.
Area Light - Texture Scale
The new Texture Scale setting in the Light Properties panel allows the resolution for each Area Light to be scaled. If you are using HDR Light Studio with Unreal, for example, you may be concerned about the amount of memory being used by the area light textures. This new setting would allow a low resolution to be set in the production render settings for area light textures. That low resolution would be suitable for soft lighting effects where lights don't contain much detail. However, if there was an area light with visual details you wanted to preserve, the Texture Scale setting could then be increased for just that single light using Texture Scale.
Performance Improvements to Render View
In Blender and Unreal, LightPainting on the streamed render coming into HDR Light Studio is faster and smoother.
Smart Dolly Scalar (Preferences)
A larger range of scene scales can be dealt with - new range from 0.0001 to 10,000.
Bug Fixes
Blender - Fixed a bug where Blender can hang for some time when HDR Light Studio is stopped.
Blender/Octane - Add support for alpha on area lights.
Blender/RenderMan - Spread setting on area lights now controls Emission Focus.
Blender/Eevee - Blender Area Light emission brightness fixed.
Blender - Updated and improved shader networks for Area Lights - Mesh Emitter and Blender Area Light method colors should match now.
Blender - Area Lights are now named to match HDR Light Studio names.
Blender - Fixed bugs arising from running Blender in non-English language. For example, this affected shader parameter namings used in our code that would break when the language was changed.
Unreal - Fixed an issue where area light textures we clamped with incorrect LDR compression settings.
Notes
Blender/Octane - Camera Visibility setting not working. We are looking at how to fix this.
Blender/RenderMan XPU in our testing has been prone to crashes - it is unclear if this generally or when used with HDR Light Studio only. RenderMan RIS has been very stable.
