Version: Tungsten (Drop 4)
Build Date: 2020.0326
Requirements:
Windows: 7, 8, 8.1, 10
Mac OS: 10.12.0 (Sierra) or later
Linux: Certified against: Scientific Linux 7.2
Compatible with: Centos 7, Fedora 19+ (not 27 though), Ubuntu 13.10+, Mint 16+, Debian 8+, OpenSUSE 13.2+
Connection Requirements:
3ds Max - 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 - Plug-in build 2020.0305 (updated)
Cinema 4D - 19, 20, 21, (Requires R21.1 (build 21.115) and higher), 22 - Plug-in build 2019.1212 (updated)
DeltaGen - 2017, 2018, 2019 (and the x-builds), 2020 (and the x-builds) - Plug-in build 2019.0115
Houdini - 17, 17.5, 18 - Plug-in build 2020.0218 (updated)
Maya - 2018, 2019, 2020 - Plug-in build 2020.0302 (updated)
MODO - 11, 12, 13, 14 (Windows and OSX) - Plug-in build 2019.0710
LightWave 3D - 2018, 2019, 2020 - Plug-in build 2019.0123
Rhino 5 - Plug-in build 2018.0206
Rhino 6 - Plug-in build 2019.0624
Octane Standalone: 2018, 2019, 2020 (Windows only) , Plug-in build 2019.1211 (updated)
VRED - 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2020.1 (Windows only) - No additional plug-in installation required.
Maxwell Studio - 4 (Windows only) - No additional plug-in installation required
SOLIDWORKS Visualize - 2017 and above (Windows) - No additional plug-in installation required.
Update 14th May
Support added for Cinema 4D 22 and LightWave 2020
Updated build for release version of Octane Standalone 2020
Update 16th April
Support added for 3ds Max 2021 and DeltaGen 2020x
WHAT'S NEW?
PRESET SYSTEM ENHANCEMENTS
Manage User Presets
HDR Light Studio users have been able to save their own 'User Presets' since the Carbon Drop 3 release. However there has been no method for managing these until now.
Tungsten Drop 4 introduces a new User Preset Management panel that is opened using Edit > Manage User Presets.
In this panel the user can Edit the Description and Tags for a user Preset, and also Delete user presets. Find out more details here
Favorite Presets
A user can right click on a Preset and select 'Add to Favorites' or 'Remove From Favorites'. You can then filter to view only your favorite presets using the heart button. This saves a lot of time hunting through lists of lights when you know the ones you like to use often. Find out more details here
Replace all lights with a Rig Preset
Right click on a rig preset and select - Replace Lights with Rig, to delete all current lights and add the rig lights. A much faster way to audition different lighting rigs.
Find out more about Preset Rigs here
Hover on a Preset for a larger Preview
You can now hover over a Preset Thumbnail and a larger preview will appear that includes additional useful information about the preset. For example, pixel resolution on images, mapping used on lights etc.
Images are also shown at the correct aspect ratio also on Preset thumbnails.
Improved workflows with Content and Element Presets
You can now create new 3D or Background Lights directly from all 'Content' and some 'Element' presets.
For example - drag and drop lots of HDRI maps onto the Presets panel to batch create Element: Image presets.
You can then drag and drop those HDRI maps onto the Render View directly to make a new Background Light.
Previously you would need to make the background light first, then drag and drop the image onto the light properties panel. The new method is much faster.
Alternatively, drag and drop lots of light source images onto the Presets panel to batch create Element: Image presets.
Now you can drag and drop those light images onto the Render and a 3D light will be created where you dropped it using LightPaint.
Previously you would need to make the 3D light first and position it on your model, then drag and drop the light image onto the light properties panel. The new method is much faster.
See the updated documentation for Presets here
Area Light Toggle
New Keyboard Shortcut to toggle Area Light checkbox on 3D lights. CTRL + SPACE BAR (Fn + CMD + SPACE BAR on MacOS)
A big time saver!
Compatibility:
Support added for Maya 2020, supporting: Redshift, V-Ray, Octane, RenderMan and Arnold
Tested against: Redshift 2.6.51, V-Ray 4.30.001, Octane 2019.1.5 - 15.14, RenderMan 23.1, Arnold 4.0.1
Support added for MODO 14 (there is an area light bug, see release notes)
Support added for Redshift 3 in Cinema 4D
HDR Light Studio Changes:
Reflection Fresnel settings have been simplified for HDR Light Studio's Render View. Fresnel setting is now set using only an IOR setting. Removing the none physical approaches of 'None' and 'Custom'.
Image Saturation and Gamma 'up and down' arrow button increments were too big and have been reduced to steps of 0.1. (Customer request)
Render Progress Bar now orange - easier to notice when a render has completed. (Customer request)
Render View and Canvas tool settings are no longer stored within project files. This caused confusion when a scene loaded and the tools changed.
Color Profile (LUT) dropdowns can now accommodate wider LUT names. These were truncated and with ACES LUTS this made them hard to correctly identify and select.
Enhancements:
Save Render View Images - This Project menu item has been updated to save out all Render Views as EXR files, both the internal and external rendered image when available.
Saving Render View Images during Production Render - Has been updated to save out all Render Views as PNG files with LUT baked into image.
HDR Light Studio 'Project files' are about 8 times smaller in file size in this release than previous versions. We now only save the active settings on each light in the project. Performance may be improved when used via a connection as a result.
The updated about box contains more information and a 'Copy Details to Clipboard' feature, which can provide our support team with useful information about your installation for trouble shooting.
Bug Fixes:
784: HDRLS: Fixed visible join seam over horizontal image boundary on flat mapped HDRI map.
713,800,801: 3ds Max: Crash bug when starting HDR Light Studio with 3ds Max, due to certain interface layouts.
709: Cinema 4D: Remove the AVX compiler flags from libs and plug-in.
645: HDRLS: Light Control rotation button is now correctly disabled when Advanced Rotations are being used.
627: 3ds Max / Octane: Alpha not showing properly on Area Lights with Octane 2019.
697: HDRLS: Crash bug fixed when right clicking on a Content Preset, choosing 'Apply Content to Selected Light' when no Light is selected.
704: Maya / Octane: Area Light Alpha not appearing correctly.
714: HDRLS: Crash Bug, Duplicate Presets would cause a crash at start-up - this is now handled.
583: HDRLS: Crash Bug, A Production Render with saving the Render View option enabled. This is fixed and also an enhancement added to save all render views as PNG files with LUT applied.
723: HDRLS: Preset Thumbnails were not updating with LUT changes for that panel.
763: HDRLS: Composite Presets Broke Between T2 and T3 with black thumbnail.
