HDR Light Studio 8 released

Lightmap, the UK-based real-time lighting software developer, has unveiled a major update to its flagship software, HDR Light Studio 8, bringing an innovative new Scrim Light type to the product. Scrim Lights offer a range of benefits for product visualisation and 3D rendering, mimicking real-world studio lighting set-ups to create subtle and beautiful effects that would be challenging to recreate with standard digital techniques. The new feature allows artists to change the illumination of a model by moving the light source nearer to, or further away from, the scrim itself.

Photographers use scrim lighting set-ups to direct a light onto an object being photographed by shining it through a sheet of translucent material. The Scrim Light in HDR Light Studio 8 recreates this approach in 3D, giving artists the opportunity to create fully controllable lighting effects that wouldn’t be achievable with a standard soft box. The new feature is particularly beneficial for those with a commercial photography background.

HDR Light Studio’s LightPaint system, which lets users position highlights on a 3D model by clicking on its surface, now also works with Scrim Lights. Repositioning a highlight automatically moves the Scrim Light within the scene, removing the need for manual adjustments.

In addition to the Scrim Light, HDR Light Studio 8 includes an enhanced LightPaint system, new Polygon content type that mimics a wider range of real-world light shapes, standard keyboard shortcuts to speed up workflow, the ability to copy and paste lights within Light Looks, or between Light Looks or Projects, and a new Reverse Ramp button in the ramp editing panel that flips ramps horizontally.

Existing customers with active one-year licenses or maintained perpetual licenses can access HDR Light Studio 8 and updated live link plug-ins for DCC and CAD applications immediately. Pricing details are available on the Lightmap website for new users.