EIAS800

Read me file for EIAS 8.0.0 July 15, 2010 There are new project tutorials and a large number of video tutorials on the EIAS3D web site that illustrate all of the new features in EIAS 8.0. NOTE: The background options (map, sky, ground, etc) that were in the World Info window have been moved to the Camera Info window. Therefore, each rendering camera can have its own set of background parameters. EIAS 8 New Features: 1. LIGHT PACK 1.1 Fast soft shadows The soft shadow system has been completely rewritten. Fast soft shadows can be enabled for all types of lights. This new method utilizes GI engine to sample soft shadows and it is several times faster than before. The old optimization ("Optimize shadow generation") has been rewritten to have more controls. 1.2 Area lights Area lights are a fundamental requirement for most indoor and room scenes. EIAS 8 includes them as a built-in light type. Area lights can be equipped with HDRI textures (e.g. to replace a series of small lights with only one textured Area light). They can be also used in the role of tube light with real soft shadows. 1.3 Luminance Light Objects This variation of Area Lights uses real geometry (polygons) instead of an abstract light shape. You can create lights with any arbitrary luminance shapes. There is also a special "hidden" option for Light Objects that allows them to have bouncing illumination for sky light and outdoor scenes. 1.4 Photon Mapping Photon mapping is a popular and effective way to calculate indirect illumination and light bouncing. Photon maps can be stored and reused, thus allowing fly-through animations to be rendered much more quickly. Their illumination can also be baked, that is to say, transformed into illumination maps. 1.5 Quadratic light drop-off Quadratic falloff is a new kind of light drop-off. It provides a physical light- model that corresponds more realistically to real-world lighting. An example of this type of drop-off can be found in a simple household light-bulb. Its intensity is huge when you hold your hand close to it (you can even see light transmitting through your hand), but, as you move your hand away, this intensity drops- off very quickly. 1.6 Light Customize Tool This new graph tool is a flexible modifier of a light's behavior. Unlike the GI Diffuse and Luminance multipliers, the Customize Tool changes illumination selectively. For example, you can increase the illumination in dark areas only, but leave the brighter areas of the scene unchanged. 1.7 New GI Saturation Option This new option decreases the GI reverse illumination saturation providing more color bleeding control. 2. TEXTURES PACK 2.1 EXR and 16-bit image input support Animator and Camera are now both capable of reading and using both EXR and 16 bit QuickTime files for any use. EXR textures can be used in the role of HDRI files(with or without alpha channel). 2.2 Rotoscope textures and Backdrop options Backdrops Backdrop options have been moved from the …