ART VPS Ltd has announced that it has begun shipments of the latest software update for its PURE and RenderDrive 3D visualization systems. These new enhancements streamline animation production and were developed in response to the growing demand for the creation of very high quality animation sequences within the design visualization market and as a result of direct feedback by many of the architectural and manufacturing companies using PURE and RenderDrive for the creation of animation sequences.

Enhancements within the AV3 software release include:

Speed improvements - the addition of instanced data export causes scene data exported from 3dsmax, VIZ, or Maya to be cached on the PURE or RenderDrive rendering device between frames, saving re-export of unchanged data on consecutive frames. For animation sequences such as architectural walkthroughs and flythroughs, and product “turntable” animations using large CAD data sets, this new software results in dramatically improved rendering times. Decreases in rendering times of 50-75% for an animation sequence have been reported by some early users.

Memory use enhancements – changes have been made to the management and utilization of memory during the export and rendering processes. These changes improve speed and quadruple the data capacity of PURE and triple the data capacity of RenderDrive.

HDRI Lighting – support for the use of floating point high dynamic range images (HDRI) and for HDRI lighting within 3dsmax, VIZ and Maya has been added. This complements the high dynamic range rendering and patented HDR Lens Effects that has been a permanent feature of the RenderDrive and PURE rendering hardware since their introduction.

Discreet 3dsmax V6 – The latest version of RenderPipe MAX, ART VPS’s software plug-in interface for discreet 3dsmax and autodesk VIZ, is compatible with 3dsmax V6.

The 3D visualization systems developed by ART VPS simulate the complex physics of the real world to create an image from a 3D CAD model. The results are indistinguishable from a photograph. Uniquely, ART VPS have implemented their physically based ray traced rendering within specialised 3D graphics hardware enabling images to be generated many times faster than with conventional software rendering. With PURE and RenderDrive, designers can employ and combine all the 3D rendering features that are traditionally expensive and time-consuming to calculate - such as multiple area lights, accurate motion blur and depth of field, secondary illumination, and physically based materials, lighting and camera properties.

PURE and RenderDrive can be used with CAD data from a wide variety of 3D CAD applications. Specific software plug-ins are available for Autodesk’s VIZ, discreet’s 3dsmax, and Alias’ Maya, and a generic RenderMan Language interface is available. ART VPS recently announced that it is developing a software plug-in interface for Dassault Systemes CATIA and ENOVIA products.

The AV3 Software Update is shipped free to all ART VPS Software Subscription Subscribers.

Used by the most quality-demanding 3D designers and computer-graphics professionals around the world, RenderDrive and PURE have become synonymous with the efficient generation of photographic-quality computer images and animation. ART VPS solutions are widely used within the architectural visualization and industrial design markets where leaders such as Learjet, Nikon Corporation, Procter & Gamble, Sheppard Robson Architects, Skidmore Owings & Merrill and Walt Disney Imagineering rely on images created with ART VPS products to communicate their designs.