Technology announcements
From RandomControl Wiki
As a R&D company we're constantly working on new iterations of our technology and looking into ways to improve our products.
This area of the wiki is the place where we will drop announcements of new features as they become available.
At this moment we are working on: fryrender v1.6.00, Arion v1.5.00, RenderWarrior v1.0.00 and NetWarrior v1.2.00.
Arion Real Sub-surface Scattering
2011.10.23
Arion is the first renderer in the world to bring to its customers real, fully-featured and physically-based Sub-Surface Scattering on the GPU. Our amazingly powerful, fast and brings life to all those renders that were lacking that extra little something that is missing before. Such advanced SSS model is really a technology breakthrough for production rendering on the GPU.
Learn more on our blog at http://www.randomcontrol.com/blog
Arion custom nd
2011.09.08
Arion's feature set is growing with this exclusive feature on a GPU engine: Custom nd. This features enables you to control the Fresnel effect in a much more flexible manner than fixed nd, allowing for stunning effect such as (but not limited to) great looking clothing, drapes and all sort of fabrics.
LUA scripting
2011.09.08
Arion and fryrender now support full LUA scripting language to edit scene, materials, cameras properties. It even allows to create scripted camera motion on your own.
You can watch a turntable animation of the wonderful Optimus Prime model from Luima here: http://www.randomcontrol.com/downloads/showreels/arion/optimus_turntable.mov
This turntable animation script is provided as an example with Arion and fryrender setups.
Arion dispersion
2011.06.21
Support for dielectrics in Arion v1.5.00 is much more complete than it was in v1.0.00. Colored absorption, frosted glass, and dielectric dispersion have been added.
To the right you can see an image where strong dielectric dispersion is displayed. The dispersion system implemented in Arion makes use of a very smart Importance Sampling scheme that allows for quite efficient dispersive refraction. This means that enabling dispersion does not have a dramatic impact in the performance of the render.
Arion absorption
2011.06.21
Support for dielectrics in Arion v1.5.00 is much more complete than it was in v1.0.00. Colored absorption, frosted glass, and dielectric dispersion have been added.
To the right you can see an image that combines an HDR environment, a matching backplate, colored dielectric absorption with some roughness, and the matte floor feature.
State-of-the-art scene file format
2011.06.21
We have put a lot of energy in our new scene format .rcs as the old .fry format was too constraining and inefficient.
The main advantages of the new .rcs format are the following:
- Unbreakable flexible format. We've made sure that adding, removing or changing features or parameters in future revisions won't break back-compatibility.
- Easier to transport. The whole scene is a single file, compared to .fry scenes, which needed one file and a folder with binaries.
- Much more compact. Still frame .rcs files are at least twice as small, and this difference in size can be much bigger if animations are involved.
- Clean support for all types of animation. With our minds set on turning fryrender and Arion into great tools for animation production, we have added support for all types of pivot-based, deforming and topology-changing animations.
- With the future in mind. We have added place-holders for many new features to come in future versions, such as multiple UV coords, object motion blur, etc...
- More secure. The new format is encrypted and you can even password-protect scenes to forbid unauthorized use of your artwork.
We have also created RCConv, a command-line tool to make sure that your files stay up to date (useful to transport old scenes or materials).
Multi-channel rendering
2011.06.21
A much wanted feature for video production, the next Arion can output all the enabled compositing channels in a single pass, re-using the warm-up done for the color render.
This feature is available through RenderWarrior.
QuickTime VR export from fryrender and Arion
2011.06.21
In addition to the new 360º panoramic cameras, now fryrender and Arion can export to QuickTime VR directly from the standalone. This fantastic feature allows you to create interactive panoramas in .mov format without any additional steps and without needing any external tools.
The QTVR to the right (scene by Fran Davey) is a great example of how you can get an interactive panoramic view from a single render.
New panoramic and orthogonal camera types
2011.06.20
The next Arion and fryrender feature two new camera types. Both orthogonal projection and 360° panoramic cameras have been added. The latter is particularly useful to render environment maps and can also be used to render QuickTime VR files.
This is typically the kind of feature that is absent from other unbiased renderers. Once again RandomControl brings a new very cool and exclusive feature which others don't.
New camera barrel and pincushion optical distortion
2011.06.17
Both Arion and fryrender cameras support distortion now. With the new distortion factor it is possible to achieve pincushion-barrel distortion effects, as explained in this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distortion_(optics). The image to the right (scene by Fran Davey) showcases a neat example of not-too-aggressive barrel distortion on a close up. Note how straight lines that would be parallel otherwise get bent away from the center of the image.
In many cases distortion and aberration effects are not wanted, but in many others they can be used either for artistic effect, or to add an extra scent of realism, as if the render image had been captured with real-life photographic gear.
Normalized Kelvin emitters
2011.06.16
Kelvin emitters have been modified so they all emit the same about of energy regardless of their temperature. The chart to the right shows how all emitters are as bright as D65. We have also separated reflectance spectrums and emissive spectrums in the core engine. Kelvin colors can only be used for emitters from now on.
New geopositioning tool
2011.06.16
We have worked deeply on the User Interface of our apps. Besides providing a new look and a much more configurable work environment, we have created some new editable controls which give a more visual feedback. A good example is the new GPS picker, which allows to quickly configure the latitude/longitude, and which displays the relative position of the sun. We have also added a better sun preview widget, with which you can quickly preview all the relevant angles of the sun and a top view of the skydome.
Improved physical environment
2011.06.15
We took the input from our users about the reddening in fryrender's sun, and reviewed our physical atmosphere system to make sure that its power output is calibrated in sRGB. We also worked on our spectral and tonemapping systems to make really sure that every single computation happens in the same colorspace.
For those who may feel that such fixes are not enough, we added a new Sun temperature override with which it is possible to set a Kelvin value explicitly. The sun's effective temperature is 5777K, but now you can achieve colder or warmer tones by spinning the override up or down.
Improved support for physical emitter units
2011.06.15
We have added support for more physical emitter units to .rcs files. We have also re-run our calibration process, both numerically, and comparing render results to real photography, to make sure that fryrender's power output is accurate.
The chart to the right relates blackbody radiators of different sizes to the different physical emission units available. As you can see, some of the units are size-dependent (larger emitter = larger power output) and some are size-independent (larger emitter = less power density = same total power output).
Unified commandline powertool
2011.05.21
The RenderWarrior manual can be found here.
RenderWarrior (also styled as rwa) is the fryrender and Arion commandline powertool. Historically, both fryrender and Arion used to have their own commandline tool. Those were called frycmd.exe and arncmd.exe, respectively. In 2011 both commandline tools were fused into a single executable called renderwarrior.exe. RenderWarrior carries both engines inside, and provides a unified wrapper which makes things simpler for users. For example, now the same arguments have the same meaning on both engines. RenderWarrior makes use of the same licensing system as the standalones. This means that in order to render with fryrender using RenderWarrior, a valid license of fryrender is required. The same applies to Arion. Customers owning both products are entitled to render seamlessly with both engines through RenderWarrior.
Scaled instances
2010.05.21
We have been working on a transition from our old format .fry to the new and very compact .rcs. This new format features a much stronger versioning system, and space for all the new features that we have planned for the future.
For example, the next version of fryrender and the plugins will preserve the size of each object's pivot and will allow for non-uniform scaled instancing.
Render Region
2010.01.23
fryrender v1.5.00 provides a simple tool with which you can marquee a region on the framebuffer for the renderer to focus on. This comes handy when making local modifications to an image upon the request of a client, for example.
What can Arion do in 10 minutes?
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2010.01.19
By clicking the thumbnail on the left, you will see a raw 10-minute frame saved in Arion directly. The machine used was a Core i7 loaded with a GeForce 285 GTX.
On the right you will find another raw HD-ready frame, which rendered for 15 minutes on the same computer.
As you can see, Arion brings unbiased interactive editing, but also, and very remarkably, ground-breaking speed for the most demanding production environments.
Visual workflow + faster rendering = More productivity.
Arion Render
2010.01.04
The technology codenamed RC5 for so long is about to become commercially available.
We invite you to take a first look into the tool that might change the conception of unbiased rendering forever.
Note that we will use both this annoucements page and the very Arion website to deliver some sneak peaks and explanations on this thrilling new technology until Arion goes gold. So stay tuned!
NetWarrior
2010.01.04
Users in heavy production environments really need a compelling solution to distribute renders across their network computers. For fryrender v1.5.00 we decided to address this problem in a definitive manner, and worked on a whole new system called NetWarrior.
The NetWarrior package features a monitoring application called NetMonitor and a service-like application which acts as a listener in each remote station. NetWarrior works seamlessly with our products fryrender and Arion, and is capable of everything that you would expect from a standalone network manager (still frame rendering, animation rendering, remote preview, batched DSI merge, easy management of nodes and jobs, ...).
Note that NetWarrior is free of charge for all our customers. You can download the latest version from here.
50% faster rendering core
2010.01.04
fryrender is widely regarded as a very fast unbiased engine. However, we raised the bar this time, making v1.5.00 50% faster than fryrender v1.0.00.
How did we achieve this? Without getting into the deep details, the new rendering core takes advantage of SSE extensions, and we have also re-factorized some of the most critical spectral algebra routines. The result is a new engine which is capable of producing the exact same output, only... faster.
Faster and lighter warm up
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2010.01.04
The warmup process has received some attention too.
Not only have the old lengthy MPDM warmup times disappeared, but also the general geometry warmup phase runs faster and eats up less RAM than before.
A better use of multi-threading and some re-factorization of our geometry clustering routines have helped here.
Multi-platform
2010.01.04
At last, our Mac OS X users will get all the attention they deserve. A fully-fledged version of fryrender for Mac OS X is in the works. The Mac version of our C4D and Modo plugins are being developed as well.
Additionally, we are working on a Linux version of frycmd (the command-line renderer) for its use in heavy production environments.
Both upgrades will be offered free of charge to our existing customers.
New licensing system
2010.01.04
Having to wait for a license re-activation after a system crash or a hard drive format is not pleasant. Neither is having your license bound to a particular machine if you need mobility.
Yes, we have heard you. That is why we have re-designed our licensing system, which is floating now. The new system is based on a .lic file where your personal details are encrypted, and which you can copy on your system yourself, even if you re-format or change the computer. This will also reduce a number of old problems through the LAN, as the .lic file will be retrieved locally, only using the network to detect license collisions.
Now fryrender will be licensed to you, not your workstation.
Instantaneous MPDM
2010.01.04
In fryrender v1.5.00 MPDM takes no time to warm up. And incredibly, it renders even faster than before thanks to our strengthened routines for displaced geometry.
It is a fact that now you can indulge yourself and add displaced details to virtually any surface or material you like.
But there's more. We have made some other improvements besides warm-up and rendering performance. Displaced details look crisper in raw mode now, and you can clip geometry not only using the waterlevel parameter, but also combining MPDM with Opacity Mapping.
Real film scent
2009.11.25
fryrender v1.5.00 extends the list of tonemapping operators present in the previous version by adding a long list of camera response curves captured from real stock film.
These new operators transport the mood of a real photograph taken with such stock film to your render, increasing the realism of your image without any post-processing. The UI we have provided to this end will let you try a wide range of different presets very quickly.
fryrender v1.5.00
2009.11.25
We have made a great effort to satisfy the most important demands of our customers in v1.5.00. Special care has been put in those features involved in heavy duty production, as well as in performance, comfort and usability.
Better rendering speed, better tonemapping, hyper-fast MPDM, network rendering, render region, render control flags... Are some of the areas that have received a great deal attention.
This page will elaborate on some of the most remarkable improvements v1.5.00 will bring.
Note that v1.5.00, like all our 1.x upgrades, will be free of charge for existing customers.
