pureLIGHT 1.5.1 released
by David Chan · 08/03/2010 (7:50 pm) · 10 comments
So, it’s been a while since I last posted. Doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy. There are some big changes going on behind the scenes that I can’t talk about yet, but we are hoping it leads to some really cool news for pureLIGHT users. In the mean time let’s talk about 1.5.1. Here’s a list of changes in the current version:
-Point/spot lights will now be exported into your Torque 3D scenes
-Added a mode for baking only the indirect lighting.
-Added a mode for controlling whether or not material colors are baked into the exported lightmaps.
-Some memory/speed optimizations.
-Spot lights can now be rotated the same way as directional lights.
-New lights are now incrementally named.
-Improved VL filtering quality.
-Fixed the cases where duplicate/redundant submaterials resulted from exporting multiple meshes into a single file.
-Color bleeding can now be controlled on a per material basis.
Also, more #$!*@& Collada import fixes.
A little side rant here. I know there is a need for a universal 3D standard and I applaud the efforts that have gone into Collada. However, it seems like the “standard” might be a little too open. Even after a year of working with Collada files we still come across files with a different implementation than we’ve seen to date. Sometimes it breaks things or worse, doesn’t import at all. So, if anyone out there in Collada Land is listening, how about nailing things down a little more on the next iterations to make developers lives a little eaiser?
-Point/spot lights will now be exported into your Torque 3D scenes
-Added a mode for baking only the indirect lighting.
-Added a mode for controlling whether or not material colors are baked into the exported lightmaps.
-Some memory/speed optimizations.
-Spot lights can now be rotated the same way as directional lights.
-New lights are now incrementally named.
-Improved VL filtering quality.
-Fixed the cases where duplicate/redundant submaterials resulted from exporting multiple meshes into a single file.
-Color bleeding can now be controlled on a per material basis.
Also, more #$!*@& Collada import fixes.
A little side rant here. I know there is a need for a universal 3D standard and I applaud the efforts that have gone into Collada. However, it seems like the “standard” might be a little too open. Even after a year of working with Collada files we still come across files with a different implementation than we’ve seen to date. Sometimes it breaks things or worse, doesn’t import at all. So, if anyone out there in Collada Land is listening, how about nailing things down a little more on the next iterations to make developers lives a little eaiser?
About the author
Got my start at BioWare in 1999. First project was MDK2 and last project was Mass Effect. Since then I've worked on indie titles and other games like Prey and Splinter Cell. Got my start at pureLIGHT late last year as the Product Manager.
#2
If anyone has not yet tried the demo - get it now! It's really worth your time - even if you can't afford pureLight just yet. I'm rarely this excited about software, you guys really need to see this!
Be sure to check out the tutorials on YouTube.
I'm not getting referral money - it's just that I like pureLight a LOT and would love to see more projects that use it! :)
[rant]Plus just because I asked nicely, these guys put in the new features I asked for. How cool is that? :)[/rant]
Keep up the great work, David & team!
08/03/2010 (8:22 pm)
This is awesome news!If anyone has not yet tried the demo - get it now! It's really worth your time - even if you can't afford pureLight just yet. I'm rarely this excited about software, you guys really need to see this!
Be sure to check out the tutorials on YouTube.
I'm not getting referral money - it's just that I like pureLight a LOT and would love to see more projects that use it! :)
[rant]Plus just because I asked nicely, these guys put in the new features I asked for. How cool is that? :)[/rant]
Keep up the great work, David & team!
#3
That is why most companies use FBX as the interchange format Unity and UDK both support FBX
Great release BTW I look forward to taking it for a spin.
any hope for ever getting IES light profiles in there?
08/03/2010 (8:35 pm)
Quote:A little side rant here. I know there is a need for a universal 3D standard and I applaud the efforts that have gone into Collada. However, it seems like the “standard” might be a little too open. Even after a year of working with Collada files we still come across files with a different implementation than we’ve seen to date. Sometimes it breaks things or worse, doesn’t import at all. So, if anyone out there in Collada Land is listening, how about nailing things down a little more on the next iterations to make developers lives a little eaiser?
That is why most companies use FBX as the interchange format Unity and UDK both support FBX
Great release BTW I look forward to taking it for a spin.
any hope for ever getting IES light profiles in there?
#4
(IMO)on a side note i see you have integrated the Leadwerks engine with purelight at a more realistic price - nice work, keep it up(IMO)
08/03/2010 (8:42 pm)
nice work on the update - still have not purchased it a bit out of my range.(IMO)on a side note i see you have integrated the Leadwerks engine with purelight at a more realistic price - nice work, keep it up(IMO)
#5
I dont see the point of the new pricing scheme though? If you can buy the Leadwerks PL version for 350 and upgrade it to the bundle version for another 150. Why would anybody use any other product option now?
08/03/2010 (10:07 pm)
Thanks for the update :) Lovely video of PL+Leadwerks.I dont see the point of the new pricing scheme though? If you can buy the Leadwerks PL version for 350 and upgrade it to the bundle version for another 150. Why would anybody use any other product option now?
#6
@Ramihyn - The Leadwerks pricing is just a temporary introductory rate, just like we did when we released the Torque version.
08/03/2010 (10:32 pm)
@James - IES profiles haven't fallen completely off of our radar.@Ramihyn - The Leadwerks pricing is just a temporary introductory rate, just like we did when we released the Torque version.
#7
@James, we've looked at FBX and it's something we might consider in the futre, but it's not an open standard and Tom looked at the SDK and was not pleased. As for IES profiles, it's something we are still looking at, but there are other things happening behind the scenes that are taking priority at the moment.
08/03/2010 (11:04 pm)
Thanks for kind words folks. @James, we've looked at FBX and it's something we might consider in the futre, but it's not an open standard and Tom looked at the SDK and was not pleased. As for IES profiles, it's something we are still looking at, but there are other things happening behind the scenes that are taking priority at the moment.
#9
08/04/2010 (3:30 pm)
@Steve Nice!! 
#10
The plus side is it's developed by Autodesk (seeing as 3ds max and maya are the 2 predominant modeling applications this is a good thing) and will also load DAE models as well as FBX built-in.
08/05/2010 (10:04 pm)
As someone who's used the FBX SDK...it can be a bit of a beast.The plus side is it's developed by Autodesk (seeing as 3ds max and maya are the 2 predominant modeling applications this is a good thing) and will also load DAE models as well as FBX built-in.
Associate Steve Acaster
[YorkshireRifles.com]
second on a unified collada format