LuxCoreRender Release Notes v2.0

New features:

• LuxCoreUI: new image view tool
• RTPATHCPU: new CPU rendering engine with fast scene editing support
• Mist image pipeline plugin
• Environment camera
• Embree accelerated BVH building for OpenCL too
• Reduced the number of times OpenCL kernel re-compilation is triggered
• New BIASPATHOCL with OpenCL micro-kernels
• Better support for light sources defined by many triangles
• Save/resume rendering
• New convergence test code
• Render engine unification (TILEPATH replaces BIASPATH, etc.)
• Abstract API
• Binary SDK
• Area lights with variable directional light
• Embree custom version integrated back in the main Intel project. Using again standard Embree. Updated to the latest version.
• Added the support for saving all scene information in a single binary file
• Added the support for saving all render configuration information in a single binary file
• All LuxCore objects now keep the original names used in LuxCore SDL (visible when using FILESAVER engine for instance)
• Can now save and resume the rendering from a single file (a binary file with RenderConfig+Scene+RenderState+Film information)
• TILEPATH tiles initialization is now done using multi-threading
• Now .bpy serialized mesh file can be used in any place where it was only possible to use a .ply file
• Changed the default min. epsilon from 1e-9f to 1e-5f
• Python unit test now automatically run at any commit thanks to travis-ci.org
• Added the support for glass dispersion
• Added the support for image map wrapping modes
• Added the support for glass dispersion
• Added the support for dynamic edit of halt rendering conditions
• Added the support for periodic save and "safe save" for Film outputs
• Added the support for periodic save and "safe save" for Film file
• Added the support for periodic save and "safe save" for resume rendering file
• Added the pyluxcoreconsole tool
• Added the pyluxcoremerge tool
• Added a fast path for duplicating many objects. Mostly useful for particles.
• Improved glass and archglass sampling strategy
• Added the support for Embree multi-segments motion blur
• New RANDOM and SOBOL samplers to avoid regola patterns in the early rendering stages
• New TILEPATHSAMPLER base on Sobol sequence (was plain random before)
• Added the support for scene.camera.volume and scene.camera.autovolume.enable properties
• Added the support for new SAMPLECOUNT and CONVERGENCE AOVs
• Added the support for convergence based adaptive sampling to RANDOM and SOBOL samplers
• Visibility driven sampling of env. light sources (aka portals without portals)
• OpenCL/C++ hybrid rendering
• Camera invisible objects
• LuxCoreRender is now available as Python Wheel
• Added the support for rotations to UVmapping2D
• Added the support for Sphere and MapSphere light source
• New heterogeneous volume rendering code

Fixed bugs:

• Fixed a bug in Glossy2 material (Fresnel reflection related code)
• Fixed NaNs in Metal2 material
• Fixed NaNs in Scale texture bump mapping code
• Fixed a bug when saving light sources defined with an old deprecated syntax
• Fixed a memory leak in convergence test
• Fixed a problem in the computation of scene bounding sphere triggering wrong rendering with infinite lights and large scenes
• Fixed PATHOCL+METROPOLIS output difference with PATHOCL+RANDOM/SOBOL

Known problems:

• accelerator.bvh.builder.type = EMBREE_MORTON doesn't work with the latest Embree
• Python crashes when calling sys.exit()