Lightworks, the world's leading supplier of rendering solutions for developers of advanced 3D computer graphics software, is pleased to announce the release of Lightworks Author 2011, which adds additional functionality to their range of rendering technology.
Key developments in this latest release include:

Perceptual Tone Mapper

This latest Tone Map shader closely mimics the action of the human eye in converting the real-world luminance levels calculated by Lightworks Global Illumination to those which can be displayed and viewed on a computer display or printer. The Perceptual Tone Mapper includes a new Lightworks developed auto-setup algorithm, designed to produce an image with a balanced luminance range.

Image Based Lighting

Lightworks Author 2011 has added support within the Lightworks Real-time product, for environment lights in image based lighting. This allows the creation of more subtle shadowing in real-time and brings an added level of depth and realism to images.

A number of enhancements have also been made to Final Gather, Pre-defined Archives and Ambient Occlusion, all designed to help Lightworks customers get even more from their implementation of Lightworks rendering technology.

David Forrester, Managing Director at Lightworks, added: “We’ve changed the format of our product names for our latest release which reflects our goal to continue offering enhanced new functionality to our customers. We already know how important new features are to customers and our new Perceptual Tone Mapper and Real-time Image Based Lighting will be of tremendous benefit to them as they strive to add that extra touch of realism to their work.”



For more information: www.lightworkdesign.com.