Luxion ships KeyShot 7
Originally posted on 18 November 2016. Scroll down for news of the commercial release.
We’ve also updated the original story with new information from the release notes.
Luxion has posted a teaser for KeyShot 7, the next update to its rendering and tech animation software. The update goes on pre-order from 25 November 2016.
KeyShot HD: improved texture mapping
The second half of the video covers feature improvements, so most of the entirely new stuff is shown in the section up to 01:40.
It doesn’t show a lot of new features for the HD edition of the software: a new panoramic camera for rendering VR projects, plus a text-only note about “improved texture mapping”.
Updated 2 August 2017: The release introduces an updated interactive mapping tool with new options to apply textures through triplanar projection or as tiled UVs, and to apply video maps.
The panoramic camera is now part of the Pro release.
KeyShot Pro: interactive decimation, playback of animated mesh sequences
Instead, most of the features shown are for the more expensive Pro edition: notably Re-Tessellate: a simple, slider-driven system for adjusting the geometry count of an imported NURBS model.
Other new functionality includes the option to import, play back and render deforming mesh sequences. The data can be imported as Alembic caches.
There is also support for animating displays and UIs by mapping image sequences to the geometry.
Users can also create Studios: scene presets comprising model sets, materials, environments and cameras.
And finally, visualisation artists get a new Configurator system for presenting variant designs of a product to clients or users, including geometry and material variations.
Updated 2 August 2017: KeyShot 7 is now shipping. The software is on show at Siggraph 2017.
As well as the features listed above, users of both HD and Pro editions get new options to customise the UI, including tabs and ribbon, and save the results as a preset workspace, and to create custom hotkeys.
There are also two new material types: Plastic (Cloudy) and Measured – which enables users to load data recorded from real-world materials in AxF or XML format – plus new options for several existing materials.
Other new features include the option to set up multiple alternative environments for a scene and switch between them; and to export objects and cameras in FBX format for use in other DCC software.
In the Pro edition, the HDRI editor is now integrated into the Environment tab, and gets new features including an interactive sun and sky, gradients, and the option to export HDRIs in HDR or EXR format.
Other new features in the Pro edition include support for Multi-Materials and the option to move the active camera in the Geometry View with a move tool.
Outside the core software, the network rendering module has been “rewritten from the ground up”.
Pricing and availability
KeyShot 7 is available for 64-bit Windows 7+ and Mac OS X 10.7+. The software comes with integration plugins for a range of DCC and CAD tools, including 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Maya and ZBrush.
A new licence of the HD edition costs $995; the Pro edition costs $1,995. An Enterprise licence, which includes the KeyShotXR and network rendering add-ons, costs $3,995. See a comparison table here.
Read a full list of new features in KeyShot 7 in the online documentation