Introducing revolutionary LightPaint technology for lighting computer generated images

London, UK, 24 September, 2012: Lightmap launches HDR Light Studio 4 for Windows with OS X and Linux releases available for the first time bringing the creation and control of image based lighting within the reach of all 3D artists. LightPaint, LightCam, FilmBack and SunShade technologies combined with Python scripting give stunning new routes to peerless lighting and visual perfection.

“HDR Light Studio 4 offers a unique lighting approach that benefits all 3D and visualization artists” said Mark Segasby, CEO of Lightmap “This major new release brings this technology to all 3D professionals and students with competitive new pricing and licensing options. Our single edition contains all the features and connectivity, including Live plug-ins, to make HDR Light Studio 4 part of your 3D workflow today on any platform.” He continued “Our latest release introduces a vast array of new features, led by LightPaint, providing the greatest creative lighting control possible for our customers.”

“LightPaint has revolutionized our lighting workflow. No more trial and error and waiting for re-renders, just instant visual feedback as you move lights around. LightPaint takes the guesswork out of placing light…” said Tom Painter, Bigman

“HDR Light Studio 4 became my default lighting solution after about 15 minutes of playing with the Beta… I love placing lights by ‘touching’ the model, it’s so intuitive and a huge time saver.” said Jim Cascarina, MGV

New LightPaint technology enables lighting artists to point in the rendered view directing the light to the exact location where it is needed on their models. Slashing the time taken to light a 3D scene and enabling the precise placement of lighting and reflections.

Artists put the light where they want it, thinking only about their artistic intent, creating a custom HDRI map on the fly to light the shot. HDR Light Studio 4 is more efficient, feels slicker and has a host of optimizations for faster HDRI map generation ensuring that nothing comes between the artist and their work. As a key component of any modern 3D pipeline, Python scripting has been added to enable ‘Live’ plug-in integration with leading 3D software, with Autodesk Maya and Side Effects Houdini plugins being the first to be take advantage of this.

“HDR Light Studio 4 is one of the few bits of software that gets used on nearly every project.” said Robert Kaley, boxstudio

HDR Light Studio artists often buy a seat for a specific job however they find it far more useful than they imagined, with the powerful real-time image based lighting becoming an essential part of their day to day rendering tool kit. It has transformed the way users light their work and is saving them time on a daily basis providing intuitive, fast and precise high quality lighting by creating and controlling image based lighting maps.

With the addition of LightPaint HDR Light Studio 4 is set to become a key part of any 3D artists lighting toolkit.

“HDR Light Studio has quickly become an essential tool in our 3D workflow and is now our first port of call when lighting any of our models” said George Royce, The Hub Plus

Highlights of New Features

LightPaint Place and select lights directly on the rendered view

LightCam Look through the lights on the HDR map and use the camera navigation to drive their location

FilmBack Explore the shot with pan and zoom in LiveLight to light details using LightPaint

SunShade Take control of the brightness of light sources in existing HDRI maps

Improved Interface Smoother, faster and more space efficient

Cross Platform Windows, Mac and Linux compatible

Single Edition Including plug-ins for KeyShot, Maxwell Studio, VRED, Patchwork 3D, SAP Visual Enterprise Author, Maya and Houdini.

Direct Export Push scenes from Modo, Cinema4D, 3DS Max & Maya direct into LiveLight

Output Presets Select your 3D software/ renderer combo for correctly mapped HDR output

Python API Create and tailor HDR Light Studio 4 Live integrations for your pipeline

Pricing and Availability
Lightmap HDR Light Studio 4 is available immediately for £299 / $499 / €399 (Educational 1 year seats £49 / $79 / €69) through the online Lightmap store or through any Lightmap Authorized Reseller. For commercial and educational facility floating seat pricing contact Lightmap or your reseller.

HDR Light Studio 4 is a free update for Pro version 3 customers and a full featured demo version is available online.