New and improvements
Rendering
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New D5 GI
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Improved material emissive effect
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Subsurface scattering material
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Z-depth channel
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Vegetation Cull Distance
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Blend amount setting for grass material textures
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New preview modes to control image quality
Features
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More frame rate options for video rendering
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Improved two-point perspective view
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Camera focal length
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Support switching between horizontal/vertical FOV
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Drop models on the ground
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Support creating curve/linear paths for the path tool
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Support setting fixed spacing distance for vegetation path
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Support custom combination of vegetation, characters, and other models
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Support opening the file location of maps imported by D5 Converters
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Support reading the north offset parameter from .skp files
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Support closing D5 Render automatically after render queue is finished
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Support opening .abc files directly from the welcome page
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Support opening the Preference from the welcome page
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Support clearing auto-saved backups and imported models
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Improved scatter tool with better effects and compatibility with hedge assets
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Improved random offset effect for vegetation path
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Improved model replacing feature for the path tool
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Improved search and filter functions of the object list
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Improved camera movement in video rendering
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Improved coordinate axis spatial position
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Improved display effect of the rotation control
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Action tips in the viewport
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Open D5 help center directly from the top right corner of D5 Render
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A shortcut icon is created for .d5a files
Productivity
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Support AV1 encoding
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Support QSV encoding
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Open the welcome page faster
Assets
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New hedge assets
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New commonly used arborous plants
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New static and dynamic Asian characters
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Subsurface scattering materials and models
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New dynamic transportation assets
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Backdrop planes
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New dynamic water particles
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Support adjusting the color temperature of interior parallax
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Improved movement effect of some dynamic characters
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Improved quality of some vegetation models
Fixes
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Grass does not fully appear in the rendering result
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Crop error when rendering images of small sizes
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Incorrect effect of car lights in the reflection
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GI behaves abnormally when an object is far away from the origin point
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The eraser wrongly erases assets on all surfaces
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The eraser can not erase plants on vertical surfaces
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Plant materials are not highlighted when being selected
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Incorrect adsorption relationship of rotation axis at 90° and its multiples
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Wrong attenuation radius unit of rectangular and strip lights
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Light group hierarchy sync error of D5 Converters
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Thumbnails have black edges when adding materials to the local library
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The model position changes when dragging axis to duplicate
Detailed introduction to some features
Rendering
1. New D5 GI
- Applying advanced algorithms including ReSTIR and Surfel, the new D5 GI offers sufficient lighting even deep inside the interior space, and tackles the poorly lit scenes that are caused by the lack of skylight GI bounce.
- D5 GI retains details of high-frequency GI/skylight scenes while ensuring a smooth and stable preview, so the scenes are rendered with more accurate lighting and a fine GI effect.
- In addition, the transmission effect of foliage is specially optimized, giving the leaves a clearer look.
2. Improved material emissive effect
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In the new version, we correct the emissive material’s light intensity. Now D5 Render is able to calculate multiple bounces of emissive lights in the global illumination, making the preview and output results more accurate.
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Emissive materials’ color will be more detailed based on their texture maps.
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Note: The lighting effect will be different from version 2.3.
3. Subsurface scattering material
- It is mainly used to make translucent materials such as jade, wax and skin.
- Select Subsurface scattering in the material template, and adjust parameters such as subsurface color and scattering intensity.
4. Z-depth channel
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Turn on the [Z Depth] mode in “Effect” ->“Style”.
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Drag the slider to control the white point and the black point. Objects closer to the camera will be colored darker colors, and objects far from the camera will be colored white colors. These two points will affect the Z-depth channel output in the final image and video rendering.
5. Vegetation Cull Distance
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In “Preference” → “Rendering”, we can now set the cull distance for the preview mode and the final rendering respectively. Cull distance functions as a threshold. When you specify a value for cull distance, the models of small sizes (mainly grass and other plants) beyond that distance will not be rendered in viewport or final production.
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To ensure the consistency of rendering and previewing, the output cull distance must be greater than or equal to the preview cull distance. An overwhelming value for cull distance may lead to a laggy real-time preview or lengthened output time.
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Note: The settings will be recorded in the project files.
6. Blend amount setting for grass material textures
- The grass material template has a new parameter Blend amount, which is used to control the blending level of the ground’s base color map and the grass material color. The smaller the value, the more influence Base Color Map has on the overall color.
7. New preview modes to control image quality
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In the top right corner of the viewport, we can set the preview quality from the Display panel. The original high, medium and low quality modes are replaced by [Precise] and [Smooth] modes.
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The preview quality will not influence the final rendering result.
- Under [Precise] mode, D5 will present best image quality and ensure that the preview is consistent with the final production. Shorcut key: F1.
- Under [Smooth] mode, some effects are weakened or not displayed in the real-time preview. Shortcut key: F2.
Features
8. More frame rate options for video rendering
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Now you can select 24, 25, 30, 60, or 120 FPS for output in video rendering settings.
The default available options are 30 fps and 60 fps. To select other options like 25 fps and 120 fps, you need to turn on the Frame Rate widget from Menu > Preference > Widget.
Note: This only affects the output video’s frame rate. The preview timeline is still at a framerate of 30 FPS.
9. Improved two-point perspective view
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In the previous version, under two-point perspective mode, the models would be flattened and display unintended errors like trapezoidal deformation and tilting.
After the fix, the two-point perspective projection effect is correct, and in addition, it is possible to pan the screen without quitting two-point perspective view. -
After entering two-point perspective view (shortcut F8), you need to press F8 again to exit two-point perspective view, or press P to return to perspective view. Using the right mouse button or Esc key will no longer quit the two-point perspective mode.
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In video mode, now two-point perspective view also supports smooth transitions better.
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Note: For old files, D5 will turn on compatible mode by default and use the old algorithm. If you want to use the new two-point perspective algorithm, please go to Preference → Rendering and turn off the legacy two-point perspective view compatible mode.
10. Camera focal length
- A Focal Length parameter is added under Field of View. This parameter is the equivalent focal length of 35mm film, which can be used as the equivalent focal length parameter of real world lens. When matching a real camera and a rendering camera, you can align the picture through the focal length value.
11. Support switching between horizontal/vertical FOV
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The previous version only supports the horizontal FOV angle. Now we have an option to switch to vertical FOV view.
You can find the option from the Camera panel in the top right corner of the viewport.
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In horizontal FOV mode, the horizontal FOV is locked when the viewport changes, while the vertical FOV can change at will.
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In vertical FOV mode, the vertical FOV is locked when the viewport changes, while the horizontal FOV can change at will.
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12. Drop models on the ground
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Models placed in the scene can be dropped to the nearest object surface by selecting “Drop” in the right-click menu of the Object list.
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Drop vertically: the model will fall on the nearest model surface in a vertical state.
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Drop along the terrain: when the model falls on the nearest model surface, it will also rotate itself according to the normal of the model surface.
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Note: Models added by path, brush and scatter tools do not support this function.
13. Support creating curve/linear paths for the path tool
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When editing the path, we can set it to be curve or linear. You can set the type of each node separately. Hold
Ctrlto multi-select nodes, or useCtrl+Ato select all.
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The Curve mode is the same as the old version, using Bezier curve.
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When setting nodes in Linear mode, you can adjust the smoothness of corner angles.
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14. Support setting fixed spacing distance for vegetation path
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For plant paths, we can set the Alignment to Fixed and adjust the spacing distance length.
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Under the [Fixed] setting, D5 will generate a corresponding number of models according to the fixed spacing between two plants. The maximum spacing distance will not exceed the path length, in meters (m);
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The [Auto] setting is the same as the previous version. The plants are automatically adjusted according to the path length and the set plant number.
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15. Support custom combination of vegetation, characters, and other models
- In addition to the existing .d5a models, the plants, characters, animals, vehicles and other models from the official D5 Assets Library can now be added to your local library and exported as .d5a models. It is also supported to group those assets and add them to your local library.
16. Support opening the file location of maps imported by D5 Converters
- For models imported by D5 Converters, now you can right-click on the maps in the material inspector, and select File Location to locate their material maps.
17. Support reading the north offset parameter from .skp files
- D5 Render can read the north offset data from SketchUp files. This will provide better and more accurate compatibility with sun angles when creating a scene from.skp files.
18. Support closing D5 Render automatically after render queue is finished
- For render queue, a new option “Auto-quit D5 after rendering finishes” is added near the Render button. If it is checked, D5 Render will automatically quit after the rendering process finishes.
19. Support opening .abc files directly from the welcome page
- In addition to the existing import function, now you can open files in .abc format directly from the welcome page.
20. Support opening the Preference from the welcome page
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A “Preference” icon has been added to the top right corner of the Welcome page.
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You can set preferences for language, storage location, widgets, rendering, etc. directly on the welcome page.
21. Support clearing auto-saved backups and imported models
- Select Menu > File > Clear data, to delete the auto-saved backup files and imported models (except for those already placed in the scene).
22. Improved scatter tool with better effects and compatibility with hedge assets
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The algorithm of the scatter tool has been optimized. When it is applied to a small area, the new algorithm will spread the material densly and evenly without gaps.
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Together with the new hedge assets from D5 Assets Library, you can quickly fill the block and create realistic hedges.
23. Improved random offset effect for vegetation path
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In the previous version, the path models’ offset distance was linearly related to the path length, resulting in a larger actual offset distance for longer paths, even if the offset value was small.
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The new version changes this to the actual offset value, which is the maximum “random offset”. The offset distance is no longer related to the path length. The unit of random offset is meter (m), and the maximum offset will not exceed this value.
24. Improved model replacing feature for the path tool
- When replacing or adding models of path tools, now you can select assets from the All, Recent, and Favourite categories of D5 Assets Library.
25. Improved search and filter functions of the object list
- In previous versions, the search function shows all objects in the library and only highlights the target ones. Now, after entering a keyword, the search function will show only the objects containing the keywords and hide other objects.
26. Improved camera movement in video rendering
- We optimized the algorithm of camera movements to eliminate possible shaking and stuttering problems in cases like camera ring movement.
27. Improved coordinate axis spatial position
- When you select an object and drag it with the axis controls, the size of the controls will change according to their distance from the camera changes.
28. Improved display effect of the rotation control
- The display of rotation degree is optimized when using the rotation controls.
29. Action tips in the viewport
- Some user tips are added on the interface. According to the current operation, corresponding tips will appear with the shortcut keys and other information.
In “Menu” → “View”, you can choose to turn on/off the action tips.
30. Open D5 help center directly from the top right corner of D5 Render
- A D5 Help Center entrance is added in the upper right corner of the main interface.
31. A shortcut icon is created for .d5a files
- We designed a shortcut icon for .d5a file format, and it will apply to all .d5a files in local folders automatically.
Productivity
32. Support AV1 encoding
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AV1 is a new generation video encoding format with higher compression ratio and better picture quality at the same bitrate. Intel graphics cards have hardware acceleration support for the AV1 encoding format.
You can enable AV1 encoding in “Preference” → “Rendering” on machines with Intel GPUs. -
Note: Non-Intel graphics cards will not have this option.
If the rendered video cannot be played, you may need to download the corresponding AV1 video decoding package.
On devices that do not support hard-decoded AV1, playback of AV1 video with very high resolution may be laggy.
33. Support QSV encoding
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Intel Quick Sync Video uses specialized media processing hardware cores to speed up video encoding and decoding, and it is a hardware acceleration technology for video encoding and decoding specific to Intel graphics cards.
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Note: Non-Intel graphics cards will not have this option.
34. Open the welcome page faster
- The speed of opening the welcome page has been improved, and now it will not display the launching page.
Assets
By searching for “2.4” in D5 Assets Library, you can check all the new assets in D5 Render 2.4.
35. New hedge assets
- A variety of foliage models are added to D5 Assets Library > Model > Nature > Hedge, whose names contain “single series”. With the scatter tool, you can easily fill a surface to make nice hedges.
- Note: When using hedge models with the scatter tool, it is recommended to set the Density to the maximum and check the “Align to Terrain” option.
36. New commonly used arborous plants
- 37 new trees are added, including Lagerstroemia, Metasequoia, Terminalia Mantaly, Cerasus and other commonly used trees.
37. New static and dynamic Asian characters
- 108 scanned Asian character models are added, with 78 static and 30 slightly moving. More character models from different regions are coming…
38. Subsurface scattering materials and models
- Silicone, Jade, Jade Marble and other materials are added; Jade Buddha, Jade Tea Cup and other models are added.
- The models’ names contain “SSS” so they can be easier to find by searching for SSS in D5 Assets Library.
39. New dynamic transportation assets
- Four new energy vehicles and one High-speed train are added.
40. Backdrop planes
- A new category “Model > Landscape > Backdrop plane” is added, including 13 large backdrop planes.
41. New dynamic water particles
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New high-quality dynamic water particles are added, with Size and other adjustable parameters.
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A “Low resource consumption” option is added for some water particles to ensure a good preview performance. With it turned on, you can customize the LOD Distance. When the distance between the particle and the camera is larger than LOD distance, the particle will lose some details in the viewport but consume lower computer resources.
42. Support adjusting the color temperature of interior parallax
- A color temperature parameter is added for Interior Parallax models.
43. Improved movement effect of some dynamic characters
- 60+ existing dynamic characters’ movement gets optimized.
44. Improved quality of some vegetation models
- 20+ existing plants get optimized, with better leaf shapes and animation effects.
Special thanks to the following friends for their feedback and suggestions during the 2.4 alpha and beta testing, (some friends have also made great contributions, but we do not know your profile in D5 Forum, feel free to contact us via private message):
@Blend @sodapop66 @ivan_dedos @Glm @QuocPhan @arkitet3D @danivalus @Bot5d @wimfloor @f-light @Jessica1 @Greywall @dvikune @nunosilva @twinsk8 @Gil @Sepia21 @RO2009 @dvikune @nunosilva @PavisBuilder @allenm
To join D5 Render’s Discord server, click on here: D5 Render .
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