Kray 2.0 RC1 released!

[jure]

Dear Krayers!

We are happy to announce the next Kray update! It took us a bit longer than we expected but we are sure the wait was well worth it. We have reached an important milestone with this release and now when we look back, we see how big leap we have already made from version 1.6. The improvements and new features that have been added during Open Beta phase went far beyond our work plan for 1.7 release, therefore we have decided that the only appropriate thing to do is to relabel the release and shift it's version to 2.0.

Therefore, ladies and gentleman, please welcome Kray 2.0 RC1.

Yes, this is the first Release Candidate version of Kray. As of now we have frozen feature list and will now work hard on the remaining bugs and stability issues. This is a major update that brings a lot of improvements and loads of bug fixes! Not to mention that Kray now renders faster than ever! We are also happy to say that we've gotten some good feedback from Newtek and so now Kray is also better integrated into the LightWave. Unfortunately we cannot reveal all of the cool things we have under the hood until the next LightWave update but we just want to let you know you will be able to use Kray with it better then ever.

Highlights:

* easy instancing
* added support for nodes and new LightWave lights
* easy linear workflow
* more cool features that we cannot announce just yet


Improvements include:
* improved instancing: we have developed a new plugin that allows easy placement of instances on point cloud, mesh or custom objects more info here
* Linear Workflow plugin: finaly you can get easy linear workflow with this simple plugin more info here
* major improvement to the memory usage: now you should be able to render huge scenes easily!
* Photon power multiplier for lights and surfaces more info here
* "RenderWorm" and "Frost" pixel order
* GUI for override surfaces and buffers added more info here
* some major MAC bugs fixed
* new render presets added and old presets modified
* chromatic aberration filter added more info here
* tone mapping changes, now tone mapper is applied before AA. This should improve AA quality (limitdr also changed, seeKray wiki)
* tone mapping enabled when output is HDR. It does not affect final image, but affects color space where edge detection and AA is done
* lightmap/photonmap rendering preview added (photonmap preview works only with classic cam)
* alpha channel on transparency fixed
* new output file name variables added more info here
* Raytrace flags and Ambient reminders added
* support for LightWave nodes
* support for LightWave dissolve added
* new LightWave lights SDK support added (you can now use LW IES lights, etc.)
* last, but not least. Some extra really cool features that we cannot talk about yet unfortunately... Those on LightWave Open Beta program probably already know about it others will hear about it soon!

Please note that for best performance you will want to use latest Lighwave update that should be out very soon. Then we can reveal more details about it also.

Soon we will also launch our new, completely redesigned website. I also hear there is some new training material in work so it will help you get up to speed with Kray faster.

Stay tuned and happy new year to all of you!

Your Kray Team

[vpii]

Congrats on the release. I have really come to love Kray. The instancing alone should help you sell many more copies.

Happy Holidays

[Haven1000]

Congrats on the release. I have really come to love Kray. The instancing alone should help you sell many more copies.

Happy Holidays

TBH the instancing alone is the tip of the Kray iceberg when it comes to features. The LW9.5.1+ version is a huge step to making Kray a serious contender and this is before you add the small (but workflow changing) LWF/ Buffer & override plugins.

Kray is becoming that bit more polished, enjoy.

[fulvio]

This is a very good news .... thanks for this release !!
Support for new lw lights is wonderful !!

[ana028]

Thanks. The best present for this Christmas Holidays. Happy new year 2009.

[nico]

the best present of thi christmas

[khan973_forum]

OMG!
I go to the Forum and what do I seee? daaaamn, can't believe it
It gets me all excited! I'll give it a ty ASAP!
Thanks

[khan973_forum]

What is LWF?

[jure]

What is LWF?

It's abbreviation for Linear Workflow. Read more on Wiki...

[khan973_forum]

Aw ok, thanks, I'm so french! Didn' t know the english acronym
I guess we learn everyday!!!

[ingo]

What is LWF?

It's abbreviation for Linear Workflow. Read more on Wiki...

Oh, i thought its the abbreviation for Light Wave Fun

[weepul]

What are the Frost and RenderWorm pixel orders useful for? I mean, they look cool, they seem to work well... But why were they added? What's their benefit?

[Janusz Biela]

What are the Frost and RenderWorm pixel orders useful for? I mean, they look cool, they seem to work well... But why were they added? What's their benefit?

Just G. was bored.....

[jure]

What are the Frost and RenderWorm pixel orders useful for? I mean, they look cool, they seem to work well... But why were they added? What's their benefit?

Just G. was bored.....

Not so much bored but more needed a break from the bugs to free his mind... Yes this is a side product of that...

[larry_g1s]

Congrats on the release. I have really come to love Kray. The instancing alone should help you sell many more copies.

Happy Holidays

Quoted for totally agreement.

When is that one feature that cannot be talked about yet, but people know about who are in LW beta, suppose to be available?
I'm also looking forward to some of the Kray Pros. to put some tuts or examples of how some of these new features work, so us noob can better understand the new features.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!