For those who don’t know the tool: Veras is AI ideation inside Enscape, V-Ray, and Corona, sitting next to viewport rendering and final-frame output.

Veras stops being a side quest

Chaos has expanded Veras integration beyond Enscape into V-Ray and Corona, positioning AI ideation as a built-in step rather than a separate app. In Corona, Veras works from a screenshot taken from the Corona VFB, and can generate multiple concepts at any stage. It also supports turning a still into a short animation using Veras, with no complex animation setup required. In V-Ray, Veras appears as part of scene setup and ideation, including moodboards and fast look exploration inside the V-Ray workflow.

Credits are the new render tokens

To run the AI features and certain services across Enscape, V-Ray, and Corona, Chaos introduced Chaos Credits as a unified credit system. Credits apply to Veras, AI Upscaler, AI Enhancer, and cloud rendering, with platform availability depending on the feature. Monthly credit allowances come with active subscriptions and reset each billing cycle. Solo plans include 100 credits per month, Premium includes 500, and Collection includes 1,500. Veras standalone plans list 2,000 credits per month for Veras Pro and 6,000 for Veras Ultra. Unused monthly allowance credits do not roll over.

Top-ups also exist as subscription-style credit packs on the Chaos Credits page. A monthly refresh 250 pack is listed at €7.90, a monthly refresh 1000 pack at €23.90, and a monthly refresh 3000 pack at €47.90. Prices do not include taxes. Subscription pricing for the main renderer plans is not specified in the Sources. This is also where the wrokflow question gets real for teams: credits turn AI ideation into something you may want to track like any other billable resource. Or you have to train your artists not to follow ideas as long as the client doesn’t get a bill for them.

One installer to rule the Windows machines

Alongside the AI integration push, Chaos documents a unified installer called Chaos Installer. It installs all purchased products at their latest versions, and it is currently available only for Windows.

During installation, the installer supports two licensing models: Cloud Licensing and a License Server. Cloud Licensing relies on signing in with a Chaos account and using products from any location with an internet connection. The License Server supports centralized network setups and typically requires being on the same local network or connecting through a VPN. If you have ever had to install three different renderers, three license components, and then explain it all to IT, the idea is clear, even before you try it.

Corona 15 leans into animation and review loops

Corona 15 brings a mix of AI, shading, animation, and collaboration updates. On the rendering side, Corona 15 adds a Glints layer in the Physical Material. It also adds behavior where Gaussian splats can interact with GI bounces, letting splats bounce global illumination light onto 3D models.

A unique light override material enables different looks under specific light sources. Corona for Cinema 4D gets initial support for rendering native Cinema 4D particles, described as an early foundation.

On the animation side, Corona for 3ds Max adds faster animation parsing by updating only what changes between frames instead of re-parsing the entire scene each time. Corona also adds Video Collaboration support in Chaos Cloud Collaboration, and it introduces 3D Streaming and 3D walkthroughs via shareable links that viewers can open on any device with no software installation.

New tools and shiny integrations still need a proper test pass before you trust them in production, especially when credits, licensing, the rabid bookkeeping department and AI output variability (e.a, Halluzinations) sit in the same critical path.

https://www.chaos.com/vray

The post Chaos puts Veras everywhere first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: DroneSiteBuilder is a script for Autodesk 3ds Max that reads drone photo metadata to assemble terrain, map context, and matched cameras, bundling GeoBuild and CameraMatch and supporting handoff to Blender, SketchUp, and Autodesk Maya.

What DroneSiteBuilder is trying to fix

DroneSiteBuilder Enterprise turns a folder of drone photos into a full site context scene inside the 3ds Max ecosystem: terrain, aerial drape, buildings, roads, land cover features, points of interest, and one matched camera per photo.

The pipeline reads XMP metadata per image and uses it to place helpers at ground level and flight altitude, then creates a renderer-aware camera per photo and refines orientation using vanishing point detection. The tool targets 3ds Max 2020 or newer on Windows and uses Python 3.9 through 3.12 with NumPy and OpenCV, plus optional modules for the Google path.

First use, abbreviated

Install a standalone Python build and make sure Add Python to PATH is enabled during install, because the tool does not rely on the 3ds Max built-in Python. Place DroneSiteBuilder_Enterprise.ms and vp_detector.py in the same folder and do not install under Program Files, since Windows blocks writes there.

Launch 3ds Max and load the script via drag-and-drop into a viewport or via Scripting > Run Script. Paste your licence key into the activation dialogue and activate, with support for an Enterprise key format and existing CameraMatch Studio keys. After activation the key caches locally for thirty days and the rollout opens.

For the first build, keep original DNG or JPEG drone files in a single folder, keep filenames ending in digits, and keep an internet connection available for the auto fetch steps. Pick a terrain DEM source, keep NOAA GEOID18 enabled for continental US sites and disabled outside the US, then run Process Folder of Drone Photos and accept the summary dialogue. Inspect the result by comparing a matched camera view against the source photo.

The new checkbox: Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles

Enterprise v1.2 adds an opt in mode that fetches Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles and imports them into 3ds Max as a single merged glb, covering the photo bounding box. The intention is simple: pull a photogrammetric backdrop mesh with terrain, textures, and buildings baked into one continuous model, using the same dataset shown in Google Earth.

The Google path requires a Google Maps Platform project with billing enabled and the Map Tiles API enabled, plus a saved API key in the rollout. The manual describes 1,000 root tileset requests per month free and a per 1,000 price after that, with one DroneSiteBuilder run treated as one root tileset request. If the fetch fails, the tool reports common causes like missing API enablement, low coverage, EEA billed accounts being blocked for this endpoint, missing Python modules, and older 3ds Max builds needing a glTF importer.

This is also where the gaudrrails get real: the Google import produces mesh only content with baked textures, so you do not get separate terrain, buildings, roads, and features objects to isolate, re material, or hide by category.

The standard path is still the controllable one

If you leave the Google option off, the pipeline builds a layered context using public services. Terrain comes from USGS 3DEP in the US or OpenTopography worldwide, aerial imagery comes from Esri World Imagery as a single bounding box JPEG, and vector context comes from OpenStreetMap via Overpass.

The scene builds under a single root helper so you can move, rotate, or scale the entire site as one unit, while cameras intentionally sit outside that parent chain to support camera transplant between scenes. If buildings and roads fail to appear on a run, the manual provides a manual Overpass refetch button that rebuilds buildings, roads, and land features without disturbing terrain, drape, helpers, or cameras.

OpenStreetMap accuracy varies by location and that the resulting geometry accuracy for this context layer sits in the one to six meter range. It contrasts that with paid city model providers such as AccuCities when millimeter level detail matters.

Export and handoff from 3ds Max

DroneSiteBuilder does not change how 3ds Max exports, but it does influence what you export. The standard path creates distinct terrain, buildings, roads, and feature objects you can selectively include in deliverables, while the Google path imports a tile based mesh group that is already baked.

For broad DCC and engine handoffs, 3ds Max includes a built in exporter for glTF and supports export workflows for USD, with export options available through File export and USD and USDZ format selection when the USD tooling is installed. For USD pipelines, the official OpenUSD plugin for 3ds Max is published on GitHub, and Autodesk documentation describes supported USD content types including meshes and cameras.

If your downstream is realtime, glTF targets web and interactive use cases, and you can also push common interchange paths like FBX into engines such as Unity and Epic Unreal Engine, depending on your studio conventions. For camera and layout continuity between scenes, the bundle includes a camera transplant workflow that exports camera data to JSON and recreates it with full precision in another scene.

Practical reality check

This toolkit aims to comperss a traditional drone to 3D context workflow into a short unattended run. The promise stands or falls on your input photos keeping XMP metadata intact, on your site area having decent public map coverage, and on you verifying the result against the plate before trusting it.

We don’t know the price yet, but if you already own the camera match tool in the Studio version, you get it for free, apparently. Quoting: Existing CameraMatch Studio licence keys activate the full DroneSiteBuilder bundle. Studio holders do not pay twice. 

Try both context modes on a test job: the standard layered build when you need controllable components and re-lighting freedom, the Google mesh mode when you need a fast photogrammetry backdrop and can live with mesh-only content and licensing constraints.

https://jamiecardoso-mentalray.blogspot.com/2026/03/dronesitebuilder-enterprise-v12-one.html

https://jamiecardoso.gumroad.com/

The post DroneSiteBuilder adds Google 3D Tiles option first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: V-Ray runs inside SketchUp, Rhino, and 3ds Max. Update 3 pulls real-time from Vantage, feeds assets from Cosmos, and pushes approvals through Cloud, with traffic extras via Anima.

Real time, now without the app hopping

Chaos released V-Ray 7 Update 3 for SketchUp, Rhino, and 3ds Max. Update 3 adds real-time rendering directly in the V-Ray viewport through a Vantage Viewport Live Link workflow. The goal sits squarely on convenience: keep modeling, keep assigning materials, keep nudging lights, and see the result update instantly.

The live viewport workflow supports continuous scene edits. Walls, columns, material tweaks, and object selections update in real time. Assets dropped in from Cosmos appear immediately as high-quality models, including people, vegetation, and props.

Lighting edits also happen inside the viewport workflow. Cosmos light fixtures with built-in light sources work in this mode, and V-Ray lights can be placed and adjusted interactively, including intensity adjustments while the real-time view stays active.

The real-time viewport mode supports large scenes. Vantage can handle millions of polygons with no noticeable lag in the described workflow, and it uses full ray tracing, without rasterization or approximation in that workflow description.

The real-time viewport workflow includes camera and look controls for composition and presentation. It supports adjusting the sun and adding effects including lens flares, photometrics, fog, and depth of field, while staying inside the host application viewport.

Parallax interiors go native, and finally leave OSL behind

Parallax interiors in Update 3 target a familiar archviz cheat: add convincing depth behind windows without modeling full rooms. Update 3 adds a native parallax texture map that works across integrations and also works in Vantage. This matters for integrations that do not expose Open Shading Language, where older OSL-based approaches were less usable.

Cosmos includes parallax interior shaders designed for drag-and-drop use behind windows. The shaders maintain depth and perspective from any camera angle and support variation controls to avoid obvious repetition across facades.

Quick caustics and Gaussian splats get more practical

Quick Caustics in Update 3 bring sunlight caustics through water, a common request for pools, lakes, and other outdoor scenes. V-Ray includes a general caustics engine, and the update adds a specific option intended to quickly approximate caustics caused by sunlight going through water surfaces. The workflow is enabling Quick Caustics in the material and lighting with V-Ray Sun so caustics appear immediately.

The current Quick Caustics behavior works best with displaced surfaces. It works with the built-in V-Ray water texture in SketchUp and Rhino, and it also supports other displacement textures. A depth parameter controls how far the caustics effect reaches. Reflective caustics can be enabled for shimmering patterns, and the caustics render element can be isolated for easier adjustment after the render.

Gaussian Splats Relighting allows Gaussian splats to receive illumination from scene lights so they blend more naturally with the rest of the scene. A dedicated parameter controls how the lighting blend behaves, and V-Ray lights can be used with their full parameters in this workflow.

Node materials arrive, scatter gets a brush, decals get distributed

Update 3 adds a node-based material editor for V-Ray for SketchUp and V-Ray for Rhino in preview. The node editor supports creating, picking, and editing materials and textures in a visual graph. Cosmos assets can be dragged directly into the graph. Texture nodes can be added and combined, maps can be mixed, and materials can be combined visually. Material types including blend, two-sided, overrdie, and wrapper appear as nodes.

V-Ray 7.3 also adds a scatter brush workflow in V-Ray for SketchUp and V-Ray for Rhino. Objects can be scattered using a paintbrush approach for precise distribution of plants and similar objects. The workflow supports building a base layer and painting additional clusters, following predefined lines from plans or painting freely. Density can be adjusted via brush radius, and unwanted areas can be painted out. The workflow also supports shaping vegetation placement to match camera angles for composition.

AI Mood Match and AI Enhancer focus on faster look decisions

AI Mood Match expands the Light Gen workflow for V-Ray for SketchUp and V-Ray for Rhino. It adjusts environment lighting to match a visual reference instead of trial-and-error tweaks. The workflow describes uploading a reference image, generating multiple lighting scenarios, browsing results, choosing one, and applying it with a click, then refining lighting further as needed.

AI Enhancer adds improved accuracy and object-level control. The described workflow includes detecting characters, vegetation, and large surfaces after upload, then enhancing selected elements without affecting the rest of the image.

For people, the controls include parameters such as age, gender, ethnicity, hair color, and facial expression, with results applied as an enhancement. A creativity mode adds refinement while preserving the original look. Multiple selections can be enhanced at once, enhanced objects appear in an object enhancement list, and results can be saved as a new version.

Large Surface Coverage targets fast breakup of flat or repetitive surfaces. Controls include creativity to add intrical detail and an age option intended to introduce natural weathering, including stains, micro-cracks, and subtle color variation.

AI Materials now support 4K generation and higher-resolution maps. The described workflow includes a redesigned interface and an interactive 3D preview that can switch between sphere, box, and cylinder models, plus lighting direction adjustments and normal and roughness tweaks with instant updates.

Frame Buffer tweaks and per-camera controls in 3ds Max

V-Ray for 3ds Max adds Physical Camera tools intended to make scene variations and view management easier. Objects can be excluded from visibility per camera without affecting the rest of the scene. Focus can be set to object mode by picking an object to remain in focus, keeping it sharp regardless of camera target position, which changes depth of field control behavior.

Update 3 also improves the V-Ray Frame Buffer. A new histogram widget provides insight into color distribution and exposure. Background and foreground folders support reference images, watermarks, and backgrounds. Scaling and positioning tools improve alignment, and effects apply consistently to added elements in this workflow description.

Cloud reviews, video notes, and 3D streaming annotation

Cloud Reviews adds a review hub for sharing work with teams and clients. Reviews can be started from the render engine or created in a review tab workflow. Renders can be uploaded and stakeholders invited. Stakeholders can explore images or 360-degree experiences and leave comments directly on elements that need adjustment. Project status can be updated, new versions uploaded, and an approvers list used to finalize the design.

Video collaboration adds timeline-based commenting. Comments can be pinned to an exact second or a time span, and comments can be repositioned. Annotation tools include markers such as drawing, line, and rectangle tools for pointing out specific areas. Comments can fade out automatically after their time span for a cleaner preview.

3D streaming in the same ecosystem allows real-time navigation once a scene is uploaded. The workflow includes switching cameras and adjusting lighting dynamically, sharing a 3D stream for interactive exploration, and adding annotations. Comments save automatically, and annotations can include attached images or links for context. If your review chain includes external stakeholders, run a dry test early to catch permission and browser issues before a deadline catches you. Or you have an audience, when you try to remember your password.

Have a look at the tools here: Chaos Cloud Reviews documentation
https://documentation.chaos.com/space/VCLOUD/521797640/Reviews

Anima 6: parking lots and smarter vehicle lighting

Anima 6 adds tools aimed at faster traffic population and more believable vehicle behavior. A parking lot feature lets users define parking zones and fill them with vehicles. Zones can be resized, orientations adjusted, density changed, vehicles added or removed, and layouts regenerated.

Anima 6 also adds automatic vehicle lighting for traffic simulation. Brake lights activate when stopping and turn signals engage when changing direction. A road staying tendency parameter controls whether vehicles continue straight or take available turns. If you want to show somebody how they should be driving their bloody SUVs, Anima will help make it look like it should, not like the BMW drivers do mostly behave.

Cosmos sets and new assets

Cosmos adds Sets, described as curated groups of assets that can be placed as a set and then rearranged or duplicated as needed.

Update 3 adds over 700 new assets, including 400 high-detailed plant models from Globe Plants, plus additional branded models. Cosmos also includes new models from Evermotion, new people assets, and additional scatter presets and scan material range in the described workflow.

Pricing and availability

Update 3 releases first for V-Ray for SketchUp and V-Ray for Rhino. Real-time rendering in the V-Ray viewport requires an active Vantage license or an active V-Ray Collection license.

New features can shift habits fast. Test Update 3 on real scenes, real assets, and your actual hardware before it enters a production .

https://www.chaos.com/vray

The post Chaos V-Ray 7 Update 3 goes real time first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: Vantage is a real-time ray tracing renderer that can sit beside Enscape and slot into USD and MaterialX heavy pipelines when you want fast lookdev without a nap.

Chaos Vantage 3 update 2 comes with a focus on practical scene-side control: new post looks, more object shapes, deeper simulation tweaks, and workflow glue that keeps artists in the viewport longer.

The headline addition is a Toon post effect. It adds a stylized look as a post step, which means you can push a non-photoreal pass without rebuilding materials or rerouting a full shading graph. The feature is presented as a post effect, so it lives where you would expect to audition looks quickly, then iterate.

Water got attention too. The Water surface object now supports Circle, Infinite, and Custom shapes, making it easier to fit a surface to a set or shot without faking scale. The watre surface animation can also be previewed in real time, and Wind picked up an Affect water option in the Environment tab to toggle that preview on or off.

VR workflows also moved forward. There is support for VR joysticks teleportation and object manipulation, aimed at navigating and adjusting scenes more directly inside a headset. If your review culture leans on immersive approvals, this is the kind of change that reduces mouse time and increases useful gestures. If your review culture leans on never touching a headset, nothing breaks.

Splats and smoke get more production-like controls

Gaussian splats gained explicit support for creating and importing Gaussian splats objects, and those objects now have editable properties. That makes splats feel less like a read-only curiosity and more like a scene element you can actually manage.

The Fluid simulator object also expanded in ways that map cleanly to shot polish. Smoke expansion and Temperature expansion properties were added, giving more control over how sims evolve. The simulator can now export OpenVDB cache files, which matters because it turns an internal sim result into something you can hand off, archive, or try elsewhere.

On the quality side, micro vorticity generation and detail improved, and the default pivot moved to the bottom center of the grid container. These are the sorts of adjustments that make an effect feel less like a demo and more like a tool you can steer.

There is also a performance angle. Multi GPU performance improved, and the fluid simulator performance improved. A temporary memory usage spike was removed when changing resolution with NVIDIA DLSS.

UI changes that reduce scavenger hunts

Update 2 added a new Create Objects button in the toolbar that centralizes all available object creation in one place. The Scale type-in dialog gained an object size in scene units property, which helps when you need a known dimension and do not want to eyeball a gizmo. Background Image in Screen mode can now be offset on X and Y, and first person navigation gained an option to move along the camera view direction instead of horizontally. That navigation option is a global preference set in Edit then Preferences then Interaction, which is a very specific breadcrumb trail, but at least it is now a breadcrumb trail that goes somewhere. Creation behavior also improved in a small but meaningful way: creating a fluid simulator object now automatically sets selected objects as emitters.

Enscape 4.17.0 quietly patches the sharp edges

Enscape 4.17.0 shipped with a mix of performance and workflow changes, plus a long list of targeted bug fixes. On the improvements side, NVIDIA DLSS was updated to version 310.5 with bug fixes and stability improvements. Light clustering behavior improved in orthographic view so lights group and separate more predictably while zooming and navigating. The Visual Settings Presets panel now starts expanded by default.

For Archicad, all-user installation support improved by registering Enscape in the AddOns folder. On Windows, users created after installation will also have it installed.

There are also fixes for clearcoat handling in light reflections, a sky that can appear pixelated in video previews and exports, and Billboard geometry disappearing when the camera gets very close. Asset Library placement performance improved in older placement modes. The Material Editor feedback button for the AI Material Generator was fixed. The V-Ray Scene Export path was addressed too: large scene files caused by duplicating geometry of asset instances, plus a case where Scene Export could crash.

Batch Rendering got a crash fix when canceling while Light Management is active. Enscape Impact fixes address energy performance results display when reopening after a successful analysis run, and invalid Impact Report data in imperial units.

Pricing and where this lands on your budget spreadsheet

Pricing for Vantage is specified as $54.90 per month for Vantage Standalone when billed annually, shown as $658.80 for one license billed annually.

Pricing for Enscape is specified as $47.90 per month for an Enscape Solo plan when billed annually, shown as $574.80 for one license billed annually.

Both sets of numbers are the kind that make producers ask whether you can do it with screenshots. You can, but you will not like it.

https://forums.chaos.com/forum/chaos-vantage/chaos-vantage-announcements/1245724-chaos-vantage-v3-2-0-released

https://forum.enscape3d.com/index.php?thread%2F31054-enscape-4-17-0-released%2F=

The post Chaos Vantage 3 update 2 adds Toon first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: D5 Works is a new marketplace from Dimension 5 built to feed D5 Render through D5 Launcher, with creators also uploading from DCCs like SketchUp and 3ds Max.

Inventory: the numbers D5 leads with

On its storefront UI, D5 Works currently advertises “3D Models 42K” and “Materials 2.2K”. Those are live catalogue counters, not a published audit, but they are the platform’s headline spec. And for a start, just under 45,000 assets, including environments, interiors, furniture, plants, humans, animals, and vehicles is not bad – especially if you can actually find them (He said while looking sad at his own unsorted heaping drive of ious footage and assets).

Zero commission, not zero deductions

D5’s documentation includes a “0% Commission” page stating it does not take commission on sales and aims to return value to creators via the platform design. The more mechanical wording in the creator rules states that proceeds are the full net sales amount, calculated as what the user actually paid after discounts, coupons, or membership pricing adjustments, and are subject to deductions for bank transaction fees and other applicable charges. So the platform claims no cut, but the payout base can be reduced by pricing mechanics and payment rail fees.

Those same rules set a $100 minimum before withdrawals can be processed and describe enforcement actions, including deductions or restricted withdrawal eligibility, for listed violations like model theft, unauthorised re-creation, multiple accounts per user, or bots. Dimension 5 says 0% commission will remain “at least in the foreseeable future”. That is a forward-looking statement, not a contractual guarantee in the sources supplied here.

Formats: D5A models, D5M materials, Windows-first hooks

D5 Works documentation defines D5-native delivery as .d5a for models and .d5m for materials, described as the official formats supported by D5 Render and D5 Lite. Creator-side conversion is described as: import a model into D5 Render, then use “Add to Local” in the Inspector to convert it into .d5a, saved under ‘D5 WorkSpace\model’. It is a very literal pipeline: your asset becomes D5-shaped and lands in a predictable folder.

Buyer-side behaviour splits between creator uploads and “D5 official assets”. The docs say creator-uploaded D5-format assets can be downloaded in a browser and imported into D5, while official assets expose a “Use in D5” route and appear in the D5 Material Library.

The “From Works To D5” doc states the full integration is intended for Windows and D5 Render versions greater than 2.11, and describes “Use in D5” deep-linking that can start a material download if it is not already local. Dimension 5’s own blog post claims drag-and-drop into SketchUp or D5 Render and automatic background conversion via D5 Launcher. It describes the intended behaviour but does not publish interchange guarantees for units, material translation, or conversion fidelity. Not independently verified at press time.

Licensing and availability: archive like an adult

D5 Works’ licence summary describes two options: Personal License for non-commercial use, and Project License for commercial work and client deliverables, with restrictions on reselling source files, redistribution where the asset is the primary value, sublicensing, and seat sharing. It also states the creator is the licensor and D5 Works is not a party to the licence agreement.

One operational note is blunt: if an item is removed due to copyright issues, it will no longer be available for download, and users are told to save and back up purchased items locally. If you want deterministic rebuilds, treat downloads as ingest, not a permalink.

// D5 Works storefront
https://www.d5works.com/

// D5 Works download guide
https://d5-render.gitbook.io/d5-works/buy-assets-on-works/download-assets-from-works

// Dimension 5 blog post about D5 Works
https://www.d5render.com/posts/d5-works-aec-3d-models

The post D5 Works launches with 42K models and no comission ? first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: D5 Render from Dimension 5 is a realtime rendering engine used across architecture, design, and visualisation pipelines. It connects with 3ds Max, Blender, Cinema 4D, Revit, Rhino, SketchUp, ArchiCAD, and Vectorworks via direct sync plugins.

Oceans, clouds, and skies

Version 3.0 introduces two major environment tools: an Ocean object for animated water surfaces and a Volumetric Clouds system with multiple presets such as cumulus and cirrus. The ocean object allows control of wave scale, wind speed, and interaction near shorelines.

Volumetric clouds integrate with improved fog and light scattering options for more natural outdoor illumination. Enhancements to the existing Geo Sky model provide finer control over sky intensity and sun balance, improving consistency between time-of-day setups.

Rendering and material control

A new True Displacement option replaces parallax mapping with physically accurate surface relief. The trade-off is a higher render cost, but it yields more convincing depth in materials such as stone or concrete. Additional material updates include CMYK texture support and a toggle for HDRI resolution, allowing lighter scene loads when full 16K environment maps are unnecessary. Users can now also set a custom viewport background colour, aiding previs or presentation renders that do not require a full environment.

AI generation expands inside D5

Dimension 5 continues its exploration of integrated AI tools. The new Image-to-3D feature creates simple 3D models from one to three reference photos, processed directly inside D5. In the AI Agent suite, Scene Match allows textual adjustment of scene elements, while Asset Recommendation searches the asset library based on descriptive keywords or reference images. At press time, these AI tools remain early implementations, and output quality varies depending on subject complexity.

Experiments with Gaussian splats

D5 Render 3.0 introduces experimental import of Gaussian splats, a point-based 3D representation format derived from neural rendering research. The implementation is explicitly labelled experimental, and Dimension 5 advises users to expect incomplete material or lighting behaviour.

Workflow refinements and licensing

Navigation within scenes has been overhauled with a free-camera mode and refined controls. Several features previously restricted to Teams subscribers, such as Caesium geographic data and XR Tours, are now available in the Pro tier. The procedural city generator is also promoted from Teams to Pro.

D5 Render continues to be offered in three tiers: a Community edition that remains free, plus paid Pro and Teams subscriptions.

D5 Lite: a lightweight sibling

Alongside the main update, Dimension 5 announced D5 Lite, a compact edition designed for early-stage design work, initially integrated with SketchUp. D5 Lite runs in two modes: Real-Time Rendering for viewport previews and AI Generation for cloud-based image synthesis from screenshots. Future versions of D5 Lite are planned for 3ds Max, Revit, and Rhino, though no release schedule has been released.

Compatibility and system support

D5 Render 3.0 supports Windows 10 and later. The recommended GPU baseline is an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, AMD Radeon RX 6400 XT, or Intel Arc A3 series. Integration plugins remain available for all major DCC and CAD tools. As with any major rendering update, users are advised to test D5 Render 3.0 and its AI features on non-critical projects before integrating them into live production.

The post Ocean, clouds, and splats: D5 Render 3.0 sets sail first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

TL;DR: Trimble ships SketchUp 2026.0 with a new in-app Collaboration Bar that lets you share via private invites or a public link, collect 3D-anchored comments, and sync views in real time. Visualisation gets AO distance and colour, invert roughness, and user-selectable material thumbnails on Windows. Performance improves across memory, selections, scene transitions, zoom extents, and purging. Live Components gain scale-by-inference grips and saner painting. Modelling and UI see multiple quality-of-life upgrades. You can reset activations inside the app. DWG and IFC pipelines are tidier. Studio users get Texture Projection and Surface Mesh for point clouds. LayOut on Windows adopts a SketchUp-like UI, picks up Trim, Extend, Fillet, Chamfer, and improves DWG handling and Scrapbooks.

Collaboration in Desktop: invites, public links, live cursors, 3D comments

The new Collaboration Bar shares your model to Trimble Connect, then distributes either private invites with permissions (Owner, View Scenes, Comment) or a public link with adjustable access (No Access, View Scenes, View Model). Viewers open the model in a browser, see others’ cursors, navigate and measure when allowed, and leave threaded comments pinned with 3D markers that can be associated with scenes and camera states. You can pull everyone to your current view or jump to a viewer’s avatar to mirror their POV. Real-time updates are on by default.

Visualisation: AO distance & colour, invert roughness, pick your material thumbnail

Ambient Occlusion gets a Distance Multiplier so occlusion remains readable when zoomed out and a colour swatch to move AO away from neutral grey for clearer depth cues. Materials add an Invert Roughness toggle to flip PBR roughness maps quickly. On Windows you can choose Cube or Flat material thumbnails per asset, or let Auto decide.

Performance: lower memory, snappier selections, faster scenes and zoom

Model loading produces smaller memory spikes, component overhead is reduced, and graphics resource handling on Windows is more efficient. Day to day that means fewer freezes on large models and more fluid interactions. Internal benchmarks cite big gains for scene transitions, Zoom Extents, and Purge Unused, plus faster selections and inferences; exact results will vary by hardware and dataset.

Live Components: scale grips by inference; saner painting

The Scale tool now exposes inference-aware grips for Live Components, making placement and sizing more predictable than nudging bounding boxes. The Paint Bucket can apply custom materials outside a component’s predefined options, with better texture mapping and library compatibility. Not every existing Live Component has scale grips yet, but more are being added.

Modelling & UI QoL: rotate handle logic, see-through scale grips, profile-edge placement, scene undo/redo

Scale grips render through occluding geometry so you can grab the correct handle without enabling X-Ray. Rotation grips hide when you lock a rotation plane to prevent unintended moves. When placing groups or components, you can move from a profile edge so the object turns transparent and background targets remain visible. Scenes now support Undo/Redo, including create/rename/delete. Purge Unused defaults to off; it gains granular controls and a menu command you can bind to a shortcut. On Windows, panels and trays are easier to manage: right-click headers to toggle visibility, drag panels between trays, or tear them off into their own tray.

Activations: fix “too many devices” without leaving the app

If you exceed allowed activations, you can reset all activations and authorise the current device directly in SketchUp rather than detouring to account management.

Interoperability: DWG import options; real hatch import; 3D section export; cleaner polylines; unified IFC exporter

DWG import adds Import Layers as Groups to map DWG layers to grouped geometry with tags for visibility control, and Import Linework Flattened to force Z=0 for 2D CAD, minimising cleanup. Hatches import as faces or edges, depending on type. Export preserves section planes in 3D DWG for downstream section workflows. Other updates include welded polylines on import, better true-curve export, and fewer duplicate instance/definition name collisions. IFC export consolidates 2×3 and 4 into one file type with a new Export Options dialog and a Standard IFC Spatial Hierarchy toggle to scaffold IfcProject/IfcSite/IfcBuilding even if your Outliner is sparse.

Scan Essentials (Studio): Texture Projection, Surface Mesh, scene-aware visibility, reset to georeferenced origin

Studio subscribers get Texture Projection to bake imagery from scans onto SketchUp geometry as reusable materials and Surface Mesh to extract meshes from point clouds with guided parameters. Point-cloud visibility can be stored per scene in SketchUp and LayOut. You can also reset transformations to the original georeferenced coordinates on export.

LayOut (Windows): UI refresh, true drafting tools, stronger DWG pipeline, better Scrapbooks

LayOut on Windows adopts SketchUp-style trays and panels, plus more flexible toolbars. Vector and hybrid viewport generation is faster. Four drafting tools land—Trim, Extend, Fillet, and Chamfer—mapped to Shift+T/E/F/C, reducing selection overhead and cleanup clicks on typical 2D tasks. DWG export can split each page to its own DWG, preserves SketchUp Tag names as DWG layers, and correctly stacks coincident viewports in model space; text, hatches, and tables round-trip more faithfully. Default Scrapbooks gain an Architecture set—doors, windows, living, bedroom, kitchen, bath—as scalable groups.

Bug fixes (selected): stability, materials, components, graphics engine quirks

Expect fewer crashes when editing Live Components or importing large images under the new graphics engine, corrupt normal maps no longer block loads, and file associations prefer the latest version. Selection performance on complex models improves. Numerous Windows and macOS UI inconsistencies are resolved, including materials panel behaviour, tag colour previews, scene tab selection, file thumbnails, Environments downloads, and various DWG importer/exporter issues.

API & developer notes: scenes are now undoable; non-invertible transforms rejected; IFC exporter updated

Scene operations are now undoable. Extension authors must wrap scene edits in Model#start_operation and #commit_operation or risk flooding the undo stack and Extension Warehouse rejection. Non-invertible transforms—like scale-to-zero—are rejected for component instances, groups, and images in both Ruby and C APIs. The Ruby API moves to a unified IFC exporter with options for version and hierarchy; there are new accessors for active section planes, safer page naming, style add/remove returns, and assorted fixes. LayOut’s APIs add linear dimension alignment, leader-line visibility, text strikethrough, attribute dictionaries, and camera/viewport override control. Test any extension that touches scenes, transforms, or exporters.

Upgrade guidance

If your day involves DWG/IFC exchange, LayOut deliverables, or frequent client review, the upgrade pays off immediately. Extension authors should validate scene logic due to undo changes. On macOS, note that cube material thumbnails are Windows-only. Pilot on a single machine, test your critical extensions, then roll out.

The post SketchUp 2026.0 first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Jürgen Firsching.

Lumion 2025 introduces an AI-based image upscaling system designed for users with less powerful GPUs. By rendering at half the target resolution and then using AI techniques performed locally on the CPU, users can produce high-resolution images, including 8K ray-traced renders, even on lower-end machines. This feature is currently in beta and may result in a loss of detail in fine textures. Additionally, it does not upscale other rendered outputs like depth, specular, and material ID maps.

Enhanced Ray-Traced Water and Fog

Building upon its hybrid ray tracing system, Lumion 2025 extends support to water and fog materials. The Water Material now supports ray tracing, allowing water surfaces to appear in reflections alongside other ray-traced materials. Furthermore, the update introduces ray-traced volumetrics for effects like environment fog, which can be illuminated by emissive materials, volumetric lights, and volumetric sunlight, and can interact with volumetric clouds. These features are still in beta and are described as resource-intensive, with some known limitations.

Expanded Asset Library

Lumion 2025 enriches its asset library with 200 new objects, including 68 new nature assets and 14 new materials. Among these are seven high-detail photogrammetric trees, enhancing the realism of landscape visualizations.

Licensing and Pricing Updates

Lumion has restructured its licensing options with the release of Lumion 2025. The previous Standard subscription, priced at $749/year, has been discontinued. The Pro subscription now costs $999 per Year, and has shifted from floating licenses to named-user licenses. Additionally, a new Studio subscription is available at $1,299/year, which includes a floating license of Lumion Pro and a named-user license of Lumion View, Lumion’s new SketchUp plugin.

Lumion View: Real-Time Visualization Within SketchUp

Lumion View, previously in Early Access, is now available to all SketchUp users. This lightweight plugin offers real-time ray-traced visualization directly within SketchUp, allowing for immediate visual feedback during the design process. Features include customizable lighting, styles, and enhanced material controls. Lumion View supports real-time model synchronization, camera controls with standard views and orthographic options, and navigation shortcuts for efficient workflow. Lighting controls encompass sun and environment settings, as well as artificial lighting with support for spotlights, point lights, area lights, and line lights. The material panel offers additional properties such as emissiveness, glass reflectivity with volumetric options, and water materials with adjustable wave settings. Conceptual styles like clay, wood, styrofoam, and glossy finishes are also available for design exploration. (Lumion View 2025.0 Release Notes – Lumion – User Support, Lumion 2024: Real-Time Ray Tracing & Accelerated Rendering)

For more information visit the Lumion website.

The post Lumion 2025: Rendering Realism Gets a Ray-Traced Makeover first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

In the world of architectural visualization, the quest for seamless integration between design and rendering tools has taken a significant leap forward. Lumion has unveiled Lumion View, a real-time visualization plugin that embeds directly into SketchUp, allowing architects and designers to generate photorealistic 4K renders without ever leaving their modeling environment. This development promises to streamline workflows and enhance the creative process during the early stages of design.

A Fusion of Design and Visualization

Traditionally, transitioning from modeling to rendering involved exporting models from SketchUp into external applications, a process often fraught with compatibility issues and time-consuming adjustments. Lumion View eliminates these hurdles by integrating rendering capabilities directly within SketchUp. This integration enables designers to visualize their projects in real-time, facilitating immediate feedback and more informed design decisions. As Lumion describes it, Lumion View is a “lightweight and lightning-fast” companion designed to keep pace with the rapid iterations inherent in early-stage design.

Key Features of Lumion View

• Real-Time Visualization: Experience your SketchUp models with photorealistic clarity as you design, allowing for instantaneous exploration and refinement of ideas.
• 4K Rendering: Quickly produce high-resolution renders up to 4K, enabling detailed presentations and effective communication of design progress to clients and team members.
• Integrated Workflow: By embedding directly into SketchUp, Lumion View ensures a seamless workflow, reducing the need for model exports and imports, and keeping the focus on creativity.
• Effortless Diagrams and Conceptual Visualizations: Generate diagrams and conceptual visuals on-the-fly, perfect for massing studies and spatial layout explorations during the initial phases of design.
• Instant Feedback with Intuitive Tools: The plugin provides immediate visual feedback with user-friendly controls, allowing designers to focus on refining their concepts without technical distractions.

Early Access and Availability

Lumion View is currently available in early access and is free for all Lumion Pro subscribers. To access the plugin:

1. Download: Log into your Lumion Account to download Lumion View for SketchUp. Download Link
2. Team Collaboration: For each Lumion Pro seat, you can invite up to 10 team members to use Lumion View at no additional cost until October 31, 2025, fostering collaborative design exploration within teams.

For those not currently subscribed to Lumion Pro or using SketchUp, Lumion offers a waitlist to notify interested users when Lumion View becomes broadly available.

System Requirements and Compatibility

To ensure optimal performance, Lumion View requires:

• Operating System: Windows 10 or 11 with the latest updates.
• Hardware: A ray tracing-capable graphics card to support real-time rendering capabilities. System Requirements

Currently, Lumion View is available for SketchUp, with plans to support additional CAD software in the future. Designers using other platforms are encouraged to join the waitlist to receive updates on compatibility expansions.

Lumion View vs. Lumion Pro

While Lumion View brings real-time visualization into the SketchUp environment, it’s designed to complement, not replace, Lumion Pro. Lumion View excels in early-stage design exploration, offering speed and flexibility for conceptual development. In contrast, Lumion Pro provides advanced rendering capabilities, full creative control over context, realism, effects, and final output, making it ideal for detailed presentations and immersive animations. Together, they create a cohesive workflow from concept to final visualization. For more detailed information and to access Lumion View, visit the official Lumion website.

The post Lumion View: Real-Time Rendering Now Inside SketchUp first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Trimble has released SketchUp 2025, introducing real-time photorealistic materials that dynamically react to lighting conditions. These materials feature physically based reflectivity, transparency, and roughness, allowing users to preview real-world material behavior without requiring an external renderer. The update affects all SketchUp editions, including Desktop, Web, and iPad.

Environment Lighting with HDRI and EXR

Lighting simulation has also improved: SketchUp now supports 360-degree HDRI and EXR images as light sources. Instead of relying on generic ambient lighting, users can import high-dynamic-range images to simulate realistic environmental lighting, enhancing material realism. The feature is available across the SketchUp ecosystem, including LayOut.

Ambient Occlusion for More Depth

Another key addition is ambient occlusion, a shading technique that increases depth perception by simulating how light interacts with corners and edges. Even when no materials are applied, ambient occlusion improves model clarity, making it easier to interpret spatial relationships in architectural and industrial designs.

Expanded Interoperability and File Support

SketchUp 2025 further refines Revit and IFC file integration, allowing for more predictable IFC roundtrips and enhanced control over which Revit elements are imported. The update also improves USD and glTF export, now with support for photorealistic materials. This makes SketchUp more compatible with visualization pipelines that use real-time engines like Unreal Engine and Unity.

Updated 3D Warehouse and LayOut Workflow

3D Warehouse has been expanded with curated photoreal materials, environments, and configurable 3D assets, reducing the need to create assets from scratch. Meanwhile, LayOut’s UX has been updated to improve consistency with SketchUp’s interface, providing a smoother document creation experience.

Pricing and Availability

SketchUp 2025 is compatible with Windows 10+ and macOS 12.0+. It is available as a subscription-based service:

• SketchUp Go (browser + iPad) – $119/year
• SketchUp Pro (desktop + LayOut) – $349/year
• SketchUp Studio (full suite) – $749/year
• SketchUp Free (web-based, feature-limited) – Free

Final Thoughts

SketchUp 2025 delivers a noticeable leap in visual realism and interoperability. While it doesn’t replace dedicated render engines, the real-time material and lighting previews provide faster, more informed design decisions. As always, test these new features thoroughly before integrating them into your workflow.

The post SketchUp 2025: Better Visuals, Smoother Workflows first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.