LightUp v2.0 sneak peek (part 2)

v2.0 is a new major release of LightUp that has some great new features that really accelerate the workflow of using SketchUp and LightUp to produce high quality content; there are also many fixes and improvement to existing functionality.

LightUp v2.0 sets the foundations for moving more and more of the lighting calculation onto the powerful GPUs that are now generally available on commodity PCs - as well as refining the features it offers to better serve LightUp power users. Retail customers can buy an upgrade from 1.x to 2.0.

Below are a few more of the new features of LightUp v2.0.

Custom watermarks in LightUp Player files

LightUp allows you to quickly and simply rig lighting in your SketchUp models all from within SketchUp. You can then switch to a realtime Touring mode to navigate your lit models in realtime. LightUp can export to a single file containing lighting that can given to others to play in a standalone Player thats available for Windows and Macintosh.

A new feature for this release is the ability to optionally add your own custom embedded logo which will show on screen when others play your content.

Physical Sky

LightUp supports regular skybox backdrops as well as importing HDR panoramas which can be used not only as a visual backdrop but also as a source of light - so called "Image-based lighting" or IBL for short.

Now we introduce a Physically based sky model that automatically renders based on the current SketchUp time - it too can be used for IBL lighting as well as a high quality, 1-click backdrop.

The images were rendered with time set to 11:00am in the morning, 4:40pm in the afternoon and 6:40pm sunset. Notice the IBL changing the color of the concrete as the sunlight changes.

Depth of Field

Pinpoint focus is one of the hallmarks of rendered images, but sometimes for aesthetic reasons you may want to draw attention to part of your model and reduce attention to other parts. LightUp introduces realtime Depth of Field effects for being able to quick set up a focal point for the current viewpoint. LightUp supports auto-focus which will automatically focus on the surface the camera is pointing at, as well being able to point camera, lock focus, and point at another location.