Back in May of 2014, Luxion released their much-anticipated Keyshot 5 that saw a host of improvements to their popular rendering package. Among other new features included the popular ‘Perspective Matching’ option for accurately placing a model in a scene and the introduction of Keyshot Cloud to further enable the Keyshot user community to instantly share and download various Keyshot assets including materials and environments. Yesterday, Luxion has added even more robust features to Keyshot 5 with their Keyshot 5.1 update.
The latest release–which is available to try out or as a free update for existing Keyshot 5 users–includes even more meaty features to take your rendering game to all-new heights.
Among other new features included in the latest update include new procedural textures and options, the addition of Sørensen Leather materials (great news for softgoods designers!), and support for touch-enabled devices, among others. Ultimately, Luxion has spent the better part of this past summer developing new ways of making the workflow and rendering process not only easier but also more powerful with increased flexibility and control.
Let’s take a look at some of what’s new in Keyshot 5.1:
Pattern Updates
In May, Keyshot introduced the ability to Pattern separate instances of models for CMF studies and easy copy+pasting of multiple items in a scene. Rather than having to create a scene laboriously in a mechanical design software package, a user could now instance a single model directly in Keyshot. With the Keyshot 5.1 update, a user now has the ability fine-tune those patterns with more scattering control and camera settings. For example, if a user is doing a material study for a presentation, any part in a pattern can now be directly edited with more control easier than before.
Sørensen Leather Materials
Sørensen Leather–a Denmark-based leather supplier–has teamed up with Luxion to offer their full line of leather materials integrated into the new Keyshot Cloud. The world supplier of high quality leather has supplied leather for multiple products across a wide range of industries. The addition of the new leather materials allows a user to place any Sørensen Leather material onto their model and have it be accurately matched with real-world colors and textures across any light settings. Excellent news for those who do interior car scenes, soft goods, shoes, and other products that call for leather highlights.
New Procedural Textures
What would an update be without some new Procedural Textures to experiment with? The Keyshot 5.1 update sees the addition of six new Procedural Textures including including Brushed (3D), Camouflage (3D), Lattice Circular (2D), Lattice Polygon (2D), Spots (3D) and Wood Adv. (3D). The textures can be used with any combination of Keyshot material presets.
Apple Retina Display and Multi-Touch Support
As more users turn to hardware that features touchscreen support, it makes sense that working in a digital 3D space should be immersive and easy to navigate and use. Luxion has responded to this new style of interacting with your models by introducing all-new multi-touch support for those who prefer to pinch and grab their models without a mouse. Additionally, the new update includes support for Apple’s ultra-high resolution Retina Display for those who work on iMacs, Mac Pros and Macbooks.
Creo 3.0 and Cinema 4D Support
One of Keyshot’s strongest assets is its ability to seamlessly import models from a variety of programs and intelligently be able to maintain updates in real-time with their Live Link functionality. In Keyshot 5.1, Luxion has added support for Creo 3.0 users with the Live Link functionality as well as a direct import option for Cinema 4D users looking to import geometry, assign colors and perform part and camera animations.
Keyshot Cloud
Having launched a little over five months ago, Keyshot Cloud has been an invaluable resource for users looking to find and share material and environment presets that don’t come pre-installed with a copy of Keyshot. As of November, over 500 materials have been added by KeyShot users with more being added daily. The KeyShot 5.1 update includes an improved search and filtering engine as the asset library continues to grow.
You can try Keyshot 5.1 for free here. If you’ve been holding out on Keyshot, Keyshot 5 is the most robust and powerful Keyshot yet. You can pick up a standard license starting at $995 with optional PRO add-ons including animations and KeyShot VR capabilities.
If you already have Keyshot 5, head over to the KeyShot 5.1 download page.
