Initially posted on 8 March 2022 for thepreview and up to date with particulars of the ultimate launch.
Epic Video games has launched Twinmotion 2023.1, the subsequent main model of its real-time visualisation software program.
The replace reworks the software program’s interface to streamline entry to frequent instruments, and provides assist for decals, volumetric fog, multi-GPU rendering and video denoising within the path tracer.
Different modifications embrace an overhaul of Twinmotion’s materials system, assist for LED partitions for digital manufacturing, and a shift to the OpenXR open customary for blended actuality {hardware}.
A straightforward-to-use instrument for visualising CAD knowledge
Created by French visualisation studio KA-RA, Twinmotion was desgned to allow architects with restricted 3D expertise to create nonetheless or animated visualisations of their buildings.
It imports hero fashions in a variety of normal 3D file codecs, or by way of dwell hyperlinks to CAD functions. Customers can then create background environments from a library of inventory property, and assign lights.
Atmospheric properties – together with clouds, rain and snow, and ambient lighting primarily based on geographical location and time of day – may be adjusted by way of slider-based controls.
The software program was acquired by Epic in 2019, and initially made out there without cost, earlier than being re-released commercially in 2020 with an aggressive new value level.
A recording of Epic Video games’ livestream asserting the brand new options within the second public preview of Twinmotion 2023.1. The part on the brand new interface begins at 00:12:20 within the video.
Twinmotion 2032.1: extra streamlined, customisable consumer interface
One very seen change in Twinmotion 2023.1 is the brand new interface design, which Epic Video games says is meant to make Twinmotion extra accessible to customers working in fields outdoors architectural visualisation.
The brand new structure is designed to scale back the variety of mouse clicks must entry key instruments and settings, with a Properties panel to the precise of the display, shared with the scene graph, and a library panel on the left.
For entry to extra superior controls, customers can change to a two-column structure, hiding the library panel.
The peak of the underside bar has been decreased, maximising the display area dedicated to the viewport.
It’s now potential to alter the dimensions of the interface manually – there are presets ranging between 75% and 200% – enabling customers to commerce viewport area towards the legibility of interface textual content.
The replace additionally introduces viewport decision scaling, letting customers enhance body charges when engaged on advanced scenes by having Twinmotion render the viewport at decrease decision, then upscale to suit the display.
Nevertheless, one commmonly requested change to the interface that has not but been made is the choice to detach interface panels to show on a second monitor.
Decals, fog, multi-GPU rendering and video denoising within the path tracer
The software program – which makes use of Unreal Engine for rendering – has additionally been up to date to Unreal Engine 5.1.
The change will make it potential to assist extra options in Path Tracer, the Home windows-only path tracing render engine launched final 12 months, together with decals and volumetric fog.
The trail tracer additionally now helps multi-GPU rendering and will get experimental assist for temporal denoising, making it potential to denoise rendered movies in addition to nonetheless photographs.
Updates to the fabric system
Epic has additionally overhauled Twinmotion’s materials system, including assist for opacity maps on “most materials varieties”, plus the choice to regulate metalness and to do “fundamental color correction” on the Base Coloration texture.
Glass supplies now use a metallic-roughness PBR workflow and assist iridescence, with a brand new Coloured glass materials kind for producing colored shadows.
The discharge ships with 21 new readymade glass supplies and 34 new automobile paint supplies.
Assist for LED partitions for digital manufacturing and for extra VR headsets
Different new options embrace assist for LED partitions, making it potential to make use of environments rendered in Twinmotion as backdrops for dwell shoots throughout digital manufacturing.
Each Twinmotion’s raster renderer and the brand new path tracer are supported, with customers capable of configure the quantity and dimension of screens used to make up the LED wall, and the curvature of the wall.
As well as, Twinmotion now helps VR and blended actuality {hardware} by way of the OpenXR open customary. New headsets supported embrace these developed by Varjo.
Compatibility-breaking modifications to the Twinmotion file format
The Twinmotion .tm file format has additionally been up to date, with meshes and textures now routinely de-duplicated on export, and HDRIs compressed and embedded, decreasing undertaking file sizes.
The change is compatibility-breaking, with Twinmotion 2023.1 not capable of open recordsdata created in Twinmotion 2019 and earlier.
Outdoors the core software program, it’s now potential to import initiatives exported by way of Twinmotion’s Datasmith Exporter in .udatasmith format instantly into Unreal Editor.
Worth, system necessities and launch date
Twinmotion 2023.1 is offered for Home windows 10+ and macOS 12.0+. Integration plugins can be found for CAD and DCC apps together with 3ds Max 2016+, SketchUp Professional 2019+ and Unreal Engine 4.27+.
New licences have an MSRP of $499. The software program is free for college students and educators, and there’s additionally a free trial version of the software program which caps export decision at 2K, however which is in any other case totally featured.
Learn a full checklist of latest options in Twinmotion 2023.1 within the on-line changelog
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