Owlet 1.7

21 Jan 2019

The new version of Owlet features decals, multilayered rendering, resource manager and other nice features. Keep reading to get all the details.

Multilayered Rendering

Owlet got a new “Rendering Layers” panel where you can add layers to the scene. Then you can assign nodes to layers in node properties panel and at the very end get your scene rendered as multiple images (one per layer), or as a single multilayered PSD file. Then you can post-process it the way you need.

Note that besides that you still have normal, depth, objects and materials maps rendered, so the new feature perfectly tops that up.

Decals

Exactly as Boxshot and Koru, Owlet now has decals. Simply drag an image onto the shape and select “Place as Decal”. You can then configure it using a special gizmo or in the node properties panel.

Resource Manager

A long-requested feature is now available under the Tools menu. There you can see all the files used by the current scene. If something is missed (like a folder was moved), you can easily fix it there.

Better Graphics Hardware Support

Owlet got the same hardware abstraction layer that we currently use in Boxshot and Origami. This means that it can run on bare Windows even if it comes with default graphics drivers. This means you can run Owlet in the cloud like Amazon EC2 or any other virtual servers available online.

Say if you need to render a huge scene in short time and ready to pay for that, you can rent a high-performance cloud server, install Owlet there and get the job done, even if the server lacks a graphics adapter (they usually do).

Remember that the number of working copies of the software should not exceed the number of seats you ordered.

This only applies to Windows version of Owlet, as OpenGL on Mac is quite stable and doesn’t need such workarounds. On Windows you get an extra “OpenGL Driver” option in Settings window that controls the feature.

Other Changes

Here is the list of other minor chages and improvements:

rotation gizmo snaps at 45/90 degrees marks, as in Koru (hold Shift to avoid this);
background image issues with undo/redo fixed;
better sync between viewport and scene tree selection;
side panels can be toggled using Escape key;
toolbar has been simplified, panels can be controlled using “View” menu;
roughness formula has been changed to better match the upcoming Boxshot update;
shadows of transparent materials (like glass) have been improved;
option to use texture alpha channel as layer mask (as in Koru) has been added;
diffuse transmission parameter is not automatically multiplied by diffuse color anymore;
import of Boxshot and Origami files has been improved;
sRGB preview and internal linear workflow have also been improved.

It took us a long time to release this update, but the new features are well worth waiting. Give it a try and let us know in the comments what do you like most about the new version.

Cheers!

← →