Daylon Graphics Releases Landshaper 2.1 and Landshaper Golf 3.1

Sept. 2, 2010 - PRLog -- Daylon Graphics today released updates to its Landshaper terrain modeling programs, Landshaper 2.1 and Landshaper Golf 3.1. The improvements are identical for both.

Rendering has been improved with the addition of "fillers": placement definitions for 3D objects. One can place trees, rocks, plants, etc. in groups or individually, which the raytracer can then render.

"The older reference shapes system remains available." explains Ray Gardener, Daylon's administrator. "But fillers are more integrated and easier to use. You just draw a vector shape, assign a filler to it or to its stroke, and the renderer does the rest. Fillers have parameters so rocks can be wet or dry, trees can be of different heights, distribution patterns can be random or orchard-like, slope- and water-limited, etc. Fillers also include a billboard object, so using existing reference shape imagery is easy."

The texture library now places all image files into their own separate image library, so that images can be shared between textures and fillers. If upgrading, the installer can convert the old texture library to the new format. The installer itself has been rewritten for greater ease of use.

Markers are now vector point shapes, so managing them has become simplified and enhanced. Importing vector shapes can have non-geometric data fields mapped to shape captions and notes. Filled markers let fillers be used to define and place individual 3D objects such as flags, landmark trees and boulders.

There are several bug fixes and other small improvements, such as stereoscopic anaglyph rendering and altitude-scaled keyboard navigation. For animators, perhaps the best news is the new megatexture system, which stores pixel renderings of vector-based texture splats for raytracing. The megatexture builds itself automatically, and it's also persistent, so the more one renders, the more data it accumulates, lowering the probability of needing new tiles for subsequent stills and animations.

Pricing remains unchanged, with Landshaper at $2495 and Landshaper Golf at $4995 USD. Existing users with active support terms can upgrade free of charge.

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Developer of terrain modeling software for the artistic, video gaming, and civil engineering audiences.