REDsdk 5.2

Welcome to REDsdk 5.2!

API Changes

For those that directly want to jump into the details, see all API changes here: REDsdk 5.2 API Changes.

Overview of Changes

REDsdk 5.2 has one and only one huge new feature: REDsdk 5.2 now runs natively on Metal on Mac OSX systems. OpenGL has been fully removed from the product on OSX, following Apple’s guidelines. Besides that a number of small improvements and changes have been made. These are listed below in Minor Changes.

REDart has many new features. See the illustration video below, rendered using NDunes, powered by REDsdk and REDart:

New REDart Features

REDart new key features for the 5.2 version:

  • Extended VR headsets support with HTC Vive

  • New clouds rendering system (again…)

  • Improved lighting model, clouds ground relighting

  • Improved reflectance model

  • Improved biome scattering and fade conditions for plants seen from far away

  • Enhanced rendering performances

  • Lighter CPU consumption when idle (no more 100% CPU burst when idle)

  • New Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) useful when no GI has been calculated for a geometry yet

  • New Screen Space Reflections (SSR) enhancing visual quality a lot

  • Smarter updates when changes are made to a scene (for instance, localized terrain updates when a geometry with ground is moved)

  • Full AMD and INTEL GPU support (low-end GPUs will get you low FPS, but it’ll work)

  • New Full Scene Anti-Aliasing mode (FSAA)

  • Fixed a ton of bugs

  • OSX Metal support

Minor Changes

  • Custom background intensity multipliers for RED::IViewpointRenderList::SetBackgroundImages

  • Improved FBX files loading performance

  • Enhanced GLSL support (newer bindings, faster internal architecture)

  • New OpenGL context creation options

  • Small real-time rendering performance improvements (hardware mode only)

  • New PBR to realistic or generic material converters. Allow an easy conversion from PBR material sources to REDsdk materials

  • New quaternions helpers

  • New shape search and update methods

  • Stored AABB informations on RED::BoundingSphere classes

  • Enhanced RED::IMaterial API for shader access

  • New IES axis system control method for physical lights