Even now in the age of 64bit computing RAM is a scarce
resource. While it is quite common to have workstations with
2-4 GB of RAM or even more, images used to texture in 3D
applications have grown in size as well. In certain areas
image sizes of tens or hundreds of gigabytes are quite common.
Higher render resolutions for HDTV, film or print also require
highly detailed, high resolution image maps for texturing. We
have decided to tackle this issue.

infiniMap Pro is a LightWave 3D plugin that allows the user to
render virtually unlimited size textures within a familiar
interface. Image

This is accomplished by only loading the parts of an image
into memory that are actually visible in the final render in
the resolution needed for the final image. To determine the
optimum resolution of the image need for the render, infiniMap
Pro uses a number of variables, including for example the
distance of the mesh to the camera.

We have rendered an animations of the earth using more than
3GB of images in video resolution using only 300MB of memory,
including the memory used by LightWave 3D in the process. We
have also rendered images of tens of gigabytes using infiniMap
Pro on computers with 500MB of ram successfully. Satellite
image courtesy of East View Cartographics Satellite image
courtesy of East View Cartographics Image

A smart caching system makes sure that the performance hit on
render times is minimal, especially when rendering out
animations. The loading of scenes with infiniMap Pro images is
much quicker than using natives images.

It has been our goal to integrate infiniMap Pro as tightly
into LightWave 3D as possible and to adhere to existing
standards to make using it a smooth experience. Satellite
image courtesy of East View Cartographics Satellite image
courtesy of East View Cartographics Image

We also include support functions, such as the automatic
creation of openGL preview textures for Layout as well as a
custom image browser to keep the most important settings in
view while working.

Currently supported image file formats are ECW (from ER
Mapper) as well as JPEG 2000.

You can download and use the free, unregistered version
straight away after registering at our site. We also provide
you with a thorough user manual as well as two comprehensive
tutorials.

So go ahead, and render a world of image maps today.

Download File Size:25.53 MB

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