LuxRenderEngine

From K-3D

Description

LuxRender Render Engine

Plugin Status:	Experimental
Categories:	All Plugins, Experimental Plugins, LuxRender Plugins, RenderEngine Plugins

Metadata

Name	Value

Properties

Label	Description	Type	Script Name
Visible Nodes	A list of nodes that will be visible in the rendered output.	std::vector<k3d::inode*>	visible_nodes
Enabled Lights	A list of light sources that will contribute to the rendered output.	std::vector<k3d::inode*>	enabled_lights
Resolution	Choose a predefined image resolution	k3d::string_t	resolution
Pixel Width	The horizontal size in pixels of the rendered output image.	k3d::int32_t	pixel_width
Pixel Height	The vertical size in pixels of the rendered output image.	k3d::int32_t	pixel_height
Halt Samples	Halt rendering once the number of samples per pixel reaches this value.	k3d::int32_t	halt_samples

Overview

The experimental new LuxRender Plugins allow K-3D scenes to be rendered using LuxRender - "a new, open-source, free software rendering system for physically correct, unbiased image synthesis."

Usage

As with all render engines, the key to using LuxRender in a K-3D scene is to:

• Assign LuxRender materials to your geometry.
• Use LuxRender lights to light the scene.
• Use LuxRenderEngine to render the scene.

For example:

• Start a new K-3D scene.
• Add a LuxRenderSunLight and LuxRenderSkyLight to provide physically-based lighting.
• Create some new geometry for the scene, such as a small PolyCube sitting on top of a large, flat PolyCube.
• Create a new LuxRenderEngine.
• Choose Render > Frame from the menus, and pick the LuxRenderEngine when prompted. Supply an output image, and wait for the render to complete.

Caveats

LuxRenderEngine renders images by executing the "luxconsole" command (note: lower-case). This should work out-of-the-box on GNU/Linux and Windows. On MacOSX, the luxconsole executable is distributed in an application bundle which the user could put anywhere. In this case, you will either have to adjust your PATH to point to the interior of the bundle, or create a shell script wrapper to start the render engine, something along the lines of:

#!/bin/sh

cd /Applications/LuxRender.app/Contents/MacOS
./luxrender $*

... and ensure that the wrapper script can be found on your PATH.