Enscape, one of architecture’s most popular real-time visualization, 3D rendering and virtual reality applications, just got even better. Its latest iteration, version 3.3, brings a plethora of enhancements for its existing features as well as a host of new functions, each designed to make real-time rendering more intuitive to use at every stage of the design process.
Enscape brings the disciplines of design and visualization together, creating a unified experience that enables designers to collaborate on their projects in a dynamic fashion, as well as communicating their ideas to clients in an easy-to-understand way.
“We’re always looking for new ways to support our customers’ design workflows,” said Petr Mitev, VP Visualization Product Group at Enscape. “With our latest release, we’ve automated some processes so designers can spend more time making the right decisions and less time gathering the data needed to do it. We will also continue to improve our core visualization and sharing platforms based on community feedback.”
So, what can users expect from the new and improved Enscape application? Here are some key new features to look out for:
Site Context
It’s now possible to import a project’s existing surroundings directly into renderings, using data from global geographic database OpenStreetMap. Users can enter a specific address or coordinates to immediately locate and import the surroundings, or select and import key landmarks, streets, or topography.
Alpha Channel Export
With the Alpha Channel Export, you can now render an image with a transparent background. This means your project can now be quickly and easily combined with any style of sky, clouds, and horizon line in post production, lending Enscape a new layer of flexibility for still renderings.
Education Assets and Materials
Enscape’s popular 3D asset library has been radically expanded to include an extensive collection of educational assets, including classroom furniture, toys, musical instruments, playground equipment, acoustic panels, and more. The Enscape Material Library, which was introduced in Enscape 3.1, has also been expanded with materials such as new wallpapers and various carpets.
While they will be categorized under Education and are perfectly suited for kindergarten, school and college projects, these assets and materials are also useful for a wide variety of other typologies, including corporate, hospitality and residential projects.
Besides these headline new features, numerous other refinements have been introduced to Enscape 3.3, each with the goal of improving ease-of-use and an improved end product for users.
Additional Features
In terms of rendering, visualizations including glass and water are now more accurate thanks to improved graphic capabilities; transparent materials now appear in reflections, providing a more realistic appearance. The use of a graphics card that supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing, such as NVIDIA RTX series and AMD RX6xxx series, is required. Further to this, the new “Material Overwrite” function enables users to replace Enscape material files within the Enscape Material Editor without the need to manually import and export them.
In terms of user experience, it’s now possible to ‘pin’ the Enscape rendering window and associated menus to the top of your modeling window, allowing for easy access to view real-time changes even if you’re not using two screens. New upload migration capabilities have also been introduced, enabling users to manage uploads, such as web standalones and uploaded panoramas, online efficiently.
Finally, Enscape 3.3 works seamlessly with the latest version of SketchUp, providing key compatibility with one of the industry’s most used 3D modeling applications. Throw in full Japanese language support, and the latest edition of Enscape is inarguably the most comprehensive release to date when it comes to usability across platforms and geographies.
To get a first-hand look at Enscape’s full suite of real-time capabilities, click here to download a 14-day free trial. You can find out more about every feature over at Enscape.com.