Interactive Lighting Editor saves time and reduces designers’ reliance on image retouching

Creative Edge Software is announcing the latest major version launch of its award-winning all-in-one packaging design software iC3D, with previews taking place at several key events in the USA and Europe. iC3D version 5.5 introduces additional carton folding capabilities, as well as new ray traced materials and editing features powered by the recently announced iC3D Real-Time Ray Tracing.

Building on advances made possible through iC3D Real-Time Ray Tracing, developers at Creative Edge Software have applied the technology to create new capabilities in iC3D v5.5. Potentially of greatest impact is Interactive Lighting Editor. It provides the user with a virtual photo studio setup with the ability to visualize different lighting effects in real-time. Changes to lighting intensity, positioning, highlights, shadows and reflections can be viewed instantly. It has been developed to allow designers to try out ideas and scenes without the need for laborious image-retouching and enable brand managers to interact with the design development on-the-fly.

Also facilitated through iC3D Real-Time Ray Tracing, is a Ray Traced Materials Library that draws on the high-resolution light effects of ray tracing for photorealistic visualization. The new range of metallic, liquid, plastic and glass materials utilize iC3D’s instant rendering capability to accurately reflect light in providing photorealistic representation in packaging designs.

“These latest resources in iC3D v5.5 can potentially make the life of the designer infinitely easier,” comments Nick Gilmore, CEO of Creative Edge Software. “Gone are the days of endlessly retouching packaging images to create a more sophisticated look or make it seem more appealing. Now designers can try different effects in an instant, with the brand manager watching over their shoulder. With the materials too, shiny effects were notoriously difficult to reproduce, especially when using OpenGL for visuals as many competitor systems do – they simply aren’t capable of the photorealism necessary. Since developing the iC3DReal-Time Ray Tracer, these effects are not only easy but with v5.5 they’re instantaneous too.”

iC3D Real-Time Ray Tracing works on any off-the-shelf Mac or PC in conjunction with recommended graphics cards, or on older computers using commonly available external graphics cards (eGPU) to extend graphics capability. Using iC3D Real-Time Ray Tracer technology, high-resolution design renders can be delivered at unprecedented speeds. For example, a high-quality 1024 sample ray-traced image, 6000 x3500 pixels in size, which would previously have taken 3-4 hours to render, can now be achieved to photorealistic quality in 1 minute, 49 seconds using an off-the-shelf PC with Nvidia 1080 Ti graphics card.

Alongside developments powered by Real-Time Ray Tracing, further highlights of iC3D v5.5 include:

• Curved Carton Folding – especially useful for premium packaging applications, this enables designers to add and visualize curved fold lines and faces to carton dielines
• Bridge Carton Fold – for accurate visualization of tri-folding structures, for example in milk or juice carton work
• Selective Color Controls – allows hue, saturation, brightness and contrast to be edited on rendered images and individual labels separately
• Opsis Hi-Resolution Cloud Sharing – providing improved resolution, quality and zoom features for 3D visualizations shared via the Cloud

iC3D v5.5 is showing at major events through the Fall, exhibiting as Creative Edge Software or with technology partners. Demonstrations of the latest technologies are available at:

• Packaging Innovations, London (September 12-13) – Workflowz, Booth F70
• Labelexpo Americas, Chicago (September 25-27) – Hybrid Software, Booth 1353 and ORIS/CGS, Booth 5628
• Print 18, Chicago (September 30 – October 02) – ORIS/CGS, Booth 2203
• LuxePack Monaco (October 1-3) – Booth AC19
• Spirits Packaging Summit, Edinburgh (November 14)
• ALL4Pack, Paris (November 26-29) – SS&C, Booth 6N148

To see a video demonstration of the iC3D Real-Time Ray Tracer and other new capabilities of iC3D v5.5 go to: 5.5 video.

A library of new metallic, liquid, plastic and glass Ray Traced Materials utilizes iC3D’s instant rendering capability to accurately reflect light in providing photorealistic representation in packaging designs.