Press Release: SiTex Graphics’ AIR 2.9 Ups Performance
Denton, Texas - SiTex Graphics, maker of advanced rendering software, has released the latest version of the AIR production renderer. Highlights of the latest release include support for multiple processors on Linux-based systems (in addition to existing support for multithreading on Windows systems), importance-based rendering, performance enhancements, Houdini support, and support for additional texture file formats.
Multiprocessor Support
AIR 2.9 adds support for multiple processors on Linux systems with a new multithreaded version of AIR for Linux. With this addition AIR provides complete support for multiple processors under Windows and Linux, whether the processors are in a single machine or part of a network.
Importance-based Rendering
The latest AIR release can optimize certain expensive rendering operations such as ray-traced reflections or shadows based on how important the operation’s result is to the final image. This capability saves rendering time by allowing less important calls to be rendered more quickly without reducing the overall quality of the rendered image.
Performance Enhancements
AIR’s overall speed and efficiency have been improved in many ways. Peak memory use for typical scenes has been reduced 10-20%. Raw ray tracing is now faster, benefiting all ray-tracing dependent operations. Ambient occlusion calculations now produce smoother results in less time and using less memory. True displacement is also now faster.
Houdini Support
AIR 2.9 has been augmented and tweaked for better performance when used as a rendering option for SideFx’s Houdini Master, which now supports AIR as a rendering option. In addition to these performance enhancements, AIR includes Houdini dialog scripts that make it easy to use AIR shaders from within Houdini.
Texture Readers
The new version of AIR introduces a new plugin texture architecture that provides a more extensive set of input texture formats, including TIFF, SGI, PNG, and JPEG format files.
Other feature additions to AIR include native support of anisotropic reflection for brushed metal effects and dispersion simulation for caustics.
About SiTex Graphics
SiTex Graphics (Denton Texas) provides advanced rendering software for tv and film, industrial design, architecture, and digital content creation. SiTex Graphics' products include AIR, a highly advanced 3D production renderer, and BakeAIR, the only standalone dedicated renderer for producing high-quality texture maps. With sophisticated, economical products and responsive, committed support, SiTex Graphics helps clients achieve outstanding results quickly and efficiently.
More information about AIR is available on the new SiTex Graphics web site:
