Autodesk begins shipping Beast 2011 Lighting Middleware

Beast Global Illumination Lighting Helps Decrease Iteration Time and Increase Aesthetic Quality with LiquidLight, eRnsT and DistriBeast Features.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif - Autodesk, Inc., is now shipping Autodesk Beast 2011 middleware*, the first release of the product since the company’s acquisition of Illuminate Labs in July 2010. Autodesk Beast middleware helps development teams aesthetically enhance their games with a pre-computed global illumination (GI) lighting solution, while helping to avoid complicated and time-consuming lighting setups and to minimize runtime cost.

Autodesk Beast 2011 offers three key components that work together to help decrease iteration time and enhance aesthetic quality:

* LiquidLight -- The core baking technology for advanced GI and dynamic relighting of characters
* eRnsT -- An interactive editor that helps artists control and explore lighting setups
* DistriBeast -- A distribution engine for running renders on multiple machines

Key features in Autodesk Beast 2011:

* Precomputed GI -- Prebake lighting for platform and engine independence, resulting in greater flexibility and portability.
* Aesthetic quality and efficient workflows -- Adjust overall scene lighting without bounce lights or ambient fills typically used to “fake” global illumination.
* Robust API (application programming interface) -- Integrate Beast into your game engine with a simplified interface.

*Features in Autodesk Beast 2011 middleware may differ from features announced by Illuminate Labs prior to July 2010.