BIM Q&A: D5 Renderer 2.2 Released with Rain & Snow Effects, Project Merging, Projection Lights, Layer Management, and Brush Recording

Download the latest version here: D5 Renderer (ChinaRevit.com)

The D5 2.2 update introduces 35 new features and improvements. Highlights include rain and snow weather effects, project merging, projection lights, layer management, brush recording, decal enhancements, material library upgrades, customizable shortcut keys, plant global illumination (GI) optimization, and improved self-illumination.

1. Weather System

This update brings dynamic rain and snow effects. Combined with the built-in plant and snow material libraries, you can now create realistic rainy and snowy scenes.

Weather: Snow

Adjust rain and snow intensity, as well as snow accumulation.

Weather: Wind and Snow

Beyond controlling rain and snow intensity, you can also manage water and snow accumulation on surfaces. When precipitation starts, natural ripples form on the ground based on rain intensity. Outdoor glass automatically displays dynamic rain marks.

Water Accumulation and Ripples

Dynamic Rain Marks on Glass Surfaces

D5 now offers a comprehensive weather system that lets you switch between wind, clouds, rain, snow, and fog with a single click, enabling diverse weather scenes.

Weather: Snow Clear Rain

Weather: Rain Clear

2. D5 Components

The “D5 component” offers various advanced tools tailored for different applications, fulfilling personalized workflow needs.

Project Merge (Beta)

This feature supports merging multiple project files simultaneously, ideal for team collaborations and reusing scene elements to boost efficiency.

Projection Lamp

New lighting types allow adding image and video files for rectangular projections. Supported media formats include images (jpg, png, bmp) and videos (mp4, avi, wmv).

3. D5 Global Illumination (GI)

The accuracy of D5’s global illumination continues to improve, with enhanced plant materials and self-illumination effects.

Plant GI effects have been refined, delivering better shading and depth to vegetation.

Plants now appear more three-dimensional and layered.

Self-illumination attenuation has been optimized for smoother edge transitions.

4. Post-Production Parameters: Color Tone, Vignette, and Dispersion

Three new effects have been added to the post-production panel to enhance scene texture and reduce post-processing:

• Color Tone: Works with color temperature settings to fine-tune white balance by adjusting cyan and magenta ranges.
• Vignette: Simulates the natural darkening of the four corners in real camera lenses.
• Dispersion: Mimics the color fringing effect seen in real-world camera lenses.

5. Layer Management

A new layer management feature has been added to the left sidebar, allowing quicker classification and organization of scene resources.

6. Brush Recording

A new record list has been added to the plant tool, storing brush and scatter painting information. You can hide or delete records and reuse plant combinations from current records with brushes or erasers to continue painting or erasing seamlessly.

7. Material Library Optimization

New models and materials have been added:

decal

Snowscape Model

Static Transportation Model

Additional new materials include:

Terrazzo

Brick Wall

Roof

Water

Additional improvements include:

• All particle effects now support parameter adjustments.
• Added “dynamic” toggle and left/right steering options for vehicle models.
• Optimized character material actions and thumbnails.
• Material library interaction improvements: currently selected materials are displayed, particle categories default to expanded view, and new materials feature a “new” icon.

8. Other Features and Interaction Optimizations

Custom Shortcut Keys: Common operations like viewpoint movement, view switching, and various tools can now be customized. Some functions have reserved blank key slots for direct customization.

Access via Menu > Preferences > Shortcuts.

Workflow Plugin Archive Association Logic Optimization: When launching the workflow plugin, click “OK” to create a new .drs project or click “Select File” to re-associate an existing .drs project. This creates a new linked model in the scene or replaces an existing one.

Other Improvements:

• Added rotation control for stage lighting patterns when prism parameter is off.
• Optimized Material ID channel color mapping.
• Adjusted default post-production color tone mapping.
• Support for importing SketchUp 2022 files directly.
• HDRI Sky now supports EXR format.
• Depth of field feature supports automatic focus tracking.
• Model imports now synchronize coordinate systems.
• Improved sorting rules for resource lists.
• Rendering output parameter settings are preserved.
• Status retention for information statistics switches.
• Perspective view supports accelerated movement.
• Material updates can be canceled.
• Reduced video memory usage for large scenes.
• Efficiency improvements for real-time multi-light reflections.
• Resource list performance optimization.
• Transportation model efficiency improvements.

D5 Renderer 2.2 Update Summary:

Components:

1. Project Merge (Beta)
2. Projection Lamp
3. Stage Lighting Rotation Parameter

Rendering:

4. Weather System: Rain and Snow
5. Post-production Parameters: Color Tone, Vignette, Dispersion
6. Improved Self-Illumination Attenuation Accuracy
7. Enhanced Plant GI Effects
8. Material ID Channel Color Optimization
9. Adjusted Post-production Color Tone Mapping Default

Functionality:

10. Layer Management
11. Custom Shortcut Keys
12. Brush and Scatter Record List
13. Direct Import of SketchUp 2022 Files
14. HDRI Sky EXR Format Support
15. Automatic Focus Tracking for Depth of Field
16. Model Import Coordinate Sync
17. Resource List Sorting Optimization
18. Preserved Rendering Output Settings
19. Information Statistics Status Retention
20. Accelerated Perspective Movement
21. Material Update Cancellation

Efficiency & Stability:

22. Reduced Video Memory for Large Scenes
23. Optimized Real-Time Multi-Light Reflection Efficiency
24. Resource List Performance Enhancements
25. Transportation Model Efficiency Improvements

Material Library:

25. Display of Currently Selected Materials
26. “New” Icon on Newly Added Materials
27. Particle Parameter Adjustment Support
28. “Dynamic” Toggle and Steering Options for Vehicle Models
29. New Decal Materials
30. Snow Scene Model
31. New Terrazzo, Wall Tiles, Roof, and Water Materials
32. Static Transportation Model
33. Character Material Action Optimization
34. Transportation Model Efficiency

Workflow Plugin:

35. Archive Association Logic Optimization

Fixes:

• Color rendering now matches palette preview correctly.
• Corrected frosted glass reflections.
• Fixed curtain material playback to start consistently from frame 0.
• Resolved missing sun halo in rendered videos.
• Fixed material library download progress display issues.

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