Real IES has released version 3.5, introducing Real IES Sketch, a new way to create custom IES files through a radial approach. The update lets users design complete 360-degree light beams with just a few clicks, offering 3D artists and lighting designers a more intuitive way to shape photometric lighting for their projects.
Developed by PlaySys since 2015, Real IES is aimed at 3D artists, lighting designers, VFX professionals and technical artists working across both offline and real-time rendering. Its interface provides direct control over light intensity, beam shape and photometric planes, while features such as LightGraph and LightSpikes make it possible to fine-tune the result visually. The generated files can then be used across a wide range of 3D rendering software.
From LightGraph to Real IES Sketch
The idea behind Real IES Sketch builds on one of the features introduced with Real IES 3: LightGraph. The polar diagram provides a visual representation of the photometric light while it is being created, making it possible to inspect the shape of the beam and manipulate its intensity distribution.
Real IES Sketch takes this radial approach further. Instead of working primarily from the traditional side view, users can design the light distribution radially and generate a complete 360-degree beam using two C-Planes.
The feature also addresses a limitation that emerged with Real IES Duo, introduced in version 3.4.
From Duo to 360-Degree Lighting
Real IES 3.4 introduced Duo, a tool that combines two photometric .ies profiles into a single light emitter. The approach made it possible to create more complex lighting behaviour with one light source and, when supported by the rendering environment, reduce the number of draw calls in real-time setups.
Duo, however, achieved this by combining two existing profiles. Real IES Sketch approaches the same 360-degree requirement from the design side, allowing the complete light distribution to be created directly through two C-Planes.
The result is a workflow that can generate a full 360-degree photometric light in just a few clicks.
More info about Real IES on the official website.
