The release of Enscape 4.1 introduced a slew of amazing new features, including colored shadows for artificial light sources and a colored sun shadows update.
Colored sun shadows update
Colored sun shadows were introduced to Enscape in 2023, developed from an idea from the Enscape community. As its name suggests, the feature allows you to cast a colored shadow from sunlight that travels through colored glass, giving your scene amazing effects and creating a special atmosphere.
With the release of Enscape 4.1, you can now add textures to Glass material and have the texture patterns reflected without having to model the whole window geometry. This is an excellent function if your design includes stained glass.
Glass is a new material type that has to be selected manually. The ability to upload a texture that is "applied" on the glass material has been added to calculate the correct shadow pattern.
Increased fidelity of fog shadows
The colored sun shadows update has improved fog quality. This means that whatever color the sunlight in your scene is, the fog will exude a hue of the same color, giving your design a more realistic atmosphere. There is no fog interaction with ray-traced artificial light sources.
Colored shadows for artificial light sources
Prior to this feature's development, colored shadows were shown only in sunlight. Now, you can see colored shadows through colored glass when the illumination source is artificial, such as lamps or lighting fixtures.
Add a splash of color to your interior scenes or complement natural lighting with colored shadows for artificial light sources. Create an engaging atmosphere with colored glass partition walls, colored semi-transparent furniture, and decorative objects that leave a kaleidoscopic impression.
Which graphics cards are needed?
The colored shadows work on computers equipped with graphics cards capable of hardware ray tracing. For the colored sun shadows, ensure 'Ray-Traced Shadows' is enabled in the General Settings and that ‘Ray-Traced Artificial Lights (beta)’ is enabled for the colored shadows for artificial lights.
Elevate your design workflow with colored shadows
The updates are included in the latest Enscape 4.1 release, along with other great features. To learn more about getting started with colored shadows or Enscape in general, visit the Enscape Knowledge Base. Make sure you've upgraded to Enscape 4.1, which is free for existing users, to start using the feature.
Important information regarding Enscape licensing changes in version 4.1. To avoid potential challenges, please read this article before you install.
