Introducing Enscape 4.0—our latest version developed to create a unified experience across platforms. macOS users can now work with the ease and speed of a complete design and visualization workflow, just like their Windows counterparts.
This new version signifies the foundation for the future. It unveils an overhauled codebase with improved infrastructure and technical foundation to increase stability and performance. It strengthens the interoperability between products within the Chaos ecosystem and enables us to develop both operating systems in unison.
In addition to providing a unified experience across Windows and macOS, Enscape 4.0 includes the following:
- New people & animated vegetation assets
- NVIDIA Denoiser for capture exports
- Support for Rhino 8.3 or later
- UI reskin
- Chaos interoperability
- Ray-traced artificial lights (beta) 🪟
- Improved reflections & global illumination (for hardware ray tracing) 🪟
- New support for VR headsets 🪟
- Revit Worksharing optimization 🪟
Fast and easy visualization for the Mac community
Our new multi-platform solution marks a significant milestone in providing an unparalleled Enscape experience for Mac users. Now, users on macOS can seamlessly enjoy the same robust features that Windows users have long celebrated.
The macOS features added specifically for this release include:
- Adjustable assets
- Dynamic asset placement
- Custom Asset Library
- Custom Asset Editor
- Site context
- BIM data
- Collaborative Annotations
To dive deeper into the details of macOS features, go to the Enscape Knowledge Base and select your CAD of choice under the ‘Enscape for Mac’ section.
While this latest version underscores our dedication to delivering outstanding benefits universally, it should be emphasized that there are a few exceptions with feature availability. Learn more about it in this article.
What else is new with Enscape 4.0
In addition to platform equality, this latest version includes a set of new assets, improved quality for rendered images, VR headset support, enhanced functionalities for more streamlined workflows, and more!
New people assets & animated vegetation assets
In version 2.8, we introduced animated assets, 3D models for walkthroughs and videos that are animated when the camera is in motion in Enscape. Now, we’re adding 178 variations of new animated vegetation assets.
This collection includes assets such as trees, bushes, and flowers specific to Mexico, northern climate, and desert regions. You can give your scene a more realistic feel with the flutter of trees or by adding a slight gust of wind to your landscape.
32 unique people assets have been added to the Enscape Asset Library. Enjoy people in different poses and donning different outfits and accessories. Convey scale and highlight the function and emotion of a space with a vibrant collection of human entourage.
You can find them under the ‘People’ category in the library, marked with a ‘new’ label. The assets will be shown automatically if you’re using Enscape version 3.4 or newer.
If you’d like to learn the best practices for navigating the Enscape Asset Library, you can read an overview in this article.
NVIDIA Denoiser for capture exports
Reduce noise in image and video capture exports by utilizing the latest NVIDIA ReLAX Denoiser. This state-of-the-art denoising solution significantly improves image quality, elevating the overall appeal and realism of Enscape-rendered scenes.
The Denoiser's effects are especially visible in enclosed interior spaces with minimal direct light, particularly on glossy or metallic surfaces. The result is smoother and cleaner visuals with sharpness and clarity in every detail captured in images, mono and stereo panorama, videos, and VR.
Denoiser off:
Denoiser on:
Ray-traced artificial lights beta (Windows)
Our ray-traced artificial lights ensure sharp and precise shadow edges in scenes illuminated by small light sources. Experience enhanced artificial lighting realism and say goodbye to jagged edges and missing shadows when light sources and occluders are close to each other.
Additionally, the Enscape renderer considers the actual size of the light source when calculating shadows, resulting in more realistic sharpness variations. You can now enjoy softer shadows in scenes illuminated by large sources, providing more physically accurate lighting behaviors. Bid farewell to the unrealistic limitations of light source ranges and say hello to a seamlessly immersive lighting environment for your creations.
Improved reflections & global illumination for hardware ray tracing (Windows)
Version 4.0 features more geometry that can be ray traced than previous versions. This means we have increased the amount of geometry in reflections, and the previous fixed geometry limit will be flexible based on the available GPU memory. So, now, GPUs with 24 GB of memory can be filled with sufficiently big models.
We took great care to give you a great balance of high rendering quality without a big performance hit. You may also experience faster video rendering.
New VR headset support (Windows)
With Enscape 4.0, we are adding official support for new virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMD): Meta Quest 3 and HTC Vive Pro 2. Enjoy fast loading speeds and crisp details in VR for Windows with these headsets.
You’ll also get to enjoy a more realistic VR experience with recreated controllers in 3D that match your physical controller. Enscape VR mode now identifies which HMD is used and displays the respective controller.
This support means we can ensure Enscape is optimized for a smooth VR experience. Our helpful Customer Support Team will be on hand to offer guidance on how to solve issues regarding these models, allowing you to decide which HMD to use confidently.
Support for Rhino 8.3 or later
Enscape now supports Rhino 8.3 or later, bringing real-time visualization directly into your design workflow.
Rhino users can take advantage of the latest enhancements in Rhino 8.3. If you’re an existing Enscape customer, you can download the latest version for free and follow the installation instructions.
UI reskin
Enscape 4.0 features our refined UI that integrates shades of blue to improve usability and readability while adopting more stylish and consistent iconography. The buttons were changed from orange to blue as the new color offers better contrast ratio properties than white, making information and interactivity easier to spot and act upon.
Our new visual style focuses on providing better interactivity, consistency, and visual hierarchy in Enscape UI, as well as within the Chaos product ecosystem. Our vision going forward is to unify and align with the Chaos brand and reach cross-product consistency within the ecosystem.
Revit Worksharing optimization (Windows)
With the release of Enscape 4.0, Revit users will notice significant user experience optimizations when working within shared models. Further developing on the partial fix introduced in version 3.4.3, this update addresses errors encountered during collaborative sessions, particularly when users are engaged in modifying views, visual setting presets, and site context elements.
Please note that certain limitations persist due to the underlying communication dynamics between Revit and Enscape. For instance, after updating to 4.0, you will have the ability to concurrently modify different presets, significantly streamlining collaborative workflows. However, simultaneous editing of the same preset by multiple users may still trigger a warning prompt and will remain a known limitation.
Chaos interoperability
The release of the Enscape to V-Ray compatibility last year enabled a unified visualization workflow between two Chaos products. To further enhance this, we’ve introduced another element, V-Ray Scene Exporter, which allows you to transfer key data from Enscape to V-Ray and other design applications, including 3ds Max and Cinema 4D.
Since the release of Enscape 4.0 and V-Ray 6.2, it’s possible to export .vrscene files from Enscape and import them into V-Ray, 3ds Max, and Cinema 4D. This workflow connection enables even stronger interoperability between the Chaos ecosystem. If you’d like to learn more about this, we’ve got it covered in this article.
Tutorial video: Enscape for Mac with Rhino
For any Rhino on Mac users who are just starting out, you can watch our latest training video to learn the basics.
Get started with Enscape 4.0
Enscape 4.0 is our vision to create one Enscape for everyone. It’s a multi-platform solution that enables us to develop from now on as a holistic real-time visualization tool that transcends platform boundaries.
If you haven’t already experienced the ease and speed of Enscape’s real-time rendering plugin, you can sign up for a free trial today. If you are a student or educator, you can learn more about our educational licenses here.
For those who are already using Enscape, make sure you upgrade to the latest version for free.
