Owlet

What is Owlet ?

Owlet is a standalone, unbiased, and physical-based raytracing renderer. It loads 3D models in many common formats, allows you to compose the scene and configuration materials, and then renders the resulting images using Appsforlife's state-of-the-art raytracing engine. Owlet provides a sophisticated material system that supports multi-layer reflection, refraction, subsurface scattering, absorption, thin film interference, image-based lighting, and more. On the other hand, Owlet comes with a growing library of over 400 ready-to-use materials and textures, so you don't have to start from scratch.

Despite the number of features, Owlet tries to be an easy tool for the end user. As with other Appsforlife apps, a lot of effort is invested to ensure that your Owlet learning curve isn't oriented and that you can reach speed in no time.

Owlet's main features

Standalone application

Owlet is a standalone application, which means it supports the 3D editing software you use, whether it's a free application, commercial software, or even custom software. Owlet loads standard 3D formats, such as OBJ, Collada, FBX, 3DS, etc., which the 3D editor can export. You can even change your 3D editor, but still rely on Owlet.

Advanced rendering engine

Owlet has a state-of-the-art ultraviolet ray tracking rendering engine based on physics. This means that a simulation is made where light passes through objects just as it does in the real world. The same principles apply, as mother-nature, so that the result obtained is basically the same as if you saw it with your own eyes

Almighty Materials

Complex multi-layered materials can do just about anything you might need. Bump, advanced reflections, thin film interference, refractions, absorption and subsurface scattering, anisotropy, file options, light emission, masks, groups - everything you need to create a perfect scene.

Owlet Facts

File formats

Owlet loads the OBJ, Collada, FBX, 3DS, STL, PLY, and DXF 3D file formats. As for images, Owlet supports PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PSD, and BMP formats with CMYK color profiles when available. Owlet also supports high definition HDR and EXR formats and AI and PDF files as textures.

Camera settings

Owlet allows you to configure almost any aspect of the camera as if you had a real one. This includes the depth of field option with diaphragm size control and the number of blades. Right-click with the alt/option key to focus on the clicked object.

Multilayer materials

Materials can have as many layers as you need, grouped with masks, so you can make a really complex material when needed. Owlet processes materials layer by layer exactly as the graphic editor works with the artwork. If the light passes through the last layer, it refracts inside the middle.

Lighting

Owlet supports image-based lighting and light-emitting materials. For simple scenes, all you need is an HDR environment image, while for complex scenes you can turn any geometry into a light source with color and intensity to perfectly control the rendered image.

Scene editing

Owlet provides a scene tree displaying all nodes and meshes. You can edit transformations using gizmo or by inserting values, you can hide or show nodes, clone or delete them. Owlet can also generate UV mapping if a scene is lost.

Rendering scenes

Owlet supports rendering for resolutions up to 16384x16384 pixels with a "Good Enough" button that you can press when you're satisfied with the image you see. Multi-layer output, normal and depth maps, material maps and objects are also supported.

Materials library

Owlet comes with more than 400 built-in materials including plastics, paints, metals, papers, glasses, stones, woods and lights. It also features some useful textures for anisotropy, wood, stone, paper, background and environments. That's a good start, just add a little to make it perfect.

Snapshots

Owlet allows you to save a snapshot of the current scene, including camera and object position, assigned materials, and visibility information. You can easily switch between snapshots with multiple scene compositions in a scene.

How does it work?

1.     You upload a 3D file in one of the supported formats for Owlet.

2.     You clean or add/import lost pieces and compose the scene.

3.     You drag and drop materials from the library to color the shape.

4.     You render the scene and save the resulting image.

Owlet is a perfect solution when you need to render a 3D shape without having a 3D editor or any 3D editing experience. Let's say you download a shape from a website, or someone does it for you - Owlet lets you visually enhance the model and create beautiful X-ray images of it.

System Requirements

Owlet needs a 64-bit platform and at least Windows 7 or MacOS 10.10.