Download Luminous

Luminous is a program that I wrote to create some of the images and special effects for Transcendence. Unlike most 3D graphics software, Luminous runs user-written programs (called configurations) to create images.

The capabilities of Luminous include:


Procedural image generation

Use a simple procedural language to create your images. For example, instead of manually placing your objects in a scene, you can write a procedure to place hundreds of objects in whatever arrangement you want. 

Procedural image generation

Built-in ray tracer

After you've created your scene, use Luminous's built-in ray tracer to generate an image.

Volume ray tracing

Use Luminous's volume shaders to create special effects like explosions or clouds.

Volume ray tracing

For example, the turbulence shader can turn a simple sphere into a chaotic volume of exploding gas. Volume shaders work with all object primitive so you can create any shape you want—from puffy clouds to spiral galaxy arms.


Download Luminous

To get started with Luminous, download the program and check out the included sample configuration.

Luminous is still under development. If you find problems with Luminous, if you have questions, of if you just want to show off your images, please write to [email protected].

Luminous screenshot