A GPU based 3D object and particle renderer that runs inside the compositing timeline, so models, extruded text and replicated geometry render live rather than in a separate application.
Element 3D changed how motion designers work by putting a real 3D renderer inside the compositing timeline. Before it, putting a model into a composite meant leaving for a 3D application, rendering passes, coming back and assembling them, and repeating the whole loop for every change. With Element the geometry lives on a layer, it renders on the graphics card at something close to interactive speed, and a change to the model shows up in the preview immediately.
The scene setup is a group system. Each group holds a model, a piece of extruded text or a primitive, and each group can be replicated across a grid, a shape or a set of positions with its own animation offsets, so a wall of rotating panels or a swarm of objects is a few parameters rather than hundreds of layers. Particle replication drives that same geometry through a particle system with physics, so objects can be scattered, exploded and reassembled without leaving the timeline.
The material system is physically based with a full set of channels: diffuse, specular, reflectivity, glossiness, normal, bump, illumination and transparency, all with texture slots and per group overrides. Reflections use environment maps with real time falloff, ambient occlusion is computed on the card, and motion blur is rendered properly rather than faked with a post filter. Lighting is shadow casting and integrates with the host application's own camera and lights, which is the part that makes composites actually sit together.
Model import covers the common exchange formats with materials and hierarchy, and the bundled model packs give you a working library from the first launch. Because everything renders on the graphics card, the practical limits are video memory rather than processor time, and a modern card handles scenes that would take a long overnight render in a traditional pipeline.
Read the whole list before you start. Most of the reports that come into the desk about this title turn out to be a step taken out of order.
| Processor | Intel or AMD, 64 bit, multicore |
|---|---|
| Memory | 8 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended |
| Graphics | Dedicated GPU with 2 GB VRAM minimum, 6 GB or more recommended |
| Storage | 10 GB free with the model packs installed |
| Host | A compatible compositing application already installed |
Video memory is the real limit here, not system memory. A card with more VRAM changes what is possible more than any other upgrade.
Keep the graphics driver on a stable release. Beta drivers break the renderer more often than anything else does.
| Title | Video Copilot Element 3D |
|---|---|
| Developer | Video Copilot |
| Version | 2.2.3 build 2192 |
| Category | 3D & CAD |
| Release type | Full version |
| Operating system | Windows 11, Windows 10 (64 bit) |
| Architecture | x64 |
| Interface language | English |
| Archive size | 1.09 GB |
| File name | video_copilot_element_3d_2.2.3_2192_x64_full.rar |
| Shelf updated | 4 days ago |
| Total downloads | 174,576 |
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