Rebelle 8: Realistic Oil Shader with Soft Shadows

After a year and a half of dedicated development, we’re thrilled to announce that Rebelle 8 is coming at the end of Q3 this year! Packed with exciting new features, performance improvements, and innovative creative tools, this version marks one of our most ambitious updates yet.

For artists eager to explore what's coming in Rebelle 8, we’re excited to offer Early Access before the official release. Starting in late June or July, Early Access gives you the opportunity to try out the new features firsthand, share feedback, and eventually play a part in shaping the final version.

You know us — with every Rebelle release, our mission has always been to blend cutting-edge technology with creativity that allows us to come as close to reality as possible. Rebelle 8 is no exception. One of its standout features is a bold leap forward in impasto rendering and delivering richer, thicker, and more textured brushstrokes.

This improvement is powered by significant technological progress from our development team. By implementing raytracing and environment mapping, Rebelle 8 will render the depth and realism of traditional oil painting like never before, bringing a whole new dimension to your canvas.

Examples of impasto strokes in Rebelle 8 Pro.

RealShader: Photorealistic Lighting of Oil Paintings 

Environment mapping, also known as reflection mapping, is a graphics technique used to make objects look reflective. Instead of calculating real-time reflections, it uses a pre-made image that represents the surrounding environment. This texture is then mapped onto the object to simulate how it would reflect its surroundings, making it appear shiny or metallic without using complex lighting calculations.

In Rebelle 8 Pro, we’ve created RealShader - a new generation of realistic Rebelle materials using real photos as environment maps. These maps simulate how light interacts with thick paint, making your brushstrokes look more lifelike.

You will be able to choose from three built-in maps in the Visual Settings panel:

- Environment 1 - The new environment reflects light the most.
- Environment 2 - The new environment with a more subtle shine.
- Legacy - An environment similar to Rebelle 7 lighting without NanoPixel.

This creates a synergistic effect with soft shadows to achieve a much deeper, more realistic oil painting effect.A - Environment 1 | B - Environment 2 | C - Legacy

SoftShadows: Shadows Based on Raytracing

Raytracing is a technique that mimics how light behaves in the real world to create realistic images. It traces the path of light as it interacts with objects in a scene, helping simulate effects like reflections, shadows, transparency, soft lighting, and even color distortions seen through glass. This method allows digital images to look much more natural and visually rich by accurately modeling how light moves and bounces.

In Rebelle 8 Pro, we’ve brought this powerful technology into a real-time painting environment - oil brushstrokes can cast realistic shadows, reflect light based on their shape and color, and exhibit a sense of three-dimensional volume, all while you’re painting. 

            Left: RealShader ON | Shadows OFF                                      Right: RealShader ON | Shadows ON

Because the raytracing takes color and shape into account, white strokes reflect more light and appear brighter, while darker tones absorb more light, casting deeper shadows. This gives artists precise visual feedback and control over their painting’s depth, realism, and lighting, all in real time. It’s a big leap forward for digital oil painting.

 
NanoPixel 2: Improved NanoPixel

Rebelle 8 Pro introduces a major upgrade to its NanoPixel technology, now offering a sharper and more detailed zoom experience across the entire canvas.

Compared to the first NanoPixel version, the upgraded system uses new, larger, and sharper texture maps. As a result, structures in oil paint, especially thick impasto strokes, appear noticeably more defined and crisp, enhancing depth and realism in your artwork. 

Compared to Rebelle 7 Pro, which supported image export up to 4×4 upscale, Rebelle 8 Pro now allows for up to 20×20 (2000%) NanoPixel export, providing dramatically higher resolution and precision ideal for large-format prints or close-up views of brushwork and textures.
The export size is capped for all formats at 32,000 × 32,000 pixels, except TIFF (which has unlimited size), a practical limit for handling ultra-high-res images without overloading system memory.

Moreover, thanks to environment mapping, the fine details in your strokes are now more realistic. For example, we captured a photo of a gray-painted sphere and used it to create one of the texture maps, enhancing the realism of the brushwork.
The evolution of Rebelle's impasto rendering.

Early Access Starting Soon

The full version of Rebelle 8 is set to launch at the end of Q3 2025. But if you're eager to dive in early, you can join the Early Access, starting late June or July.

If you purchase Rebelle 7 on or after May 28, 2025, you’ll be eligible for a free upgrade to the equivalent edition of Rebelle 8. Follow us on Instagram and stay tuned for updates and sneak peeks of what’s coming!

Thank you for your continuous support!
Escape Motions Team

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Cover image made in Rebelle 8 Pro by Georg Ireland | Visit Portfolio