Besides the amazingly realistic Bristle Brushes and state-of-the-art RealShader with raytracing technology, there are more powerful features you will be able to experience in the upcoming Rebelle 8. Let's break some of them in today's blog:
- WebSocket Control Input for enabling exciting possibilities with Rebelle for interactive installations, live performances, and more
- Symmetry tool for perfectly mirrored artwork with ease
- Smooth Scaling for antialiased images when the canvas is zoomed out
- Instant paper preview for swapping between papers and art surfaces instantly, and testing them even when they are not purchased
- Layer Settings panel for access to new settings per layer
- Custom Reflectivity maps for Metallics and Granulation maps for watercolors
And yes, Early Access is coming soon, so artists like you can try it all before the official launch. Let’s dive in!
WebSocket Control Input
We thought it would be exciting to give artists new ways to interact with Rebelle, so we opened the door to external control! Rebelle 8 introduces WebSocket control, allowing the software to be operated remotely via external devices, enabling exciting possibilities for interactive installations, live performances, projections, and custom hardware setups through command line arguments. Integrate external devices or custom setups with the new WebSocket Control Input, opening the door to advanced, real-time control workflows.
This system is built on Motion IO, so it shares the same features and documentation. We're genuinely curious to see what you'll create with it!
Symmetry Tool
Rebelle 8 introduces a new Symmetry tool, allowing artists to create mirrored artwork effortlessly. Now, whether you're sketching characters, creatures, or just exploring balance, you can paint the symmetry - and still feel like you're using a real brush.
When developing the Symmetry tool, we had two choices. One was the easy route: simply mirror the pixels from one side of the canvas to the other. Quick, simple, but limited. Instead, we chose to actually clone the entire brush engine, meaning that when you paint in symmetry, you're not just duplicating strokes, you're using two fully responsive brushes at the same time. Each one interacts independently with the paint, water, and paper texture in real time.
It was a real technical challenge, but one that unlocks powerful possibilities, including the exciting potential for true multi-stroke painting in the future.
Smooth Scaling
Another major technical challenge we tackled in Rebelle 8 was solving aliasing that occurs when the canvas is zoomed out. Aliasing becomes especially noticeable with thin pencil or ink strokes on large canvases when zoomed. These strokes would often appear jagged, stepped, or blurry, which can be distracting, especially for artists working on fine line work or clean illustrations.
We knew this wasn’t acceptable for a tool that aims to bring traditional-quality results to digital art. So we dove deep into the issue and found our solution through RealShader — the rendering technology that powers Rebelle’s visual engine.
Thanks to RealShader, we were able to develop a brand-new antialiasing technique we call Smooth Scaling. Unlike traditional methods, Smooth Scaling ensures that strokes retain their smoothness and clarity no matter how far in or out you zoom, from 0% to 100% scale.
This results in beautifully crisp and smooth strokes, whether you're working up close on details or reviewing the full composition.
Smooth Scaling on an artwork zoomed out at 25% in Rebelle 8 Pro
Instant Paper Preview
All papers, canvases, and art surfaces will now be available to preview directly in Rebelle 8. These surfaces run on a dedicated layer, letting users paint, draw, and adjust texture settings. However, saving and exporting will be disabled while in preview mode.
Moreover, starting with Rebelle 8, artists will be able to purchase individual papers directly from our shop. We're moving away from bundled sets of three, giving creators more flexibility to buy exactly the paper they want without committing to a full set.
Once a paper is purchased, it will be automatically downloaded and unlocked within your license; no extra steps needed.
A new time-saving improvement: selecting a canvas in the "Select Canvas" window will now instantly apply changes, eliminating the need to hit OK first. This makes browsing surfaces for your artwork faster and more intuitive.
Layer Settings
Rebelle 8 brings a powerful upgrade to your workflow with the all-new Layer Settings panel, giving artists deeper control over how each layer behaves.
This new panel lets you assign custom colors to layers for better visual organization, especially in complex artworks.
You can now fine-tune impasto settings per layer, adjusting the texture’s depth and choosing how it blends with the layers beneath.
Plus, you’ll be able to control metallic reflectivity individually, per layer, giving you precise control over how metallic paints shine and catch light.
Reflectivity and Granulation Maps
Rebelle 8 Pro will allow you to upload your own reflectivity pattern for Metallic materials.
This can be customized via the Visual Settings, where you can select your own texture:
Example of three different reflectivity maps on the same metallic strokes
Rebelle 8 also enables you to upload your own granulation pattern for Watercolor Granulation.
The default granulation textures. are Granulation 1, Granulation 2 and Granulation 3. You can import your own 1024 x 1024 PNG texture via the Visual Settings:
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 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. Keep an eye on our upcoming blog posts to discover more exciting features coming to Rebelle 8. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for the latest updates and exclusive sneak peeks!
Thank you for your continuous support!
Escape Motions Team
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Cover image made in Rebelle 8 Pro by Carles | Visit Portfolio
Finding Love on Sunshine Street artwork by JunkyardSam | Visit Portfolio
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Alright this post actually made me get Rebelle 7. I was waiting for the symmetry tool and bristle brushes seem amazing, hopefully that Rebelle 8 upgrade campaign do indeed goes through nicely when it drops later this year, might even get some extra papers since the new preview system sounds amazing too, you guys seems to have actually outdone yourselves on this update!
I just can't wait end of July it's crazy lol
I like the idea of being able to purchase individual papers.
Love new things coming our way. Suggestion, now or soon, with the 1,2,3 different images for render shading lighting image sources....please add ability for users to import their lighting images, and maybe share like user brushes. I have hundreds of lighting source images from 3D rendering work over last 20 years.
Ooh, the new features for Rebelle 8 are looking very cool so far. I'm excited to test how bristle brushes work, and see how stuff like reflectivity maps and cast shadows from impasto affect how things look and feel.
Quite neat that you set up symmetry so things like diffusion play out separately on each side. The differences are subtle, but there's just that little bit more of an organic feel if you look close. (Though I'm curious what the "potential [...] true multi-stroke painting" might be, and how that differs from bristle brushes.)
The paper preview looks INCREDIBLY useful! I've bough a few paper sets, and don't regret any of them, because I've used at least one from each. But there's still a few sets I've been debating, so the ability to personally test (and only buy the one I specifically want) will be great for future paper purchases!
It's awesome you've arranged layer settings to control not just the oft-requested impasto effect, but also the metallic reflectivity! That should allow for some excellent flexibility. I'm curious, though: what are the impasto blend settings? Is it similar to layer styles (multiply, overlay, etc.), specifically applied to the impasto lighting effect? Or is it something else, like being able to choose between whether impasto from a layer below is visible through a layer above, or if instead a higher layer can hide the impasto below?
It would be great to have the possibility choose the light source direction for the impasto.
"But if you're eager to dive in early, you can join the Early Access, starting late July."
Nooooo, I want it now!! *cries*
Same here, i wanted it for the end of June, for my birthday. But we'll have to wait another 1 month.