Abvent has released version 4 of its Art*lantis 3D rendering suite. The upgrade incorporates Meta CS’s Mart technology, which the company claims boost rendering times by up to seven times. Version 4 also adds a new lighting model that integrates the mulitple effects of light re-bounded by the surrounding objects and controlled in real-time in the preview window. The degree of blur of shadows can be interactively adjusted for each light source and depth of field controls allow camera-style focus. QuickTime VR Objects can be created automatically also. Other improvements include a larger preview window (up to 640-x-480), a new memory manager for dynamic management of virtual memory, an adjustable cursor, preview of textures, a new interface for Autonomous Heliodon and materials import from other Art*lantis files. Artolantis is a rendering engine that runs on both Mac OS and Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000 PCs and works independent of modelling and animation suites and can import most of the standard file formats such as DXF, DWG, 3D Studio, IGES, VRML, Electric Image, RIB.