Strata Design 3D CX is a commercial 3D modeling, rendering and animation program developed in St. George, Utah by Corastar, Inc. dba Strata Software. Strata is a pioneer and developer of 3D design software. Strata Design 3D CX 8 is the latest incarnation of a program that was originally named StrataVision 3D. It is best known as an all-purpose 3D modeling application with photo-real rendering ability, ease of use and tight integration with Adobe Photoshop. Strata 3D is targeted at the illustration/multimedia market rather than at the movie/games market. Strata 3D software in its various iterations has received awards and praise from many sources including MacUser UK, Digit Magazine, Layers Magazine, DigitalArts, MacWorld, and Photoshop User. History Strata 3D was one of the first desktop 3D graphics applications, releasing its first application, StrataVision 3D, in 1989. The company was formed by brothers Ken and Gary Bringhurst. By 1996, the company was among the top five private employers in southern Utah. The Bringhurst brothers and their company have stayed in their scenic red rock home near St. George, Utah. Ken Bringhurst serves as the company's Executive Chairman, while Gary Bringhurst is the Chief Technology Officer. As of September 2016, John Wright is President and Chief Executive Officer. Move into VR/AR Strata announced initial funding for its move into augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) September 22, 2016. Greg Kofford, a co-founder of Lanstead Investors PTY Limited, managed the funding; company changes include the appointment of John Wright as president and managing director. Strata plans to give users the ability to view and sell design projects using VR and AR headsets, and offer custom VR/AR development. Strata Design 3D CX features Strata Design 3D CX 8.1 is the latest version of the product and contains numerous upgrades, improvements, and enhancements. Rendering features. Strata Design 3D CX is famous for its high-quality rendering ability – rendering being the creation of a finished, final image. Rendering features include: Embree Raycasting by Intel, added in v8.1, improves rendering speed by 300 to 800 percent. Preview renderers include LiveRay, which generates a fully raytraced rendering the object or scene. Several variations of OpenGL and Toon rendering are also available for previewing a model or scene. Raydiosity and raytracing rendering options include many customization options such as rendering to an alpha channel, rendering to Photoshop layers, gamma control, and the ability to load or save custom