--- ray/doc/notes/ReleaseNotes	2024/08/07 18:42:56	1.455
+++ ray/doc/notes/ReleaseNotes	2025/05/21 17:23:07	1.488
@@ -2710,3 +2710,109 @@ added epw2wea -a option to include required informatio
 Fixed bug introduced in Auguest 2022 (5.4 release) in distant
 light source sampling, which caused aiming failures.  (Thanks
 to Mike DiPompeo of LightStanza for reporting the issue.)
+
+Added rxpict rendering tool based on C++ RpictSimulManager class.
+Multi-processing and spectral output are supported.
+
+Wrote rxpiece tool that will render pictures using tiling and
+can handle different output formats and hyperspectral pictures.
+Only runs on a single machine, however -- no NFS locking on
+shared volumes.  Mainly a demonstration tool for RpictSimulManager
+C++ class, but may have its uses.
+
+Fixed a bug in BSDF sampling of sources pointed out by
+David Geisler-Moroder, which tended to overestimate specular
+contributions for some BSDFs.
+
+Added crude ability to read and convert spectra to RGB in ximage,
+ra_bmp, ra_ps, and ra_rgbe programs.  Also updated fast tone-mapping
+library to handle spectral HSR inputs at the same time.  HSR
+input handling was added in a similar fashion to pcond and pvalue
+for convenience.
+
+Added handling of hyperspectral images to normtiff, a handy program
+for quickly tone-mapping Radiance RGBE, XYZE, and now hyperspectral
+pictures, as well as IEEE float or LogLuv TIFFs.
+
+Added handling of hyperspectral pictures to pextrem, though
+results are still reported in RGB.
+
+Added accurate conversion of hyperspectral pictures to ra_xyze.
+
+Added hyperspectral picture conversion to ra_tiff, with accurate
+color when targeting 16-bit/comp., LogLuv, and float utput,
+and the approximate method for 24-bit RGB.
+
+Taoning added genssky -L option to specify global and diffuse
+illuminance values for output calibration.
+
+Created C++ class for rcontrib and example tool rxcontrib, which
+is an optional compile in the src/rt directory.  The output
+model is more general in some respects and the operations more
+efficient, but standard output is not supported, nor is ASCII
+results data.
+
+Added strnstr.c compatibility module in ray/src/common, since
+it isn't present on Linux derivatives.
+
+Added WGMDfunc material type with programmable roughness and
+separate modifier paths for the different components.
+
+Added gensurf -i option at the request of Peter Apian-Bennewitz
+to reverse surface normals, mostly for data input, when it is
+a bit more difficult to adjust.
+
+Added rad -N option to rholo call for multiprocessing when
+mkillum and/or mkpmap are involved in octree prep.
+
+Added ability of gendaymtx to read EPW as well as WEA files.
+When EPW input is provided, the 3-hour average dew point is
+used to compute a more accurate precipitable water content
+value.  It currently does not use these data directly from
+the EPW input, relying instead on a dew-point-to-W calculation.
+This follows the request and recommendations of David G-M.
+
+Removed limitation in rfluxmtx, which was disallowing distant
+and local receivers. Found this to be a perfectly valid approach
+for some annual daylighting scenarios.
+
+Wrote new pvsum tool to handle cases dctimestep can't, like
+spectral input pictures.  It also adds a -N option for multi-
+processing on Unix machines, which utilizes memory-mapped
+inputs for efficient i/o sharing.
+
+Made it so genBSDF can use spectral rendering for a
+more accurate photometric result.
+
+Changed default matrix representation to float rather than
+double, which uses less RAM and supports faster operations
+in general.  Build with compiler flag:
+	-DDTnativeDTrmx_native=DTdouble
+to get back higher precision representation.
+
+Taoning Wang updated genssky and gensdaymtx to provide illuminance
+calibration and accept EPW files directly as input.
+
+Added -e expr and -f file.cal options to all rendering tools, not
+just rcontrib/rxcontrib.  Feature request from Peter A-B.
+
+Fixed slight bias in indirect calculation caused by ambient
+collision detection, pointed out by Jon Sargent.  New code
+keeps track of rejected samples and sells them back to
+later calls to get something closer to a true Poisson
+sampling method.
+
+Altered rvu "origin" command to take shift amounts forward,
+right, and up rather than taking an explicit origin, which
+can be done easily enough with the "view" command.  Peter A-B
+requested (sort of).
+
+Added genglaze tool created by Taoning Wang to generate
+spectral glazing materials based on CGDB data and models.
+
+Fixed bug that caused inf and nan errors with -cw setting
+where longer wavelength was substantially less than limits
+of specified spectra.
+
+Created bsdfpeaks utility to identify and report full-width,
+half-maximum sizes of peaks in SIR and XML inputs.