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[Steve]

The current development release is v1.01.1357, March 15, 2019: http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/files/animcl1357.zip

These notes are for the development branch of Anim8or, currently labeled v1.01.xxxx. As changes are verified many but not all will be rolled int the main branch, v1.00x.

The following is a cumulative list of major changes to this development branch since the latest "official" release, v1.00b.

Major changes for build 1357 dated March 15, 2019:

ASL scanner: Add tokens for at sign "@" and questoin mark "?":
   ATSIGN_TOKEN
   QUESTION_TOKEN
Fix #101-028: Arc-Rotate Crashes in Perspective and Stereo Crash views.
Stereo Views: update in parallel when using Arc-Rotate.

Previous v1.01.xxxx releases:

Major changes for build 1356 dated March13, 2019:

ART rendering: Improve fast AA for transparent and reflective materials.
ASL scripts: Add "wb" option for ASL files.
ASL scripts: Save render images in script with new type image and output functions:

class image {
    int WriteBMP(string fName); // All functions return 1 if OK, 0 if failed
    int WriteJPG(string fName [ , int quality = 95 ] ); // 0 = lowest, 100 = highest
    int WritePNG(string fName [, int IncludeAlpha = 0 ] );
}

New member "GetImage()" in project type:
image GetImage(int image_id); // Returns NULL if no such image.
enum image_id { IMAGE_COLOR, IMAGE_ALPHA, IMAGE_DEPTH };

Fix #101-026: Sequences that go beyond the end of a scene don't extend the scene.
Fix #101-027: Stereo Crossed option doesn't do anything.
Stereo: Fix View->User and View->Stereo menu commands.
Stereo: Add menu option to swap left and right images for use in VR viewers.
Arc Rotate: When using Arc-Rotate in a camera or light view, alter the position and orientation of the camera or light accordingly.
Frames or Seconds: Add menu option to toggle between showing seconds or frame numbers in time tracks.

Major changes for build 1348 dated December 13, 2018:

Clay Model Style: Added a new rendering style for working views and renders that displays all objects using a two-sided clay material. This can make it easier to see the shape when you're modeling especially for objects with patterned materials.
Fix: Edit | Rotate doesn't work for components again.
Fix: Art FastAA crash when more than 256 samples are used.
Fix: GLSL fragment shaders: emissive weight was wrong, it used Ks instead of Ke.

Major changes for build 1345 dated December 2, 2018:

Reimplement: changes in builds 1325 to 1332 that were lost due to my disk crash.

Major changes for build 1332 dated August 6, 2018:
New Bone Editing Idea: This build has one major addition, an alternate way to edit a Figure's bone structure, plus a new way to show bones. Please post your comments about it in this topic.

Major changes for build 1330 dated July 22, 2018:
ART: Increase maximum number of threads for multi-threaded rendering from 8 to 16 (with an 16 core CPU).
ART: Add int attribute "MaxThreads" to set the maximum number of rendering threads.  0 = use Anim8or default. -N = use #cores - N.
Scene Editor: Add camera move/pan widget. Active in Arrow/Move and Arrow/Rotate modes.
ASL BUG: Restore LockAmbiantDiffuse, SetAmbientColor, SetDiffuseColor, etc. function calls that were accidentally deleted in earlier drop.
Fix bug from cl-1324: Edit->Rotate menu accidentally disabled in point editor when Delete Unreferenced Materials was added to Edit menu.
Fix #101-025: Image, Panoramic and Cube Map Backgrounds rendering issues.

Major changes for build 1329 dated July 7, 2018:
ART: Add multi-threaded rendering. Increases speed up rendering up to 8X (with an 8 core CPU).
ART: Improve Fast AA rendering speed and accuracy. (depth, light-mask, normals, materials)
Normal Maps: Fix problem in ART Normal Map rendering.
Normal Maps: Add new option to swap U coordinate direction.
Fix ART bug: where something marked Don't Cast Shadows do so anyway.
Fix #101-023: Ctrl-A Doesn't Select Faces in Groups.

Major changes for build 1325 dated May 30, 2018:
Delete Unreferenced Materials: new command.
Improve texture file searches: fix "./" file path bug.
ASL Materials: Add numerous new members, include two sided support. See the ASL spec for details.

Major changes for build 1321 dated March 15, 2018:
Fix crash loading project introduced by cl-1320.
ASL Files: Add support for reading text files using GPScan token scanner. See this topic for more details.

Major changes for build 1318 dated January 25, 2018:
Scene Editor: Added Element Folders which all you to group element in the track window for easier management of large projects.
- Fixed several minor Undo/Redo bugs such as Element name changes not being applied.

Major changes for build 1317 dated January 14, 2018:
Fix #101-017: Issues with Groups and Layers.
   Use group's layer instead of each component's layer when displaying or selecting a group.
   Use the group number of the components in a group when creating a group.
   For multiple group numbers, use any one of them.
Fix #101-018: Reading a .an8 file with a script-based parameteric shape in a group crashes.
Fix #101-019: Script controllers for scene morph targets with aren't saved in .an8 file.
IK effector: Change to not move location of effector unless the user have specifically moved it
(i.e. not when it was moved because it couldn't be reached when the whole figure was moved).
Connected Face Extrusion: Expand cases when new faces are kept parallel to original faces.
Inset Tool: Change to inset edges parallel and equal distance to original edges. Previous behavior (that moved edges relative to the length of each individual edge) is available using the Shift key.
Scene Editor: Add menu command Edit->Bones->KeySelectedControllers.
Fix #101-020: Object Editor: Copy/Pasting a Group with a sub Group doesn't work correctly.


Major changes for build 1314 dated December 20, 2017:
Depth Channel: You can now make movies of the depth channel.
Depth Channel: Fixed small bugs in Z-near/Z-far dialogs as they relate to rendering.
Frame Viewports: Hot-key f changed to frame only the focus view. Hot-key Ctrl-Sh-F added to frame all views.
User Lights: Added an option Options->UseDefaultLighting to disable user lights and use default lighting in the scene editor:
CAD: Display the angle between selected adjacent edges.
CAD: Highlight values in orange when the mouse moves over the component.
Material Samples: Fix bug where they didn't render when layer 0 was hidden.

Major changes for build 1312 dated December 11, 2017:
Fix #100-010:GLSL materials with more than 4 textures are broken.
Fix #100-011:Rendering a scene a second time hangs
Fix #100-012:Shape rotations don't follow object coordinates in object editor.
Fix #100-013:Object/Move command uses World coordinates when Object coordinates are selected.
Fix #100-014: Shell and Extrude Connected commands can cause spikes.
Fix #100-015: Sliding Resized Figures with IK.
Scene Editor: Add Copy/Paste for Scene Elements.
Object editor: Add Build->SplitSolids command that separates unconnected parts of a mesh or subdivision surface.
Pivot: Add Edit->Pivot->CenterPivot, AlignWithShape, AlignWithWorld commands.
Point Editor: Implement Edit->Rotate->Rotate commands.
Text Object: Add default font to project: type-face, size, italic, bold

[fefe01]

Wow, it is really great! Thank you very much Steve! Can the depth channel be enabled in the render movie menu in this version?

[Steve]

No, this build doesn't have an option for rendering a movie of the depth channel.

[fefe01]

Anyway, all the new features are really satisfactory. Thank you very much Steve!

[nemyax]

Point Editor: Implement Edit->Rotate->Rotate commands.

This is a very welcome improvement, thanks!
I hope move and scale are coming soon, too.

[Trevor]

Ive been meaning to mention this since build 12xx but refrence images are not transparent in wireframe mode.
this means I have to switch to solid mode and assign a temporary transparent surface to model to match refrence image.

Trev

[neirao]

thanks!! Merry Christmas for All!!!

[Steve]

OK one last post in the development branch: build 1318. If it checks out OK  I'll post a new v1.0 update.

The main change is that I added Element Folders which all you to group element in the track window for easier management of large projects. There is a new field in the Element Properties dialogs that let you specify a folder name. All elements with the same folder name [and parent element] are grouped under one expandable tree control in the Track Window.

This changed quite a bit of code, so please try it out and let me know if you find any issues.

[Gyperboloid]

The current development release is v1.01.1318, January 25, 2018: http://www.anim8or.com/download/preview/files/animcl1318.zip


.............

Previous v1.01.xxxx releases:

Major changes for build 1317 dated January 14, 2018:
Fix #101-017: Issues with Groups and Layers.
   Use group's layer instead of each component's layer when displaying or selecting a group.
   Use the group number of the components in a group when creating a group.
   For multiple group numbers, use any one of them.
Fix #101-018: Reading a .an8 file with a script-based parameteric shape in a group crashes.
Fix #101-019: Script controllers for scene morph targets with aren't saved in .an8 file.
IK effector: Change to not move location of effector unless the user have specifically moved it
(i.e. not when it was moved because it couldn't be reached when the whole figure was moved).
Connected Face Extrusion: Expand cases when new faces are kept parallel to original faces.
Inset Tool: Change to inset edges parallel and equal distance to original edges. Previous behavior (that moved edges relative to the length of each individual edge) is available using the Shift key.
Scene Editor: Add menu command Edit->Bones->KeySelectedControllers.
Fix #101-020: Object Editor: Copy/Pasting a Group with a sub Group doesn't work correctly.


............

I don't know how I missed the 1317 release  , but that's superb Steve. Can the exact same behavior be implemented for the Bevel tool also ?

[Steve]

Yes, I'm working on Bevel but it's a LOT more difficult .... Stay tuned ....

[chuft-captain]

Will check out this build as soon as I get a chance Steve, esp. as it looks like you may have addressed some of the issues I raised with you in December regarding Groups and Layers functionality.
(BTW. Does private messaging work on this forum? I sent you a follow up PM in Dec, but as there is no apparent Outbox/SentBox in the forum, in the absence of a reply from you, it's not clear to me whether PM's are delivered or not.)

CC

PS.
A suggestion for new functionality...

I do quite a lot of repetitive actions in my modelling (especially involving rotations, as I often design models which have some level of symmetry around the Y-axis).

For example, I might create a piece of geometry which I then want to duplicate and rotate through 60 degrees (x 5).

In this case the actions would be:

ctrl-V (Paste in the initial geometry)
then ...
ctrl-C, ctrl-V, Edit -> Rotate -> Rotate Custom -> tab to the Y-Axis box, type 60, click OK
and repeat this 4 more times...
ctrl-C, ctrl-V, Edit -> Rotate -> Rotate Custom -> tab to the Y-Axis box, type 60, click OK
ctrl-C, ctrl-V, Edit -> Rotate -> Rotate Custom -> tab to the Y-Axis box, type 60, click OK
ctrl-C, ctrl-V, Edit -> Rotate -> Rotate Custom -> tab to the Y-Axis box, type 60, click OK
ctrl-C, ctrl-V, Edit -> Rotate -> Rotate Custom -> tab to the Y-Axis box, type 60, click OK

WHat would be quite good is if there was some sort of "Repeat last operation" function (ideally linked to a hotkey ... perhaps ctrl-R or ctrl-shift-R)

This would significantly improve this workflow, by reducing the need to access several layers of menus multiple times in order to repeat the same rotation, and if tied to a hotkey would greatly reduce the tension in my mouse wrist! 

ie. It would be reduced to:
ctrl-C, ctrl-V, Edit -> Rotate -> Rotate Custom -> tab to the Y-Axis box, type 60, click OK
ctrl-C, ctrl-V, ctrl-R
ctrl-C, ctrl-V, ctrl-R
ctrl-C, ctrl-V, ctrl-R
ctrl-C, ctrl-V, ctrl-R

I guess this "repeat last operation" could extend to other types of operations as well, not just rotations (that just happens to be the situation where I often find myself needing it).

[selden]

CC,

Groups can be used to reduce the number of manual copy-paste-and-rotate operations when the rotations are around a central point. You can group the models that already have been rotated and then rotate that entire group. It can significantly reduce the total number of operations involved. When you're done you can ungroup them all (or not) as appropriate. Similar groupings can help when creating linear assemblies.

I agree, though, that creating "macros" consisting of a sequence of operations would be very helpful.

[Steve]

chuft-captain: For your immediate example, try:

1.Copy, paste paste paste paste, and position them.
2.Select all copies and Edit->Rotate->Rotate Custom one time to rotate them all y+60.

In the past I've looked into building sort of "recorder" where you could record all actions and then play them back. Originally it was for making tutorials, but the underlying code could do what you suggest as well.

One big issue is that it has to work for pretty much everything. Partially working features are frustrating to use because sometimes they just mysteriously don't work. Another is screen resolution which affects some commands. And the big one is the amount of work to add it.

[chuft-captain]

CC,

Groups can be used to reduce the number of manual copy-paste-and-rotate operations when the rotations are around a central point. You can group the models that already have been rotated and then rotate that entire group. It can significantly reduce the total number of operations involved. When you're done you can ungroup them all (or not) as appropriate. Similar groupings can help when creating linear assemblies.

I agree, though, that creating "macros" consisting of a sequence of operations would be very helpful.

Thanks Selden,

I have in fact used that technique many times in the past which can be great for replicating geometry where symmetry is involved.

chuft-captain: For your immediate example, try:

1.Copy, paste paste paste paste, and position them.
2.Select all copies and Edit->Rotate->Rotate Custom one time to rotate them all y+60.

You may have misunderstood my description of the scenario. In my example, the first object is copied and pasted then rotated to 60 deg. It then has focus, so the next copy/paste operates on that object which is then rotated to 120 deg (60+60), the next 180, and so forth around the y-axis. --- So I end up with 6 objects at 0,60,120,180,240,300.
I should mention that these are imported objects which seem to be treated a little differently in rotation than natively created objects.
eg. If I draw a cube, position it at [-50,0,0] then rotate it, each copy is rotated about it's own internal axis.
(IMAGE1)
However, if I first export and re-import it (as an STL), then each copy is rotated about the workspace axis.
(IMAGE 2)

I'm NOT complaining! This difference (whether deliberate or not) is a very helpful feature, but anyway, the second scenario is what I was talking about, whereas I think you're talking about the first.

One big issue is that it has to work for pretty much everything. Partially working features are frustrating to use because sometimes they just mysteriously don't work. Another is screen resolution which affects some commands. And the big one is the amount of work to add it.

I understand. It's just a suggestion for what might be a "nice to have", but the decision about what to do is entirely up to you, and must be tempered by the amount of work required, and the risk of regression/confusion.
My initial feeling was that this could be restricted to rotations, but I understand your motivation to implement a feature such as a "repeat last action/operation" with as wide a scope as possible.
I do think that cut and paste operations maybe should be excluded from a feature like this, and of course it should be subject to the usual undo/redo functionality.
If you were to add this in some form and extend it's use beyond just rotations, perhaps there still should be some limit to it's applicability ... ie. no cut/paste and perhaps limited to "transformation" type operations only, but then as you point out, you get into the issue of confusion around  "partially working features". I really don't have a broad enough knowledge of Anim8tor functionality to be able to suggest limits on it's scope.
Probably requires a bit more thought by "minds immeasurably superior to mine".... da .. da .. daaaah; da .. da .. daaaah !  ;-)

[Steve]

The reason that STL imports behave differently is that the format doesn't have a separate center (aka the "pivot") for the model, or for separate parts of the model, like Anim8or does. So Anim8or places the pivot at the origin.