Changes to the Program

Version 2.4: released June 18, 1998

• Removed security system.

• Added preliminary read and write support for RealiMation, Version 4.1, files. Work on this format will be completed in version 2.5

• Added preliminary read support for Lightscape files. Work on this format will be completed in version 2.5.

• If a 3D Studio file contains material descriptions, the rgb color is taken from the material description and assigned to the layer.

• Now adjusting for a different coordinate system when reading and writing VRML files.

• Fixed Problem: Correct colors were not written for 2D lines in a VRML file. Correct colors were not displayed for 2D lines read from a VRML file. 2D lines were not read from a Version 1.0 VRML file.

• Added a simple command line interface to read one file and save it as the last file type saved in the at3d.prefs file.

• Fixed Problem: In batch mode, the 3D object data could not be written to some file formats such as VRML

• Fixed Problem: A DXF pen number greater than 255 caused a crash.

Version 2.3: released October 28, 1997

• Changed security so that the ASCII codes for the password can be used instead of the password to activate the save module.

• Fixed two problems when reading 3D Studio ASCII files: Could not read a file that started with a blank line and found a period after "Tri-mesh" instead of a comma.

Version 2.2: released October 16, 1997

• Added options to the security system so that the program can be moved between folders on the same computer or transferred to another computer system.

• Added support for 3D Studio .prj files.

• Added support for XYZ files. This is an ASCII file which lists the x, y and z coordinates of an M by N array of vertices. After the coordinates are read, they can either be saved as a polyline mesh to a DXF file or converted to a 3D object which can be written to any supported file format.

• Added read support for United States Geological Survey (USGS) digital elevation model (DEM) landscapes and GTOPO30 landscapes.

• A new menu item, Edit->Object, has been added. Permanent changes to the database can now be made for the entire object. The object can be repositioned, scaled, mirrored and rotated on any axis in 90 degree increments.

• Batch mode was changed so that a series of DXF files can be read and automatically extruded and aligned and saved as new files. Top and bottom faces can be added / deleted from all extrusions done in batch mode. For a polyline used for the upper and lower bevel profiles it is hard to specify the starting end of the polyline in AutoCAD. It is possible to extrude all possible combinations of upper and lower bevels by switching the starting end on the polyline automatically.

• Extrude TrueType font module has been changed. Text can still be converted to a 3D object but know the text can also be converted to a 3D stencil. Both the 3D regular object and the stencil can be created at the same time so that the text can be made to appear as though it was embossed onto a surface.

• Fixed Problem: When the 'By Color' check box was selected in the 'Save Object As' dialog box, this feature did not work correctly for all file formats.

• Added write support only for POV-Ray Version 3.0 files.

• Added read / write support for VRML 1.0 and 2.0 files in ASCII format. The read module will fail when reading some VRML files as not all the possible conditions have been supported.

• Fixed Problem: trueSpace 3 files could not be read.

• Fixed Problem: When saving files the center point was not subtracted correctly from the coordinates.

• Fixed Problem: Surface normals were set correctly in the alignment module but were then written in the wrong order to a 3D Studio file making all faces invisible.

• Fixed Problem: When the 'Flip YZ' check box was checked in the 'Save Object As' dialog box, the Y and Z coordinates were not exchanged with each other when writing DXF files.

• Added read / write support for StereoLithography files.

• Fixed Problem: Some LightWave files contained surfaces with duplicate names which caused a crash after the file was read. Duplicate names for surfaces are now detected.

• Fixed Problem: When a file was written and an object with too many vertices, edges or faces was split into two or more objects, the attributes from the original layer were not copied to the new layers that were created for the new objects. Also there was a problem with duplicate names being created for some layers.

Version 2.1: released June 16, 1997

• Added support for the new file format for Imagine which allows the vertices, edges and faces to exceed the 30k limit. The new file chunks PNT2, EDG2, FAC2, CLS2, RLS2 and TLS2 which replace chunks PNTS, EDGE, FACE, CLST, RLST and TLST are supported. The new file chunks SHP2, SPC2 and PRP2 which replace chunks SHAP, SPC1 and PRP1 are not supported.

Version 2.0: released May 13, 1997

• A security system was added so that a fully working version of the program could be released for an evaluation period. A password enables the program after the trial period has expired.

• Adjacent and coplanar triangles can be combined to form quads (4 sided polygons). The four sided polygons can be saved to various file formats.

• DXF files can be read and stored as four sided polygons. The four sided polygons can be saved to various file formats. Lightscape prefers to use DXF files that contain 4 sided polygons.

• Fixed crashing problem with an Imagine file that did not contain a NAME chunk.

• A text string can have a TrueType font assigned to it. The text can be converted to a 3D outline which can be sub-divided into triangles and then extruded with an unlimited amount of bevels used.

• Read / Write support (very limited) for Wavefront files was added.

• Read / Write support for trueSpace files was added.

• Read / Write support for 3D Studio files was added.

• AT3D preferences file is now at Version 3.

• Landscapes in the form of digital elevation map (DEM) files from Scenery Animator and VistaPro can be exchanged with one another and written to other 3D formats. DEM data can be modified before the data is saved.

• IFF or BMP files can be converted to landscapes or to 3D outlines.

• Landscapes can be modified by making changes on a 2D contour map.

• Outlines from IFF or BMP files and simple polylines from DXF files can be extruded with unlimited number of bevels applied. A modeler was added to aid in designing the bevels.

• Viewer changed. 3D objects when rotated with the mouse are shown as boundary boxes for quick positioning.

• Internal program data storage was changed to make it easier to design the modeler for the extrusion bevels. Memory allocation and deallocation speed is faster also.

• Merge function added which removes duplicate vertices, edges and faces.

• Align function added which semi-automatically orients surface normals so that faces can be made visible in LightWave and VideoScape.

• 2D and 3D entities are now read and written to all 3D file formats.

• Improved routine (but still too slow) for sub-dividing LightWave or VideoScape multi-sided polygons into triangles.

• When a LightWave or VideoScape file is read the polygons are sub-divided into triangles and also kept in their original form (as is). The as is polygons can be rewritten to LightWave or VideoScape files as the original multi-sided polygons.

• Surface details are now read from LightWave or VideoScape files and converted either to lines or to triangles.

• Fixed crashes that occurred when reading some LightWave files.

• Support for DXF files from Corel Draw. Polylines from Corel Draw appear to be closed but they are not. Turn on the toggle for automatically closing simple polylines before reading the DXF file from Corel Draw. Polyline is now closed. When the file is saved to LightWave the DXF closed polyline is saved as a proper multi- sided polygon rather than as a series of lines. Two or more polylines that are completely inside one another can be joined together. For example, the capital letter 'D' consists of two polylines. Select these two polylines and then join them to create only one polygon. Any polygon can be sub-divided into triangles.

• Fixed three problems with INSERTing blocks from DXF files:

• Blocks inserted inside blocks did not work sometimes.

• Some blocks were inserted in the wrong location.

• Rotated arrays of blocks were not positioned correctly.

• Minor changes to facilitate the reading of DXF files that were not created by AutoCAD.

• Added additional support for special DXF to DXF transfer.

• Fixed problem with not allocating the correct number of vertices when converting DXF arcs.