Changes to the Program

Version 2.8.9: released December 16, 2002

• Viewpoint Scene Builder changed the reading of OBJ files some time between version 3.0.7.26 and 3.0.11.131. The Z coordinate of the vertices is now multiplied by -1.0 when written to OBJ files that will be used with MTX files.

Version 2.8.8: released November 21, 2002

• Adding reading of IFF files and 8, 16, 24 and 32 bit TGA files.

• Adding reading and writing of UV texture coordinates for the color channel of LW6+ files.

• XYZ files can now be read and stored as a point cloud without a polygon mesh being created for the vertices. The point cloud can be displayed in the OpenGL viewer but it can not be saved to any file formats.

• Due to a problem, quads are now deleted as a Lightscape file is read.

• 'Batch Convert': After the file has been read, added the option of either merging layers with same materials or merging all layers.

Version 2.8.7: released October 2, 2002

• Select the pages of file formats that will be displayed in the 'Global', 'Batch' and 'Layer Attributes' dialog boxes.

• Batch attributes can be selected and applied to all the layers after a 3D object has been read from a file.

• Changed the algorithm for reducing layer names to a maximum of 10 characters for 3DS files.

Version 2.8.6: released September 24, 2002

• Joint translations in avatar animations can be saved to Viewpoint MTX files.

• Added read and write support for Active Worlds SEQ files.

• Joints can now be translated / moved in avatar animations.

Version 2.8.5: released September 5, 2002

• Added reading of textures and UV coordinates for trueSpace COA files.

• DXF files:
  • Faster reading.
  • Added function to convert text to 3D objects for entities TEXT, ATTDEF, ATTRIB and DIMENSION.
  • Added support for entities MTEXT and LWPOLYLINE.

• Interface Changes:
  • Reinstalled context-sensitive help that was discontinued at version 2.5.0.
  • Button size reduced from 24 x 24 to 20 x 20.
  • Select font and font size.
  • Select underline, bold and color for text on buttons.
  • Added Windows color picker dialog box for selecting colors.
  • Added a reload last file read function.
  • Menus were reorganized.
  • Added user adjustable upper and lower toolbars.
  • Most keyboard shortcuts were temporarily discontinued until code for new user adjustable keyboard shortcuts is ready.

Version 2.8.4: released June 18, 2002

• Convert a landscape to a 3D mesh and then delete the triangles at the minimum elevation (the ocean).

Version 2.8.3: released June 9, 2002

• Added display of transparent materials to the OpenGL viewer.

• Fixed problem when reading trueSpace files that had duplicate object names and numbers: mesh and material data could be assigned to the wrong layer.

Version 2.8.2: released June 2, 2002

• Fixes problems writing 'double sided' and 2D lines to LW6+ files.

Version 2.8.1: released May 23, 2002

• Avatar module using OpenGL display only: Multiple avatars can be displayed and animated simultaneously.

• Avatar module using OpenGL display only: Ghost avatars can be displayed for the joint key frames that precede and follow the current frame that is being viewed. The number of ghost avatars to be displayed can be set plus the distance between the avatars can be changed.

• Avatar module: The '<' and '>' buttons for rotating joints, positioning joints and moving body parts has been replaced by a new '' button which works the same as the old buttons plus adds a new feature where moving the mouse, with the button depressed, changes the values and updates the avatar display in real time.

• 'Default Rotations' menu command and button for the 'Align Surface Normals' and 'Edit Points' modules has been replaced by three new buttons which 'Rotate', 'Zoom' and 'Pan' the camera.

• Changes for reading LW6 files.

Version 2.8.0: released April 12, 2002

• The previously separate avatar and animation tutorial was added to the help file.

• Vertex coordinates were switched from float back to double in the internal database for those users who need more accuracy.

• The OpenGL viewer now works for everything except landscapes.

Version 2.7.37: released March 13, 2002

• Vertex normals for smooth rendering can now be calculated. Smooth rendered surfaces are now displayed in the OpenGL viewer.

• Added read / write support for vertex normals for VRML and OBJ files. Write only support for MTX files.

Version 2.7.36: released February 24, 2002

• The OpenGL viewer now displays BMP and JPG textures.

• A list of directories containing texture files can now be created. After a file has been read, these directories are searched to find the correct path to the texture files.

Version 2.7.35: released February 16, 2002

• Inserting surface normals in the OpenGL display lists can cause a long delay when the display lists are being built for 3D objects that contain a large number of faces. A new option in preferences allows selecting between GL_COMPILE and GL_COMPILE_AND_EXECUTE modes so that the best mode for the graphics card can be chosen.

• Added writing of LW6 files and fixed a couple of problems when reading large LW6 files.

• Vertex coordinates were switched from double to float in the internal database to consume less memory.

Version 2.7.33: released February 10, 2002

• Added reading of USGS landscapes stored in DEM/SDTS files.

• Elevations for landscapes are now stored as floating point numbers instead of as integers in the internal database.

• Fixed a problem when creating the avatar hierarchy. Children of OBJ2, OBJ3, TAIL2, TAIL3 and TAIL4 were incorrectly made children of OBJ and TAIL.

Version 2.7.32: released January 24, 2002

• The 'triangles to quads' routine now checks for coplanar triangles that overlap and then does not combine them into a quad.

Version 2.7.31: released January 22, 2002

• 2D lines are now written to 3DMF files.

Version 2.7.30: released January 10 2002

• When a 3D object is created from a BMP or IFF file, the object is now scaled by the Input Scale Factor.

• Fixed problem where the 'Preferences: Options' dialog box was hidden behind the main window after the 'Set Background and DXF Colors' dialog box was closed.

Version 2.7.29: released January 8, 2002

• Fixed an error in the triangles to quads routine.

Version 2.7.28: released January 4, 2002

• Quads are now written in batch mode.

• For Maya files, quads instead of triangles are written for landscapes and for other 3D objects either triangles or quads can be written to the file.

• Revised routines for aligning surface normals. Visible change is when one triangle of a quad has the surface normal flipped then the other triangle making up the quad is immediately flipped.

• Revised database and routines for triangles to quads. Less memory is required to store quads.