Hi All,

3D Canvas 6.6.5.0 Beta 4 is now available for download: Download 3D Canvas 6.6.5.0 Beta 4

The Readme file provided with 6.6.5.0 has a list of functions that do not work or are untested. It would be helpful to know if you try an untested function and find it working properly. It will save me time testing that function.

The first new feature is an improvement to 3D Canvas' backdrops. Backdrops now retain their proportions and the user can specify the actual dimensions that the backdrop represents.

In the following picture I drew the red line and indicated that this is 20.00 meters long in the real world model. I could have chosen a shorter line starting at any point and ending at any point. This allows users to enter any known distance and 3D Canvas creates the backdrops appropriately.



Here's an example in 3D Canvas:



I've also changed 3D Canvas to properly support textures that are not square.

I the following example I am cropping a non-square texture:



Here is a texture library expanded I:



A poor example, but if you look very closely you can see the textures have retained their proportions.

The third feature is an improvement to the 3D Canvas Plug-in interface to include additional support for UV mapping.

I've also improved the installation routine and made some changes to support Windows 2000.

Richard

I should mention that I have tried 6.5.5.0 with Windows Vista. It does not work at this point. I managed to fix the installation problems, but it looks like Windows Vista does not support the old DirectX "Retained Mode". There is still a bit of it in 3D Canvas and this will prevent 3D Canvas from running.

My goal is to get 3D Canvas working with Windows Vista as quickly as possible. Hopefully before the official release of Vista.

Same 4 problems as with beta3 :
http://amabilis.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5496093974/m/611...10808631#65810808631

1) The model looks transparent in 6.6.5.0
2) Some textures are not positioned in the same way.
some new images about point 2 :




3) White vertical lines (as previous versions). http://amabilis.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2046019974/m/68910808631

4) 3ds import scale

Animation OK ; Fast access to animation ; immediate access to the model when animation play is over.

I tried the hover feature. Very convenient except that the point coordinates are related to the "Ambient" object (not the same value as right clic / point position)

DOM107,

1) Can you sample the material and let me know what the Translucent value is in the Material Pallette?

2) On the file menu this is a function called "Properties". Can you try the variou texture qualities to see if any make a difference?

3) Same as #2

4) I changed the 3DS import scale. 1 = no change, 100 = scale 100x. It worked in my previous testing and when I tried it just now.

It's tough to know what the right choice is for the hover coordinates. I guess I have your vote for using object coordinates rather than world coordinates.

quote:

Originally posted by Amabilis Support:

1) Can you sample the material and let me know what the Translucent value is in the Material Pallette?

Same results when using the material sampling tool in both versions 6.5.1.0 and 6.6.5.0 : Specular=85 and transluscent=2
But not the same display as the screenshots show :
Display with 6.5.1.0 :

Display with 6.6.5.0 :

quote:

Originally posted by Amabilis Support:

2) On the file menu this is a function called "Properties". Can you try the variou texture qualities to see if any make a difference?

3) Same as #2

I tried the 3 options : no change
I tried to reapply some grey texture with Specular=85 and transluscent=2 : no change

May be point 2 is due to the conversion process ?

I made a simple test :
Original scene :

Result using a bmp file :


You can see the cylinder transparency on faces which are not grey.
Same test in 6.5.1.0 : no transparency.

quote:

Originally posted by Amabilis Support:
4) I changed the 3DS import scale. 1 = no change, 100 = scale 100x. It worked in my previous testing and when I tried it just now.
It's tough to know what the right choice is for the hover coordinates. I guess I have your vote for using object coordinates rather than world

coordinates.

Yes, its difficult to use point coordinates such as 2.972 / 0.000 / 4.428 when object coordinates are -0.5 / -0.5 / 0.5 (for example)

As Paul is building his new computer, am I the only one testing :-) ?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DOM107,

Actually, there are other people testing believe it or not. :-) Thanks for all of the testing you have done.

I just thought of a possible cause. Textures are loaded in a quite different manner in 6.5.5.0. It could be there is some translucency in your BMP texture even though you didn't intend there to be. Can you send me that texture? (support@amabilis.com)

I'll look at changing the "hover" information. It may not be in the final version though. It may be in 6.5.5.1 which will likely follow relatively quickly.

OK, I'm going to send the bmp file.
It looks just as an ordinary bmp...

I've chosen this file for the test to avoid possible problems with alpha channel.
In fact whether the texture file from my model has alpha channel or not, when cropping an area with no transparency, I have the undesired transparency effect.

I've done the simple test again and checked the material palette tabs: only the "primary texture" tab has something in it as it must be.