Cheetah3D 3.5 Beta1

Martin

Martin

0
Cheetah3D 3.5 Beta1

Hi,
here is the first public beta of Cheetah3D 3.5. v3.5 is mainly a bug fix release since all the big changes were done under the hood. For example v3.5 uses a new parameter system which will be needed for character animation later. So please check if your animations still work with the new parameter system in this beta.
The .jas file format has been improved and extended too. .jas files with animation data have smaller size now and support the new parameter system. But please consider that v3.4 can't load animation data saved with v3.5.


A list of the main new features can be found here.
Code: 
-added animation hotkeys
   -First Frame
   -Prev Frame
   -Stop/Play Animation
   -Record Key
   -Record Key For All Parameters
   -Next Frame
   -Last Frame
-added "Show Render Manager" hot key
-added loading of PSD textures
-added "frames per second" property of FBX exporter
-added "addParameterSelector()" Javascript function
-automatically creates these folders 
   ~/Library/Application Support/Cheetah3D/Brushes
   ~/Library/Application Support/Cheetah3D/scripts/Macro
   ~/Library/Application Support/Cheetah3D/scripts/Polygonobj
   ~/Library/Application Support/Cheetah3D/scripts/Splineobj
   ~/Library/Application Support/Cheetah3D/scripts/Tag
   ~/Library/Application Support/Cheetah3D/scripts/Tool
-improved .jas file format. Aanimation files have smaller size and support new parameter system (Attention v3.4 can't load animation data saved with v3.5)
-set antialiasing default to 4x for second pass
-fixed " cutOffAngle" typo  to "cutOffAngle"
-fixed bug in .lwo loader (mirrored at XY plane)
-fixed bug in .3ds loader (crash of big scenes)
-fixed camera import in .3ds loader
-fixed bug in "Equal Tangent Direction" tool
-fixed bug in raytracer with distant objects
-fixed bug with smart folders which reset animation/rendering settings
-fixed bug with window layout hotkeys
-fixed bug with blurry reflections
-fixed delete animation key bug (interpolation was reset to soft)
-fixed bug with animation key drag and drop
-fixed drawing problem in UVMapper Tool
-fixed crashing bug in smart folder
-fixed camera selection bug in smart folder
-fixed crashing bug in smart folder (disabled automatic reload during animation rendering)
-fixed bug in frame counter view when displaying big values
-fixed bug when changing animation position by clicking on timeline
-fixed crashing bug when rendering long animations
-fixed crashing bug when rendering scenes with many materials
-fixed bug when rendering sweeped beziere curves

Download link:
http://cheetah3d.com/download/Cheetah3D3.5b1.dmg

But please be aware that this is beta software. So don't use it on irreplaceable and important data.​

Please post all your experiences with this beta version in this forum thread.

Many thanks for your help.

By,
Martin
 
Hi,
It's great to have a update:)! I really like timeline hot keys.
What is a parameter system? When we have joints how will we attach the to our character? Will it be similer to a spline?

Thanks,
Greg
 
So far so good...

I have been stressing several of the updated features for the entire evening. So far so good (except for the "crazy folder experience" - see dedicated thread, I'm not sure it is linked specifically to 3.5b1)

Tonight, first heavy animation rendering in time with 3.5b1, tomorrow night, first heavy animation in frames.

Thanks again Martin for this update !

Pierre

--------------------------------
Edit @ 01:02AM

Bugs

Annoying : the bug on the animation head/cursor is still there :-( If you move a key frame or the render band while the cursor is not visible, the window get reset to a position ~close to the cursor. Not very cool if you need to move a KF/render band over several animation window width or if you simply want to move a KF away from your cursor without loosing the position of the cursor.

Cosmetic : when activating "play/stop" via a short-key, the little icon remains stuck on "stop".
 
Last edited:
Bug : focus not given back by the object property window

The focus is not given back by the object property window when moving the mouse out to the key editor. This is more nasty that it seams as it prevents the (force) record short-key to work ! :(

:idea: Work-around : mouve the mouse to the 3D view, if you have it visible, before going to the key editor.

Cheers

p*
 
That's the cost of the animation hot keys. But I'm already thinking about a work around. Thanks for the tip.

A totally new timeline is planed for v3.6 or v3.7. It will contain most of the recommendations I got since I wrote the current one. Plus some features nobody requested so far.

Bye,
Martin
 
Still true in 3.5 release ; maybe linked to the previous.

The "window center on cursor" does not work when calling the function (via "first"/"last"-frame) from a short-key. :(

p*
 
Hi,
that is true. I left that uncritical bug because I will rewrite the timeline for v3.6. So I avoided doubling the work. Sorry.

Bye,
Martin
 
Object not selectable

After upgrading to 3.5 I cannot select and move objects except by the info palette. Simple new file create a light. The light cannot be moved when selected the and the arrow handles are not active??
 
David Bailey said:
After upgrading to 3.5 I cannot select and move objects except by the info palette. Simple new file create a light. The light cannot be moved when selected the and the arrow handles are not active??
Click to expand...

Stupid reply : Have you selected the "Move, Rotate, Size" tool before trying to move your light ?

That is the "3 axes cursor" on the top menu (sorry, for not attaching an image).

p*
 
David Bailey said:
After upgrading to 3.5 I cannot select and move objects except by the info palette. Simple new file create a light. The light cannot be moved when selected the and the arrow handles are not active??
Click to expand...

Hi,
I'm not aware of a bug in that function. As Pierre already said make sure that you've selected the transform tool. It should work quite well even in the 3.5 beta. By the way I've already released the final Cheetah3D 3.5 on my web page. So please don't use that beta any longer.

Bye,
Martin
 
first tests...

Dear Martin

3.5 all looks OK to me...have you defaulted the camera render to 1x and 4x oversampling pass as defualt render ?

Also will you be adding any more modeling tools like nurbs in the future as there are certain features that a few of us static modelers would love to see in the program, I know you are concentrating on providing more animation features for yhe bulk requests, it's just that there are sume funky fetures in other programs (not a lot) that make certain operations a lot easier like filiting or chamfering.

Regards

Luke

PS a quick test render from 3.5
 

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