IRender nXt - New Version

New Version of IRender nXt

Contents

Next Version (still in development)

Done

  • added auto-lighting channels - default is to include as many lighting channels as are being used.

In process

--- RICH --- move any of these up which are done already ---


TODO:

  • Fix Shadows settings for animation, when they are not saved with a scene, use last...or next settings saved.
  • Start a new mesh when Casts Shadows changes
  • Add a way to browse for the Library folder, and show it on the Support dialog
  • Synchronize SketchUp Animation settings, especially transition time
  • do something to fix model origins that are way off in France, see emails from rschaufe@hsr.ch
  • Check for auto_daylight when assigning transparent materials with glow
  • Improve Groundcover interface, remember last saved ground cover,
  • Add Magnify factor for Farm display
  • Add Brightness filter for Background Image to Filter dialog
  • Is there a way to render quickly to just get lighting settings?
  • Add Crop Image (not in current version yet)
  • Fixed bug when rendering trees which had been scaled in the Tree Editor. (Al needs to check this)
  • Added feature to convert layer names into materials for DWG files. See: Create Materials from Layer Names
  • Fix Mosaic Tile ArMaterial - we don't get the "Blend" size and our materials are incorrect - we probably don't want to use UV coords here

LD24 - April 24, 2012

  • Fixed an bug getting the HDRi thumbnail image for the Image Layer Wizard dialog.
  • Fixed selection of the HDRi Sky preset, when selected from the "Settings before Rendering" dialog

LD23 - April 23, 2012

  • Fixed an bug where a new material could not be created and assigned to a face which had the default SketchUp material on both sides.

LD18 - April 18, 2012

  • Fixed materials placed from the nXt Library to display in SketchUp with the same material color as the AccuRender Material color if possible. This was changed to allow dark tinted glass to both appear in SketchUp and render in the same dark color. The proper way to change the color of material created from an AccuRender material, such as a nXt Library material, is to edit the color on our Material Editor dialog, and then use the new Remake SketchUp Material button to cretae a new texture image for the SketchUp material. That way, we can change both the SketchUp material color and the corresponding AccuRender material.
  • Fixed a problem with 3D PDF, where faces with the same material on both the front and the back were only displaying the front side, even if "Export 2-sided Faces" was checked.
  • Fixed a problem where some Advanced Materials made using the Blend mode on the Material Tree, such as the Ceramic Tiles, were not rendering at the same scale and posion that they were displayed in SketchUp.
  • Fixed a problem with old drawings which had materials created with AccuRender AR3 materials that were no longer being read correctly.
  • Removed the option to use nXtRender during the 30 day Trial period, now that ArielVision, the new replacement for nXtRender, can be downloaded. To try ArielVision, download it separately and install it. Both IRender Xt and ArielVision can both be installed and run in SketchUp at the same time.
  • We also improved the install by using a new redist for Visual Studio 2008 which does not leave files in the root folder, Fixing the logic to register the ArMaterial Thumbnail DLL after the .NET framework that it needs has been installed.
  • We removed the Close button on the Render window from the tab stops for the window, to help prevent the window from being accidentally closed before completing and/or saving the rendering.


LC13 - March 13, 2012

  • Removed the option to remake the SketchUp material texture after using the Advanced Editor for a material. This was causing problems with some advanced materials. We will add this again after further testing


LC09 - March 9, 2012

  • Edit Materials - Added an option to remake the SketchUp material texture after using the Advanced Editor for a material. This will let you see the latest changed made in the Advanced Editor.
  • Edit Materials - We now only let you edit one material at a time using the right click edit within SketchUp, to fix a problem where material changes were not working correctly when other materials were changed.
  • Edit Materials - We added Edit Material as new optional toolbar button which will still bring up the entire list of Materials in the model.
  • Image Layers Wizard - is now a button on the toolbar, instead of a tab on the Options dialog, so that is it accessible with only one click.
  • Image Layers Wizard - We fixed a bug where changes in opacity were not working from the Image Layers Wizard.
  • Image Layers Wizard - We now preview the foreground opacity in the Image Layers Wizard, and added an Apply button to apply the foreground changes to the rendered image.
  • Image Layers Wizard - We now apply brightness and contrast to the model image when viewed from within SketchUp.
  • Options/More/Support/Folders dialog - We added a button to let you specify or change the location of the AccuRender nXt Libraries on your disk.


LC02 - March 2, 2012

  • Fixed a regression where we were changing the size of a textured material when using the Edit Material dialog.


LB29 - February 29, 2012

  • Fixed synchronization between the option tabs to show correct HDRi sky, background and foreground images after a new image is loaded.
  • Added a check box to the More option tab to set Low Priority for the rendering process.
  • Removed the choice for making Lamp Beams visible in the rendering, since it had not been implemented.
  • Fixed the Date Taken Exif data field to show the correct date for JPG files saved from the rendering window.

LB27 - February 27, 2012

  • Fixed a problem with Z-Fighting in 3D PDF. Duplicate faces were being added for some surfaces, when materials were assigned to the reverse sides of surfaces.

LB24 - February 24, 2012

  • Use same Studio Brightness and other settings in Animations as in a regular preview rendering.
  • Fix slider bar for HDRi rotations.


LB22 - February 22, 2012

  • Added "Create from Position" to the Background tab of Image Layer Wizard, to create a new background image or HDRi image using the current position and distortion of the background image.
  • Added the latest updates for the Create 3D PDF function.


LB20 - February 20, 2012

  • Fixed Animations to be able to use the same Average Luminance that is shown on the Lighting Channels dialog when viewed from the Render Window. We added a check box, "Use for Animation", on that dialog that will allow you to preview and set the Average Illumination before starting an animation.
  • Added a prompt before creating a new Background Image from the current HDRi sky and view, and changed the location where we store that image file, so that this function will work from within SketchUp.

LB17 - February 17, 2012

  • Fixed refraction for Planar HDRi backrounds
  • Add a function to create a background image from current HDRi view to the Image Layers Wizard.
  • Fixed a couple of regressions in the 3D PDF routine, regarding 24 bit jpeg textures, incorrect surface normals,and U3D quality and resolution.
  • Added images to the Select Trial Version dialog to help confusion over which version to purchase.

LB10 - February 10, 2012

  • Added new Preset button to the Presets tab to make it easier for new users to use HDRi backgrounds.
  • Fixed the 3D PDF routine to make files that work with Acrobat Reader version 10.1.2 without generating an error message.

LB07 - February 7, 2012

  • Fixed HDRi previews that were appearing upside down when remade from the Layers dialog, using fast Image

LB03 - February 3, 2012

  • Fixed HDRi previews that were appearing upside down
  • Fixed the Layers Wizard - Foreground images were being positioned incorrectly and Blur was being applied to the model image
  • Allow the Layers Wizard to be opened from the Background tab, even if there is no image selected yet.

LA31 - January 31, 2012

  • Add accurate preview of HDRi image rotation to the HDRi Options tab
  • Add Layers Wizard to allow dynamic alignment of the HDRi background, Background Image and the Foreground image.
  • Added blur to foreground and background image filters (Layer Wizard).
  • Implement latest AccuRender Toolkit release 284, which includes an optimized version of the Image Editor.

LA03 - January 3, 2012

  • Added setting to set offset for images from underlying plane
  • Added a fix for missing faces in 3D PDF
  • Fixed "Bump" appearing in material dialog from Batch


KL16 - December 16, 2011

  • Fixed a regression in 3D PDF material mapping in the KL14 version, no materials or textures were being applied in the U3D model.
  • Added more information about existing licensed dialogs to the license dialog Replace Unused Computer function:

You are allowed 1 validations and already have 1 computers validated. Please invalidate an additional computer and try again.


KL14 - December 14, 2011

  • Implement Animation Farm (Beta)
  • Added Texture Scale to Material Editor to allow quick scale change from there. This is currently only available from within SketchUp, not from the rendering window Material Editor.
  • Fixed leaves to display in nXt Pant Editor OpenGL view
  • Stop allowing Groundcover as a choice for a new plant in nXtPlant Editor, or ArPlants as a choice for creating a Groundcover.
  • Make Camera Light a virtual light, not a light based on a SketchUp component, to fix a problem with Bug Splats when creating that Camera Light component
  • Fixed broken spin controls for Attenuation, Dispersion, and Saturation settings on Material Editor/Trans tab
  • Fixed: GroundPlane color or material was being used as the default color.
  • Fixed: ArMaterials textures were being saved as squares.
  • Fixed: Preview button in the 3D PDF dialog was throwing an error if Camera Constraints were enabled.

KK30 - November 30, 2011

  • Fixed the nXt Plant dialog to work after using the Load and SaveAs menu choices
  • Fixed Enable Check Box for Sky lighting channel
  • Fixed Color box on Material Channels dialog
  • Fixed Hidden lights to not cast shadows, so they are truly hidden in the rendering
  • Fixed: 3D PDF Lower Left logo was incorrect size in preview dialog window
  • Fixed Camera Lights to be hidden, and set to be used, when created
  • Fixed regression for automatic headlamp, used for models with absolutely no illumination
  • Added a warning to the install if a license is not eligible for the new version

KK18 - November 18, 2011

  • Added 'Synch SketchUp Materials' to make is easy to reuse Materials, using Loand Save buttons on the Options/More tab.
  • Fixed rendering of distorted textures projected onto surfaces. Added "Special Surface Texture Processing" option to Support dialog Settings tab to enable this.
  • Fixed HDRi tab Preview function to show newly selected HDRi image.
  • Fixed HDRi tab Preview 'Return to Select' button not always working.
  • Fixed Bug Splats occurring when closing SketchUp, if "Show material editor Preview" was checked.
  • Fixed the View buttons on the 'Make Tileable' to use the default program selected to "open" images..


KK04 - November 4, 2011

  • Fixed material bug for some nested faces where we were not getting the reverse transformation correctly.
  • allow lower case license numbers when checking and validating license numbers
  • Stop displaying "IRender Lite" any where

KK02 - November 2, 2011

  • Fixed regression on Select Material dialog which caused SketchUp materials to not be selected and placed.

KK01 - November 1, 2011

  • Fixed Treemaker plant rotation and scale problems.
  • Checked for additional bad characters in texture file names. (e.g. *)
  • Fixed animation bug when saving each scene change as a separate movie.

KJ25 - October 25, 2011

  • Quietly Switched to using QuickPDF library for 3D PDF

KJ19 - October 19, 2011

  • Don't allow object properties for IRender Lamp
  • Fixed regression where faces could not be selected for edits such as "Edit Object Properties", if the face had no Material Texture.

KJ18 - October 18, 2011

  • Fixed regression where transparency no longer worked with background images, if background reflection was disabled

KJ17 - October 17, 2011

  • Fixed Background Image position through glass, if Reflection and Distortion were both turned off.

KJ13 - October 13, 2011

  • Fixed changes applied to Background Image Brightness and Position after the rendering had been viewed in Native Image Format
  • Added a dialog for browsing for the nXt Material Libraries location.
  • Fixed Browse folder location when saving images from the rendering window.
  • Fixed color of nXt ArMaterial Library grasses in SketchUp material texture

KJ10 - October 10, 2011

  • Added a check box to lighting channels to quickly turn them on and off without losing the slider settings.
  • Added a right click edit for making tileable textures in SketchUp
  • Add Brightness and Contrast for rendered foreground image to Background Wizard

KI30 - September 30, 2011

  • Fixed transparency for windows in the Background Wizard when run from within SketchUp.
  • Add Perspective Distortion mode to the Background Wizard


KI29 - September 29, 2011

  • Fixed a problem where the new Background Wizard was causing bug splats when run from within SketchUp.\
  • Fixed a problem with auto-horizon for backgrounds

KI27 - September 27, 2011

  • Added Background Image Preview/Position button to the Options/Background tab from within SketchUp
  • Added Distort Image transforming for background images for adjusting perspective
  • Added a Make Tileable tool to the Material Texture dialog, to create repeatable texture images more easily.

KI02b - September 14, 2011

  • New Install only. Fixed regression to broken nXtPlantEditor. Cannot use 271 toolkit version, won't load plant, includeded 261 toolkit version plant .exes in install

KI02 - September 2, 2011

  • Fixed tiled nXt Materials with one very large scale, such as exterior siding
  • Add a dynamic visual editor for positioning background images

KH24 - August 24, 2011

  • Fixed scale for tiled nXt Materials, such as CMU and Brick materials
  • Dropped the Manual Background option, since background images are now working correctly.
  • Fixed Scale factor for Background Images.
  • Fixed Rotation setting for Cylindrical and Spherical Background Images.
  • Fixed Reflection for Planar HDRi Background Images.
  • Improved enabling for some controls on the Background tab, and dropped Opaque from the IRenderBatch dialog.
  • Added Import Panoramic Image Conversion function to the HDRi sky tab.

KH19 - August 19, 2011

  • The logic to add people who use trial versions to the database was not working properly.


KH16 - August 16, 2011

  • Changed version number to 4.0
  • Add Codec choices for Animations
  • Show transition between section planes in Animation Scenes
  • Show Sun Shadow transitions between Animation scenes
  • Fixed License dialog access from Plugins menu





Older versions