A Note About 3D Canvas 8.1 -------------------------- A number of features that were part of 3D Canvas 7 are not included in 3D Canvas 8.1. These features are in the process of being re-written and will be released in later versions of 3D Canvas 8. Features not currently supported include: o) Snapshots and video recording o) Several import/export functions, including POVRay and those related to Train Simulators. o) A number of Operations, including some deform operations and the Particle Operation. o) Surface Shape Building Tool 3D Canvas(tm) 8.1 ----------------- 3D Canvas is a freeware real-time 3D modeling and animation tool that incorporates a drag-and-drop approach to 3D modeling. Complex models can be constructed from simple 3D primitives, or created using 3D Canvas' Object Building Tools. Creating an animated scene is as simple as positioning the objects within your scene for each point in time in your animation. 3D Canvas will ensure that the resulting animation runs smoothly. No complicated scene timelines are required. Your animation can be stepped through a frame at a time, viewed in real-time, or recorded to a Video (AVI) file so that you can distribute your creation. Minimum System Requirements --------------------------- Microsoft Windows 7/Vista/XP DirectX 9 Installation ------------ To install 3D Canvas double-click the 3DCanvas Windows Installer file provided. To install 3D Canvas for all users: 1) Logon as an administrator 2) Select "Run" from the Start Menu 3) Type the following in the "Open" entry box: msiexec /i "path\3DCanvas.msi" ALLUSERS="2" where "path" is the location of the 3D Canvas installation file. 4) Click "OK", and follow the installation instructions 5) Run 3D Canvas. 3D Canvas will make a number of registry entries needed for the next step. 6) Run Regedit using the Start menu's "Run" function. 7) Right click on the key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Amabilis\3D Canvas" and select "Permissions" from the popup menu. 8) Select "Users" and click the "Allow-Full Control" check box. 9) click "OK" Please note that beginning with 3D Canvas 7.1.1.1 the train related features of 3D Canvas are disabled by default, since they are not used by the majority of 3D Canvas Pro users. To enable these features: o) Select Options... from the Tools menu. o) Click the Misc. tab. o) Check Enable Trainworks Features o) Close and re-open 3D Canvas Pro Note that when this feature is enabled an alternate "extras" download is available on the Help menu that includes sample models specifically for people modelling trains. What's New in 3D Canvas 8.1 --------------------------- o) Completely Revised User Interface 3D Canvas' user interface has been fully revised. o) New Integrated Tutorials Tutorials are now available directly on the Properties & Information Panel o) Improved Docking and Pinning The Construction and Properties & Information panels have been improved to provide better docking/undocking and pinning/unpinning. o) Resizable Undocked Panels Undocked panels can now be resized. o) Expandable Docked Panels Docked panels can now be expanded in size. o) New Component Properties Shortcuts The properties of components can now be reached by double-clicking. o) Improved Bone Skinning Parameters for bones can now be adjusted while a skeleton is not relaxed. What's New in 3D Canvas 8.0 --------------------------- o) Enhanced Component Selecting It is now possible to have an arbitrary selection of scene components. It is no longer necessary to select an entire group, or entire hierarchy. o) Point, Edge and Face Selection Across Multiple Shapes It is now possible to select points, edges and faces across multiple shapes. o) Improved Undo/Redo Undo and Redo now work on changes made to the scene by scripts and plug-ins. o) Increased Plug-in Capabilities Plug-ins can now work on bones, lights, animation cameras, and groups o) Selectable Groups Groups now have a representation within the scene that can be selected. o) New Properties Panel Properties, including the hierarchy, are now located on a panel separate from the construction panel. This panel provides a quicker way to the properties of a shape. It also allows for the hierarchy to be fully visible while adding shapes to a scene. o) New Selection Keyboard Shortcuts New keyboard commands are available for selecting groups, and hierarchies. o) Un-dockable Panels The Construction and Properties panels can now be undocked. This allows for panels to be moved to a separate monitor in a dual-monitor situation. o) Un-pinnable Panels The construction and properties panels can now be unpinned so that they automatically slide away when not in use. This provides more modelling space. o) Improved Rectangle Selection Tool The Rectangle Selection Tool (formerly the Group Selection Tool) now can be used to select shapes, lights and cameras as well as points, edges and faces. Selection performance has also been improved considerably. o) Improved Outline Mode The outline mode now more clearly displays individual faces. o) View-Specific Draw Modes Draw modes can now be applied to individual views rather than to all views. For example, a perspective view could be rendered in outline mode, while an orthographic view could be rendered in wireframe. o) View-Specific Grid Modes Grid modes can now be applied to individual views rather than to all views. For example, the grid for a perspective view could be solid, while the grid for an orthographic view could be rendered in wireframe. o) Shape-Specific Draw Modes Individual shapes now can be drawn in a mode independent of the view display mode. For example, a shape can be drawn in wireframe when all other shapes in the view are being rendered flat. o) Display as Box Draw Mode Individual shapes can be drawn as simple bounding boxes in order to speed display times. o) Draw Points Mode The points that make up shapes can be drawn regardless of the shape's current display mode. o) Draw Normals Normals (creasing angles) can be drawn for shapes. o) Render Double-Sided A new Double-Sided option is available for materials. When applied to a shape or faces, the shape or faces will be rendered two-sided. o) Draw Translucent Individual shapes can be rendered translucent. o) Improved Object Based Scripting Interface The scripting interface has been enhanced to be truly object-based, permitting comparison of object to object, such as "Object1 is Object2". o) Improved Selection Highlighting Highlighted selections are now more visible and less obtrusive. o) Text auto-selection Text in entry boxes is now automatically selected when the cursor enters the entry box. This eliminates the need to select and delete the existing text before typing new text. o) Selection Details Panel The details of the current selection is displayed on the Selection Details Panel. o) Default Component Scripts Components now have default scripts that can be simply modified. o) Render Texture Alpha as Transparency A new material option allows for any texture alpha of any level to be rendered as transparent. This allows more efficient texture transparency. o) Support for the Direct3D Alpha Test The Direct3D Alpha Test is now a material attribute that can be modified to give finer control over the rendering of alpha within textures. o) Custom Texture Alpha Channel Usage The primary texture's alpha channel can now be ignored, used as a bump map, specular map, environment map, or as a translucency map. o) Faster Undo/Redo Performance Performance of Undo and Redo has been dramatically improved. o) Improved Cut/Copy/Paste Performance Performance of Cut, Copy and Paste has been improved. o) Arbitrary Selection Export An arbitrary selection can now be exported. In previous versions, only the full scene or a hierarchy could be exported. o) Enhanced Bridge Operation The Bridge Operation can now bridge between to separate shapes. o) Enhanced Weld and Weld-To Operations The Weld and Weld-To operations now are capable of welding between separate shapes. o) Improved Texture Application Textures now automatically orient themselves when applied to a selection of faces. o) Texture Application Preview Texture application can now be previewed prior to applying the texture. Precise changes to the texture application direction and orientation can be made before any changes are made to the shape, eliminating the need for re-mapping or reapplication. o) Improved UV Mapping While using the Unwrap, ReMap and UVMap operations, multiple points can now be selected and moved. What's New in 3D Canvas 7.1.2 ----------------------------- 3D Canvas 7.1.2 is maintenance release with no new features. What's New in 3D Canvas 7.1.1 ----------------------------- o) Default Scene Background Color A default background color for scenes can now be selected. o) Library Background Colors Background colors can now be set for object, material and texture libraries. o) Enhanced Scene Details Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro/Plus Feature) The Scene Details plug-in now displays additional scene inf...
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