3Designer 3.7 Release

January 27th 2011

With the new version, 3Designer’s capabilities have been extended with timeline triggers, real time shadows, mask objects, which not only improves the graphical richness of ones scenes but also make the creation process more efficient.


Timeline Triggers
 

  • The new triggers add a scene logic builder that is easier to grasp than the mathematical functions, and that offers different functions that cannot be achieved through the use of mathematical functions.
     

 

Real-time Shadows
 

  • 3Designer now allows designers to create real-time shadow and lighting effects on objects.
     

 

Mask Objects
 

  • New Hard Masks have been implemented. They enable the creation of masks that can be used in a variety of ways and are more flexible than traditional masking methods used in 3Designer.
     

 

Cubic Mapping / Reflection Mapping
 

  • Cubic Mapping is implemented in 3Designer as the 'Reflection Texture' texture type. This gives a more realistic reflection on objects and makes them appear to be part of a real environment.
     

 

3DTextures
 

  • The 3D Texture allows designers to assign a sequence of textures that can be sliced on different axes.
  • The 3D texture may be scaled, translated, rotated and pivoted around all three axes; values may be animated to create the effect of moving through a material.
     

 

Sunflower (Billboard) Transformation
 

  • The Sunflower (also known as ‘Billboard’) is a transformation option that aligns the selected object (or group of objects) to always face the camera. Sunflower can be applied to name markers on a map or globe to keep them oriented towards the camera while the globe is rotated; in a virtual studio, this could be used to keep video insertions oriented towards the camera.
     

 

Definable Grid Helpers
 

  • Grid helpers ease the use of dropping objects directly into the Render Engine window (Windows RE only).
  • Dropping an object on the grid will place the object with its pivot on the grid and give the object X and Z position values according to the grid coordinates. Objects dropped on the grid are NOT attached to the grid and therefore moving/rotating/scaling the grid will not affect the other objects.
     

 

PowerPoint Import
 

  • 3Designer is able to import Microsoft Power Point presentations (ppt and pptx files). Imported presentation will be imported as a group object in a 'Single Child Mode' with all slides as sub objects. Each slide object will be assigned with the PowerPoint slide as a png texture.
     

 

Finger Up / Down Interaction Type
 

  • A new interaction type has been added to 3Designer Finger Up / Finger Down. This interaction detects when a user touches or releases a specific object. This interaction does not have a set duration for touching like the tap, drag or hold manipulation, so the start and ending of any interaction can be used to make callbacks to 3DPlay. This interaction makes it easier for designers to build templates for multiple users who may interact with the touchscreens in different ways.
     

 

Interactivity
 

  • Interactivity is now handled through a separate Physics engine plugin.

 

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