Hi all,
We hope to release a new build in the next couple of weeks. Here is a raw list of changes you can expect in the next update. There are currently two bugs which we would like to fix before this can be made public, but that should happen very soon. We will announce the release of the new version here on the forum and also by email to Deep Edition customers who have subscribed to our mailing list.
Current build in alpha testing: 1.8.97.0
Changes since 1.8.76.0:
Windows only: Improved performance on SSE3-capable processors.
Smooth object rendering: surface normals are read from OBJ and TGO files and interpolated to give smooth shading if this option is checked in the OBJ or TGO Reader.
The similar option in the LWO Reader is currently not functioning as no normals are read from the file (this will be addressed in future).
Slightly reduced memory requirements for objects.
Sunlight and Light source have optional soft shadows. Not yet optimised for speed.
Compute Normal, Compute Terrain and Terrain Set now give more correct results across the whole globe.
(This will affect the appearance of many shaders.)
Default patch size of Compute Terrain is now 20 (was 10).
All 'Constant' and 'Get' functions pass through input data if they are disabled.
Rearranged subcategories for shaders.
Changed the "Add Terrain" button to use Displacement Shaders instead of all Surface Shaders.
Three new Function nodes added, in the Boolean group:
Boolean NOT Scalar
Scalar to Boolean Scalar
Conditional Boolean Scalar
You can now open multiple network views. New ones can be opened from the View menu.
You can zoom the network view using the mouse wheel.
Internal networks now shown in the network view which last had the keyboard focus. This lets you choose which network view internal networks are shown in when you click the Internal Network button of a param view, or similar.
When you use the "Up Level" bookmark in network views, the network view will zoom and centre on the node you were previously inside.
Network view bookmarks are now ordered alphabetically.
Project files are released by the application when it has finished opening them.
Added "Open Recent" File menu items for project and clip files.
Added some new icons for the Mac version.
One render node can be given "master" status, so that renderer will be used when rendering from the command line.
Improved the layout of Render Sequence button and parameters.
Upgraded render view which allows manipulations like scrolling, panning and zooming. See the Mouse and Key Settings dialog (Help menu) for controls.
Key in Mouse and Key Settings dialog now open by default.
Various objects no longer show b-box in preview if they are disabled.
Fixed two bugs in 3D Preview navigation:
Fixed a bug that would prevent movement of the view when it was positioned at 0,0,0 or close to the focus point.
Faster movement is possible when the view is very close to the planet's surface.
Fixed a bug that would cause a crash when using 3D Preview keyboard shortcuts after Opening or Newing a project.
Some check boxes changed to radio buttons in Heightfield From Shader, Heightfield Generate, Image Map Shader and Camera.
Improved progress dialogs.
Made some changes to list related code, so that node lists (top left list) are better at retaining selected/expanded etc. states when things are done like reordering lists, changing node names or deleting nodes. There are still some problems, but please report any issues you have with as much detail as possible. The ideal should be that the overall "layout" of the list shouldn't change unless you change it, so please report anything which seems odd.
Default Shader has options to unpremultiply the colour, translucency and luminosity images. All other images are not unpremultiplied.
Mac only: Nodes in the Network View have tooltips, displaying the name and type of the node.
(This will be added to Windows version when we have fixed some problems on Vista.)
Prevented a crash that would occur with some shader networks while rendering shadows.
Fixed a rendering problem with small values for "Exp height" in the atmosphere.
No longer crashes if a project is loaded with renderer that references an invalid camera.
Mac only: Added an icon for TGC files.
Windows only: Fixed window resizing bug when using the Show/Hide Desktop command (Windows-D shortcut).
Windows only: Fixed window resizing bugs when using WindowBlinds.
Windows only: Possibly fixed "unknown filter" bug for ".tiff" extensions.
Fixed tab switch focus bug on Windows.
Changed the way window destruction is handled on Windows. This is to fix a bug where closing a network window with param floaters open would then prevent those nodes from being able to show their param floaters again.
Fixed a bug with "GI surface details" in combination with Ambient Occlusion.
Slightly reduced the probability of erratic bright spots in Global Illumination or Ambient Occlusion.
Fixed a bug in the ray tracer that was rendering many surfaces incorrectly in reflections and GI sampling.
The internal depth buffer is now rendered more accurately (depth is interpolated across microtriangles),
which minimises the artefacts that were previously seen on shorelines and other intersecting objects/surfaces.
Water Shader:
Now renders identically each time a particular project is loaded (fixed a bug in the seeding).
Planet Atmosphere:
Reverted some changes that increased render times in build 1.8.76.0.
Cloud Layer V2:
Reverted some changes that increased render times in build 1.8.76.0.
"Wispy base" and "Softer base" are now adjustable scalars "Base wispiness" and "Base softness".
Changes to Cloud Layer V2's acceleration cache, including:
Has more options to control acceleration vs. quality.
No longer applies to visible samples, to eliminate visible artifacts.
Power Fractal V3:
Safely handles very small or negative values for smallest scale.
Number of octaves is limited to 40 for speed.
Alpine Fractal:
Changed defaults.
Safely handles small values for smallest scale.
Number of octaves is limited for safety and speed (exact number depends on lead-in octaves).
Surface Layer:
Changes, improvements and new options for the "Intersect Underlying" feature.
Fuzzy Zone Softness has now moved to the Coverage and Breakup tab.
MOLAMapShader:
No longer attempts to load images if the user-specified filename is empty.
Hid some redundant parameters.
Matt
