What's New in 3D Canvas 8.1
 | Completely Revised User Interface 3D Canvas' user interface has been fully revised. |
| New Integrated Tutorials Tutorials are now available directly on the Properties & Information Panel |
| Improved Docking and Pinning The Construction and Properties & Information panels have been improved to provide better docking/undocking and pinning/unpinning. |
| Resizable Undocked Panels Undocked panels can now be resized. |
| Expandable Docked Panels Docked panels can now be expanded in size. |
| New Component Properties Shortcuts The properties of components can now be reached by double-clicking. |
| Improved Bone Skinning Parameters for bones can now be adjusted while a skeleton is not relaxed. |
What's New in 3D Canvas 8.0
| 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. |
| Point, Edge and Face Selection Across Multiple
Shapes It is now possible to select points, edges and faces across multiple shapes. |
| Improved Undo/Redo Undo and Redo now work on changes made to the scene by scripts and plug-ins. |
| Increased Plug-in Capabilities Plug-ins can now work on bones, lights, animation cameras, and groups |
| Selectable Groups Groups now have a representation within the scene that can be selected. |
| New Properties and Information 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. |
| New Selection Keyboard Shortcuts New keyboard commands are available for selecting groups, and hierarchies. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Improved Outline Mode The outline mode now more clearly displays individual faces. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Display as Box Draw Mode Individual shapes can be drawn as simple bounding boxes in order to speed display times. |
| Draw Points Mode The points that make up shapes can be drawn regardless of the shape's current display mode. |
| Draw Normals Normals (creasing angles) can be drawn for shapes. |
| 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. |
| Draw Translucent Individual shapes can be rendered translucent. |
| Improved shape Based Scripting Interface The scripting interface has been enhanced to be truly shape-based, permitting comparison of shape to shape, such as "shape1 is shape2". |
| Improved Selection Highlighting Highlighted selections are now more visible and less obtrusive. |
| 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. |
| Selection Details Panel The details of the current selection is displayed on the Selection Details Panel. |
| Default Component Scripts Components now have default scripts that can be simply modified. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Faster Undo/Redo Performance Performance of Undo and Redo has been dramatically improved. |
| Improved Cut/Copy/Paste Performance Performance of Cut, Copy and Paste has been improved. |
| Arbitrary Selection Export An arbitrary selection can now be exported. In previous versions, only the full scene or a hierarchy could be exported. |
| Enhanced Bridge Operation The Bridge Operation can now bridge between to separate shapes. |
| Enhanced Weld and Weld-To Operations The Weld and Weld-To operations now are capable of welding between separate shapes. |
| Improved Texture Application Textures now automatically orient themselves when applied to a selection of faces. |
| 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. |
| 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 7.1.1
| Default Scene Background Color A default background color for scenes can now be selected. |
| Library Background Colors Background colors can now be set for shape, material and texture libraries. |
| Enhanced Scene Details Plug-in (3D Canvas
Pro/Plus Feature) The Scene Details plug-in now displays additional scene information. |
| Improved Optimize Operation
(3D Canvas Pro/Plus Feature) The Optimize operation now corrects more geometry problems. |
| Downloadable Extras (3D Canvas Pro Feature) Additional shape libraries, sample models, scripts and plug-ins are now available for download from the Help menu. |
What's New in 3D Canvas 7.1.1 for Train Simulators
| Updated Train Simulator Wizard (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) The Train Simulator Wizard now prepares and exports models to Rail Simulator format. |
| New Trainz Railroad Simulator Export (3D Canvas
Pro Feature) 3D Canvas now exports to Trainz Railroad Simulator format. |
| New Rail3D Export (3D Canvas Pro Feature) 3D Canvas now exports to Rail3D stock, scenery and signal formats. |
| New BVE Train Simulator Export (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) 3D Canvas now exports to BVE Train Simulator format. |
| Improved MSTS Animation Export (3D Canvas Pro/3D
Canvas Plus Feature) Animation of root groups can now be exported. |
| Improved MSTS Material Export (3D Canvas Pro/3D
Canvas Plus Feature) It is now possible to set all material attributes on a per face basis. |
| Improved Support for Detailed Models in MSTS (3D
Canvas Pro/3D Canvas Plus Feature) Models with large numbers of faces and points can now be exported to the MSTS format. |
| Improved Support for Rail Simulator Materials
(3D Canvas Pro Feature) 3D Canvas now exports secondary textures for Rail Simulator materials that require more than one texture. |
What's New in 3D Canvas 7.1
| New Show Only Function This right-click function allows you to hide every scene shape except those currently selected. |
| Improved Texture Cropping The texture cropping window now automatically adjusts to show more texture detail. |
| New Piper Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro Feature) Used to create bending and twisting pipes from a base section of pipe. |
| New Bridge Engineer Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) Automates the building of bridges. |
| New Foundry Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro Feature) Quickly creates common structural elements, such as I-Beams. |
| New Butt shapes Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro Feature) Precisely butts two shapes together. |
| New Print Hierarchy Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) Used to print the hierarchy of a scene. |
|
New Swap Texture Files Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) Used to replace a texture a model uses with a new texture. |
| New Count Triangles Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) Counts the number of triangles a shape or hierarchy uses. |
| New Split Faces Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro Feature)
Moves the selected faces to a new shape. |
| Updated Pipe Builder Plug-in (3D Canvas Plus/Pro
Feature) Now called Pipe Engineer, this new version includes new shape attributes for the created pipe. |
| Updated Count Untextured Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) Now called Show Untextured, this new version includes additional details to help in finding untextured shapes and faces. |
What's New in 3D Canvas 7.1 for Train Simulators
| New Train Simulator Engineer Plug-in (3D Canvas
Pro Feature) Automatically generates wheels, chassis and bogies. |
| New Cab Engineer Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro Feature) Automates the building of selected parts of locomotives. |
| New Handrail Engineer Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) Automates the building of train handrails. |
| New Buffer Engineer Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) Automates the building of train buffers. |
| New Fit Boiler Curve Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) Adjusts the base of a shape to fit a boiler shape. |
| New Animate Rods/Pistons Plug-in (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) Automatically generates animations for train wheel links, connecting rods and piston shapes. |
What's New in 3D Canvas 7.0.5
| Improved Rail Simulator Export (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) The 3D Canvas Rail Simulator Export now optionally exports generated and custom levels of detail. |
| User Defined Fields for Groups Custom fields for groups can now be defined by users. These fields can be used for documentation or as inputs for plug-ins and operations created by third parties. |
What's New in 3D Canvas 7.0.4.1
| Improved TrainSim Modeler Import (3D Canvas Pro
Feature) 3D Canvas now imports texture information from TainSim Modeler files. |
What's New in 3D Canvas 7.0.4
| Rail Simulator Export (3D Canvas Pro Feature) 3D Canvas now exports to the Rail Simulator IGS and IA formats. |
| Improved Texture Finding 3D Canvas now searches for textures not only in the document's folder, but also in any sub-folders. |
What's New in 3D Canvas 7.0.3
| Collada (dae) Export (3D Canvas Pro Feature) 3D Canvas now has the ability to export geometry (shapes) to Collada (dae) files. |
| Quicktime 3D Metafile (3dmf) Import (3D Canvas Pro Feature) The geometry (shapes) can now be imported from Quicktime 3D Metafiles. |
What's New in 3D Canvas 7.0.2
| Enhanced Point/Edge/Face Selection tool
|
| More Accurate Rendering
|
| New Scripting Method |
What's New in 3D Canvas 7.0.1
| TrainSim Modeler Import
|
| Enhanced Microsoft Train Simulator
Export
|
What's New in 3D Canvas 7
| Spherical Environment Mapping Simulated reflections are now supported via spherical environment mapping. |
| Specular Mapping Simulated specular highlights are now supported via specular mapping. |
| shape Instance Cloning (3D Canvas Pro Feature) shapes can now be cloned using instance cloning. All changes made to a cloned shape are immediately applied to all clones. |
| Material Plug-Ins (3D Canvas Pro Feature) Material plug-ins are now supported. This allows third parties to extend the material features of 3D Canvas. |
| Near Viewing in Perspective Views It is now possible to view shapes ten times closer than in previous releases. |
| Material Editor The shape Properties window now displays an editable list of materials used by the shape. |
| shape Locking shapes can now be locked so that accidental changes do not occur. |
| Title Bar Hiding 3D Canvas' title bar can now be hidden to provide more modelling space. |
| User Defined Fields for shapes Custom fields for shapes can now be defined by users. These fields can be used for documentation or as inputs for plug-ins and operations created by third parties. |
| User Defined Fields for Materials Custom fields for materials can now be defined by users. These fields can be used for documentation or as inputs for plug-ins and operations created by third parties. |
| Adjust Alpha Test Material Plug-In (3D Canvas
Pro Feature) The texture translucency level that should be rendered as transparent can now be adjusted via the Adjust Alpha Test material plug-in. |
| Set Specular Color Material Plug-In (3D Canvas
Pro Feature) The color of specular highlighting can now be set via the Set Specular Color material plug-in. |
| Material Palette Improvements The Material Palette has been redesigned to better group related items. |
| Improved Solid Outline Rendering Solid Outline rendering has been improved to display clearer lines. |
| Support for DDS Textures Microsoft DirectDraw Surface (DDS) textures are now supported. |
| New Texture Formats for the Freeware Version The freeware version of 3D Canvas now supports all the texture formats of 3D Canvas Pro. |
| Additional Background Image File Formats Background images can now be in any texture format supported by 3D Canvas. |