V8.1 Release Note
Features
General
New colour scheme across the application
New color for enabled buttons
New splash screen
Better VNC support for remote access
Press Shift-Tab to toggle in or out of “fullscreen mode” when connecting through VNC or TeamViewer to view the interface
File Manager
Completely redesigned File Manager
More available information to display in columns (vertices and polygons counts, folder, extension, creation and modification dates, etc…)
Resizeable columns
Customizable column visibility
New pre-built, intelligent playlists (used, unused, 3D objects, non-converted, etc…)
Centralized network management of source media files (delete, copy, rename, move, etc.)
New thumbnails allow for dynamic resizing (they are also larger and preserve the image’s ratio)
Import and conversion tasks panel
New commands: Pause All, Restart All, and Cancel All
Re-prioritize tasks
Media and 3D objects previewer-player panel
Preview media (movies and images) in an embedded player
Preview imported 3D objects in an embedded 3D scene
Drag and drop from File Manager to 3D Scene
Drag-and-drop 3D objects directly from the File manager to the 3D scene to add them in the scene
Load objects in memory during import (optional)
The “Refresh Factory” command is still available as a manual on-demand command
Complete 3D object management over the network
Add and delete 3D objects from project across the Photon network
Preference to delete original files from Photon network after conversion
Maximize the amount of RAID space for converted material
Note that it’s always recommended to keep original files on a backup drive, SAN or NAS nonetheless
3D Scene
Export projectors and cameras pyramid as models (OBJ)
Also exports the Box model
Automatically extend the projector and camera frustum to the closest surface
Press the E hotkey to calculate, extend, and display the centre point and the four corners of the frustum as they intersect with the surface
Exports these 3D point coordinates in CSV format
Projection Study mode displays real-time smoothed projection blending for the Heat map
Support for shadows and blending in real-time
Upgraded Primitive UV map feature
Affixes the UV map of an object in position and reveals or crops the texture as the object moves in 3D space
Drag-and-drop objects from the Object List to the Visibility list of projectors and cameras
To add object to the visibility list of the selected projectors and cameras, you can drag them from the Primitive list to the Calibration window or the visibility list directly
New Moving Light object
Associate this object to ArtNet Light Fixture to calibrate and control it from Photon
Control intensity from Opacity and Zoom
Auto-fade box support, moving light will fade-in or out if it intersects the bounding box of the chosen geometry
New Primitive: Lighting surface
A Lighting surface can always face projectors and cameras (as opposed to a projection surface which has its own orientation), preserving its texture regardless of which projector is projecting upon it
Target tracking mode for Projectors and Moving Lights objects
Projectors and Light fixtures can now 3D auto-follow any primitive (by aiming at its center) or be linked to a Copernic ID (by aiming the fixture towards this Copernic)
Blinn shader - Specular and Diffuse shading for projection
3D rendering now uses a Blinn shader to illuminate the scene, allowing for better specular and diffuse lighting
Artnet controls available in Device Control menu
After creating a projector or a Moving Light, this menu allows to create and link it to an Artnet Fixture
The control menu (hotkey: Q) offers control over the Artnet parameters of the selected object (Projector, Moving Light) linked with an Artnet Fixture
Target tracking parameters are also present in this menu
Active Rigid point options in Albion reconstruction
Albion can be set to “Active Rigid Point” reconstruction meaning that the Rigid points reconstructed by the system are recomputed at every frame in real time (if calibration lines move, tracked object used in calibration move, etc…)
Albion tracking affects the scale of tracked rigid objects
In addition to affecting an object’s position and rotation, Albion can now change the scale of tracked objects
Null objects can drive and move Copernic IDs
Null object now generates tracking data based on its position if it is linked to a tracker ID
Timing can control Primitive Presets animation instead of speed and acceleration
Instead of using acceleration and maximum speed, you can use timing-duration to move from one primitive preset to the another.
New FX Tools
Vortex Force
A new Force feature is available to apply to particle streams
Arctan mathematical operation now available
Allows you to apply the inverse function of the tangent function to an effect
Smooth
This module calculates the average the values used in a specified time period (i.e. calculate the mean of values used in the past 10 seconds). Can smooth out value changes
VYV Video Streamer (server and client)
Used in conjunction, these two modules broadcast and receive a video signal through the Photon network (H264, etc…)
Lighting Multicam Fx
Builds a multiview array of all available cameras in the Scene
Preview mode renders one of the following:
Selected primitives in wireframe
All local OptiTrack cameras set in Video mode (MJPEG)
Silhouette Fx
Requires Lighting Multicam Fx as source to blend all cameras together into a silhouette on current projection or Lighting surface
Auto-select closest cameras for dynamic silhouettes (weight based on angle formed between the camera and the surface)
Timeline
Universal Cross Fade
When enabled, an automatic fade Out - Fade In of a custom duration is applied between contents on surfaces when the Timeline timestamp jumps from one location to another
Visualization of the alpha through a checkerboard representation
Enable checkerboard visualization to identify portions of the image that are transparent (Layer view and Preview 2D)
Surfaces can now have internal time disconnected from main time
When enabled, a given projection surface can be time-scrubbed freely, while other surfaces remain tied to the main Timeline
Supports the Universal Cross Fade feature inside each surface
New Surface Mixer widget
You can easily see and manage all surfaces set to internal time. It displays regions and playback state for all surfaces (for example, allowing control and links to Midi mapping)
Toggle play-pause for each surface
Audio waveform view at the bottom of the timeline
Choose the layer containing audio to be displayed at the bottom of the timeline view
Advanced Timeline Search
Search clips by name and type using the Timeline screens
Navigate through the selections created via Search
Enables quick replace, update, and deletion of clips
I/O
Supports Bluefish444 and AJA Kona4 live input cards
Single-link or Quad-link modes
You can add and declare multiple input devices in Photon for multiple single-link streams
Input devices can be custom named
After creating an input device, you can manually edit its default name
Improvements
General
Network UI can be toggled On or Off
The UI on the network machine can be toggled on or off (used to be “off” only)
Licensing information is now available in the Help > About window
The type of the license (Albion, Photon, etc..) and the number and type of outputs (2 x HD, 4 x 4K, etc…) now appear in the Help > About window
Video now displays at the correct Image Aspect Ratio
Input device feed now respects the aspect ratio
Layer View and Preview 2D in Timeline and Preview window
3D Scene
Position Offset while Tracking 3DOF
You can add position offset to tracked objects
Blocker per object in Object Visibility List now accessible for default fixture preset
3D view can be any projector and camera of the scene
Select the camera or projector from which to view the scene
Faster rendering through shadow render optimisation
Renders up to 2.5X faster with complex scenes on high end GPUs
Increased precision while moving calibration points
You can hold Ctrl+Shift while moving the calibration points to move them 100 times slower than normal
FBX models have their own folder in the Primitives menu
Imported FBX models now appear in the FBX folder under Primitives
Timeline
Timeline snapshot
Timeline snapshot now saves in PNG format with an alpha channel, if it exists
Improvements to the Timeline preview window
1/2/3/4 hotkey to switch between Preview 2D/LayerView/Preview 3D/Multiview Layers
Now centered by default
Scaled to fit by default
Pan and scale now available in Layer View
Layer view displays clips at correct ratio
FX
Particles - Point particles can be shaded (Ambient and Diffuse) by scene lights
There is a new input for the Point renderer node that takes Primitives declared as as inputs to shade the particles
I/O
Artnet fixture
In addition to the previous invert property, you can change the pan control of the ArtNet fixture using a clockwise or counterclockwise rotation
Fixture tab is now the first tab to appear in the Artnet menu
Improved access to the Projector Web interface
Projector Web interface can be launched from Projector device menu
Can now specify and monitor the Artnet refresh frequency
The Artnet refresh frequency can be specified by sending Artnet and monitored by receiving Artnet
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