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- 3D Canvas(tm) 4.22
-
- 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
- ---------------------------
-
- Pentium Processor
- 32 MB RAM
- Graphics Adapter with high color support
- Windows 95/98/2000
- DirectX 8
- Internet Explorer 4.0 is required to view Help
-
- Recommended:
-
- Graphics adapter with 8MB RAM and 3D hardware acceleration
-
-
- Installation
- ------------
-
- Unzip the 3DCanvas.zip file using your favourite Unzip program.
- In the folder you created, there is a program called Setup.
- Run the Setup program by double-clicking it. This begins the
- Setup program for 3D Canvas which will prompt you with further
- set-up instructions.
-
- IMPORTANT NOTICE TO PREVIOUS USERS OF 3D CANVAS:
-
- Previous users must remember to uninstall the previous
- version of 3D Canvas prior to installation of a new version.
- Answer yes if asked to the remove shared files.
-
- What's New in 3D Canvas 4.22
- ----------------------------
-
- Version 4.22 is a maintenance release. There are no
- functional changes.
-
-
- What's New in 3D Canvas 4.21
- ----------------------------
-
- o) Enhanced Shift Tool
-
- An object's point of rotation can now be moved without
- affecting the position of the object.
-
- o) Glowing Lights (3D Canvas Pro - Raytracing only)
-
- Lights rendered with POVRay/MegaPOV .7 can now have a
- glow effect.
-
- o) Atmosphere Enhancements (3D Canvas Pro - Raytracing only)
-
- When rendering with POVRay visible light effects can
- be enabled without enabling fog.
-
-
-
- What's New in 3D Canvas 4.2
- ---------------------------
-
- o) Weld Operation (3D Canvs Pro only)
-
- Welds object points together.
-
-
- o) Edge Operation (3D Canvas Pro only)
-
- Creates an edge between two selected points.
-
-
- o) Trim Operation Enhanced (3D Canvas Pro only)
-
- The Trim operation can now trim edges.
-
-
- o) Scale Operation Enhanced (3D Canvas Pro only)
-
- The Scale operation can now scale an object to specified
- dimensions.
-
-
- o) Microsoft Train Simulator Export (3D Canvas Pro only)
-
- Exporting to Microsoft Train Simulator format (.s) is now
- supported.
-
-
- o) Scripting Enhancement (3D Canvas Pro only)
-
- An object can be added to another object using the new
- AddObject method.
-
-
- What's New in 3D Canvas 4.1
- ---------------------------
-
- o) Reduce Operation (3D Canvas Pro only)
-
- Reduces the number of faces and points in an object while
- maintaining object detail.
-
-
- o) Particle Operation (3D Canvas Pro only)
-
- Used for creating large numbers of clones of an object. This
- can be useful for creating a forest of trees from a single
- tree or a plume of smoke from a single smoke particle.
-
-
- o) Bone export (3D Canvas Pro only)
-
- Bone information can now be exported to the DirectX file format.
-
-
- o) Bulge Operation (3D Canvas Pro only)
-
- Bulges an object.
-
-
- o) Auto-repeating animations
-
- Animations can now be set to automatically repeat. This can be
- useful for ensuring that a section of an animation is animated
- smoothly.
-
-
- o) Mixed Translucency
-
- Objects can now have faces with varied levels of translucency.
-
-
- o) Scripting Enhancements (3D Canvas Pro only)
-
- Two new methods have been added. The parent frame of an object
- can be found using the GetParentFrame method. The 3D Canvas path
- can be found using the GetPath method.
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 4.04
- ----------------------------
-
- A maintenance release with a few performance improvements.
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 4.03
- ----------------------------
-
- o) Added explicit MegaPOV exporting to the File Menu.
-
- o) Scripting now includes SetName and GetName for objects and frames.
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 4.02
- ----------------------------
-
- o) Five new object libraries including more than twenty new primitives
-
- Also note that some infrequently used functions previously in 3D Canvas
- have been moved to 3D Canvas Pro. We anticipate that the majority of
- 3D Canvas users will be unaffected by these changes.
-
- Functions moved to 3D Canvas Pro:
-
- o) Solidify Operation
-
- o) Optimize Operation
-
- o) Scale Operation (Note that scaling is still possible using the Edit Control)
-
- o) Shift Operation (Note that shifting is still possible using the Shift tool)
-
- o) Twist Operation
-
- o) The Surface Tool
-
- o) Rounded Cylindrical and Spherical Bones (Note that Standard Bones are still available)
-
- o) All Export functions with the exception of POVRay (pov) Scenes
- and DirectX (x) Objects.
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 4.0
- ---------------------------
-
- o) Translucency Maps
-
- A Translucency Map can be applied to an object in the same way
- as a texture. This allows you to have an object with varied
- translucency.
-
- o) Multi-texturing
-
- Allows you to mix two textures together to create a new one.
-
- o) Named Colors
-
- In addition to the ability to create your own custom color,
- you can now select a color from a large number of predefined
- colors.
-
- o) Non-Square textures
-
- o) JPG, GIF and PNG textures.
-
- Note that the loading of PNG textures can be slow. PNG textures
- have a Translucency channel that 3D Canvas extracts.
-
- POVRay users should note that the POVRay usage of PNG textures
- has not been implemented according to the PNG specifications
- and will result in inverted translucency (Transparent is Opaque
- and Opaque is Transparent).
-
- o) Two-sided faces
-
- Faces are now rendered two sided. There is still the option to
- render single-sided faces if you wish. This can be set by selecting
- "Options" from the tools menu and selecting the "Device" tab.
-
- o) Invert Operation now Inverts individual faces.
-
- o) Compact Scene Hierarchy
-
- The Scene Hierarchy has been made more compact so that moving
- scene components from frame to frame is easier.
-
- o) DirectX Imports
-
- Imports of DirectX files now include the scene hierarchy.
-
- o) Edge editing
-
- The edges of faces can now be selected, moved, rotated and scaled.
-
- o) Hover highlighting
-
- Components/Faces/Edges/Points are now highlighted as you move the
- cursor over them. Clicking the left mouse button will select
- whatever is highlighted. It is no longer necessary to exactly
- click on a "point handle".
-
- o) Deform Tool Enhancement
-
- The deform tool now highlights the portion of the object that will
- be deformed.
-
- o) Face Scaling
-
- Faces can now be scaled unequally. Equal scaling in all directions
- is no longer required.
-
- o) Arbitrary Point Selection
-
- Arbitrary points can now be selected. It is no longer necessary to
- select a face to expose its point handles.
-
- o) Group Selection
-
- The Group Selection tool now selects points as well as faces. The
- default mode is point selection. Using the tool with the Shift key
- held down selects faces. To select points or faces within the
- selection rectangle that are not visible, click the Alt-key while
- selecting.
-
- o) Enhanced Key-Frame handling
-
- Right-clicking on the Key-Frame Move/Copy buttons on the Animation
- Toolbar now permits the selection of the destination key-frame for
- the move/copy.
-
- o) Constrain options now applies to face/edge/point scaling.
-
- o) Tracking Improvements
-
- Tracking can be cancelled by tracking the scene grid.
-
- o) Exports
-
- a) Exports now provide greater levels of precision.
- b) POVRay exports now include comments so that you can more easily
- determine which 3D Canvas scene objects translate into what
- POVRay objects.
-
- o) Grouping
-
- a) Objects may now be grouped using the new Group operation. This
- works much like a merge operation except the two objects are
- moved to the same frame rather than being merged.
- b) Objects may now be ungrouped by right-clicking on the object
- and selecting "Ungroup". This will move the object to its own
- frame at the base level of the scene hierarchy.
-
- o) Reduced Resources
-
- When 3D Canvas is inactive it now uses considerably less
- system resources.
-
- o) Improved Specular Highlighting
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas Pro 4.0
- -------------------------------
-
- o) Scripting
-
- 3D Canvas now supports the Microsoft Windows Script Host. This
- provides scripting within 3D Canvas using JScript (JavaScript) and
- VBScript.
-
- Users now have the ability to write scripts to create objects,
- animate lighting, export scene information etc.
-
- Documentation of the 3D Canvas API will be available in the near
- future.
-
- Three example scripts have been provided to give a preview of this
- feature. You can try them by selecting "Run Script" from the Tools
- menu.
-
- Scene components can also have animation scripts attached to them.
- This is done by right-clicking on a component and selecting "Open
- Component Script" or "Open Frame Script"
-
- For more information on JScript and VBScript visit:
-
- http://msdn.microsoft.com/scripting/default.htm?/scripting/vbscript/default.htm
-
- o) Post Rendering effects using Photoshop Filters
-
- Snapshots and Videos can now have post rendering effects applied to
- them using Photoshop filters.
-
- Unfortunately many Photoshop filters are not scriptable so they can
- only be applied using their default settings. Scriptable plugins
- are indicated by a ">"
-
- o) Motion Blur
-
- Recorded videos can now include motion blur.
-
-
- o) Radiosity Lighting (Raytraced rendering only)
-
- This is a file property that can be set by selecting
- "File Properties" from the "File" menu.
-
- o) Atmospheric Effects (Raytraced rendering only)
-
- This simulates the effect of light reflecting off of particles
- in the air. It is useful for producing "visible light" such as
- Spotlights in fog.
-
- This is a file property that can be set by selecting
- "File Properties" from the "File" menu.
-
- o) Material Brilliance (Raytraced rendering only)
-
- The Material Palette's "Raytracing Material Attributes" allow
- you to specify the brilliance an object. This is useful for
- increasing the brilliance of metallic materials.
-
- o) Material Reflection (Raytraced rendering only)
-
- The Material Palette's "Raytracing Material Attributes" allow
- you to specify how reflective an object is.
-
- o) Material Patterns (Raytraced rendering only)
-
- The Material Palette's "Raytracing Material Attributes" allow
- you to specify a pattern on the object including Bumps, Dents,
- Ripples and Wrinkles.
-
- o) Material Iridescence (Raytraced rendering only)
-
- The Material Palette's "Raytracing Material Attributes" allow
- you to specify that an object has an iridescent appearance.
-
- o) Material Roughness (Raytraced rendering only)
-
- The Material Palette's "Raytracing Material Attributes" allow
- you to specify a specular highlighting refinement that adjusts
- the size of the specular highlight.
-
- o) Material Metallic (Raytraced rendering only)
-
- The Material Palette's "Raytracing Material Attributes" allow
- you specify a specular highlighting refinement that indicates
- that the material should be made to look metallic.
-
- o) Refraction (Raytraced rendering only)
-
- The amount that an object refracts light can be specified. This
- is set by right-clicking on an object and selecting "Properties"
-
- o) Focal Blur (Raytraced rendering only)
-
- Snapshots and Animations can be set to simulate focal blur/depth
- of field blur as would be seen with a real camera. This is set by
- right-clicking on the animation camera and selecting "Properties".
-
-
- o) Divide Operation enhancements
-
- a) The Divide operation can now divide edges as well as faces.
- b) The Divide operation now has less effect on surrounding faces.
-
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 3.32
- ----------------------------
-
- o) In the case of a system crash, unsaved work can usually be recovered.
- This is done automatically the next time 3D Canvas is run.
-
- o) Model importing and exporting is now faster and in most cases preserves
- color information.
-
- o) Increased hardware compatibility.
-
- o) Improved support for the numbering systems of non-English speaking regions.
-
- o) New options for the Scale and Shift operations.
-
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 3.3a
- ----------------------------
-
- o) Export of DirectX Frame Hierarchies
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 3.3
- ---------------------------
-
- o) The Surface Object Building Tool has been extensively revised to support:
-
- NURBS surfaces
- Surface merging
- Surface cloning
- Surface division
- Individual surface scaling, shifting and rotating
- Display of control point cages
-
- Also, the Mirror function has improved to mirror an entire object in one step.
-
-
- o) Support for B-Spline Curves in all Object Building Tools and Operations
-
-
- o) Refined and simplified Navigation Control and Edit Control
-
-
- o) Quick access to Texture, Material and Object Libraries
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 3.2
- ---------------------------
-
- o) 3D Canvas is now freeware
-
-
- o) The Animation Camera can now be set to track the movement
- of an object
-
-
- o) A bone's range of effect can now vary over the length
- of the bone
-
-
- o) The Merge Operation has been improved to retain material
- information
-
-
- o) Exporting and Importing have been improved
-
-
- o) Animation Key-Frame Ghosting has been added
-
-
- o) Inverse Kinematics now display range of movement constraints
-
-
- o) Inverse Kinematics Joints can be set to a fixed position
-
-
- o) The Crease Operation has been improved to produce sharper creases and more consistent smoothness
-
-
- o) Roll-up groups are now more compact
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 3.1a
- ----------------------------
-
- o) improved support for NVIDIA based video cards
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 3.1
- ---------------------------
-
- o) Skeletal Animation
-
- o) Inverse Kinematics
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 3.0c
- ----------------------------
-
- o) Improved POV-Ray export function
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 3.0b
- ----------------------------
-
- o) More configuration options for the Construction Panels.
- (Material Panel, Component Panel, Operation Panel
- and Hierarchy Panel)
-
- o) Faster and more accurate importing of 3DS, DXF and COB
- models.
-
-
- What's new in 3D Canvas 3.0/3.0a
- --------------------------------
-
- o) 3D True Type Fonts
-
- o) Plug-ins
-
- o) Animated Object Deformations. Virtually any operation applied
- to an object can be animated.
-
- o) Embedded Objects. Double-clicking an object opens its source
- which can then be altered.
-
- o) Compound-Object selection. Groups of objects can be selected
- as though they were a single object, then scaled, added to an
- object library, copied to the clipboard etc.
-
- o) Animation Time Line
-
- o) Animation Time Frame Shifting and Scaling
-
- o) Continuously Repeating Animated Objects
-
- o) Trim Operation
-
- o) Tip Operation
-
- o) Point Split Operation
-
- o) Shear Operation
-
- o) Burst Operation
-
- o) Swirl Operation
-
- o) Flatten Operation
-
- o) Extrude/Bevel Operation
-
- o) Material Sampling Tool (Eye Dropper) copies the sampled
- material to the Material Palette.
-
- o) Custom sizes for Videos and Snapshots
-
- o) Simulated Shadows
-
- o) Texture Cropping
-
- o) Object Duplication
-
- o) Easier selection of multiple faces and points
-
- o) Multiple face painting with the Paint Tool
-
- o) Rotation of Faces with the Edit Control
-
- o) Scaling of Faces with the Edit Control
-
- o) The viewing camera can be selected on a view by view basis.
-
- o) Chrome texture wrapping
-
- o) Camera relative texture wrapping
-
- o) Bend, Taper and Twist operation now support custom effect
- orientations.
-
- o) Animation Camera Field of View
-
- o) Object Blend Tool
-
- o) Object Bridge Tool
-
- o) Object Merge Tool
-
- o) Ability to Hide objects from view while modelling
-
-
- What's New in 3D Canvas 2.0 Revision 1
- --------------------------------------
-
- o) Improved Support for 4MB video cards.
-
- o) Undo/Redo for animations.
-
- o) Import/Export of 3D Canvas Scenes in POVRay Format.
-
-
- What's New in 3D Canvas 2.0
- ---------------------------
-
- o) New Highly Customizable Interface
-
- All toolbars and panels can now be hidden if desired.
-
- Three new view configurations have been added.
-
- View projections and orientation can be selected on
- a view by view basis by right clicking on the view and
- selecting an alternative from the pop-up menu.
-
- Dividers between view panels can now be dragged to
- adjust the size of each individual view.
-
- o) Animation sub-paths are now provided which permit mixing
- of Spline and Linear object movement within one animation
- path.
-
- o) Pauses within animations paths are now available. Adding
- a pause is as simple as clicking on the Add Pause button.
-
- o) The new Crease Tool allows you to increase or decrease the
- amount of creasing visible on objects.
-
- o) Animation key-frame ranges can now be played and recorded
- by shift-selecting a range on the animation slider.
-
- o) The Group Selection Tool may now select either forward
- facing faces or all faces within the selection rectangle.
-
- o) The range of effect for the Deform Tool can now be set.
-
- o) The Divide Smooth Tool can now be configured to smooth
- all edges, or selected edges based on a condition.
-
- o) The extrude amount can now be set for the Face Extrude
- operation.
-
- o) Undo/Redo are now available for Object Building Tools.
-
- o) Animations can now be previewed through the through Layout
- Camera.
-
- o) A new Status Bar provides feedback on the the progress of
- operations by indicating how much an object has been moved,
- scaled or rotated.
-
- o) The time position within an Animation can now be directly
- entered.
-
- o) Performance of the Surface Building Tool has been dramatically
- improved.
-
- o) Enhanced support for 800x600 mode. Toolbars have been
- re-configured to work better in 800x600 mode.
-
- o) Memory requirements have been reduced.
-
-
- Known Issues
- ------------
-
- An up to date list of known issues is available at
- http://www.amabilis.com/supportissues.htm
-
- Support
- -------
-
- Email support is available at support@amabilis.com
-
- For the latest information on 3D Canvas(tm) see www.amabilis.com.
-
- Copyright (c) 2001 Amabilis