Dear Friends of 3DE!

The development of Release 4 is finally coming to an end - today we uploaded 3DE4 r4b5! This will be the last (significant) update containing new features, from now on until final release there will be (only) bugfixes...

Some of the new features found in r4b5 are:

• separate lock (camera) channel flags for tx/ty/tz & rx/ry/rz
  We removed 3DE's (traditional) "lock channels" positional constraints (with/without transformations) and replaced it by six new toggles which can freely be combined. The now missing "allow transformations" mode (for bringing imported camera moves into survey space) can be "simulated" through adjustment script "Adjust Camera Path".

• new python script "transform camera/object move to poses"
  A new, very powerful script has been added to F5. It allows to transform an (eventually survey free) camera or object point group solve to previously defined lineup poses. This script can be used to align a camera move to imported survey models, even if these models don't provide good 2D features to extract survey from. Multiple poses can be defined for fixing the scale problem or nailing a particular solve down until it matches properly. In addition, this script can be used to stitch 2 or more camera solves together (frame range calculation)... a comprehensive tutorial will follow! Thanks to Michael Karp and Wolfgang Niedermeier for the inspiration...

• new adjustment scripts
  We added a number of new adjustment scripts for optimizing zoom curves, focus curves, near nodal camera paths and 2DLUT samples.

In addition, we added a number of new python commands (for accessing camera/pgroup attributes such as (new) contraints), fixed/improved the GUI a bit here & there and got rid of some annoying bugs & crashes.

Please see changelog below for more details!

Cheers, Rolf

r4b5

• added new camera constraints for locking positional & rotational channels separately (tx/ty/tz, rx/ry/rz)
• improved stability of flcd4 on all platforms and fixed annoying system ID bug under Windows (v1.0b9)
• added new adjustment script for optimizing zoom curve's scale and/or offset
• added new adjustment script for optimizing focus curve's scale and/or offset
• added new adjustment script for optimizing camera path of near nodal camera (panning) moves
• added new script for transforming a solve to previously defined lineup poses (cameraand object point groups)
• added button "adjust samples" to 2DLUT editor script for optimizing distortion value of selected sample points
• fixed a bug in script "adjust camera path" (v1.1)
• added new script for converting focal length animation to/from Squeeze X/Y (anamorphic distort. model, thx to Patcha & Michael)
• added new script for translating the pivot of 3D models (thx to Patcha & Michael)
• added new script for nudging cameras, object pgroups & 3D models in 3D space (thx to Patcha & Michael)
• added new script for nudging selected curve CVs (curve editor, thx to Patcha & Michael)
• updated script "3d cones" (thx to Patcha & Michael)
• updated script "store lens parameters" (thx to Dan)
• added new script for export lens distortion animation data to after effects' "grid mesh" node
• added new script "patch CV" for "intelligent curve blending" (curve editor, see also script "edit 2d tracks")
• added new script "euler flipping filter" (curve editor)
• added textfield "startframe" to script "export rolling shutter to nuke" (v1.4)
• made script "export fast buffer compression file" compatible to Windows (v1.3, thx to Helder & Sebastian)
• added script "recalculate deviation" for quickly updating the deviation curves of selected points
• added script "import OBJ sequence" for importing animated 3d models
• fixed a bug in script "export lens distortion to AE" (v1.9)
• improved script "import kuper" now reading in zoom animation data (v1.6)
• fixed a few minor bug in export script "3DS Max" (v1.4)
• added "apply" button to script "filter curves" (curve editor)
• slightly improved script "import curves" (curve editor, rot/pos curves, postfilter update)
• fixed a rounding bug in script "save out rendered frames" (F1)
• made script "normalize squeeze x/y" more robust (F3)
• improved warp4's "image conversion" behavior, and fixed a TIFF export problem (v1.4b5)
• improved rendering of "passive cursor" (curve editor, distortion curves)
• improved function "merge points" now properly merging survey coordinates (F2)
• fixed a display problem in F1 (toggling "remove rolling shutter" display mode)
• modified the behavior of requester "delete selected objects" (cameras and point groups never pre-selected by default)
• added option "triangulated" to "filter points" requester (object browser)
• improved function "project points on 3d models" now taking near clipping plane into account (F5)
• slightly improved textarea output of "curve calculation" requester now showing proper units instead of cm (curve editor)
• overview controls now renders solid frame lines into (saved out) images at FOV boundaries
• buttons "key+/" now correctly works on reference frames
• significantly improved the behavior and robustness of 3DE's marker tracking procedure
• re-configured the minimum "near clipping plane" setting to 0.1 (cm)
• improved 3DE's automatic lens consistency behavior (attr. editor, camera>lens...)
• allowed 3DE's 2D tracking features to track outside the FOV (but inside frame) by default
• added some bells & whistles to 3DE's file requester
• fixed a minor gfx glitch (parameter adjustment window, "Min:" flag)
• added "show horizon line" display toggle to overview controls
• fixed a minor update problem (attr. editor, 8 bit color conversion fields)
• added new "savePGroupLineup3DPose()" command to python interface
• added new "calcMatchFramePos/Rot3DOnly()" commands to python interface
• added new "set/getPGroupFrameSelectionFlag()" commands to python interface
• added new "getPGroupEditCurve()" command to python interface
• added new "set/getPointCalculation3DStatus()" commands to python interface
• added new python commands for accessing all camera constraint attributes
• added new parameter to python command "addScaleWidget()" for defining MMB increment
• fixed a bug in python command "convertObjectPGroupTransformation3DEToWorld()"
• fixed a slight problem in interpretation of python metatag "#3DE4.script.gui.button:"
• significantly improved performance of all python commands which provide access to point related attributes
• fixed a bug which caused 3DE to crash (calc all from scratch, manually defined rootframes)
• fixed a bug which caused 3DE to crash (lineup point in object point group)
• fixed a bug which caused 3DE to ignore the flag "rolling shutter enabled" (calc all from scratch, always enabled)

r4b4.1

• fixed a serious network calculation bug which prevented 3DE from identifying versions of calculation nodes correctly
• added script "store lens parameters" (v3.10, thanks to Dan Lowenberg!)
• slightly improved the behavior while dragging lineup points (lineup controls)
• copy of attr. editor>3d model>filepath now works correctly (context menu)
• length of camera names pimped to 200 characters
• fixed a bug which could cause 3DE to crash (calc all from scratch, manually defined rootframes, rare)

r4b4

• added a new adjustment script for optimizing 3D camera paths (locked channels constraint)
• added a new adjustment script for optimizing selected CVs (curve editor, animation curves)
• added a feature for dragging multiple lineup points simultaneously (lineup controls, SHIFT+LMB)
• fixed a bug in script "create dynamic distortion keys" (v1.4)
• added much improved version of scripts "import/export equalizerMerge" (v1.3, thanks to Helder!)
• fixed a minor GUI problem (attr. editor, near/far clipping planes)
• added new script "select lens" (object browser, camera context menu)
• improved scripts "import/export lens" now supporting 2dlut sample points (v1.6)
• names of lens object now have a max. length of 200 characters
• added a feature to timeline editor for configuring the appearance of red frame markings
• fixed a problem with orientation controls not being able to handle large image files
• fixed a bug in command line tool "makeBCFile" which caused image artifacts (v1.2)
• added a new script for displaying the distortion values for the current frame
• improved script "edit constraint attributes" (v1.1, thanks to Helder!)
• fixed a few problems within adjustment script "adjust i/o curve scale & offset" (v1.1)
• "scale" widgets now display out-of-range values ("double" type only)
• added more options to function "parameter adjustment window>remove all"
• improved script "adjust multiple survey points" (v1.1)
• fixed a bug which caused 3DE to fill 2D tracking curves of untracked points with garbage (mocap only)
• script "reload 3d models" can now be accessed through context menu (object browser)
• fixed a bug which caused 3DE not to rename newly created camera objects anymore (browser footage function)
• minor bug fixes for script "python script editor" (1.2)
• slightly improved cinema 4d export script (v1.1)
• fixed a bug which caused flag "affect calc of synced cameras" always to be ignored (pgroup attributes)
• fixed a problem with sync option "mirror points" not working properly (camera attributes)
• fixed a problem with python command "convertOpenEXRMetaDataToXML()" sometimes returning bad results
• fixed a problem which caused the adjustment procedure to error out (script parameters with same names)
• Bugfix: Warp4, compression methods for OpenEXR under Windows (v1.4b4)
• Bugfix: reduced / eliminated impact of passive points on calculation
• Bugfix: well-defined deviation for non-calculated frames
• Bugfix: buffer compression should now be thread-safe
• Bugfix: improved scene alignment after core calculation
• Bugfix: correct object names in progress window
• Bugfix: user-friendly handling of projects with sync but only one camera
• Bugfix: distance constraints with two surveyed points are now ignored
• Bugfix: distance constraints with one surveyed point are now handled correctly
• Beautifying: points are updated in the progress window during calculation
• Beautifying: selector syntax slightly simplified, compatible to parameter scripting document
• Versioning: switched to OpenEXR 2.2 (3DE as well as warp4)
• Versioning: mhp with updated core is now version 1.5
• Documentation: Parameter scripting, see here

r4b3

• added a new feature for handling multiple distance constraints per point group
• added a new survey point feature which allows to define less than three coordinates (plane/line-constraints)
• added radius parameter which forces 3DE to keep approx. surveyed points within a certain distance to their original position
• added a new near/far-point constraint feature (avoid inverted point clouds)
• added python commands for reading/writing new point constraint attributes
• added a new feature which allows to adjust "custom" project parameters modeled through special python scripts
• added a number of specific python commands for "custom" parameter adjustment
• added a new adjustment script for optimizing the 3D translation and/or orientation of a group of survey points
• added a new adjustment script for optimizing the distance parameter of a distance constraint
• added a new adjustment script for optimizing the scale and/or offset of an existing stereo interocular curve
• added a new adjustment script for optimizing the offset of a secondary stereo camera's zoom curve
• added a new feature to drive dynamic distortion by focal length and focus distance (2D lookup table/2D LUT)
• added a number of new python commands for accessing a lens object's 2D LUT dynamic distortion attributes
• added a new python widget for rendering 3D object trees (3DAreaWidget)
• added a number of new python commands for building up 3D object trees
• added a new, interactive script for editing 2D LUTs
• added a new "re-apply distortion" mode to python command "saveRenderCacheFrame()"
• updated script "save out rendered frames" (v1.4, new option "re-apply distortion")
• added a new (multithreaded) commandline tool for creating 3DE buffer compression files (makeBCFile)
• added a new script for easily running "makeBCFile" directly from 3DE's GUI (thanks to Helder!)
• added a new feature for importing long-lat spheremap files and converting them into regular image sequences on-the-fly (nodal pan)
• added new features to warp4 which allows to define output fileformat options and output scale (v1.4b3)
• added new python command for reading the meta data of openexr files
• added new python command which returns the filepath of the image file of a specific camera/frame
• added a new python timer callback infrastructure
• added a new python command which forces 3DE to flush its GUI event queue
• added a new python command which allows to perform a "new project" action
• added a large number of python commands for accessing all kinds of camera attributes
• added a large number of python commands for accessing all kinds of point attributes
• added new scripts for copy/paste of curve editor curves
• script "export rolling shutter to nuke" now behaves exactly the same as 3DE's buildin "remove RS" functions
• fixed a bug which caused 3DE's "nuke export" script to generate "euler flipping" problems
• added a few new options to 3D orientation controls for disabling the selection of points, 3d models, geo objects and constraints
• 3D orientation controls can now be used in presence of cameras containing no footage
• added a new option to 3D orientation controls which allows to parent the viewport to the current object point group
• read only textfields now allow it to copy its content to the clipboard
• lineup controls' horizon rendering feature now shows some small markings below the horizon line
• added a "remove pose" button to lineup controls
• fixed a bug which caused "posed" reference frames to be displayed incorrectly (lineup controls)
• patched a problem which caused lineup controls' "project points" function not to work correctly (rare, near clipping plane = 0.01)
• fixed a minor rendering bug of option "show 3d points perspectively"
• slightly increased the sensitivity areas of tracking boxes (motiontracking controls)
• fixed a bug which could cause a problem in parameter adjustment window (rare, ignoring new result samples, frame range enabled)
• fixed a bug which could cause function "find badly tracked points" to hang (rare)
• added a cancel button to function "find badly tracked points"
• added new "hidden/visible" filter option to "filter points" requester
• fixed a bug in script "reverse reel in" not working correctly in connection with object point groups
• fixed a problem with 3DE's license server software flcd4 sometimes returning different "system id" values (v1.0b8, windows only)
• fixed a python related problem within 3DE's startup script (thanks to Weta, linux only)
• fixed a bug which caused 3DE's "locked channels" constraint feature not to work correctly in connection with sync'ed cameras
• fixed a bug which caused 3DE not to display "8bit color conversion" changes immediately (rare)
• fixed a bug which caused 3DE to display a gray checkerboard instead of the actual footage in parts of the frame (OSX only)
• fixed a bug which caused 3DE's python command "setCameraPath()" not to initialize some "8bit color conversion" settings properly
• added an additional parameter to python commands set/getLensLDAdjustableParameter() to support 2D LUTs properly 
• fixed a number of calculation core related bugs

r4b2

• fixed a number of bugs which caused many calculation core related problems (stereo & sync)
• improved some aspects of 3DE's calculation requester (clipping planes, button behaviour, etc.)
• added two python commands for converting 3D data to/from object point groups
• updated "import kuper" script, now properly taking care of object pointgroups (v1.4)
• added 12bit dpx support for 3DE and warp4
• improved performance of warp4 under certain conditions (import of .3de file containing links to large objs)
• fixed an update problem with deviation browser (show selected points only option)
• fixed another update problem with deviation browser (python interface)
• fixed a bug which caused python command "filterPGroup()" not to work properly (stereo)
• fixed a bug which caused various lineup controls functions not to work properly (stereo)
• added "key+/" functions to "edit 2D tracks tool" script (v1.4)
• slightly improved the behaviour of autotracking spline masks (now enabled by default)
• added a visibility attribute for geo line objects (python)
• updated script "geo line attributes" (v1.1, "visible" toggle)
• parameter adjustment window now disables more buttons while adjustment procedure is running
• improved the behaviour of script "export 3d models as obj" (v1.5, lines now handled correcty)
• fixed a significant number of calculation core related problems

r4b1

• introduced a new framework for network calculation (parameter adjustment, dynamic curve calculation)
• python command saveRenderCacheFrame() now provides subpixel accuracy (offset_x/y parameters)
• python command saveRenderCacheFrame() now uses a black background
• python command saveRenderCacheFrame() is now about 10% faster
• updated "render out" script taking changes to saveRenderCacheFrame() into account (v1.3)
• added python command saveRenderCacheZBuffer() for saving out depth map image files
• added script "render out depth mpas" (overview controls)
• added an option for defining the line rendering width used by 3DE's overview controls and render output
• added python commands for accessing 3DE's new line rendering width attribute
• added python commands for accessing a project's motionblur samples
• added a number of python commands for accessing 3DE's image controls features
• added a script for animating image controls (motiontracking controls)
• fixed a problem which caused python scripts not being able to modify camera paths properly
• added 2D & 3D point color settings to 3DE's "point defaults" script (v1.1)
• patched an OpenGL performance problem (OSX 10.8 or higher)
• added playback range indicators to deviation browser, curveand timeline editor
• added duplicate lens script (object browser>context menu)
• improved script "import raw lidar scan" (y-up/z-up option, reduce point density option, v1.1)
• disabled 3DE's "auto levels" feature (import float footage, 8 bit color conversion)
• added a new script for modifying a 3D model's pivot point (orientation controls)
• added new frame range options to script "reel in points" (v1.4)
• updated script "create dyn. curve keys" now allowing to choose between focus and focal length (v1.1)
• reduced min. focus limit to 1 cm (calculate dynamic curve requester)
• added a new option to lineup controls which forces 3DE to ignore non "lineup only" points for calculation
• updated script "match frame all" (ignore non "lineup only" points option, v1.1)
• hidden 3D models are now displayed in dark grey (object browser)
• added python commands for accessing a camera's shutter angle
• added a script for reversing the tracking curves of all selected points (motiontracking controls)
• fixed a number of calculation core related bugs