New Features and Improvements
NEW AMBIENT LIGHT OPTION
Virtual View’s natural lighting environment just got a new Ambient Light Profile option called Smooth. This new profile uses improved computations to precisely simulate direct and indirect natural light on surfaces, creating a smoother contrast transition between direct-lit areas and dark/shadowy regions where ambient light has minimal effect.
SAVE CUSTOMIZED LIBRARY ITEMS
It is now possible to save a Library object that had its appearance edited/changed after it was inserted – so it can be recalled with the same appearance in the same or future files.
This will speed up your workflow, as you will no longer have to waste time on changing defaults you don’t like, for objects you insert.
AUTOMATICALLY CREATED SHORTCUTS FOR LIBRARY ITEMS
This feature will speed up your workflow by automatically creating library items shortcuts as you insert them into your drawing. The advantage to using shortcuts is that once they are created, you no longer need to repeat a search or navigate the Library list, to look for the items they represent.
COMPLEX/REALISTIC TRUSS STRUCTURES WITH TRUSS PIECES
Individual truss pieces were added to Vivien 2022’s Library, under the AV category. Using these, you will be able to build more complex truss structures than what the Truss Wizard can generate; these structures can also be more realistic, since the truss pieces have real-life counterparts.
SELECT FROM SELECTED
This feature allows selection from within the set of items that are currently selected and improves efficiency both for on-the-fly selection, as well as for creating Selection Sets.
To use: Select any number of items, hold down SHIFT, and right-click; now the different Select options in the right-click menu will only allow selection within the items that were already selected.
CONVERT SPLINES TO PIPES
This conversion tool helps you create pipes in any curvy shape needed. To use: Select any Spline, click the TOOLS menu, click Convert and then click Splines into Pipes.
VERTEX AND FACE COUNTS FOR 3D OBJECTS
Tooltips now display the Vertex and Face counts of 3D objects, including those inserted from the Library. This information can be invaluable for scene analysis, when trying to determine which object(s) may be responsible for poor Shaded View performance.
To use: Hover the cursor over any 3D object and wait for the tooltip to appear
ADDITIONS TO SNAP FUNCTIONS
Snapping functions have been expanded to allow:
Centre Snap to catch the volumetric center of Risers and Spheres.
Midpoint Snap to catch the midpoint of an Arc along its length.
Endpoint Snap catches the endpoints of Curved Pipes.
To use: Activate the necessary Snap(s) as usual and hover around the different points to snap to them.
DELETING ALL CUSTOM GOBOS AT ONCE
It is now possible to delete all Custom Gobos from a file at once, whether or not they are in use.
CONVERT ARCS TO (SEMI-CIRCULAR OR SEMI-ELLIPTICAL) SURFACES
This conversion tool helps you transform any Arc into Surface. To use it click Tools>Convert>Arcs into Surfaces.
