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Contents

• Change Log
• Note: Service Releases are only available to licensed AccuRender 4 users.
• What is new in 4.0
• AccuRender 4.0 has been released. Purchase AccuRender 4.0

2008-06-11: SR 4.0.3

Features:

• Compatibility with AutoCAD 2009

Bug Fixes:

• Advanced raytrace settings don't stick.
• Crash when running batch rendering in old AR3 interface.
• Walkabout window did not update correctly after rendering completes.
• Loading a model with AR4/AR3 data second time in a session causes instability on AutoCAD 2008 in some cases.
• AutoCAD 2008: crash when canceling "Floor Elevations" dialog.
• AutoCAD 2008: scale not correct when changing between metric and imperial measurement system.
• Materials did not save correctly in Windows Vista.
• Content Browser combo box navigation did not keep up to date in Windows Vista.

2007-06-08: SR 4.0.2 (Service Release 2)

Features:

• Limited support for Windows Vista
• Walkabout/Raytrace layouts do not appear until model is loaded.

Bug Fixes:

• Smoothmove installer failed to run 1on Windows x64.
• Stop rendering doesn't work through toolbar (ESC-key press implemented instead)
• Serial number missing on about dialog.
• DXF import/export broken.
• Managers hidden when creating new document after closing all docs.
• Status command crashes AutoCAD when walkabout tab active.
• Batch rendering doesn't support schemes proper.
• Load a scheme doesn't change exposure settings.
• Saving new camera does not ask for camera name but uses "Copy of XXX" instead.
• Not possible to tag multiple blocks as lights or plants.
• About command crashes AutoCAD when on walkabout tab.

2007-04-13: SR 4.0.2 Service Release 2 Beta 2

Features:

• Supports AutoCAD 2008.

Bug Fixes:

• coMOTION crashes when when logging is enabled on AutoCAD 2007.
• Zone objects did not recover correctly from drawing corruption problems.

2007-02-14: SR 4.0.2 Service Release 2 Beta 1

Features:

• Increased maximum render sizes to 15000x15000

Bug Fixes:

• Random objects get selected after running AR4 command.
• RPCs don't insert into model in certain situations.
• coMOTION wireframe preview does not work properly in AutoCAD 2007 with camera actions
• coMOTION crashes on startup if a newer version of DosLIB has been installed
• coMOTION zooms out when executing object actions and causes re-meshing of all objects.

2006-09-27: SR 4.0.1 Service Release 1c

Features:

• Automatic update speed negates the need to set the raytrace delay in the options dialog. This should speed up very large renderings (3000x3000 upwards) by quite a lot.
• Increased raytrace/radiosity delay edit box bounds to 30000 (30 seconds)

Bug Fixes:

• A poorly optimized core was causing slower rendering that usual. This is now fixed.

2006-09-15: SR 4.0.1 Service Release 1b

Bug Fixes:

• Render to AutoCAD view sometimes renders the walkabout window instead.
• Picking the render window not always working.
• Thumbnails do not appear in content picker in AutoCAD 2007
• ADT 2007 objects did not translate correctly in certain circumstances.

2006-08-31: SR 4.0.1 Service Release 1a

Features:

• AccuRender opens the video problems FAQ page when it detects a graphics card problem.

Bug Fixes:

• Evaluation versions could not run in Spanish.
• Installing a localized version over an English version did not switch the language
• Setting the AutoCAD view from a camera did not work correctly.

2006-08-16: SR 4.0.1 Service Release 1

Features:

• Assigning material to a layer and editing it will auto-select the new material.

Bug Fixes:

• Plants did not insert correctly when dragging from the Content Manager.
• Multiple plant insertions did not work correctly in AutoCAD 2007.
• Saving a material from the open dialog did not work correctly in localized versions.
• Render window images were not saved correctly in certain situations on Windows 2000.

2006-08-02: SR 4.0.1 Beta 3

Features:

• Command added to reopen toolbars (ar4_ReopenToolbars)

Bug Fixes:

• Raytrace window flickering after editing environment.
• Displaying a rendering with a zoom factor < 100 prints "out of memory" message to command line.
• Render window function doesn't allow to pick points.
• Switch to plan view broken in certain situations.
• Switching to plan view system did not correctly work if the user choose "no".
• Changing an HDRi background while in Raytrace window and in perspective mode in model space caused a crash.
• Panoramas not displayed in panorama list after adding them.
• Crash when opening object properties in certain situations.
• Not possible to edit decals in certain situations.
• Selection set removed after certain commands (Paisajismo)
• Slowdown when inserting plants through other plugins (Paisajismo)
• Crash in NSE in certain situations.
• Grip editing a custom camera causes the frustum to disappear.
• Cannot redock managers.
• Mesh-edge artifacts appeared on reflective surfaces - this is now fixed.
• coMOTION did not save animation preview images correctly in AutoCAD 2007. This is now fixed.
• Some geometry did not render correctly in 2-point perspective views.

2006-07-04: SR 4.0.1 Beta 2

Features:

• Added support for AutoCAD 2007.
• Added localization for French, German, Italian and Spanish languages.

Bug Fixes:

• Clipping planes did not insert correctly (broken in 4.0.1.1)
• Layer filter not saved to document.
• Model space context menu calls deselect objects.
• AccuRender menu did not always display in current workspace.
• Managers don't update when copy/pasting objects.
• The Farm: Items in job properties dialog not aligned.
• Layer manager "by Layer/ by ACI" disappears to early when resizing the dialog.
• Layer manager: layers without materials don't sort to the top of the list.
• OPM: crash when changing number of lights in light dome.
• OPM: not working correct on multiple selected objects.
• Batch render manager shows incorrect job info when adding a new job to a set of existing once.
• Help button on light dome properties dialog not working.
• Help button on network render job queue dialog displays empty page.
• The speed of the Walkabout movements cannot be changed by pressing the shift or control key.
• Switch to plan view dialog pops up multiple times when inserting a light.
• Exposure lock button changes settings.
• Exposure settings changes when pressing render button.
• R15 version did not find libraries or bitmaps on active document path (UI only)
• Tutorial bitmaps were not found when moved out of factory location
• 16-bit displays caused some bitmap problems - a warning now appears about this at startup.

2006-05-08: SR 4.0.1 Beta 1

Features:

• Evaluation version support.
• Post effects now run on latest post effect SDK - 1.1
• Render progress bar added to walkabout manager.
• 25% increase in rendering speed over initial AR4 release.

Bug Fixes:

• coMOTION "Camera follows path" action crashed when attempting to set camera spin.
• CTRL + TAB doesn't switch between document when AR4 running.
• Large renderings can cause AR to run out of memory while attempting to save images.
• Removed DLL image library support from thumbnail machine - should solve threading conflicts
• Shell extension was not properly added to Windows "Approved" list - this didn't cause any known problems.
• Content names were not properly localized in tooltips and certain confirmation dialogs.
• City and map names were not localized on the Sun/Sky settings dialog.
• Crash when inserting light dome.
• coMOTION rendering failed on certain localized AutoCAD versions.
• Editor: crash when displaying material channel
• Lots of localization issues fixed.
• Auto-repeat walkabout motion buttons don't stay down.
• Tutorial bitmaps were not in a location that could be found when rendering.
• Crash in localized NSE in certain situations.
• Batch renderings always go to the drawing folder
• The Farm: Job menu not visible in localized versions.
• Object properties dialog: help button not working.
• Crash when deleting a light object while in paper space.
• Some edit boxes were not correctly sized - this is now fixed.
• Upgrade install was difficult because CD Autoplay was on during installation.

2006-03-30: Public Beta 53 (Post Release)

Features:

• Evaluation version support.
• Post effects now run on latest post effect SDK - 1.1

Bug Fixes:

• coMOTION "Camera follows path" action crashed when attempting to set camera spin.
• CTRL + TAB doesn't switch between document when AR4 running.
• Large renderings can cause AR to run out of memory while attempting to save images.

2006-03-02: Public Beta 52 (Release Candidate 3)

Features:

• No new features.

Bug Fixes:

• Installer causes the wrong content path names to be set up when no previous install present.
• Plant changes using the OPM could cause a crash.
• Rectangular and triangular groundcovers did not render.
• Polygonal groundcover properties dialog not displayed while insertion.
• coMOTION ARX support linked to incorrect libraries.
• AR3 batch jobs save rendering in wrong format. tif -> png
• Tab order on most dialog boxes was incorrect.
• Ambient dialog decimal places excessive.
• Materials manager slow when dealing with many layers.
• Crash when assigning material to layer in certain situations.
• Thick, wide polylines did not respect smoothing settings.
• Disabling plant zones had no effect.
• Splash screen didn't show edition information.
• Camera manager re-drew when changing cameras inside blocks.
• Many UI refreshing problems solved.
• Bitmap materials caused a crash when rendering when assigned by object and in multiple documents.
• Memory leak when detaching dockers resolved.

2006-02-20: Public Beta 51 (Release Candidate 2)

Features:

• No new features.

Bug Fixes:

• Start Manager - checkbox control did not resize correctly.
• Crash when running certain commands in paper space.
• Raytrace window scroll bar enable too late.
• Render window renders whole image when radiosity is checked.
• Object properties always assumes preselection.
• Changes of resolution in render manager has no effect on render settings dialog.
• View width settings were not working in Render to Viewport mode - rendering was at wrong zoom level.
• Piranesi does not work correctly for Orthographic or 2-point - feature disabled.
• Depth channel output was not properly anti-aliased.
• Polygonal groundcover incorrectly placed last triangle in some cases.
• Loader forced the workspace to "ACCURENDER" on startup.
• .ar4loadmenu command was fired on startup unnecessarily.

2006-02-08: Public Beta 50 (Release Candidate 1)

Features:

• Notifier added when crashing in video card driver.
• coMOTION tweening engine updated to the same engine used in Bongo 1.0.
• UI update Check for updates menu item added.
• UI update About AccuRender menu item added.

Bug Fixes:

• Changes to plant properties have no effect when inserting plant.
• Save as walkabout camera menu item not working.
• Changing languages did not change the language in the explorer extensions.
• Controls on "pack and go" dialog overlapping when resizing dialog.
• Some spinners did not go down to zero.
• Many of the string related functions were not thread safe. This is now fixed.
• Not possible to turn off the "select items in managers when selections in model space changes" option.
• Hidden, floating managers showing up in certain situations when adding ar4 objects.
• Explorer language ID was not placed by earlier betas - this caused some localization to fail.
• Add/Remove Programs icon was incorrect.
• Explorer extensions fail to assert a valid install state. This can cause them to fail after uninstallation but before a reboot.
• Cannot drag material on object when UCS not world.
• Image viewer crashes when right clicking effects dialog.
• Help button in old AR3 interface displays old help file.
• Image viewer: cancel button of print dialog not ending the print process.
• Exposure controls did not update correctly when (ar4_lock_toneop x) lisp function called
• Exposure spinners did not work correctly when dragged to maximum value.
• Walkabout display hidden when rendering autocad view and automatic tab switching enabled.
• Help buttons in NSE not working.
• PEPs not working in editor in certain situations.
• Missing content dialog controls not resizing properly.
• Crash when loading radiosity file in certain situations.
• Some AEC custom objects did not translate correctly.
• Exposure settings: update in realtime flag set when pressing Apply button.
• Groundcover plants randomly "grew" upside down.
• Override plant season: wrong value displayed in OPM.
• Panorama update causes problems with command prompt.
• Wrong icon on decals/waves dialog.
• Commands did not correctly cancel modal states when run from dockers.
• Groundcover plants did not drop into the model correctly from the Content Browser.
• coMOTION camera action did not correctly set the walkabout camera frustum length.

2006-01-13 Public Beta 49

Features:

• Command added to clear image cache (ar4_clearimagecache)
• Optimized Depth of Field post effect - now runs at more than 3x previous speed.
• UI update Added "Blur Background" option back to Depth of Field.
• Optimized Glare post effect - now runs about 2x previous speed.
• Help system implemented (content currently unfinished).
• Tidied up toolbar and menu icons. Changed Statistics manager tab icon.

Bug Fixes:

• Material with a single letter name caused library display to fail.
• UI update Localize content names checkbox added to Explorer folder options.
• Material mask images not displayed in content manager.
• Content localization support added using dictionary lookup.
• Object manager right click deselects preselection.
• Not possible to turn on/off multiple items by clicking in "On" column.
• Batch render prompts for daylight mode.
• Floating managers stay hidden in certain situations.
• Tagging a block as a light moves block to origin.
• Tagging a block as a light doesnt display edit dialog.
• UI update Tidied up the Dialog Defaults dialog.
• Post effect plugin color picking broken.
• Post effect calculated while openiing properties dialog.
• Post effect enable state doesn't stick when switching to another app.
• Post effect section: properties button enabled for disabled effects.
• Crash in post effect section in certain situations when opening model.
• Show model scale dialog check box missing in options dialog.
• Environment manager: properties button enabled when selecting environment header.
• ARI file editor fails to load localized string tables.
• Crash when closing AR3 render window in AR4.
• Crash when pressing material button on light fixture properties dialog.
• Material section on light fixture properties dialog missing.
• 3-Point daylight insertion displays height dialog.
• Crash when pressing render button while inserting objects.
• Object selection doesn't stick in certain situations.
• Adding objects (plants, lights, RPCs) inconsistent.
• Not possible to drag objects to zones.
• Batch rendering render channels combined in one check box.
• Post-effect point picking mechanism was badly documented. Errors in DOF, Glow and Fog now fixed.
• Incorrect icon was shown on Clipping Plane Manager for Clipping Plane objects.
• Object Manager icons were not correctly displayed against white background.
• Override environment on cameras does not work.
• Clipping plane properties box does not exist.
• Added environment templates doesn't use template names.
• RPC properties button enabled on multiple selection even though it's not supported.
• AutoCAD freezes when adding plants/assigning materials in rare situations.
• AR4 objects always added in main zone.
• Crash when adding camera from current view.
• Recalculate Lights / Target Residual paramters enabled in non radiosity environments.
• Layer manager remove material button was always enabled.
• AutoCAD locks up in certain situations when picking render window.
• RPC inserted even when cancel button pressed.
• Orthographic view not rendered correctly.
• Tooltips in options dialog did not localize correctly.
• Some parts of the coMOTION dialogs did not localize correctly.
• Polygonal groundcover creation caused a crash.

2005-12-09: Public Beta 48

Features:

• Hardware lock checking system implemented.
• HDR/ARI image loading progress reported on status bar.

Bug Fixes:

• Some items not working in batch render manager.
• Glow post process picked wrong color when zoomed in.
• Content manager: Assign to object menu item assigns material to all object in drawing in certain situations.
• Start Manager did not refresh correctly in Windows XP themed mode in certain circumstances.
• Docker controls did not draw correcly after certain operations in Windows XP themed mode.
• Globally reflected background defaults were not set correctly.
• Network slave not responding when closing or moving the window.
• Error conditions not dealt with promptly by the thumbnail machine - this is now fixed.
• Cannot pick render window in model space when rendering to AutoCAD view.
• Crash when saving a plant in some circumstances.
• Render settings advanced button resets parameters.
• AR4 Image Viewer crashing when viewing material channel.
• Editing goniometric light pops up spot light properties dialog.
• Crash when changing objects Trim/Mold attribute.
• Missing geometry when disabling main light zone.
• Degree symbol does not display correctly on Asian systems - changed to "d"
• Some controls could not be localized.
• Progress bar remaining time goes negative in some circumstances.
• Asian language material library names cause material preview to fail.
• Saving a render window when rendering in the AutoCAD viewport did not work correctly.
• UI update "Saving disabled" messages were changed slightly to make them more clear.
• Material mapping reference plane did not stick.
• AVI writer rebuilt to use most up to date AVI and MPEG writing libraries (possible Renee solution)
• coMOTION AVI support updated to use the same libraries as everything else.
• Hashing algorithm changed for preview cache to better support Asian languages.
• coMOTION Sun study module did not update the environment correctly.
• ar4_getent and ar4_setent lisp functions implemented.
• Crash when editing spotlight beam angle.
• Queue network job prompts to replace image files (etransmit)
• RPC/Images folders were not created by the installation process.

2005-11-11: Public Beta 47

Features:

• "Add folder names when copying" checkbox added to Explorer "Folder Options/View" dialog.

Bug Fixes:

• Asian characters were not correctly handled in Explorer.
• Migration check did not correctly reset the default libraries in some cases.
• Crash when rendering very high resolution.
• Background brightness was not saved with the document.
• "Dummy dialog box" message appears when OPM visible.
• OPM property descriptions were missing.
• The Farm sending empty email attachments.
• Crash when picking invalid HDR image.
• "Insert into model" item not working on content browser context menu.
• Closed managers showing up again when editing lights.
• HDR images with faulty luminance information were causing the lighting to fail.
• Zone dialog has two spinners for dimmer.
• HDRI projection doesn't stick when picking an source.
• Render window scrollbars display too late.
• Mouse wheel doesn't scroll render window in certain situations.
• HDR image cache is now much more intelligent - previews should be much quicker.
• Uplighting for skydome lights was too bright.
• Non localized redraw command called when deleting plant.
• Mouse wheel zoom doesn't update zoom combo box in render manager.
• "Up folder" icon in Content Manager was unclear.
• "Can't delete zone" message box string was incorrect.
• Light dome sources cause certain objects to glow in some circumstances.
• Legacy material browser was used in some places in the UI.
• HDR background files were not included in the eTransmit file.
• Object managers did not keep content updated if not created.
• AutoCAD crashed when undoing back past the first AR4 related command.
• Post effect storage mechanism caused a large number unecessary internal undo entries.
• Walkabout navigation caused a large number of undo entries to be placed on the stack.
• HDRi validity checker caused HDR background to fail to render in some cases.

2005-10-25: Public Beta 46

Features:

• Zoom to mouse cursor for raytrace window and image viewer implemented.

Bug Fixes:

• Wrong context menu in managers displayed.
• Walkabout view was grey when loading model in some cases.
• Images are saved with a blank alpha channel on some systems when Alpha is unchecked.
• Unnecessary switch to walkabout window when saving from model space removed.
• Crash when double clicking camera or clipping plane icon in explorer.
• Wrong light context menu in explorer.
• Button images were improperly masked on Windows 2000.
• Insertion point of trees wrong when loading radiosity file.
• DWL were files created every minute when rendering and autosave enabled.
• Loading a radiosity file causes red objects in certain situations.
• Light locations Z value set to zero when inserting light.
• Crash when editing multiple lights in AutoCAD properties dialog.
• AutoCAD object properties dialog updates slowly when multiple objects selected.
• Daylights display brightness and dimmer in light manager.
• OPM doesn't change object properties in certain situations.
• Right click on managers doesn't work correctly.
• Zone dimmer spinner not working.
• Crash when saving render window.
• Horizontal surfaces are much too bright when rendering with a dome/HDRi
• Crash in certain situations when editing clouds.
• Lighting analysis scale displays warm to cold color.
• Daylights can't be turned on/off in properties dialog.
• Changes to lights have no effect when not in model space.
• Changes to materials not working (material name uses special characters)
• Content manager doesn't update after edit/SaveAs material.
• Content manager: can't rename materials from context menu on Windows XP platforms.
• Exposure settings don't stick.
• Changes (LOD, season) doesn't stick to polygonal groundcovers.
• ADT objects on XREFs with non-origin base point do not load into correct position.
• coMOTION did not load correctly unless Bongo was also installed (!)

2005-10-10: Public Beta 45

Features:

• Added render pass information to progress meter.
• Added rendering progress to AutoCAD status bar.
• Transparency is now supported for RPC objects.
• Plants appear in the WalkAbout window with their layer color.
• Lock exposure settings button implemented.
• Resampled zoom could be slow - this has been changed to a quicker, dirtier solution.
• Asynchronous process update may be causing sluggishness - experimental change back to sync.

Bug Fixes:

• Walkabout image save dialog doesn't remember last save folder
• Radiosity button stays disabled when enabling radiosity in render settings dialog.
• Post effects are not enabled when right-clicking them.
• Blur background in DOF post-effect did not work. This option has been removed.
• High render resolution causes crash when zoom smaller 100%
• Resampled zoom could be slow - this has been changed to a quicker, dirtier solution.
• Asynchronous process update may be causing sluggishness - experimental change back to sync.

2005-10-03: Public Beta 44

Features:

Bug Fixes:

• Edit, Add to Favorites menu options for content did not work correctly on Windows 2000.
• Cursor disappears when selecting multiple plants, lights in model view.
• Assign material dialog: tree list and view list not matching when user has "show hidden files" enabled.
• Settings doesn't stick in render settings quality tab.
• Renaming a layer will leave the old name of the layer in layer manager.
• Language combo box allowed text input.
• Menus did not change language when locale changed.
• Edit material assigned to layer overwrites original material.
• Changing type of luminaire in edit dialog not working.
• Light dome sources not added when inserting multiple domes in one go.
• JPEG output was set to medium quality.

2005-09-26: Public Beta 43

Features:

• Background brightness control added to exposure.
• HDR Background blurring added to HDRi background controls.
• LISP interface implemented.
• Checks added to verify memory space.
• Generate random seed button added on multiple plant window.
• Material assignment type dialog box appears before first material drag-drop operation.
• Tooltip shows what the current material drop operation will drop onto.
• ar4_createcamerafromnamedview command added to create camera from named views.
• Cameras do not take part in Zoom Extents or Zoom All calculations (they are disabled during zoom)

Bug Fixes:

• Additional Walkabout cameras inserted with older betas are now removed automatically.
• Cameras within blocks are not shown or used (this includes xrefs).
• Environment scheme reader did not read AR3 data from .en or .sc files.
• Dialog box titles for light properties changed to reflect new UI.
• Walkabout clipping did not work properly with reference to model scale.
• %s tooltip displays on docked managers.
• hard coded tooltips on walkabout manager.
• Menus did not appear when installed as a different user to the first runner.
• Menu group name changed to "ACCURENDER" - users of Acad 2000-2005 may need to unload the AR4 group.
• Confusing editor and viewer button on render manager.
• HDR environment not stored in scheme file.
• Aspect ratio flag not consistent.
• Layer changes (On/Off, Freeze/Thaw) doesn't force model reload.
• Plant manager doesn't display level of detail.
• Plant seed always the same.
• Enable state of plant can't be change on multiple plant edit window.
• PEP dialog names inconsistent.
• Reflective background settings don't copy with environment.
• Selecting a plant from the content picker dialog causes a lockup in some circumstances.
• HDR Background did not correctly disable raytrace ambient.
• Background thumbnail extraction not releasing processor usage.
• Border pixel rendered in wrong color in certain cases.
• Cameras did not display while they were being inserted.
• AR4 image viewer shows empty document on startup.
• Menus and toolbars did not show correct images in certain situations.
• Menus did not work correctly with "Alt" key accelerators.
• Certain light fixture models were not included in the beta release.
• Can't enable/disable objects (lights, plants...) in manager by clicking in "On" column.
• "Don't show me this again" check box not working when pressing "No" button on reload model dialog.
• Disabling light zone makes invisible lights visible.
• Can't create custom lights.
• Crash when loading environment templates.
• Crash when changing object mapping from properties dialog.
• Cancel button will still insert plant/light.
• Preselection doesn't stick when opening object properties with model space context menu.
• "Insert into model" right click option on context showed up in modeless situations.
• Panorama network rendering did not render panoramic images.
• Save walkabout window often saves the file dialog image too.
• Assign material to layer dialog reads: open instead of assign
• Wrong right click menu displayed in camera manager.
• Crash when pressing load model link on start manager multiple times.
• Crash when editing material with bitmap multiple times from Content Browser/Explorer.
• Check box on Start Manager shows in incorrect color on themed XP.
• coMOTION failed to get past first frame when rendering calibration frame.

2005-08-25: Public Beta 42

Features:

• Force Reload and Prompt for Selection set implemented.

Bug Fixes:

• Can't change model scale from properties dialog.
• Batch rendering crashes when calculating a radiosity solution.
• Autosave location did not update when DWG location changed.
• ESC key does not deselect camera object in model space.
• Middle mouse button locks up AR4 Image Viewer.
• Placing of rectangular decal broken when UCS not world.
• Walkabout and render manager controls flickering when walking in walkabout window.
• Object Properties dialog doesn't wait for objects to be selected.

2005-08-23: Public Beta 41

Features:

• HDR Background luminance now correctly respects background color and rotation.

Bug Fixes:

• Parts of environment enable without having all parameters set up.
• Environment rename and properties did not have proper icons (and they were in the wrong place)
• Projection combo box empty in render settings dialog.
• Error in environment serialization caused a crash when opening a drawing.

2005-08-19: Public Beta 40

Features:

• Option added to stop abbreviation of manager tab names.
• Option added to stop showing the start manager when running ar4 command.
• Added progress display during missing bitmap search.
• Internal command usage improved.
• Added new "Images" folder to AccuRender Libraries.
• Added huge amount of new content to release installer.
• Load model process improved.
• Notification added when AccuRender crash dump file created on the desktop.

Bug Fixes:

• HDR luminosity quality does not change in certain situations.
• Batch rendering: crash when loading camera.
• Load Model/Rendering progress did not display in certain circumstances.
• Lock up when panning in raytrace window while rendering.
• HDR background: Not possible to set projection.
• Not possible to edit plant zones by double clicking them.
• Zones don't work in certain situations.
• Crash when rendering after changing HDR background.
• Open light properties using context menu prompts to select light.
• Content browser didn't automatically display thumbnail view on Windows 2000.
• CUI Menu loader did not properly switch workspaces.
• CUI Menu loader did not run correctly with some startup scenarios.
• Build error caused installer to ship with a debug build of coMOTION for AutoCAD 2004-2006
• Some lisp related problems caused coMOTION to fail to run.
• ar4_PickPerspective command failed to switch to plan view and showed incorrect prompts.
• AccuRender Image Viewer can not open two drawing at the same time when double clicking on file.
• Crash when double clicking light in light manager.
• CUI command did not work correctly on localized versions of AutoCAD.

2005-08-05: Public Beta 39

Features:

• All commands with more than one underscore have been changed - ie, ar4_tag_plant -> ar4_tagplant
• Lighting analysis section added to walkabout manager
• Context menu appears when assigning a material to a block. Allows you to choose which layer you want to assign to.
• Start manager links switch to model space if required.
• HDR Background exposure options added.
• Added location and target pick buttons for spotlights editing.
• Adding a new plant asks for plant type - tree, groundcover or creeper.
• Material, Plant or Light appears when creating a new definition in the libraries.
• Image saving remembers last folder and extension.
• More instructive message appears when AR3 is already loaded.

Bug Fixes:

• dbghelp.dll messages appear during startup.
• decals on objects tagged as lights caused instability (Gene's house model).
• radiosity recalculated when changing view, resolution or saving the file.
• Content browser: not possible to browse to AccuRender Libraries folder when My Computer active.
• Target residual auto-magic-radiosity stopper was not working correctly.
• Automatic raytrace start after radiosity was not working correctly in some situations.
• Goniometric light insertion broken.
• Raytrace ambient was incorrectly disabled if a light dome was present in the scene but off.
• "unsafe" warning when using Content Browser.'
• Light dome properties box does not check for valid bitmap path.
• Glow crashes when trying to open properties.
• Storage object class registration was broken in certain cases.
• Image to material progrss dialog strings not filled in by localizer.
• Alpha channel automatically turned on during rendering.
• Render window saving alpha channel was misaligned.
• Saving an image in certain - circumstances didn't work.
• Removed PNG alpha support - seems like PNG alpha is too confusing to use.
• Crash when creating material from image.
• Automatic focus scroller behaviour in expanding sections was confusing - this has been removed.
• Create Material from Image - saves into incorrect folder if one material created in certain cases.
• Render window locks up AutoCad in certain situations.
• Many bitmap material related crashes cleared up (caching problem).
• ARI preview images were not being created due to an image extractor conflict.
• NSE folders sort incorrectly in certain situations.
• HDR and ARI thumbnail cache not working correctly on random occasions.
• Image to material initialization progress dialog did not display correctly.
• Post effect plugins can not be canceled in preview mode.
• No wait cursor displayed while applying post effect on image.
• Editing a plant or material while thumbnail generation in progress caused a crash.
• No shell item appeared after renaming a material or plant by editing it.
• Current drawing content button didn't look right when pressed on XP.

2005-06-30: Public Beta 38

Features:

• ESC will cancel post process.
• ar4_showwalkaboutcamera command added.
• AccuRender layouts are not saved with the model (again).

Bug Fixes:

• Decal placement and adjusting not properly working when UCS not world.
• Loading multiple documents before starting AR4 caused a crash.
• Lighting analysis display flickered during model navigation.
• Editor does not save alpha channel.
• Radiosity residual not displayed correctly
• Target residual not functioning correctly
• Adjust button on decal dialog freezes AutoCad
• Walkabout camera only appears when model is loaded.
• More improvements to library parsing speed.
• Background color always disabled
• Reflective background not rendering first time
• Reflective background projection default empty
• Object property dialog labeled: Decals and waves
• Light fixtures display twice in light manager
• Light fixtures do not render correctly.
• Panorama objects are removed when saving from an AccuRender layout.

2005-06-24: Public Beta 37

Features:

• ar4_CopyWalkaboutCamera command added
• Soft shadow controls for Daylight openings added.
• Foliage density added to the plant properties dialog.
• scheme loading/saving extended.
• Progress indicator on current DWG content, content update for save.
• Current DWG content works faster
• General shell parsing improvements for huge folders.
• Additional progress indicators during raytrace buffer initialization.
• Scale independant panning - this should work in all situations.
• Added dither-down support for rendered images - approx 48-bit color res to 24-bit.
• Added support for AutoCAD 2006 style menus and toolbars.
• ar4_RemoveAllBackgroundImages command added.

Bug Fixes:

• Plant Foliage Density was incorrectly named "Density" and displaying using units.
• eTransmit reactor was not correctly removed and could cause shutdown crash.
• Post effect plug-in serialization caused memory problems during shutdown.
• Noisy effects were produced by daylight openings when used with raytraced soft shadows.
• Rendering resolution on progress was redundant - removed.
• Crash when switching between layout tabs.
• Failed to lock document while rendering.
• Select daylight mode message pops up even though interior has been chosen.
• Folder enumeration crash bug fixed.
• Current DWG content button broken - didn't go back to previous folder.
• Small memory leak when Light dome was present in a model.
• Camera geometry properties showed as "table" properties in AutoCAD 2005-2006.
• Version 4 RPCs displayed invalid height and width values in RPC manager.
• AR4 dump file overwritten by new next crash.
• Crash when rendering a radiosity solution and ArchVision RPC plants in drawing.
• Decal button on OPM was redundant - removed.
• Pick render window not always canceled when pressing ESC.
• AR4 System Report file not correctly populated (only in Beta 36).
• Some types of images may cause a crash when saving with alpha.

2005-06-15: Public Beta 36a

Features:

• CD key implemented in installer and executable
• Options dialog extended with custom colors dialog.
• "Always expand cameras" check box added to options dialog.
• Logging extended.
• Added support for 2-point projection for EPix output.
• Added complete localization support.
• Added "Botanical Name" to plant explorer details
• Render settings: "Prompt for selection set" and "Force reload" implemented.
• AccuRender Image Viewer resources changed to internal.
• Added JPEG 2000 support for rendering output.
• AR4_SelectMissingMaterialObjects command added.
• Double click on mlib, plib or llib installs file and/or views in Explorer.
• Language option under "Appearance" in Options dialog.

Bug Fixes:

• Load/Save buttons on Exposure section didn't work - this is now fixed.
• Load/Save buttons on Render Settings dialog didn't work correctly
• Slowdown when loading the model for the first time in an AutoCAD session.
• Automatic switch to walkabout switched to model space in some situations.
• Render to viewport did not work when autosave activated.
• Light manager crashed when double clicking while context menu open.
• Raytrace Manager was hanging in certain situations when being created.
• Panning controls changed again - this should solve excessive panning.
• Model space checking now working correctly on non-English versions of AutoCAD.
• Some render settings did not stick.
• Exposure section only enabled after rendering.
• Couldn't deselect camera in certain situation.
• Switched image library to test certain output type problems.
• Reflective background default settings broken.
• Mapping settings on object didn't not stick.
• Smooth shading meshing settings didn't stick.
• Memory leak during model load caused by zone validation.
• AccuRender froze when target residual reached before 100% of radiosity solution calculated.
• Left mouse drag material assignment to layer assigns material even though cancel was pressed.
• Dragging RPCs on drawing used script version of command.
• Last resolution entry on drop down list was not accepted as valid selection.
• Block tagging to light didn't work.
• Crash when editing environment after stopping radiosity calculation.
• Libraries menu options didn't work on non-XP operating systems.
• Sorting by "Full Path to Library" didn't work in Explorer details mode.
• Render settings dialog: resolution settings did not stick in certain situations.
• Cone of vision was not supported in Environment dialogs
• Calls to the lisp interface during startup caused instability and speed issues.
• Prompts for light location even though light location specified in dialog.
• Ground plane height did not accept/display imperial values

• Pan values don't take model scale changes into effect.
• Status bar progress meter updated too often - caused performance problems.
• Camera rotation missing in properties dialog.
• Pressing the add plant/light button on start manager opens wrong location in certain situations.
• AccuRender crashed when re-running radiosity on a model with materials assigned by object.
• Ambient dialog boxes displayed incorrect values.
• Zoom combo box didn't update when using the mouse wheel to zoom the raytrace view.
• Zoom buttons greyed out while rendering.
• Render window does not change in certain situation to new size.
• Crash when deleting camera and switching to walkabout window.
• Batch Manager - image type didn't stick for rendering job.
• Pressing return didn't finish rename operation in the content browser.
• Point and spot light icons were the same in explorer/content browser.
• Light dome item displayed wrongly in Lighting Manager.
• Grey stripe appeared at the top or left of walkabout window when resizing or redrawing.
• Older versions of post-effects loaded incorrectly by PEP manager when installer overwrites old installation.
• Crash in Explorer/Content Browser when picking unhandled library type (e.g. camera)
• Floating point unit corruption was causing instability in radiosity models.
• Cameras and clipping planes incorrectly showed in the picker tree view.
• Crash when changing decal position.
• Waves listed without name.
• Pick wave position button didn't not work.
• Moving camera grip points did not preserve rotation.
• Redundant plug-in state data in document caused dramatic slow-down in some situations.
• Content browser was not able to navigate to the desktop.
• Luminaire lights displayed wrongly in Lighting Manager.
• Crash in AutoCad 2006 when closing drawing / shutdown
• View twist conversion between views and cameras was not correct.
• Release notes were not included with build.
• Expand/Contract arrows were not displayed correctly on the expanding sections.

2005-05-16: Public Beta 35

Features:

• Access to edit light, cameras, plants, clipping planes and cameras added to context menu.
• Picking an object in drawing will highlight related item in tree.
• ar4_setcameratarget and ar4_setcameralocation commands added.
• View modes defaults are now set to thumbnail.
• Walkabout camera visible in new document check box added in options dialog.
• right click manager tab menu rearranged.
• "Set as current camera" option added to Camera Manager context menu.
• Light DWG files (for prims and fixtures) installed into libraries folder
• Possibility to lock tabs on manager added.
• Model view context menu extended.
• "Simple Raytracer" changed to "Non-photometric"
• 3 buttons added to content browser (browse to materials, lights, plants)
• Start manager add plant/light/material links changed to matching content browser folder
• Content browser home button changed.
• Cameras only display fully when they are selected.
• Walkabout camera object displays Magenta even when collapsed.
• Floating managers will be temporary hidden when certain AccuRender commands need user activity.
• Assign to object(s) added as right click option in Content Browser for materials.
• Insert into model... added as right click option in Content Browser for plants, lights, cameras and clipping planes.

Bug Fixes:

• Model scale dialog does not pop up the first time after fresh installation.
• Managers are empty first time after fresh installation.
• Some light types are not inserted at right spot when coordinates not exactly world.
• RPC Image extractor may leak memory in some situations
• Document initialization failed in certain situations.
• After loading a radiosity file only wireframe and shaded view mode work.
• Wrong command line input when setting the ÁutoCad view to a camera.
• No model screen shows AccuRender 4 instead of AccuRender, same issue with installer
• Light previews do not show up in Content Browser/Explorer
• Light insertion could be very slow the first time for a particular type
• Indentation on Start Manager was too much - caused the strings to disappear when small
• RPCs not always visible in walkabout window.
• Save rendering message pops up too late when closing AutoCAD 2000.
• Walk and pan amounts were not correctly related to model scale.
• Some operations do not work properly because plan view switch is broken.
• Restoring dismissed dockers shows empty dockers in certain situations.
• Walkabout camera was imported with "insert" when getting a block from another AR model.
• Insertion of clipping planes not working correctly.
• Some controls on managers not enabled/disabled correctly.
• Crash when closing AutoCAD 2000i when multiple documents opened.
• Check for daylight mode does not work in certain situations.
• Edit controls on walkabout and rendering managers were incorrectly aligned and sized.
• Changing document while rendering caused all sorts of problems - this is now disabled.
• Some controls flicker during rendering.
• Crash when radiosity finished in certain situations.
• Wireframe walkabout display not always working.

20050415: Public Beta 34

Features:

• Network Render Slave: Access settings from tray icon.
• Docking panel status stored in AutoCAD version specific location.
• Added "Set AutoCAD view from camera" to menu.
• Double click on manager tab separates it onto floating manager.
• "Set to default settings" option added to managers context menu.

Bug Fixes:

• Object properties mapping dialog broken.
• Light manager crash when clicking root item in certain situations.
• Properties button on tree list enabled when selecting root item.
• Multiselection with Shift button pressed not working in manager tree list.
• Object properties dialog broken.
• Properties dialog opens old mapping, decals and waves dialogs and freezes.
• AccuRender Start controls overlap borders and flicker - this is fixed.
• Cameras are not regenerated when moved by walkabout navigation
• DPI combo does not open when clicked
• Shell integration crashes on certain computers
• Not possible to toggle On/Off state of lights/plants by mouse click on manager.
• Objects(plants, lights) in drawing not getting selected when selected in manager in certain situations.
• Threading problems with previews cause picker dialogs to hang
• Not obvious that left left mouse button material drag will assign to layer (message added).
• AR4 running in debug mode strings not dispalyed correctly.
• cursor to insert point disappears when inserting multiple lights.
• groundcover objects do not render at right position and size in certain situations.
• adding multiple groundcover by using the content manager only adds/renders one groundcover.
• empty docking manager dialog left in certain situations.
• Old docker IDs were not working properly - they are all changed and may cause problems using this beta
• first time around (many dockers will appear first time)

20050330: Public Beta 33

Features:

• New command: ar4_open_image_in_editor
• New command: ar4_open_image_in_viewer
• New command: ar4_unassignmaterial
• New command: ar4_print (very basic printing implemented).
• Zones notsupport implemented.

Bug Fixes:

• Pick window to render only accepts input from left top corner to bottom right corner.
• Items in camera manager only partly visible when opening a drawing.
• Lens length has no spinner.
• No error message when double clicking not existing plant in plant manager.
• Camera Raytrace overrides not working correctly - disabled for now.
• Interior radiosity was treated as exterior - this is now fixed.
• Current camera not highlighted in camera manager.
• No warning displayed when walkabout view in debug mode.
• Plant not inserted at picked position when coordinate system not exactly world.

20050316: Public Beta 32

Features:

• Saving disabled during rendering.

Bug Fixes:

• Not possible to edit plant while inserting them.
• Height dialog always pops up when inserting plants, lights, cameras or RPCs.
• Changing the season does not notify the user to reload the model.
• Cameras do not show up when DWG is first loaded.
• eTransmit broken.
• String fetching in Shellsupport completely screwed - this probably broke a lot of stuff.
• Event broadcast problems with DataHandlers for AR content causes random slowdowns.
• Duplicate command on content context menu in error.

20050310: Public Beta 31

Features:

• Right click menu on managers allows for floating manager panels to be dismissed.
• Menu commands added for dismissing, displaying and toggling floating managers.
• "ar4" command restores "dismissed" floating managers.
• Quick Render check-box implemented.
• Localization support implemented.
• Removed Mapping and Decals dialogs - these are now included in the object properties
• "Object Properties" menu item opens dialog style properties dialog (OPM still works).
• CTRL-F toggles floating dockers on and off.
• "AccuRender Object Properties..." added to right-click on a selected object menu.
• Several functions added to the default right click menu.
• AR4 refuses to load if AR3 is already running.

Bug Fixes:

• Plants, Lights, RPCs and Cameras pre-grouped onto docker.
• Crash when dropping material on objects.
• Noise value does not stick on rendering settings deialog.
• Does not render when only plants in scene.
• Dockers don't stay where you leave them during a session.
• coMOTION fails when trying to save an image frame.
• Camera properties can not be changed in certain situations.
• SetToAutoCadView menu command for cameras broken.
• SaveAutoCadView dialog box does not close when entering new view name.
• Reflection background default settings wrong.
• Daylight mode dialog displayed when sun is off.
• Walkabout camera can not be changed when in walkabout tab.

20050211: Public Beta 30

Features:

• Alpha, Depth and Material channels off by default. Changed from Beta 29.
• Warning box comes up when docking windows are too small (in docked mode).

Bug Fixes:

• Layers are not removed from the material manager when they are deleted or purged.
• Material manager ran an update for every document change - this impacted on UI speed.
• JPEG/BMP/TGA/TIF selection in Explorer is slow on some systems. This is now fixed.
• Toolkit request (UI fixes in last beta) stuff better implemented - there was a bug in the RPC interface in beta 29.
• Opening the content picker dialog when there were a lot of items in the folder was very slow.
• Quick Render check box was not properly resized.
• Clipping planes caused a crash when switching to a new docker. This is now fixed.

20050208: Public Beta 29

Features:

• Decals added to OPM
• Epix output separated into Material and Depth channel options
• Alpha, Depth and Material channels on by default.

Bug Fixes:

• AutoCAD crashes when closing a document when the Material Manager is visible.
• Default "AR3" environment is not added when creating a new drawing in certain situations
• Caustic effects per objects was not implemented - removed from OPM
• Icons on Walkabout Manager motion section look like buttons.
• Alpha channel not saved correctly. This now works for PNG and TGA. TIF still to come.
• Material editor orientation/tile tabs cause a crash when executed directly from the AR4 UI.
• Environment part dialogs have trace instability - this is now fixed.

20050201: Public Beta 28

Features:

• Logging enabled message displayed on AccuRender start up.

Bug Fixes:

• Manager dialogs don't work properly because main zone name was screwed in string table
• Interior daylight sources warning appears when it shouldn't
• Daylight mode settings doesn't stick the first time around.
• Assign by ACI was not working for ADT 2004/2005
• AccuRender Image Editor does not save post effects applpied to image.
• AccuRender Image Editor does not apply more than 1 effect to an image.

20050128: Public Beta 27

Features:

• High Dynamic Range Background added to environment
• Implemented caching for ARI and HDR thumbnail extraction
• Output resolution displays on render progress bar.
• Raytrace settings dialog: 'Render into AutoCad View' check box replaced with radio buttons.
• Installer warns when you attempt to overwrite an existing installation.
• AccuRender Libraries component installed to McNeel Shared directory.
• Installer won't operate when shell components are in-use.
• Daylight mode check included before rendering.
• ARI files associated with the AccuRender Image Editor.
• Updated coMOTION Video Encoder to be same as Bongo 1.0 SR2
• Lots of new icons and graphics. Toolbar completed.
• Glow post-effect interface improved.
• Added installer support for AutoCAD 2006
• AccuRender Image Editor - lots of new features (view modes, etc).

Bug Fixes:

• Set to named view... not working when in render preview tab.
• Setting walkabout camera to AutoCad view doesn't set camera rotation.
• Light manager: jumps to start of list when changing light properties.
• Remapped decal bitmaps cause an empty 'Missing Bitmap Dialog' to pop up.
• Plant manager: inserting grouncover does not repeat input prompt.
• Plant manager: grouncover inserts at wrong location.
• Crash when pressing render button with no objects in document.
• Tooltips wrong on navigation controls.
• "Load Radiosity file" fails to load the model before reading in the solution.
• Panorama controls not properly enabled/disabled.
• Imperial units do not display correctly in raytrace settings dialog.
• Huge image size crashes AR4.
• Shell components are not replaced properly by the installer.
• Image extraction for all kinds of objects doesn't work if the object is on the desktop.
• Animated auto-expansion of Render and Walkabout manager sections is annoying.
• Managers draw poorly on themed XP (wrong background color)
• Fog plugin/DOF enabled for images without distance info.
• coMOTION wouldn't load on machines without a previous version of coMOTION installed.
• Material manager doubles up ACI items in list after assigning material.
• AR4 logging.exe was not properly staged (Enable Logging.exe was there instead
• Assign by ACI was not working for ADT 3.x - now fixed, but still not working on 2004/2005

20050113: Public Beta 26

Features:

• Right-click menu added to post process plugins list.
• Content control: Drawing library name can be entered.
• Glare filter uses better flare algorithm.
• 'Pack & go' system has option to include RPCs.
• Debug/Logging system extended.
• Implemented "Glow" post-effect plug-in
• Post effects can now be re-ordered.
• Logging system added to network renderer slave.
• Added read-only Light, Plant, RPC and Clipping Plane "Zone" to OPM

Bug Fixes:

• Post process list not updated when changing between documents.
• Post process list items always enabled.
• Editing a material from the layer manager never pre-selects the correct material.
• AR4 command and OPM don't pre-select the material correctly.
• Content picker dialog sometimes starts in non-AccuRender Libraries folder - this is fixed.
• Missing RPCs not displayed when loading a model.
• Queueing network rendering job system uses fixed port.
• Network Rendering Master: Port number change doesn't take effect during session.
• Can not queue render job when network rendering slave on same system minimized to system tray.
• Can not queue render job in AutoCad 2000i (etransmit failure).
• DOF plugin doesn't respect relative background/object focus
• NRS: Saving stripes failure.
• Content Manager: Missing contents not stored to rigth location.
• Content Manager: SaveAs dialog popup for each missing content.
• NRS: Failure when document includes missing content.
• AutoCAD processes can be left hanging around if the network slave fails.
• "Get AutoCad view" menu item crashes AutoCad in certain situations.

20041231: Public Beta 25

Features:

• Glare post-process has better interface, optimisation and support for Simple Raytracer
• Logging system added to nse and shell support
• Added initial implementation of "Start" docker - should show up first time this beta is run.
• Progress display for post-process filters.

Bug Fixes:

• LBPImageSupport error appears when browsing thumbnails in content browser
• Thumbnail cache broken on non-English language systems (or non standand installs)
• Camera lens length different between AR3 and AR4 when using "Set from AutoCad named view" on walkabout camera
• Custom objects caused translation lockups - this is now fixed.
• Drawing initialization fails by possibly corruption of AR3 data by AR4.
• Drawings made before Beta 24 had defective cameras (wrong rotation). This is now corrected automatically.
• Saving to ARI format not available if rendered using Simple Raytracer - this is now allowed.
• Layer manager: No error shows up when trying to edit non existing materials.
• Exposure settings not stored to document. This is now fixed.
• Alpha Channel flag automatically unchecked when EPix box checked. This is fixed.
• NB: Models made from scratch in AR4 Betas prior to this one may have some trace corrupts on. This tends to show up as a crash when loading the drawing after calculating a radiosity solution on a previous model, but may also show up in other cases we haven't discovered yet. Beta 25 fixes this problem and now drawings made from scratch should be good.

20041216: Public Beta 24

Features:

• Camera rotation is available from the OPM and Walkabout Manager "View" section.
• New Definition now supported for plants and lights in Explorer/Content Browser.
• Save As dialog now appears after all material/plant/light edits in Explorer.

Bug Fixes:

• Render settings changes did not persist (introduced in Beta 23) - now fixed.
• Render settings dialog did not display last selected tab.
• "Residual x" text was not disabled during rendering.
• View was unable to roll "over the top" - this is now fixed.
• FOV in walkabout manager was incorrect - this is now fixed.
• AutoCad crashed when closing document - this no longer happens.
• Some camera property names were incorrect in the OPM - this is now fixed.
• Panning in the walkabout window really only worked in millimeters - this is now fixed.
• Manager dialogs not properly redrawn after closing a tab.
• AccuRender freezes after rendering when autosave rendering is checked.

20041210: Public Beta 23

Features:

Controls with shortened text now have tooltip (for example - on the Render Manager)

Render settings dialog remembers last selected tab.

Bug Fixes:

Materials docker shows with title "Layers".

Walkabout camera stays internally disabled.

Docker manager disappears also in docked state when "keep floating" is unchecked.

Environment manager doesn't show items in certain situations.

Text on the dockers doesn't shorten properly.

Dockers disappear on startup in certain cases.

Environment Manager stays disabled after rendering completes in certain situations.

Lighting Analysis scale and pseudo-color display is incorrect.

Radiosity models are invisible in shaded walkabout mode.

Parallel light edit dialog strings are not properly displayed

Post-effects crash when used with a window rendering.

Plants crash when a landscape material is missing.

Background image does not update in walkabout window when changed or toggled.

Dropping files onto the explorer content fails to install (ie - material libraries, RPCs etc).

Render manager: Exposure settings section enabled during rendering.

Loading a non-radiosity model after loading in radiosity mode causes a crash in the viewer.

20041125: Public Beta 22

Features:

Add Plant supports polygonal groundcover

Bug Fixes:

Options dialog does not switch to AccuRender tab when opened from ar4options command

Walkabout view: right click menu item "Get AutoCAD View" crashes AutoCad.

Named views dialog does not react when pressing OK button.

Maximum Recursive Search Depth option added to Advanced Directory options.

Groundcover tagged to a polyline shows as loads of instances in the plant manager.

Layer manager: buttons not resizing correctly.

Black "button" class objects appearing on certain dialogs with themed XP.

Group boxes do not draw correctly on themed XP.

Plant/material dimension display respects unit settings in both AutoCAD and Explorer.

Bullet proofed Windows hooking stuff.

Scrollbars enter deadlock on render layout when viewport is same size as image

Render Progress section of Render Manager does not expand when rendering starts

Scrolling of section dialogs (Raytrace and Walkabout Managers) leaves temporary visual artifacts

Loading the modal in walkabout view when "render to viewport" is checked wouldn't switch back from model view.

Walkabout window doesn't move when display is same size as window (ie - in Render To AutoCAD Viewport mode)

Walkabout window flickers when dragging.

Walkabout window doesn't update when Render To Viewport switch is changed.

Docking Manager has no minimum size in docked state.

Walkabout Manager flickers when resized.

Walkabout Manager painting screwed up when model loads for the first time.

Walkabout view retains AutoCAD view project after rendering to AutoCAD Viewport

Environment manager: Sun can not be turned off.

Docking Manager flickers when opening a 2nd document and locks up AutoCad.

Mouse scroll wheel zooming not working in walkabout and render view.

Selected zoom mode incorrect when walkabout manager has not been opened.

Crash when adding groundplanes.

Command prompt line does not keep up when adding a groundplane.

Closing a document while rendering it causes AutoCAD to crash.

Render Settings "Load" button fails to update dialog (and therefore doesn't work at all)

Walkabout does not display background image in radiosity mode.

Radiosity viewer doesn't respond to the brightness slider.

Incorrect library may be found when drawing is not saved - can cause library mixups.

Plants and light fixtures cannot be renamed or copied in libraries.

Groundcover wrongly inserted when not in plan view.

Walkabout view modes are incorrectly selected/enabled when loading models.

AR3 walkabout view parameters not correct imported into AR4.

Failsafe render save mechanism when document is closed is broken.

Walkabout manager: Values wrong in view section when architectural units are used.

Render into AutoCad viewport not working when Render button is pressed and raytrace window active.

Brightness slider difficult to use because it's so small.

20041111: Public Beta 21

Features:

Depth of Field post process implemented

Plant preview background color can be customized from options dialog

Bug Fixes:

Walkabout tab: Lens length value set to infinite -> AR4 crash

Calculate radiosity crash when no objects in scene.

Commands called from modeless dialogs do not work in mid command.

Radiosity switches to walkabout tab when load is required.

Maximum properties display doesn't work on AutoCAD 2004/2005 - removed

Environment manager: clicking on item image not enabling item.

Environment manager: Reflected environment settings not properly loaded from .env file.

Scroll bars displayed on walkabout and raytrace layout.

AR4 sometimes crashes on start up.

Docker tabs disappear when XP is themed and running AutoCAD 2004/2005

Light dome: Does not get correct added and deleted.

Walkabout display wrong when interior check and no day light in scene.

AR4 Options command doesn't automatically start AR4 when invoked

20041029: Public Beta 20

Features:

Radiosity Mesh Density added to properties manager.

Speeded up initial Content Browser display

Show sky/clouds if sun is off controls added to environment

Cut/Copy/Paste for content now works inside Content Browser/Windows Explorer

Bug Fixes:

Crash when running radiosity solution on some platforms

Environment Manager: rename option in context menu missing

Light Manager: Not possible to add multiple rectangular lights

Camera Manager: SetToWalkaboutCamera option not working right

Camera Manager: crash when deleting cameras

Metric always used for AccuRender Libraries and Content Browser material preview

Object Properties: Mesh settings between AR4 and AR3 not equal

Camera Properties: crash when pressing settings button in Render Settings Override group

Camera Properties: Lens length not updating when changing angle and vice versa

Camera Properties: Angle values between AR3 and AR4 not equal at same lens length

Dragging and dropping onto non-sensible drop targets can cause crash in Content Browser/Explorer

Copying items in Explorer/Content Browser doesn't work if there's an existing copy

Crash when opening or newing a document.

Walkabout default view screwed when opening or newing a document.

Dragging items in list control: Selected items not right displayed.

Control not displayed right when resizing tabs.

Flickering occurs when resizing dockers (still happens on some - getting there).

20040929: Public Beta 19

Features:

Default, Internal and User library paths are now defined in the registry. Access through options dialog.

Checkbox added to options dialog and installer to enable/disable network slave

Bug Fixes:

Control control dialog box comes up for every AR4 saved model with incorrect information (last beta only)

Daylight mode (interior/exterior) is not saved with the drawing

Saving during rendering can crash AutoCAD. Content control is now disabled during rendering

Setting walkabout to named view also runs SaveWalkaboutImage command

20040920: Public Beta 18

Features:

All commands now work from the menu, even without typing AR4 to start the program

Tool panel interface removed

AR4 implemented - also added to menu

Bug Fixes:

Installer fails to autoload ar4_2004loader.arx on AutoCAD 2005.

Installer cannot reliably install AccuRender Libraries applet.

Bitmaps on toolbar do not appear if install folder is not c:\program files\AccuRender 4

Installer removes data directories under \AccuRender\ (ie - support, image cache, current dwg content)

Menu/toolbar calls incorrect commands - ar4_lightingbrowser, ar4_environment etc

Bitmap finding mechanism leaks handles - can cause major leak on larger models

Decals cause a leak equal to the size of the bitmap

Layer filter dialog causes crash on "Apply"

Nested blocks with custom objects translate incorrectly (ADT model explode problem)

Legacy interface displays double libraries

Materials manager forgets scrolled position when updating

Materials manager is slow to update when there's many materials

Legacy interface shows internal libraries

20040831: Public Beta 17

Features:

Implemented multiple instance editing for plants

Implemented multiple instance editing for lights (fixture settings not yet implemented)

Several lisp API functions added (documentation to follow)

Light tagging implemented

New menus - much faster loading, stay where you put them. Lots more commands - icons not finished yet

  - now possible to use ""AR4"" almost completely from the menus

AR4 command implemented

Set Camera from Existing Camera implemented on Camera Manager

Set As Walkabout Camera implemented in Camera Manager

New style file dialogs used throughout

coMOTION animations integrated into AR4.

AR4 command implemented

Panorama network rendering implemented

New installer - requires AR3 to be installed.

Full material name stored to EPix files

Significant performance increase for initial model content search

Caching for search path files increases load performance

Far more robust caching mechanism further improves library search

Added "Switch between layouts when switching tabs" check box in the options dialog

Bug Fixes:

Library enumerator gets confused about internal/non-internal libraries - causes all sorts of problems

Post-process filter list causes crash when new document is opened

Post-process filters not correctly enabled and disabled

Fog plug-in causes crash when using "Preview" on AutoCAD 2000-2002

Resource leak in all dialogs (OnCtlColor problem)

"Output in Watts" settings are broken for lights

Image is destroy in AutoCAD viewport when model has to be loaded

Image appears upside down in Raytrace Layout when first displayed after rendering to AutoCAD viewport

20040730: Public Beta 16

Features:

Bug Fixes:

Lights, Plants, Cameras, RPCs and Clipping planes don't insert on the current zone

HeapAlloc used to solve suspected unbacked memory problems while rendering

AR4/AR3 interface interop problems solved - models can be loaded in either interface and rendered in the other

Crash bugs fixed when changing documents - caused by the post-processor controls

20040623: Public Beta 15

Features:

Sounds are disabled when network rendering

AR4 Layout tabs are not saved with the model (ie - AR4 must be loaded otherwise they won't appear)

AR4 Cameras only appear when AR4 is loaded

Fog post effect improved with bounding rectangle/feathering, noise

Post effect point picking, rectangle picking and preview supported

Fog color picker added

Rudimentary glare post-process effect added - only works in photometric mode

AccuRender Image Viewer initial implementation - can read ARI files and save to bitmap format + post-process

Bug Fixes:

Plant bitmaps and materials not correctly stored in network render scene file/pack and go

Network Rendered image shows white strips in certain circumstances

Materials are not transported correctly when network rendering

eObjectWasNotOpenForWrite crash when drawing is opened before AR4 on AutoCAD 2000-2002

Environment, Document and Zone data not reliably saved/undone

Drag and Drop Materials/Plants/Lights accidently disabled in Beta 14

Changing resolution causes model reload on next render

Network Slave fails to find R16 render plug-in when R15 fails

Color on fog effect is incorrect

Blocks cause a significant memory leak on model load

ar3_getdecals has a memory leak - causes problems on model load for AR4

EPix, ARI and RAD file output broken by PNG support in Beta 14

RPC DLL loading mechanism not very solid

20040601: Public Beta 14

Features:

Network Render Queuing system implemented - see the Menu. Support from 2000i onwards (currently)

New ground plane selection dialog uses AR4 content picker and shows thumbnail

Environment dialogs are now separate.

Alpha/EPix output options appear on Render Settings dialog (and camera editor)

Plant tagging now working (Planting Manager)

Cursors added to walkabout view (orbit, walkabout, zoom, pan)

Full size AutoCAD-like cross hairs added for picking Render Window

Approximate Height for plants implemented in OPM

Decal repositioning interface implemented

Initial post-processing plug-in system implemented - Fog plug-in included

Initial single-frame network rendering system implemented.

Added Statistics Manager docker

Groundcover insertion and tagging now works

Tagging a 2d polyline object causes automatic insertion of triangulated groundcover objects

Saving image as PNG now supported

Bug Fixes:

RPC libraries are mismatched if ADT 2004 is running (possibly in other circumstances too)

Material assignment by ACI not working

Plants do not regenerate properly after editing using the plant manager

Approximate Height does not work correctly in plant instance editor

Decal drawing and positioning code not working correctly

Sun soft shadows are not working properly in non-photometric mode.

Using both a reflected environment bitmap and a normal environment bitmap in the same model is not working correctly.

Installer refuses to run when the only AutoCAD on the system is 2005 based.

Document window resizing slow when large image is rendered

Decals and Waves cannot be accessed from AR4 layout

20040326: Public Beta 13

Features:

Added installer support for AutoCAD 2005 'Neo'

Dragging stuff from the view onto the tree in the content picker now works

AccuRender Libraries now separated from main application to support multiple AR-based apps

Material and Plant thumbnails are now cached (as JPEGs). Max cache size setting is currently only in the registry

Zooming in orthographic views in the walkabout layout now possible

Render To AutoCAD Viewport working

Light Dome UI implemented (properties on the Lighting Manager).

Plant Instance UI implemented (same as AR3, properties on the Planting Manager)

Plant materials/opacity maps are now included in the pack and go system

New environment tree icons

New optional control panel type interface (this is a prototype new feature - lots to do).

Camera Properties dialog implemented

4 levels of transparancy supported in Walkabout view - no support for radiosity yet

Bug Fixes:

CAR4ContentStorage

:LoadFromLibrary error appears when saving and some materials are missing

Layout tabs disappear in ADT 2004 when in AR4 layout

Runaway memory leak causes model load to fail in some situations

Cameras occasionally initialize so that the camera and target are both at the origin

"Error in AR3_GETCOLOR" dialog box appears when closing AutoCAD in certain situations (SizeChanged called in AutoCAD 2004)

Changes to document properties in OPM don't stick (caused by Beta 11: Resolution/Projection fix)

Unit type set when document loads does not stick (default gets chosen instead)

Orthographic views load incorrectly onto cameras and the walkabout view

Walkabout tab no longer opens while calculating radiosity

Resource leak when using RenderWindow

Tabs disappear when re-ordered

Light Domes and clipping planes fail to be detected by the content manager at load time

Render Window causes radiosity "restart continue cancel" dialog to open even if valid solution exists

Pressing "Cancel" on radiosity continue/restart dialog leaves Render Manager buttons in "rendering" state.

Plant instance names don't "stick" in the AutoCAD Properties Manager.

Ground plane materials not included in the pack and go system

Changes to the environment do not correctly update pack and go

Crash bugs in Material/Plant picker/Thumbnail extractor

Missing AR3 ROOT value in registry causes library detection failure on installation

ARI files do not include alpha, depth and material channels

Elapsed time counter only increases when raytracing is updated

If multiple libraries are found, both add contents to lib enum - can cause hanging in the thumbnail extractor among other problems

20040209: Public Beta 12

Features:

Plant definitions now stored by pack and go

Plants now preview with wireframe preview first

Delete confirmation in Windows Explorer content

Explorer thumbnail extractors for HDRi and ARi files (see Thumbnail view)

Preview on File Open dialog for Light Dome image selection and RPC selection

ARi and HDRi files now have their own icon.

Rendering Progress group added to the walkabout tab (for radiosity)

Decals, ground plane material bitmaps and background image included in the bitmap usage manager

(eTransmit, missing bitmaps notification, Pack Bitmaps to File)

Initial support for RPC 3.5 API (supports cars, office clutter, new trees and people etc)

Missing material notifications include assignment type

Prompt to save material to new folder when editing a read-only material

Creating/Deleting/Renaming items in read-only libraries is now better handled

New icons for Plant, Light and Material definitions

Bug Fixes:

Thumbnail generation may crash in certain high-intensity situations (particularly plants)

Multiple object editing with the properties manager only changes the first object

Crash/lockup when closing an Acad session with multiple documents open

Lighting zones are not converted correctly from AR3 drawings

"Folder already contains object with that name" message appears when overwriting content in NSE

AR attempts to write to read-only libraries when they are edited.

"Keep Floating" option for dockers not working correctly with new docking manager

Image->Material converter allows save to read-only library

Layout tabs disappear when restoring/maximizing document window

Exposure controls are hidden in certain situations on Render Manager scrolling area

Update Exposure in Real Time doesn't work correctly

Hidden docking panels keep reappearing after a restart

20040122: Public Beta 11

Features:

Tooltips now appear on Material/Plant/Light picker

Launch time for content picker much faster

Previews on content picker run in a separate thread

Zoom To Fit button on Raytrace Manager sets the rendering zoom level to fit in the current window

Two new rendering zoom levels added (33% and 66%)

Middle mouse button can be used to pan around render window (when scroll bars are active)

Dockers are now extremely flexible - you can drag them around, put them on several panels and

generally arrange them how you like. Dropping a tab into space creates a new panel.

Docker arrangements are persisted between sessions

Dropping a material onto the Layers tab now supported

Content Picker dialog folder views now conform to view settings in options dialog

Content Browser folder views use a new better supported mechanism for keeping to view settings

Bug Fixes:

Can't copy material or plant in content picker

Raytrace resolution and projection does not save with drawing

Walkabout Camera (View) zoom edit box doesn't work correctly

s::startup function can cause crash when drawing is loaded and AR4 is active

RenderBar docking window does not close during "no document" state.

Crash when new document is loaded from "no document" state and Render Bar is active

Dockers are not "remembered" correctly when opening drawing from "no document" state

Commands can cause a crash when run in an AR4 layout view.

20040105: Public Beta 10

Features:

Render Bar tab keeps in step with current layout

"Load Model" button on the walkabout window when in "No Model" mode.

Render Window now implemented

Batch Render interface implemented (not everything working yet)

Layer/Material Manager shows layer/aci color.

Layer Filter spec is now "by drawing" and sticks between sessions

Bug Fixes:

Layout tabs are destroyed when changing layouts

Changing settings on the light dome causes some light sources to be incorrect.

Layer Manager causes slowdown on Layer operations when it re-displays.

Can't undo past layout swaps.

Pack and Go system leaves drawing in a locked state.

20031122: Public Beta 9a

Features:

Mapping Dialog - access from ar4_mapping command or from OPM

Splash screen

New icons/graphics for most dialogs

HDRi support for Light Dome

Better distribution of light sources for bitmap based light domes.

Radiosity residual target.

Bug Fixes:

Objects are not drawn in model space after switching from AR4 layout

Crash when loading drawing saved in walkabout/raytrace view on certain systems

Layout switching disabled on certain systems

Bitmap for light dome does not update until number of sources has changed

Material libraries in appdata section occasionally not found

AutoCAD crashes when objects are dragged

Tabs get lost when switching to Walkabout or Raytrace layouts

20031103: Public Beta 8

Features:

Content Browser remembers last location between sessions

Content Browser "DWG Content" button changed to state button. Clicking it off returns to preview location.

Material/Plant/Light selection dialog remembers last position between sessions.

Images can now be converted directly to a material from the Material/Plant/Light selection dialog

New look scrolling areas on Render Bar docker.

Bug Fixes:

Drag and drop material "By Object" assignment fails on complex entities (meshes, 3d polylines etc)

ar4_arcamera shutdown problems cleared up.

Material/Plant/Light selection dialog can now be resized on AutoCAD 2004

AccuRender API Error 5: Invalid Entity message appears when using Object Properties on 2004

"Not a luminaire" message appears when inserting lights (other debug messages cleared up)

ATL registrar component fails when not previously registered

Plants/Lights/RPC properties now working again - auto selection problem.

Many commands now disabled from the special layouts (which caused all sorts of problems)

Camera motion is possible when walkabout view is in no-model state.

Clicking in the walkabout window when the walkabout manager is not created causes camera to fail

Exceptional circumstances leads to the creation of more than one walkabout camera (which you can't delete)

Crash when loading custom objects on ADT 2004

Occasionally the High Dynamic Range Tone-Operator produces a black image

Radiosity view does not support background image

Walkabout Window does not respect 2-point perspective setting

"Lowerbound can't be higher than Lowerbound" (!) message appears in certain scale conditions on model load

AutoCAD crashes in certain circumstances when closing documents and quitting.

No display for radiosity models in shaded mode.

20031017: Public Beta 7

Features:

Support for AutoCAD 2004 based products

Automatic creation of material/assignment option if image is dropped onto an object

Luminance file (ARI) saving support implemented

Bug Fixes:

General AutoCAD slowdown caused by units update mechanism fixed

Instabilities related to zones caused intermittant crashing

20030930: Public Beta 6

Features:

Light Fixtures now working

Decal and Waves interface working (spherical decals not drawing correctly yet)

Drag and drop Decal assignment

20030909: Public Beta 5

Features:

Added thumbnail panels to File Dialog

Added thumbnail support for Plants in File Dialog

New graphics for Explorer extensions.

Clipping Plane added to content browser - now possible to drop them into the drawing

Correct zoom size for current window is selected when raytracing begins

More raytrace window zooms added

Goniometric lights are now working

Switching to an AR4 layout automatically loads the whole AR4 app, and correctly displays the layout

Light Fixture insert is now working correctly

AR4 System Report application for collecting user's registry settings, environment settings and crash dump

Bug Fixes:

OLE DLL installer registration issues cause AccuRender Libraries to stay in My Computer after uninstallation

ar3core.dll is now removed from %sys32% on installation

Library and search paths not imported correctly from AR3 (installer)

Pixel and Paper size edit boxes now work correctly on Render Settings "Main" tab

RPCs are inserted at zero scale if added from the RPC manager

RPCs are inserted at the wrong scale if added from the Content Manager (probably many other scale problems solved too)

Ugly zooming artifacts when raytrace window is zoomed to less than 100%

RPCs can cause crash on model load

Camera and Light insert heights now respect model scale in the OPM

20030825: Public Beta 4a

Features:

Piranesi support now working. Check "Enable EPix Output" before rendering, then save to EPix.

(Only supports 3-point perspective projection at the moment)

Foliage Density per plant instance - look in property manager.

Blurry Reflection/Transparency samples and jitter implemented in property manager

Advanced Render Settings dialog implemented - for blurry effect control and caustic effects

Model scale is now correctly set up.

Autosave implemented at rendering completion - post render DOS command sends Autosave file as parameter

Global plant season added to planting manager and OPM

Render Method stuff added to Rendering Settings dialog - Radiosity Steps and Color Bleeding now more accessable

Added "Edit Material" button and menu item to the Layer Material manager

Floor Elevations manager completed.

New "Dome Light" light source initial implementation. Adjust properties through OPM.

New OPM properties added for shadow samples, jitter and softness.

Missing Bitmap dialog mostly complete - plant bitmaps still not supported

Added Explorer-like tree control to left of AR4 common file dialogs.

Bug Fixes:

A crash may occur in the material editor when deleting a pattern such as Tile. The crash is intermittent.

Render Settings Dialog has AutoCAD icon.

2-point and panoramic projections now working in Raytrace Settings - no ortho yet. EPix 2-point not supported

Add New Plant text now correct on planting manager

Zoom level correctly set when context menu or Zoom 100% button is used

Can't change exposure settings before rendering

Preview File Dialog no longer has folder combo disabled

Exterior/Interior labels inverted on Raytrace Manager

New drawing starts in Orthographic mode when Walkabout Camera is created

Walkabout Manager values are updated correctly when switching to mouse control

Near Clipping Plane setting not updating properly

Inserting content in non-model layout cancels the command when a switch is made

Clicking on Walkabout Tab when managers dialog is open and walkabout camera is not created causes a crash

Layout tabs get lost when minimizing and maximizing Acad doc window.

Minimize, Restore, Close windows go missing for the doc window when maximized

Running radiosity on a model which was loaded without radiosity now works correctly

Environment/Camera Manager button tooltips now work correctly

Manager tabs are mostly disabled while rendering - this stops the user from screwing up most of the view settings

Residual X now working

Installer correcly installed "FactoryLibs" key

20030617: Public Beta 3

Features:

"Load Model" button is now always enabled - force a reload of the model at any time.

Zooming now works in Raytrace Window - with context menu and docker

Options dialog - including sounds and commands sub-dialogs

Radiosity Restart Continue dialog changed to be more user friendly

Clipping Plane Tab implemented

Clipping Plane support in Object Properties Manager

Switch to plan view before attempting to insert content

Text labels on content docker contract and expend depending on the size of the dialog

Camera, RPC and lights now insert according to the floor, light and view levels

Floor light and view levels added to Object Property Manager in zero-selection mode.

Cameras now display during AutoCAD orbit command

The "left" side of the camera frustum now shows as green - should help orientation

Layer Material docker now opens correct folder when editing an assignment

Linear, Rectangular and Daylights rotate after initial point selection

Current Drawing content now working in the Content Browser (DWG icon)

Bug Fixes:

Drawings with an existing AR4 walkabout camera lose position after switching walkabout view

Many situations where the command line was taken out of focus are now fixed.

Walkabout Window now shows aspect first time around.

Walkabout window resizes correctly with view

Copying items in Windows Explorer or the content browser now works

Cameras crash AutoCAD's OPM when AR4 is not loaded.

Parallel lights insert at correct scale

Errant "Pick" button is now gone from the light edit dialogs.

20030602: Public Beta 2

Features:

"Keep Floating" now implemented for Render Docker.

Walkabout Camera only created when required

Walkabout view can load cameras and named views from context menu

Shut down all dockers when rendering option added.

Render Settings option on raytrace context menu.

Walkabout camera now reacts to walkabout controls in model space

Bug Fixes:

Dockers no longer pop up when layout is changed

"Load Model" from walkabout context menu no longer pops up walkabout docker.

Expiry mechanism is faulty - expires a month early

Walkabout buttons (left and right) go the right way

Focus is no longer stolen from AutoCAD at startup

20030528: First Public Beta Version

Features:

Double click on AR4 view opens render bar.

Custom action and "ding" when raytrace finishes (need options dialog)

Ambient Lighting dialog

Display delay mode (need options dialog)