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Author Topic: Forest Pack Pro 3.5.4 beta  (Read 9699 times)

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Forest Pack Pro 3.5.4 beta
« on: July 21, 2011, 07:07:38 PM »
Note 1: Beta versions include new features and fixes, but a beta version is NOT the final version of the product and therefore we not guarantee an absence of errors that may disrupt the computer's operation and/or result in data loss. Use it always at your own risk.

Note 2: If we don't find critical bugs, this should be the latest beta before the final release.

Forest Pack Pro 3.5.4b

New features:

- Alignment and scale by UV coordinates (only for UV surfaces).
- The free 3D models of HQ Plants are included with Forest Lite/Pro. You will find them ready to use in the Library Browser.

Fixes:

- Fixed instability issues when using empty surfaces
- Camera clipping now works properly whem image aspect is less than 4/3
- Fixed minor Nitrous issues
- New Display parameter: "Use DirectX acceleration" (on by default).
    * When off, disabled all hardware renderer routines used by Forest for viewport drawing.
    * This parameter has been added to fix a compatibility issue detected with some cards, when drawing the Points-cloud on Max 2012/Nitrous. Turn off it if you are experiencing some type of graphical artifacts using the Points-cloud mode .

UV Scattering with align option


Forest Pack Pro 3.5.3b

- Fixed bug loading scenes that use XRef as Custom Objects in Max 2012
- The cleaning render stage of Mental Ray was crashing when rendering multiple Forest objects in Max 2012
- Random Tint by Element was creating different results when resetting Max
- Improved the randomness of Tint by Element, fixing the repetition of visible color patterns
- Fixed potential assert error when cloning object after rendering with Mental Ray
- Custom Edit creation was not working on 3.5.2b


Forest Pack Pro 3.5.2b

- Fixed bug that was scaling wrongly the items on Y axis.
- Solved instability issues created by specific topologies of high-poly meshes.
- Fixed alignment problem of the items when were used in XRef scenes.
- Added IRay compatibility. Note: this renderer has not support for large distributions of high-poly objects as VRay or Mental Ray
- Random Scale lock value is set by default to XYZ.


Forest Pack Pro 3.5.1b

New features:

- "Surface->Align to Normal" has been replaced by "Direction", a numeric value which defines the direction of the items relative to the surface's orientation: -100 (Down), 0 (Normal), 100 (Up).
- New "Transform" options:
    * Scale now uses separate ranges for XYZ, instead Width/Height values as before.
    * Scale->Lock aspect ratio adds three new modes: None, XY, XYZ.
    *  Rotation and Scale maps now accepts color images. The X,Y and Z scale ranges are multiplied by  the Red, Green and Blue component of each pixel (RGB->XYZ).
- Added new functions to MaxScript: getSize, setSize. Use them to handle item's size on XYZ.

Library Browser:

- Support for 3dsMax mesh objects and billboard entries.
- Multiple selection:
    * Select multiple items with SHIFT or CTRL key, and add them to Forest pressing Enter or right click->Use Items.
    * The first item replaces the current selection on the Geometry List, the others are added to the list.
- Import items from 3dsmax scenes or material libraries.
- Loading of mesh models as Merge or XRefs.
- Added ordering and filter by name options in the browser window.
- Drag & Drop support for the left panel, to move and copy libraries (hold CTRL key to copy)
- Separate system and user libraries, administrator rigths are not required to create libraries.
- System libraries as always read-only, must be copied to an user folder to modify them.
- Support for relative or absolute path locations, with support for text macros.
- Library lock option has been removed.
- Resizable windows on auxiliar dialogs.
- New index format in structured XML. Old plain libraries are automatically converted.

Fixes and changes:
   
- Added compatibility with VRay 2.0 SP1 and VRay 1.5 SP6.
- Solved potential crashing bug with VRay and XRef scenes.
- The materials of the Geometry List are not duplicated anymore when a Forest object is cloned.
- Fixed crashing bug when using Points-cloud view mode and "Geometry->Consolidate materials" is off.
- Swichting to Custom Edit was not keeping the existing distribution, when using one the following features: UV surfaces, Scale Area Falloff.
- Now is possible to use non-uniform scales when scaling items on Custom Edit mode.
- Collision detection was creating different results from version 3.4.1. Fixed.
- Camera clipping was not working properly on Custom Edit mode when using Surfaces.
- Surface->Place items was placing the items in wrong positions.
- Camera fallof now works with UV surfaces.
- The Maxscript functions 'SetRotation', 'GetRotation' now work properly.
- Minor display issues with Max 2012 and Nitrous.
- Fixed minor issues on Forest Color.
- The "Material->Color Tint->Use on Custom Object" parameter is removed (now is applied always).
- Solved geometry issue with distributions created from open splines.


Forest Pack Pro 3.5.0b

New features and improvements
   
- Full 3D scattering using UV surface coordinates.

    * The scattering mode can be selected in the surface rollout (XY: original mode, using 2D projection, UV: new 3D mode, using UV coords)
    * Several features are not available in UV mode: Splines, Bitmap rotation, Dist.Map Channel (locked to 1), "Link to Surface" on Custom Edit mode

- New plugin: Forest Color. Use it to add color variation to the Forest items, in a similar way to Forest Material but with significative differencies:

    * Since it is a texture map, not a material, can be used as diffuse map, specular, opacity, etc.
    * Includes up to 10 randomly color/texture maps. Adjustable parameters: color / map / presence (%) / on-off toggle
    * Adds 5 blending modes for Random Tint: Normal, Color, Additive, Average and Multiply
    * Random Tint and Maps can be applied by item or by element:
         The items are the objects that are scattered (for example, the trees), and the elements are the mesh parts of each item (as the leaves of a tree).
         This powerful feature allows us for example, to randomize several leaf textures in a tree, or tint individually each blade of a clump of grass.
         For Random Tint is possible to adjust the amount of tint applied by item or by element (0% to 100%). See images for samples.
         Note: this mode works only in VRay and Mental Ray using mesh objects (proxies are not supported).

- Points-cloud performance has been greatly improved
- The Library Browser now supports 3D objects. (Note: this feature is not finished yet. Wait till the next beta for a full implementation and documentation).
      
Fixes and changes
   
- Random Tint with Gradient was not using the right colours in Mental Ray
- The 'Freeze All' parameter is handled in a different way
- Display->Hide Custom is off by default, except when Mental Ray is the active renderer
- 'Hidden items' added to Forest Stats (Custom Edit mode only)
- Random Tint is enabled in Forest Lite (including new Forest Color plugin)
- Surface List can be edited from Maxscript
- Improved vray proxy file search in network render
- Distribution Maps using ColorCorrect are updated properly
- Max 7 & Max 8 are not longer supported. Forest now requires Max 9 or greater.
- Add Max 2012 support.

Sample Images

Scattering by UV Coordinates



A sample Forest scene using different values of Tint mixing. See how changes the amount of tint applied to the trees (Item), and to the leaves (Element).





This scene uses a clump of grass as custom object, using Tint by Element to apply a different colour to each blade of grass



Forest Color plugin interface



Carlos Quintero
iToo Software