Changes.doc UpDated: 3/20/92 This is a quick list of the changes in this version of Vertex. If this is an update version for you, then you can bypass re-reading the entire manual, if you wish, unless specific details are mentioned which are only present in the updated manual. Changes to Version 1.36.3 DEMO . I've finally gotten the latest demo together... and here it is. Changes to Version 1.36.1 Preferred User Update (3/19/92) . Traditional menus are now offered, as an option. Under the global menu is an entry entitled 'Menus'. Selecting this will toggle the state of the menus from pop-up to pull down. Set these up how you prefer, and Save Config under the globals menu. Now whenever you start the software the menus will be set up however you like. There are side effects to this new menu system. Most functions used to be aborted by pressing the right mouse button. This may or may not work, depending on how the menus are set up. To guarantee exit from any function, just press any key, like the space bar. Also, the function menus (which used to appear in Apply Curve, Add-Polygon, etc) have been taken out. All these functions have been re-fitted with button interfaces. . The next big change has to do with the shape designer. Both the Polygon and Lathe definers have been taken out. They have both been replaced by the Shape Designer. This is a button based tool without a menu, and some extra features. You can now easily add arcs and lines with settable resolution, clicking on the first point will close off a polygon and there is also an edit mode. The "face painter" is not finished yet, but it's getting there... . A fractal creator has been included in this version. It's under the modify menu. This will Edge-Subdivide a face(s) and randomly create a fractal style terrain out of it. The requester will ask for an iteration value, a height value and a seed. Be careful not to enter too high of an iteration value, or you may run out of memory. Each iteration will quadruple the face count. I'd suggest starting at levels of 3 or 4 to get an idea of how it works. Using the same seed will let you repeat previously created terrains. . More basic shapes have been added, by request, along with a new idea. I've included a special tool under the Basic Shape menu to bring up a file requester of a special directory. If you'd like to build a library of interesting shapes and have them available at a moments notice, put them in this special directory. After loading, a requester will appear asking for scaling values on the X Y and Z axis. Now, how do you get it to work? A (fairly) simple 3 step process: 1. Make sure you have ENV: mounted or assigned. If you don't have an ENV: device (you can tell if you run Vertex and a system request appears asking to insert volume ENV: - just ckick cancel), bring up a shell and type: assign ENV: ram: This will tell your Amiga to use the ramdisk as your ENV: device. 2. Your ENV: device should have a file/entry called PRIMS. This "variable" will point to your primitives directory. An easy way to do this is, while still in the shell, type: setenv PRIMS dh0:3d/objects/primitives ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This can be any directory you want. The directory you use for this may be anything you like, I just happened to use dh0:3d/objects/primitives as an example. If you get a directory listing of your ramdisk (or wherever your ENV: device is) you will see a file named PRIMS. Vertex will read this file to see where your primitives directory is. 3. Make sure all this is done BEFORE you run Vertex. If you have problems with this, I'd suggest reading up in the 1.3 or 2.0 User manuals to see how to do this stuff. The best way to do this is to set it all up in your start-up sequence. . Face smoothing is now supported by the software. This is done on an object by object basis, not with selected faces. I was forced to do it this way to maintain campatability with some software. Only Lightwave, Imagine and Sculpt work with this new feature. Under the modify menu is the Smoothing tool. Selecting it will bring up a requester. Each object that is smooth will be highlighted, and each object that is faceted will not be highlighted. To change an object simply click on it once. . I went through some great pains trying to speed up/make better the transform free functions. Moving, scaling and sizing will not have to re-compute the whole scene any more, just the points you are moving. Also, when TRANS FAST is on, the default, if you move less than 100 points only those points will be re-drawn. This should greatly speed up these functions. . The bug that caused Vertex to crash when loading GEO files has been fixed. Sorry about this. To my surprise I never knew so many people still used VideoScape any more. If anyone has any more problems with these files, PLEASE let me know. I can't fix problems unless I know about them... . Adding edges will not hang when done on large objects. It was actually performing a Delete Dulpicate Edges, but I've since made the routine find these before they are created. . The defaults file has changed. It is now called s:vertex1.config. Many more options are saved, including: Menu Status (pop-up or pull-down) Rotate Anim Defualt Value Selector Size Undo Status Perspective Value (viewing distance) Fast Draw On/Off Transform Fast Draw On/Off Overwrite Protect On/Off Delete All Protect On/Off Remember to set Vertex up how you like it and re-save this file, under the global menu - Save Defaults. . The Edit mode will now allow pan and zoom, but only with keyboard controls. Use the -=_+ keys to zoom in/out and the arrow keys to pan around. . The bevel tool now offers both inset and depth controls. This may be a good idea and it may be a bad one. What you must remeber is that the Z axis moves away from you when in the front view, so you have to enter a negative value for bevel if you want the bevel to come out towards you. . System requests will now appear on Vertex's screen, and not the Workbench screen. . 2 New functions have been added to Arexx START and ENDD. By sending the command START to Vertex from Arexx, you will put Vertex in a faster multitasking mode, where it will only wait for messages from Arexx. At the end of your script you should put the message ENDD (with 2 D's) and this will take Vertex out of the special multitasking mode. This *should* speed up Arexx programs, but Arexx is usually pretty slow in the first place. If you mess up and don't send Vertex the ENDD message, the program will seem to have locked up. To remedy this, create a simple aress program: /* Free Up Vertex */ address 'VERTEX1' 'ENDD' This will bring the program back, if you omitted this from the end of your script. There is no real need to use this pair of functions, but it should make Arexx faster when used with Vertex. Also, the Arexx.doc file has been modified to reflect this, and some other changes. i'd like to thank Brian R. for his input/ideas about the Arexx port. . A bug has been discovered and remedied in the Imagine/Turbo Silver save options. Vertex would not save these files correctly if the objects had no faces, or no edges. Should work correctly now. If anyone notices problems with this (I have tested it on about a 1/2 dozen objects, but one can never be too sure), please let me know right away. . These documents have been changed/altered for this version: Vertex.Help Arexx.doc QuickRef.doc 0-Intro 1-Add 3-Modify Changes to Version 1.34 Interim Version (3/9/92) . Added a new selection function called Select Layer. A requester appears asking for a 3D bounding box, denoted by Low X, Hi X, Low Y, Hi Y, Low Z and Hi Z. This will select or deselect the region you specify. Entering A Low/Hi pair of 0 will stretch the box to +-100000 for that axis. . The Arexx Read operation no longer causes the File Requester to appear. . Okay, the traditional pull-down menus are almost done. Once implimented there will be an option to choose either style. This change has ramifications throughout the program, so it'll take a little longer to finish/test. Also, the new polygon mode is tied into the solution, so one will have to wait for the other to be completed. Changes to Version 1.33.8 Interim Version (3/5/92) . A new function, Seperate, has been added to the Modify menu. This will take your any set of selected vertices and seperate them from the rest of the object. You'll end up with 2 objects, one will be the original with a hole in it the same shape as your selected vertices, and the other will be your selected vertices as a seperate object. Check out the manual. . Coordinates are supplied for in all but the Edit mode. You can turn them on and off under the Globals menu. (By user request) . An option to turn off the grid snap while the grid is still visible has been added to the Polygon and Lathe designers. . The bug that caused the Move pointer to re-appear, even when you were not in the Move function, has been taken care of. . Also, a function called Delete Useless Points has been added to the delete menu. A useless point is one which is not connected to any edges. Changes to Version 1.33.6 Preferred user update (2/27/92) . The big news is that I've started my company, The Art Machine. Vertex will continued to be supported and updated, and I've got some other projects in the works... . The manual is now broken down by chapter, and placed in its own directory. Modifying it in the whole state took forever. Also, the intro part has changed, so you may want to check it out. . All my line clipping routines have been re-written. There used to be problems with zooming in real close while in perspective - this should be taken care of. Also, you shouldn't see any points which should have edges without them. If you have any problems with this, please let me know. The FastDraw box which appears when you rotate, position or zoom the view does respond better, but if it gets too large, you will see it cross itself in the middle. It's a little confusing, but I don't have a fix for this problem yet. . Extrude and Duplicate have been expanded to include rotations, scaling, positions and steps. All values will be divided by the step value, so to get 5 divisions, each 100 units apart, you'd have to enter 500 as a position, and 5 as the number of steps. (see the manual) . As a result of the expanded options in the Extrude and Duplicate menus, I've decided to clear all the requesters to default values. . Since the newer select exterior function can take such a long time to execute on complex objects, I've added an abort feature to it - just press any key. . A new polygon filling function has been added. It's smarter than the older version, but it still isn't perfect. It should, however, fill all but the most random shapes. (see the manual) . As a result of this new filling tool, the Lightwave file format will use it. The load menu will ask for one of 3 possiblities, Circular, Radial or Ladder. Ladder is the new type, and it should handle filling some polygons better. . Added a lathing tool under the modify menu to lathe any shape. With this tool you can have faces in the cross-section of a lathe which is less than 360 degrees. (see the manual) . Caught the Arexx interface up to date. Also included the Quick-Reference sheet for command uses and basic Arexx prototype templates for all supported functions (Align menu not supported yet.) . Added the Cut Window function. This one is cool. Select a set of vertices and the interior edges will be deleted, the faces will be deleted and the whole set will be extruded and scaled 50%. This is like cutting a hole right into the object the same as the original shape. Great for cutting square windows in the side of a cube, etc. . Also included a name requester for selecteing/deselecting objects by name. You can choose multiple names from the scrolling requester. Drag-select is supplied, and it will auto-scroll when you move above or below the window. . A "set undo" is now performed before reading objects. This will enable you to undo the loading of an object. . Aborting a render is now accomplished by pressing any key. I had to do this, since trying to capture a screen with ScreenX caused the render to go away after clicking on the ScreenX window. All renders require keyboard interaction to be halted now - Anim renders, "solid" models, and wire frames. . I'm in the process of totally re-doing the polygon creation interface. While this is not in the current version yet, I'm looking for input from everyone. Currently, I'm going to make it so you can add points and edges, they will auto-close when you re-click on an existing point, there will be an arc tool with a settable resolution and a line tool with settable resolution. I'm also experimenting with some fast face creation routines. One of these is the idea of "painting in faces" - the program figures out what the most reasonable face you are pointing at is and high-lights it. Clicking the button will create the face. More on this in later versions. Changes to Version 1.31.2 (2/12/92) . Added the Back Hide function under the view menu. This will hide all the vertices which are farthest away from you. While it is similar to hidden line removal, it's not perfect. See the manual, under the View Menu. . Added a switch under the Delete menu to turn off the Delete-All requester. (added by user request) . Fixed a bug in the Vertex-Info command under Modify. Previously, it would not correctly re-sort the face list when the user changed the number of the Vertex. Changes to Version 1.31 Preferred User Update (2/1/92) . Colors are now supported by the software. I've included a simple color palette which will fake 262,000 colors. Not perfect, but you can adjust the RGB values from 0 to 255. Colors will be saved with these file formats: Compressed, Sculpt, Imagine and Lightwave. GEO and Wavefront will not save colors at this time. . A new Modify Info requestor has been added. Simply click on a vertex, (it must be selected), and a requester will appear with the vertices number and X,Y,Z coordinates. You may alter the number or the coordinates. Changing the number enables you to affect the order of vertices in memory. . Steps have been added to the Extrude and Duplicate functions. These will be divided into the total length of the extrusion or duplication. If, for example, you extrude to length 100 along the Z axis with 5 steps, each section of the extrusion will be 20 units. . The bug while selecting/deslecting vertices has been fixed. It used to cause a system lock out. . Contours have been cleaned up a bit. . Sometimes Undo would not work, ie. after adding a primitive. This error has been fixed. . Edit mode will remember movements after changing the view. . FastKeys have been added to the transform menu, by user request. . The Arexx port now registers with the system. In past versions it would not appear for some reason unbeknowenst to me. . The multiply command will now register 9's in the formula. Formerly, it would pass over the nines. . The Transform FastDraw stuff has been changed. When this mode is off, only the moved points will be redrawn. Before, the entire view was re-drawn. Changes to Version 1.26 (1/1/92) . Objects saved in Turbo Silver/Imagine will be created on their centroid, instead of all the objects overlapping one another. . Sped-up the Turbo Silver/Imagine save routine. It only loops through the faces once now. . Optimized view calculations when Front, Top and Side views are chosen, and no view rotations need to be calculated. . Tried to optimize the extrude and bevel commands. They should work somewhat faster now. . Added the select exterior edges routine. See the manual. . Added the Delete useless routine - see the manual. . Added the ability to hide vertices. Hidden verticies may not be selected or modified. . Greatly sped-up the add-face command. It won't delay after exiting the function. . I made sure the unselected vertices are drawn first, and then the selected vertices are drawn. Should make it easier to see selected vertices now. . A command was added to find the distance from one vertex to another. . Pick and Unpk buttons were added to the main window. Once selected, you may select vertices by clicking right on them or stretching a selector box. Changes to Version 1.24 (12/29/91) . Added a gravity (magnet) interface. The gravity will attract or repell vertices based on their distance from the centroid of the selected vertices. Also, the newly included Hot Spot can become the center of gravity. . Added a Hot Spot which replaces the center of everything. Formerly, Vertex relied on the centroid (or average) of all selected vertices to perform certain transformations. Now you can place a moveable hot spot to replace this. The hot spot is sticky - in that it will attach itself to a vertex if you place it over one. . Added the Overlay Fuse command. This will attempt to do a fuse of all vertices which are on top of one another. With it, you can connect objects. Also, the command will delete any "garbage", such as faces and edges, which reside between the 2 connected objects. . Object names in Turbo Silver and Imagine are now saved with the file. (Former versions didn't even attempt to do this) There are important side effects of this new feature, so make sure and read the documentation on the Impulse Save command. (See the manual!) . Bugs fixed: - Transform Point-Move will now correctly handle the view positions. (Before it didn't take them into account) - Subdivide Edges will name the new vertex the same as the other two vertices at the endpoints. - Planar fill works now! (Sorry about that one, I completely forgot to repair it after changing another routine) - Fuse Vertices will always work, unless you specifically cancel it. - I made some changes to the File writing routines to better capture errors. Changes to Version 1.23 (12/27/91) . Lots of little bug fixes. I fixed the Transform-Point move routine to reflect the current zoom level, and corrected the problems with vertex names across bevel, extrude and duplicate. . I've also included a printable version of the documentation for the registered user. Currently, it is 67 pages, and contains a simple table of contents. Once I finish my indexing program, we'll have an index. The file contains the form feed character (ctrl-L), so pages will be split. Hope this helps. Changes to Version 1.22 (12/24/91) . Wavefront file reading has been further repaired. It now relies on the .obj on the end of the file to determine it it's type. . The bevel routine has been further improved. It will currently bevel up to 1000 vertices. Whats more, the bevel will be correct, even on very tight corner angles. ie. no "windshield wiper" effect. . A new point editing routine has been added under the transform menu. It's called Point Move, and it works by selecting a number of vertices, then it enables you to move those points individually. Check out the manual on this one - I'm sure many people will find it helpful. . Apply curve has been fixed completely! (I hope!) Well, it should not forget any vertices now, and the interface has been re-worked to make it easier to understand. . A subdivide edge command has been added to add detail to your objects. Read the docs for the skinny on this function. . I re-did the Lightwave loading routines - they should be a little faster. I just recieved the real docs on this file format, so you should be seeing the promised face attribute stuff shortly. . The limit for vertices, edges and faces has been expanded to 64000. Currenty, this is the absolute limit, although I have plans to re-work some of the loading and saving routines to open this up. Changes for Version 1.19 - Registered Update for Preferred Users (12/17/91) . The Wavefront file format has been repaired. Unfortunately, Wavefront seems to be in the "habit" of changing their file format. The docs I used, dated January 1991, are already out of date. The problems have been fixed. . The anim-render mode has been fixed. I had the workbench screen colors inverted (0 and 1) so 2.0 users were seeing a black image drawn on a black screen. . The Basic Shape-Sphere routine has been fixed. Certain values which did not divide into 360 were causing odd-shaped spheres to be created. . The mouse reading routine was slowed down. Some Amiga's, especially ones with 3rd party mice, were reading the mouse click too fast. . Extrude is now smarter. It will not create faces on the interior of the extruded object, which never get rendered anyway. . A Bevel Edges command has been added, under Modify. This will extrude, then "router" the edges of a flat object. I would strongly suggest reading the manual for further information on this command. . I have double checked the "too much memory" problem of older versions. To date, I have sucessfully run Vertex on an Amiga 3000 UX with 8 megs, and an Amiga 2000 w/1.3 and 2.0 with 10megs. If you have further problems with this, please notify me, and include descriptions of your system set-up and what actually happened at load time. . Error catching and correction has been greatly improved. Errors are now correctly trapped at File Loading/Saving, Multiply, and render. Vertex, edge and face overflow errors are on my list. In order to speedily return from these errors, hooks have to be put in which would greatly slow down performance. Hopefully, the next version will see this problem solved. . A new option has been added to the Lathe Menu. It is called Rewind Lathe. This will enable you to quickly re-create the last lathe created, without having to re-define it yourself.