For the current major release:
We have provided a new set of HIODGN classes which will enable you to read in DGN drawings. This new file i/o module is built on top of the Open Design Alliance's DGNDirect libraries.
Developers can now export 3D models from MicroStation by using our HSF exporter plugin.
Developers can now easily export these simple triangle formats from their HOOPS based application. The OBJ export includes full support for texture information so that developers can use OBJ as a way of bringing their models into a photo-realistic rendering package while the STL export can be used to send your models to 3D printers.
For the current minor release, 16.10:
HOOPS offers a new event listener interface that captures rotation and translation events from 3D devices. Using this new interface, developers can implement an application that responds to a greater range of user generated events.
For the current major release:
A lot of work has been done in this release to improve our performance when dealing with 3D solids within DWG files. Specifically, we did some work to do more optimal facetting of the model while also being more intelligent about our handling of line and arc data originating from solids.
With this release we've introduced a new way of selecting which is based on the new reference capabilities within 3dGS. This allows us to highlight objects without modifying the model's segment tree. Without this capability then selecting on an object within a 'static' tree would result in a static tree regeneration which can be costly.
Our U3D export now includes any of the animations that may have been described via MVO's animation classes. These animations are then playable within an U3D player, including the Acrobat viewer from Adobe.
A widget can now be optionally displayed when the walk operator is active which developers can use to control the movement of the camera through the scene. This navigation widget is particularly useful for users who are not very experienced in using our walk operator.
Capping plane generation is relatively expensive and this API allows developers to temporarily turn off the caps during cutting plane manipulation.
For the current minor release, 16.10:
Input and Output Handlers have new methods for reporting progress and error information. Developers can use these methods to create log file and display the current state of the loading and saving process.
A number of input handler options have been added for importing DWG files. These include the ability to control the importing of metadata, isolines and wirefame information. There are also options that help optimize the performance while importing DWG files with large number of SOLID3D entities.
Developers can now create and modify animations directly through a set of new methods in the Behavior Manager. Consequently, developers only need to construct timelines and interpolators, and assemble them into an animation object directly for most intricate and complicated behaviors.
Developers can now use inverse transparency highlighting during selection. Instead of highlighting the selection item, this option leaves the selected item alone and makes everything else in the scene tranparent.
The prototype for the function which is provided to HBaseView::SetEventChecker has changed. This is because the way in which HOOPS allows you to break an update has significantly changed with this release and this change was required to move to the new architecture. Developers who were previously using this capability should look at the event checker function that is used in the HOOPS 3D Part Viewer. The source to which is located in <hoops>/demo/mfc/hoopspartivewer/partviewer_common/CSolidHoopsView.cpp.
This method has been superseded by HConstantFrameRate::SetActivityType. The new method lets you indicate the type of user interaction in the scene. The constant frame rate logic uses this information to determine how to maintain the framerate for your scene.