Visionary Render, Virtalis Reach and GeoVisionary help and support.

Thank you for downloading Visionary Render 2024.1. This release concentrates on two key areas: First, Visionary Render now supports the direct upload of assets and download of complete scenes to and from the Virtalis Hub, without any need for modification or simplification. This release gives you access to a common visualisation framework that is a great advancement in wider enterprise interoperability. Second, we have focused on a small set of key issues reported internally and by customers, and we are confident that these changes will be welcomed. Virtalis Hub integration The Virtalis Hub is a fully owned and managed solution (on-prem or private cloud) to centrally control visualisation data. Visionary Render remains the rich studio product for power users and this new integration allows for unprecedented ease in sharing scenes across multiple Visionary Render installations or via a web-based client. Key benefits to this approach: Integrated Data Sharing: Visionary Render now allows you to upload or directly stream visualisation data from your instance of the Virtalis Hub. Full Scene Engagement: You can interact with Virtalis Hub scenes in Visionary Render as usual, with all scripts, GUIs, and other functionalities operational. Integrated Web Viewer: Distribute access-controlled scenes via a web browser link across your organisation without the need for specialist hardware or local software installation. The web viewer gives you a no-fuss distribution channel with a basic view of your CAD data, the product tree, as well as core collaboration capability in the browser. Streamlined Data Management: By integrating our products, it means less fragmented data management and more efficient processes for you. Note: While Visionary Render 2024.1 supports uploading scenes to Virtalis Hub, it currently does not include externally referenced files like point clouds. When opening scenes from the Hub, externally referenced files need to be accessible locally or via a network share. Note: Access to the Virtalis Hub and web viewer are sold separately from your Visionary Render purchase. ‍Virtalis Hub: streaming download ‍Directly stream your project from the Virtalis Hub and all your enhancements (e.g. animated sequences) and decorations (e.g. GUIs, lighting, scripts, manikins) will be preserved just as you saved them. For a seamless and secure experience, every session is authenticated using your Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies set on the Virtalis Hub. Any upload or download from the Hub will prompt a required login for that session. ‍Virtalis Hub: upload ‍We have introduced a reliable and efficient file upload mechanism, that enables the upload of large files by automatically segmenting them into manageable chunks. If your internet connection becomes unstable, only a small part of the file needs to be resent, not the whole thing. Key changesVirtalis Hub integration: ‍Upload scenes directly to Virtalis Hub from within Visionary Render. Stream scenes from Virtalis Hub to Visionary Render, while maintaining the functionality of decorations and enhancements of scripts, GUIs, manikins, etc. Share scenes with others via a web-based viewer, enabling easy access without requiring specialist hardware or software installation. Improved performance: Experience faster saving for scenes with a large number of models, improving efficiency and productivity. HoloLens 2 reverse connection: Say goodbye to manual setup. This update introduces a new, user-friendly way to connect your HoloLens 2 to your PC. Simply scan a QR code with your HoloLens 2, and you'll be up and running in no time. This eliminates the need to manually enter connection details, saving you time and effort. OpenXR improvements: Enable passthrough mode in Quest Link (developer mode) for a more immersive mixed-reality experience. You can now also adjust background opacity in both the Quest and HoloLens 2 devices for better control over the visibility of the real world behind your virtual content. Note: For passthrough, the base functionality is currently in beta from Meta, and requires a developer account for access. We recommend using a cabled connection with your headset for optimal performance. Importer library updates ‍Resolved IssuesDefects or bugs are an unfortunate but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis, we work hard to maintain and improve the quality of our codebase, and we strive to resolve as many reported issues as quickly as possible. As part of our internal testing for the 2024.1 release, we identified and resolved 14 issues, of which 7 were reported by customers. Details are provided in the table below.

Thank you for downloading GeoVisionary 2024.1. This release concentrates on two key areas. First, sharing and managing complex scenes just got easier. GeoVisionary now integrates with the Virtalis Hub, allowing you to directly upload assets and stream down visualisation data. Second, we have focused on a small set of key issues reported internally and by customers, and we are confident that these changes will be welcomed. ‍Virtalis Hub integration The Virtalis Hub is a fully owned and managed solution (on-prem or private cloud) to centrally control visualisation data. GeoVisionary remains the rich studio product for power users and this new integration allows for unprecedented ease in sharing scenes across multiple GeoVisionary installations. Note: While GeoVisionary 2024.1 supports uploading scenes to Virtalis Hub, it currently does not include externally referenced files like point clouds. When opening scenes from the Hub, externally referenced files need to be accessible locally or via a network share. Note: Access to the Virtalis Hub is sold separately from your GeoVisionary purchase. ‍Key changesVirtalis Hub Integration: Upload scenes directly to Virtalis Hub from within GeoVisionary. Stream scenes from Virtalis Hub to GeoVisionary, while maintaining the functionality of decorations and enhancements of scripts, GUIs, etc. OpenXR improvements: Enable passthrough mode in Quest Link (developer mode) for a more immersive mixed-reality experience. You can now also adjust background opacity in both the Quest and HoloLens 2 devices for better control over the visibility of the real world behind your virtual content. Note: For passthrough, the base functionality is currently in beta from Meta, and requires a developer account for access. We recommend using a cabled connection with your headset for optimal performance. ‍‍Resolved issues ‍Defects or bugs are an unfortunate but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis, we work hard to maintain and improve the quality of our codebase, and we strive to resolve as many reported issues as quickly as possible. As part of our internal testing for the 2024.1 release, we identified and resolved 16 issues, of which 10 were reported by customers. Details are provided in the table below.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000017314-visionary-render-system-requirements

MinimumOperating systemMicrosoft Windows 10 Pro, 64-bitCPU4 processor cores (Intel Xeon, Intel Core i5, AMD Ryzen or equivalent)Memory8GB RAMStorage128GB HDDGraphicsOpenGL 3.3 compatible graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce 8000, NVIDIA Quadro FX 370, AMD Radeon HD, Intel HD 4000 or equivalent)RecommendedOperating systemMicrosoft Windows 10 Pro, 64-bitCPU8 processor cores (Intel Xeon, Intel Core i7, AMD Ryzen or equivalent)Memory64GB RAMStorage256GB SSDGraphicsNVIDIA Quadro P Series, NVIDIA GeForce RTX, AMD RX Vega or equivalent (8GB VRAM or above)High-endOperating systemMicrosoft Windows 10 Pro, 64-bitCPU10 processor cores or above (Intel Xeon, Intel Core i9, AMD Ryzen or equivalent)Memory256GB RAMStorage1TB SSDGraphicsDual GPU configuration (NVIDIA Quadro P Series, NVIDIA GeForce RTX, AMD RX Vega or equivalent [11GB VRAM or above])Supported Immersive DevicesOculus Rift, Rift S, or tethered Quest - software version 1.3 or aboveHTC Vive, Vive Pro, Valve Index, Vive Cosmos - Lighthouse tracking, pointers, SteamVR version 1.0 or abovezSpace, software version 3.1 or aboveWindows Mixed Reality HMD, Windows MR Portal, SteamVR version 1.0 or aboveThese devices should be used with a machine that meets the Recommended or High-end system requirements.Recommended (Cluster)Each machine should meet the Recommended or High-end system requirements10Gbit NIC in each machineEnterprise-grade network switchGraphics sync hardware in each machine (NVIDIA G-SYNC or equivalent)

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000017321-where-is-the-visionary-render-manual-

The Visionary Render manual is included in every install of Visionary Render. It can be accessed in a number of placesThe Windows start menu after install is completeFrom within the application by using the File -> Help menu or by pressing F1 Browsing to the installation folder directly at C:\Virtalis\Visionary Render <Version>\data\docs\manual\VisRen_ReferenceManual.pdf

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000018686-importer-plugins-formats-and-features

Detailed information for each importer plugin and file type can be found in the table below. Importer FeaturesAnalytical (BREP): The complete topological and geometric definition of the model is read from the importer. The data are represented as different nodes under the visionary render model node. It only has an informative role in the scene and is not affecting the visualisation of the data or the resolution of the scene.Textures (Tex): Material textures supportSequences (Seq): Keyframed animation sequences stored in the filePMI: Product Manufacturing Information semantics or visual formSimplified Representations(Views): Importer supports simplified representations import through the support of the Views. Each view includes visibility rules for nodes in the scene along with a camera location to set the view point for the view. ImporterData TypeFeaturesLicenseCompanyVersionExtensionBREPTex.Seq.PMIViewsAutodesk3DSImporterAutodesk3dsVR3DSIMPORTERAutocadDXFImporterAutodeskdxfVRDXFIMPORTERBlenderImporterBlenderUp to 2.7blendVRBLENDERIMPORTERColladaImporterKhronos GroupdaeVRCOLLADAIMPORTERObjectImporterWavefront TechnologiesobjVROBJECTIMPORTERFilmboxImporterAutodeskfbxVRFILMBOXIMPORTERAscImporterEsriascVRASCIMPORTERDivisionImporterPTCVDI3 (limited support), VDI4vdi, bgf, bmfVRDIVISIONIMPORTEROpenJTImporterSiemens PLM SoftwarejtVRSIEMENSJTIMPORTERCreoViewImporterPTCup to Creo 8pvz, pvs, ed, olVRCREOVIEWIMPORTERDesignImporterBentley Systems MicroStationV7 and V8dgnVRDESIGNIMPORTERDrawingImporterAutocadR12 to 2021dwgVRDRAWINGIMPORTERRevitImporterAutodesk2011 to 2020rfa, rvtVRREVITIMPORTERAcisImporterSpatial CorporationUp to 2020sat, sabVRACISIMPORTERInventorImporterAutodeskup to 2021ipt, iamVRINVENTORIMPORTERCatiaV5ImporterDassault SystèmesUp to V5-6 R2021CARDrawing, CATPart, CATProduct, CATShape, cgrVRCATIAV5IMPORTERCatiaV6ImporterDassault SystèmesUp to V5-6 R2019 (R29)3dxmlVRCATIAV6IMPORTERSolidWorksImporterDassault Systèmes97 to 2021sldasm, sldprtVRSOLIDWORKSIMPORTERIFCImporterBuildingSMARTIFC2x Editions 2, 3, 4ifcVRIFCIMPORTERIgesImporter5.1, 5.2, 5.3igs, igesVRIGESIMPORTERPdf3DImporterAdobeallpdfVRPDF3DIMPORTERCreoImporterPTCPro/Engineer 19.0 to Creo 8.0asm, neu, prt, xas, xprVRCREOIMPORTERRhinoImporterRobert McNeel & Associates4 to 73dmVRRHINOIMPORTERIdeasImporterSDRCUp to 13.x (NX 5), NX I-deas 6mf1, arc, unv, pkgVRIDEASIMPORTERJtImporterSiemens PLM Softwareup to 10.5jtVRJTIMPORTERParasolidImporterSiemens PLM Softwareup to 33.1x_b, x_t, xmt, xmt_txtVRPARASOLIDIMPORTERUnigraphicsImporterSiemens PLM SoftwareV11 to V18, NX to NX12, NX1847 Series to NX1980 SeriesprtVRUNIGRAPHICSIMPORTERSolidEdgeImporterSiemens PLM SoftwareV19-20, ST-ST10, 2021asm, par, pwd, psmVRSOLIDEDGEIMPORTERStepImporterAP 203 E1/E2, AP 214, AP 242stp. step. stpz, STPX, STPXZVRSTEPIMPORTERStereoLithographyImporter3D SystemsallstlVRSTEREOLITHOGRAPHYIMPORTERUniversal3DImporterECMAECMA-363 (1st, 2nd and 3rd editions)u3dVRU3DIMPORTERVrmlImporterV1.0 and V2.0wrl, vrmlVRVRMLIMPORTERSupportedNot supported by importerNot supported by format

IntroductionVirtalis customer support services help you to make the most out of your investment in our technology. We aim to address your needs quickly and professionally, either by directly assisting in a support capacity, or by putting you in contact with the most appropriate Virtalis team member who can help you.As part of your ongoing support and maintenance contract, you receive the following benefits:Telephone and email access to skilled support engineersRemote assistanceAccess to the latest software releases and regular software updatesHoursSupport staff are usually available during normal business hours (8am - 5pm).You can contact us via email at support@virtalis.com or by phone. If you need to contact us outside of normal business hours we recommend that you use the support email address and someone will follow up on your case as soon as possible.Support AreaTimezoneTelephoneManchester, UKGMT / BST+44 161 969 1155, option 3SeverityWhen you contact us, the support agent will work with you to establish the severity of your caseSeverityDescriptionCriticalMalfunction of business-critical operationsSoftware defects with no workaround that block major functionalityHighSystem instability causing periodic interruptionsSoftware defects for which there are only short-term workaroundsMediumSoftware defects which have workarounds available.Non-critical issues LowGeneral usage helpMinor or cosmetic issuesMinor documentation clarificationSuggestions for future enhancementsSupport Information RequiredWhen you contact us for support, we require as much information as possible in order to provide the most effective service. This includesWhat is the task you are trying to accomplish?What is the context and business impact?What steps are you taking to achieve the task?Which part do you need help with?Are there any screenshots or videos you can provide to aid in understanding?Can you provide the application log files and configuration files?For data related issues, are you able to provide a sample of the data you need help with?WorkflowIf you encounter an issue or require any assistance, the best way to contact us is via our support desk email - support@virtalis.com - attaching as much of the required support information as possible.This will create a help-desk ticket automatically and allow us to keep track of your issue and guide it to an acceptable outcome.You may also telephone us directly, however this may result in a delay in your issue being logged if all of our support agents are busy on other calls.You will receive an automatic response confirming your request and providing you with a ticket ID which you can use if you need to speak to us via other channelsOnce your issue has been logged, a support agent will take ownership of your issue and respond to let you know they have done so. They may request further information or clarification from you, such as additional logs or where possible, data to help them diagnose the issue.The support agent will communicate possible resolutions to you via email, and may also wish to set up a call for further troubleshootingWhen communicating via email it is important to reply directly to the emails that came from the support system, so that all communication is attached to the original support caseScopeWe do our best to address all customer support cases effectively and meet your expectations of our service. This table describes the different categories that a support case can fall into and provides details of what you can expect from us. When your case falls outside of the scope of the respective category, we also suggest additional services that can provide you with the assistance you need.CategoryScope of SupportAdditional Services / Requirements"How do I?"Support aims to assist with answers to general questions around product usage and best practices, and where appropriate provide references to tutorials, guides, and other supporting documentation.Questions involving significant focused assistance or full-scale enterprise roll-outs require professional servicesProduct FunctionalitySupport aims to assist with information about features, best practices, and where necessary can facilitate submission of feature requests to R&D.Questions involving significant assistance to a level that can be considered training require a training packageProduct DefectSupport aims to assist with triage and qualification of issues, identifying severity, providing workarounds where possible and submitting the issues to R&D for fix in future releasesProduct PerformanceSupport aims to assist with triage and qualification of issues, providing information about best practices and data optimisation, and where issues are identified and reproducible, submitting to R&D. We are unable to directly assist with data optimisation in third party products such as CAD packages.Product DocumentationSupport aims to assist with clear information or corrections to documentation where necessary.Custom scriptsSupport aims to assist with clarification to expected behaviour of scene events and associated API functions, small scripts that display an issue, as well as general best-practice suggestions for using the scene events system. We are unable to debug or fix issues in large complex scenes which are not authored by Virtalis, which includes scripts interacting with other customer systems and infrastructure.Assistance with writing complex scripts for integrating Virtalis software with customer systems can be obtained by professional servicesCustom plugins / integrationsSupport aims to assist with clarification to expected behaviour of application plugins using our plugin APIs, as well as suggest best-practice approaches to their development. We are unable to debug or fix entire plugins or assist heavily in their creation.Assistance with writing application plugins can be obtained by professional servicesProduct RoadmapIf requested, your Sales representative or Customer Success Manager would be happy to arrange a product roadmap discussion with our Product ManagerProduct TrainingWe are unable to provide direct product trainingPlease contact your sales representative to enquire about training packagesOutcomesSupport tickets can be marked as "Resolved" when they reach an acceptable outcome. We have defined the acceptable outcomes for each category in the table below.CategoryAcceptable OutcomesProduct FunctionalityClarified the expected behaviour of the feature in questionDocumented best-practice solutions ("how-to")Submitted feature request, qualified and accepted by the development team for upcoming releaseSubmitted feature request, qualified and accepted onto the development backlog but not yet committed for upcoming releaseSubmitted feature request, investigated by development team and identified as 'will not implement'Product DefectProvided a suitable and reliable workaround, but will not be addressed further by the development teamVerified and submitted bug accepted by the development team for upcoming releaseVerified and submitted bug in the development backlog but not yet committed for upcoming releaseProduct PerformanceProvided best-practice information to support optimisation (e.g. help tweaking importer settings)Provided details for upgrading to the latest version of the softwareOther outcomes as per Product DefectProduct DocumentationClarification or correction to information in product documentationCorrection of documentation where possibleSubmitted documentation bug in R&D backlogCustomer InactivityCases in "waiting for customer" status for 7 days may be closed. You may respond to closed issues with further information which will automatically reopen themTipsDo your best to provide as much information as possible to your support agent. The more information that is provided the easier it is for the issue to find the right person.Keep up to date with software changes by reading the release notes and change logsIf you require further clarification about any information given to you by our support staff, please ask

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000018205-data-missing-after-importing-file

If you find that after importing your data that parts of the model are missing you can go to the settings of the importer that you are using and under Entity Filters you should be able to find both Ignore Cosmetic and Ignore Geometry Construction. By default both of these are set to enabled but if you disable them more data will be imported.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000027075-2019-4-release-notes

What's in Visionary Render 2019.4Thank you for downloading Visionary Render 2019.4.This release presents a new user interface theme aligning with our new company brand identity. It also improvessoftware stability and addresses customer reported issues.Key ChangesThe standalone License Client application has been discontinued and its functionality is now built intoVisionary Render and other Virtalis applications. This simplifies the process for obtaining and validatinglicenses which improves the software reliability and quality in some situations, such as when running withinvirtual machines or in complex networks.Applications will now authenticate local license files and talk to a License Server directly. The License Clientapplication is no longer needed and should be uninstalled unless you need to continue using earlier versionsof Visionary Render.The License Server application must also be updated to be compatible with this version if it is also in use atyour site.The license dialog has been updated to include a "Connect to Server" button, this will automatically grantaccess to the application when a valid server and license are available.Known Issues SteamVR based devices such as HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality can exhibit display abnormalities whenused in conjunction with the Single GPU Parallel Stereo Optimisation mode introduced with 2019.1. Thismode is now disabled by default, where-as previously it would default to the highest optimisation setting.Oculus devices are not affected, and Dual GPU Parallel mode continues to work for all supported HMDs.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000021616-installing-the-license-server-for-2019-4-

Firstly, on the server what you will need is to install the latest version of the License Server which can be found on the Software Portal. If you do not have access to the software portal please contact support@virtalis.ocm. You will find the files you need in the License Tools. Once installed you can ensure this is running on the server by going to Task Manager and looking for Virtalis License Server.On the client you will then open the Admin panel and ensure that you are able to connect. You will do this by using the servers IP address and setting the port to 48488.To import a license, access the license server manager by navigating to http://server-ip:5757/ and logging in with admin/virtalis, you will know you're in the right place as it will say License Server at the top of the page. From here, you'll be able to import your licenses. As long as the client can ping and see the server, there should be no further issues. As this is a new version of the license server a new exception may need to be added to the firewall.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000024935-2019-5-release-notes

In order to better support customers working with scenes based in a marine environment, this release contains a number of enhancements based around the rendering of water, or objects in and around water. Beyond this, the release addresses a number of customer reported issues. Key Changes Ocean and Water Effects Creating immersive visualisations in an offshore or underwater environment requires that Visionary Render process some complex optical physics and environmental effects. A summary of the new features available at 2019.5 is given below. Ocean Reflection The reflection of objects on or around a body of water is correctly represented in order to capture ambient lighting, sea state and other ambient conditions. The result is a realistic representation of the reflective properties off a water surface. Figure 1 Reflection on the surface of water Ocean Scattering and Extinction As light travels through any fluid medium, including the atmosphere, its propagation is affected by absorption and scattering by the molecules in that medium. We tend not to think about it in the atmosphere as it’s our day to day experience, but atmospheric scattering of white light is precisely why the sky appears blue. Similarly, the ocean appears blue because it absorbs the wavelengths of light at the red end of the spectrum and so reflects blue back to the observer. The appearance of the underwater environment will be a function of ambient lighting conditions and water depth, with the impact of both phenomena increasing with depth. Figure 2 Scattering and extinction in an underwater scene Underwater Optical Caustics In this context, a caustic is the reflection of an envelope of light rays that have been reflected or refracted by the boundary between the atmosphere and the body of water. If a submerged object or the sea-bed is close enough to the surface that the effect hasn’t been attenuated by the water in between, the effect can be seen as rippling patches of light and dark. In the current implementation, the prevailing sea-state will not impact the appearance of the caustics and will be a function of ambient light alone. Figure 3 Optical caustics can be seen on the seabed and the deck and superstructure of the sunken vessel Align Sea State to Prevailing Conditions The Douglas Scale, also known as the international sea and swell scale, defines the height of waves as well as the swell of the sea. In 2019.5 it is possible to define the observed sea state by choosing the appropriate entry on the Douglas scale Other Items Render Splines as Textured Cylinders In order to realise the appearance of rope, cable or hose the spline needs to be rendered as a continuous 3D cylinder with suitable texture coordinates. The 2019.5 release facilitates this by allowing spline animations from the 3DSMAX tool to be brought into Visionary Render. Terminating Support of the Ogre Input File Format We periodically review the status of our supported file formats in order to ensure that we’re managing those that are of most value to our users. In the most recent such review we concluded that continuing to support Ogre offers no value to our target markets. Accordingly, it is not offered as an option from 2019.5 onward. Resolved Issues Defects, or bugs, are an unfortunate, but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis we work hard to maintain and improve the quality of our code base and resolve as many reported issues as we can, as quickly as we can. The table below covers those issues reported from the field that have been resolved at 2019.5.‍TABLE TO BE FIXED Support Portal ReferenceSummary741Crash on cluster loading DocsPlugin.dll422/ 404/ 350 Enable Pivot Visual doesn't work on newly created pivots431CreoView Importer doesn't bring through enough metadata765Crash on importing FBX file875/ 858Property rollouts not displaying any properties856Overlapped culling prevents Point clouds from being rendered695CreoView importer enabling merge geo-groups does not fully optimise the models

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000018294-changing-import-visual-quality

To change the visual appearance of an import (such as making spheres rounder for improved appearance or more jagged for improved performance) you can go the settings of the importer that you are using and edit the settings under Tessellation. An example of how these impact the import is that if you increase the Chord Height from 3.000 to 6.000 the object will have a reduced number of prims and therefore improve the performance of the scene but visually if the object was round it may appear more angled than before.Applicable CAD formatsWhen importing CAD data it is usually one of two types - Parametric / Boundary Representation, or Tesselated.These tessellation settings only apply when importing parametric data. If the data is already tessellated (the authoring application saved it as such), these settings will have no effect on the import process and the data will appear the same.The following formats do not contain parametric data: 3DS, DXF, Blend, COLLADA, OBJ, Ogre, FBX, ASCOther supported formats can vary and could contain either. Please refer to your authoring tools user manual or save / export settings to find out whether your data is already tessellated.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000008418-creating-a-simple-animation

To create an animation, first you have to pick an assembly to animate. Right-click the assembly and go to Create >> Sequence. Type image caption here (optional)Once you do this a sequence will be attached to the assembly, and the Animation Sequencer window will open up. In order to create an animation the user has to create a series of keyframes that when played together create the animation. Once you have done this go into the Animation Sequencer window and click the clapperboard icon to take a key frame. To record a key frame click the Record icon in the Animation Sequencer windowOnce you have done this a keyframe will have been created on the animation line. Move and rotate the assembly again and take additional keyframes. When the capture setting is set to manual the animation scrubber will move along the animation line to the next second.When you are happy with your animation, click the play button to see you animation start. And, that's all you need in order to create an animation.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000028819-lighting-shadows

The shadows created by the lights in your scene may cause a reduced frame rate. If you find that the shadows of your lights are causing your scene to have a poor frame rate here are a few things that you can try to reduce their impact:Disable Cascaded Shadows. If your lights have Cascaded Shadows enabled then all shadows created by that light are drawn 4 times per frame.Reduce the Shadow Map Size. Lowering the quality of the shadow map can help improve performance, if you find that highly detailed shadows do not add much value to the scene then you can reduce this valueLock the shadow map. If all parts in your scene are static then you may want to enable Lock Shadow Map, this will mean that the shadow map will not be redrawn every frameIf you are just looking for quick results and do not want to spend a lot of time toggling and changing values of the properties above then disabling Cast Shadows on your lights may also increase the frame rate of your scene

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000062021-visionary-render-2021-3-visual-c-runtimes-failed-to-install

Visionary Render 2021.3 requires updated versions of the Microsoft C++ Runtimes, these should install automatically with the latest version of Visionary Render, however, if this fails for any reason you can download and install the runtimes from the following link: https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/vc_redist.x64.exe

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000020930-changing-the-opacity-of-an-object-with-a-sequence

In order to change the opacity of an object by using a sequence you will need to carry out the following steps:Create an animation sequence with 2 property tracksSet the target of both property tracks to be the material you wish to changeIn the first property track set the Property to change to be the Opacity In the second property track set the Property to change to be the BlendMode. This will give you a track similar to what you see below 6. Then you can edit the opacity while recording key frames to make the animated sequence you want

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000061747-2021-3-release-notes

Thank you for downloading Visionary Render 2021.3. This release is focused on further enhancing the performance of the software, particularly on scenes comprising of many assemblies within a complex product tree; something commonly experienced by those working on engineering projects.We’ve also introduced support for the Microsoft HoloLens 2 and created an editable text box feature. This is on top of resolving some customer reported issues and updating/maintaining our CAD importer suite to ensure it’s compatible with the latest releases from the CAD vendors.Key ChangesPerformanceOur focus has been on ‘in scene’ performance, and we have made changes across a number of areas, from memory handling to managing animations of complex structures. The result of these improvements is a very significant increase to the rendering speed, and in the best cases the frame rate is double that of 2021.2. The scale of the improvement depends on the structure of the data in the scene and the best improvements are seen on complex tree hierarchies with many individual parts.Beyond this, we’ve updated the user manual with more information as to how you can customise your settings to maximise the performance you get from Visionary Render.New FeaturesMicrosoft Hololens 2 SupportIt is now possible to remotely render visualisations to the Microsoft HoloLens 2 from Visionary Render. The initial implementation allows the device to be used similar to other HMDs, with future support for HoloLens 2 specific features being continually evaluated.Editable Text BoxesEditable text boxes can by styled similarly to other in-scene GUI components, and work with existing script events to support a number of possible use cases, including:Responses to situations/issues/questions in training scenariosInteractive GUIs in simulations/trainingAccessing scenario specific data from external sourcesVirtual notebooksNotesPlease note that this version of Visionary Render requires new versions of the Microsoft C++ Runtime, which is installed automatically. However, if you are using a cluster, you will need to install the runtime manually on the rest of the computers in the cluster. If this is not possible please contact our support team for assistance.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000041234-2020-3-release-notes

Key ChangesCollaborative Sessions2020.2 saw several enhancements delivered in this area, but we also uncovered scope for work that we feltwas valuable yet had no time to deliver at that release. Hence, we chose to undertake a follow up initiative at2020.3 that addressed the following topics:Connection and PerformanceWe have streamlined the processes that run whenever users connect to a collaborative session to reduce thetime to connect and remove any stuttering or temporary freezes when others join a session. We also added adisconnect button.Collaborative Session ExperienceYou can now add your own computer or usernames to the tree view, which makes it much easier to identifywho is in the session. We have also added an integrated voice chat feature that permits the attendees in acollaborative session to speak to one another without having to use any third-party tools. Immersive Device SupportSupporting the ever-increasing range of head mounted displays can prove a challenging task as it typicallymeans explicitly validating that the associated controllers and their inputs are behaving as expected. 2020.3sees us add support for the SteamVR Input API, which permits you to create controller bindings for use inVisionary Render. These can be created directly in the SteamVR application using the GUI specifically createdfor this task. Note that if you previously created your own controller mappings then you can continue to usethose at 2020.3 if you wish.Figure 1: The new controller binding interface makes it easier to work with SteamVR devices. Filter Point Clouds Between Minima and MaximaYou can now filter your point cloud data between minimum and maximum values, which offers at least twoadvantages. Firstly, it removes noise as very low or high values in a particular range are often inaccurate.Secondly, it allows you to understand the distribution of a particular property in that space better by beingable to filter out and highlight ranges of interest.Figure 2: Filter and adjust the visible range of point clouds from within the GUI. Resolved IssuesDefects, or bugs, are an unfortunate, but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis we workhard to maintain and improve the quality of our codebase and resolve as many reported issues as we can, asquickly as we can. We have identified and resolved 19 issues as part of our internal testing for the 2020.3release. Additionally, the below table lists resolved issues that were reported in the field.Support Portal ReferenceSummary500Fixes an issue where connecting the view with a collaborator while using acustom view config could result in a blank view after the application is restarted.9547Fixes an issue with the full-body avatar's arms not following the tracked hands.Table 1: Issues resolved at the 2020.3 release.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000028135-2020-1-release-notes

What's in Visionary Render 2020.1Thank you for downloading Visionary Render 2020.1. The release sees updates to some underlying components of our importer engine alongside a focus on addressing defects highlighted by users or our own internal testing. Key Changes This release sees Visionary Render implement some necessary updates to our CAD importer engine, ensuring that we’re tracking the latest standards across the board. From a performance perspective, we’ve also made some tweaks which mean that updates to splines with many knots now occur more quickly. Resolved Issues Defects, or bugs, are an unfortunate, but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis we work hard to maintain and improve the quality of our code base and resolve as many reported issues as we can, as quickly as we can. The table below covers those issues reported by customers via our Support Portal which have been resolved at 2020.1. On top of the issues listed below, another 34 issues have been identified via our expanding test suite and resolved in this release. Support Portal ReferenceSummary679All user’s lasers not visible in 3 person collaboration393Transform link updates is very laggy645/845Enabling and disabling SteamVR (or other tracking) it turns off anti-aliasing571/636/1125Unable to select all instances of a Mode494Tab doesn't work in the script editor1770Tracked Manipulator dead zone too large1391Settings not carried over when changing tracking mode306Remove link to hand context option Table 1 Issues resolved at the 2020.1 release‍Windows 7 SupportAs you may be aware, Microsoft ended their support of Windows 7 (W7) on January 14, 2020. Accordingly, 2020.1 will be the last release which we will routinely support W7. As a rule, we are bound to follow Microsoft’s lead when it comes to support of their legacy operating systems. From 2020.2 onward we will not be testing against W7 and can make no guarantees regarding its performance on this operating system.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000031076-uses-of-virtual-cameras

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000060947-2021-1-release-notes

Key ChangesIncremental GainsHaving said that the intent here was to address disparate, but valuable, tickets a theme did nevertheless emerge: the API and scripting. Some highlights:Create meta-nodes from Lua scripts: allows the creation of custom data structures within the tree structure in the most optimised form.Create/observe settings using the C API: it’s now much easier to create a GUI in which you can enter some configuration details (perhaps the address of an external web server) or present the information from such a server back to you.Downloading data describing geometry or textures from a server, adding them to a scene or animating geometry in a scene is now much more efficient.More generally, you should find using the script API engine a more rewarding experience.Beyond this domain, we’ve improved the way the PRS manipulator scales and added some new setting options to Tools/Pivots. It’s also now possible to ‘un-isolate’ geometry from the toolbar. We had received feedback that it could be difficult to remember which nodes had been isolated in order to go back and un-isolate them. This enhancement will un-isolate any nodes in the scene that have been hidden.Figure 1 The 'Un-isolate' featureResolved IssuesDefects, or bugs, are an unfortunate, but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis we work hard to maintain and improve the quality of our codebase and resolve as many reported issues as we can, as quickly as we can. We have identified and resolved 21 issues as part of our internal testing for the 2021.1 release. This number includes the 12 customer issues detailed in the below table. Support Portal ReferenceSummary9768Create button in Animation Sequencer causes crash9685Use of extended ASCII characters on GUI elements causes a crash.10028HOOPS importers failing to import on German PCs8668Size on Drop setting does not seem to do anything9995Deformable meshes still selectable with a disabled system collision override9991JT file fails to import with JT importer9720/10220Point-cloud path not retained between 2020.2 and 2020.39693Errors relating to voice chat should only appear when networking and voice chat is enabled9581HMDs default to rotate around controller

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000017323-where-can-i-find-the-visionary-render-programming-guide-

The Visionary Render programming guide helps you get started with scripting against the Visionary Render Event and Plugin APIs. The guide contains an API reference as well as snippets and examples of common uses of the APIs.You can access the guide online here: https://virtalis.github.io/developer/The programming guide is also included with every install of Visionary Render for offline use. It can be found eitherby opening it from the Windows start menuor by browsing to the installation folder directly atC:\Virtalis\Visionary Render <Version>\data\vrtreesdk\doc\html\index

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000062020-pointcloud-2021-3-fails-to-load

When attempting to open the pointcloud converter packaged with 2021.3 you may be faced with the following error: Type image caption here (optional) This is something that we are aware of, for the time being we suggest using the 2021.2 version. If you do not have access to 2021.2 please contact Support so that they can assist you in getting access. 

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000060464-virtalis-reach-2021-3-release-notes

Key Enhancements New Layout: Perhaps the most immediately noticeable change is the new layout. In order to clean up the GUI and give us space to grow the functionality of Virtalis Reach, we’ve introduced the concept of 'modes'. Modes relate to common use cases and present functionality relevant to them. This also raises the possibility of ‘locking down’ access to particular modes at future releases. For example, it may be the case that users don’t want to expose the review, comments or version history modes to users accessing training material. In this release, the modes are as follows: View Allows users navigation around the visualisation. We’ve introduced a new ‘view perspective’ feature. Clicking this option will take the camera position to the same location and orientation the comment author had when they pressed ‘Send’. Please note: This will not change the visibility of anything in the product tree, and any components that had been disabled by the original author at the time of writing will not be automatically disabled by the ‘view perspective’ action. Review (In addition to View) Allows users access and interaction with the product tree, and to select and highlight components. Comment (In addition to View) Allows users to create a new comment thread, review existing comments and add replies. To better support teams working together on iterative designs, we’ve introduced the ability to create and add to comment threads. Comments can be related to specific points on the geometry by clicking an ‘add comment’ icon and then using the cursor to select the relevant place on the geometry. A new thread pane will then open on the right-hand side of the window where users can add both a title and their remarks. Users can use the ‘Comment’ markers and ‘Threads’ pane to aid both locating markers and understanding what the comment author was seeing at the time of making the comment. Version History Users can view the publication history of the visualisation and, if required, open earlier revisions. New Features: Microsoft Hololens 2 Support Virtalis Reach is built upon the WebXR standard which is embraced by a huge number of XR peripheral manufacturers—one of those being Microsoft. In this release, we’ve validated the Hololens 2 (HL2) as a basic ‘see-through’ viewer. At the time of this release, there is no support for physical markers, ‘Air Tap’ or many of the other features of the HL2 device. However, building upon this initial release is very much part of the Virtalis Reach roadmap. Please contact us to discuss your use cases for the HL2 to help us prioritise appropriately. Siemens Teamcenter Integration We’ve developed a publishing tool for the Siemens Teamcenter Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) product which will allow users to automate the publishing of visualisation updates based upon existing Teamcenter paradigms such as workflows, revision rules and PLMXML export. As a result, users are now able to define how different visualisations are published to different projects with an extremely high degree of control. User Selection Visible to All In this release, everyone in a collaborative session will be able to see what each participant has selected. The colour of the highlight will match the helmet colour of the person’s avatar. In the case that more than one person selects a component, the highlight colour will cycle between that of each corresponding avatar. Configurable Navigation Speed Virtalis Reach needs to deal with scenes of vastly different scales—from precision parts a few mm across to entire processing plants of many kilometres. Apart from any other complexity this creates, it does mean that a single navigation speed is not going to be appropriate for all cases. This release introduces a configurable speed that users can adjust via a slider in the settings panel. Settings Panel and Movement Speed Slider Scene authors are now able to set the initial base speed. Setting this to 0m/s will effectively lock out the slider, which may be a useful option in training or more scripted scenarios.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000060948-2021-2-release-notes

Key ChangesEvent Observers and Custom SettingsAllowing users to subscribe to particular, or all, events on any node in the tree means that much code duplication can be avoided. This is relevant in a range of scenarios including monitoring touch/break events or press/click events on programmatically generated GUIs.It is now also possible to allow a single observer to accept multiple inputs, further streamlining the coding effort when using the Lua API.It is now also possible to add a setting to the user registry via Lua. This has a number of potential uses, not least the ability to set the address of an external server for Visionary Render to access.Show Disabled Objects in TreeA convenience factor, but an important one. It can be difficult to see what assemblies have been disabled, particularly in large, complex product trees. It is now possible to apply a filter to show just this, allowing users to work much more effectively.Support for Projection onto Curved ScreensIt’s now possible for users to configure a two-dimensional curved projection of Visionary Render. The approach is to apply a warp to the standard rectangular rendering at the post-processing stage. Please contact support or your account representative for more details on configuring this feature.Resolved IssuesDefects, or bugs, are an unfortunate, but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis we work hard to maintain and improve the quality of our codebase and resolve as many reported issues as we can, as quickly as we can. We have identified and resolved 14 issues as part of our internal testing for the 2021.2 release. This number includes the 6 customer issues detailed in the below table.Support Portal ReferenceSummary11163Script crashes in 2021.1 but not previous versions10882Obj import error: No object detected to attach a new mesh instance.10843Connect View is not working in 2020.3 onwards10150License client timing out too soon for slower networks10527View configs don't keep XInputEnvironment links on start up9411Can't continue session after reconnecting to license server

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000062019-procedural-sky-on-activewall-only-shows-in-a-small-circle

If you encounter this issue you are able to workaround it by ensuring that Logarithmic Depth Buffer is disabled, you can then extend the size of the circle by increasing the Far Clip Plane. Once this has been increased to a suitable size the procedural sky will appear correctly.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000028821-coverage-lod

You can access the Coverage LOD settings by opening the Settings window (F6) and going to Renderer > Level of Detail.By changing the coverage LOD settings you can apply a level of detail based on each parts screen space coverage.If there is an assembly that you do not want to be effected by the Coverage LOD you can go to its properties and check the Ignore Coverage LOD option.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000028817-instancing-geogroups

If you are using many instances of the same models then the scene may benefit from using the Instance Geogroups setting, this can be found in Settings (F6) then selecting Renderer from the left hand side of the Settings window, then go to the Performance tab. From this tab you are able to check the property for Instance Geogroups which will then present 2 further options, Instance Threshold and Instance Vertex Limit, to learn more on what these do you can hover over each option to see their tooltips. By instancing the Geogroups you can reduce the number of batches (draw commands sent to the GPU) which may improve your performance. Type image caption here (optional)

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000020256-custom-installation

To run a custom install you will have to use the Command Prompt. The first line that uses the command "cd Downloads" directs the prompt to the folder that the installer is currently in, you will need to change this to match where it is kept on your PC. Type image caption here (optional)The second line starts off by using the installer name, if your installer name is the same as the one in the screenshot you should be able to copy it directly. the /S is what dictates that this is a silent install and the DIR command lets you dictate a custom install directory, you can leave this out if you want to install it in the default location.Unfortunately this does not allow for it being installed for all users, it will only do a single user install. Command Reference:"/S" - Silent installation."/NS" - Prevents any shortcuts being made. "/NA" - Prevents file associations being overwritten (the installed version of Visionary Render won't be automatically used to open VRNative files)."/DIR="C:/custom_dir"" - Defines a custom installation path.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000062996-virtalis-reach-2021-5-release-notes

We’re pleased to announce the release of Virtalis Reach 2021.5.The most notable enhancement is the ability to use the immersive controllers of your Head Mounted Display (HMD) to interact with the 3D scene when in WebXR mode. However, there are also a number of other changes and updates which are worthy of note.What’s new?Immersive PickingUpon entering WebXR mode in a visualisation, users will find that their immersive controllers are now able to select assemblies as well as interact with GUIs and canvases via the ‘lasers’ extending from them. For convenience, these lasers are colour matched to their own avatar’s helmet, making it easier for collaborators to work together in a single visualisation.Mesh Splitting Default: OnThe mesh splitting functionality was introduced as an experimental feature at 2021.4 as a means to make better use of GPU resources when rendering a scene on the client device. We’re now pleased to be able to make the feature available as the default setting following an extended evaluation.Note that users can turn mesh-splitting off via the instructions given in our online configuration guide.Virtalis Reach Mesh Splitting Overview and Configuration | Virtalis Reach Help Project & User Administration2021.5 sees a number of developments around how projects and users can be administered.Compatibility with Azure Active Directory (AAD) GroupsIt is now possible to integrate with AAD groups in Keycloak. This means that existing AAD groups can be used as the basis for designating access and permissions in Virtalis Reach.Removed Ability to Change Groups When Updating an AssetPreviously, it was possible to change the groups associated with a particular asset when updating. This had the potential to create inconsistencies downstream when project permissions were also factored in.Ability to Use Special Characters in Project NamesUsers are no longer restricted to using alpha-numeric characters when choosing a project name.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000028816-managing-geogroups

There are two ways to manually manage Geogroups, the first involves merging Geogroups to reduce the number of them and another involves applying material overrides directly to Geogroups. Firstly, to merge Geogroups go to your browser and change the filter to show Models. Once there change the view to List. Here there will be a column named GGs, this stands for Geogroups. You can click on the category to sort the list by highest Geogroup count first. Type image caption here (optional)On a model that has a high number of Geogroups, right click and show properties, from here, scroll down to Geometry Operators and expand the properties. At the bottom you will see Optimise Models, by clicking on the Settings of this property you will be able to select a number of optimisation options, one of which is Merge Geogroups, with this checked you can click Apply.If there are several visuals with the same material override, you can instead go directly to the Geogroup by slecting the visual in the Developer Tab, right clicking and selecting View Properties. Under the Visual properties one is named Model, click on the name of the model in this property. This will take you to the model in the library. Click the arrow to the left of the model name to show the Geogroups.By selecting the Geogroup you can view its properties and apply you material to the Material Property, following this any model using this Geogroup will also use the material.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000028815-overlapped-culling-and-occlusion-culling

You can access both the Overlapped and Occlusion Culling by going to Settings (F6) and selecting the Renderer option on the left and go to the Performance tab. Here you will be able to enable/disable either or both. Occlusion culling will prevent objects that are fully obscured by another object from drawing, this means that only what is necessary is being drawn in each frame, this will help reduce the cull time if you're seeing a high number there in the diagnostics. Overlapped culling will be useful if the Diagnostics Window is showing a high cull number in the cull/draw, this will offload the cull to another thread allowing it to prepare the next frame for drawing whilst the current frame is still drawing, the drawback to this is that it adds a frame of latency, meaning that this may not be ideal for using immersive modes.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000034168-2020-2-release-notes

What's in Visionary Render 2020.2Thank you for downloading Visionary Render 2020.2. This release is focussed on two main themes in addition to the usual maintenance and update quota: collaborative sessions and addition of support for the Noitom Hi5 glove.Key ChangesCollaborative SessionsBeing able to work alongside others in a virtual environment is a key benefit of virtual reality and is a fundamental component of the value Visionary Render brings. We have taken the opportunity at this release to take a close review of how Visionary Render currently delivers on this front and to extend and enhance the experience further. We’ve attacked this from an end user perspective and paid particular attention to collaborative training scenarios. In doing so, we’ve invested in two major themes:Multiple participants interacting with objects within the visualisation. Creating scenes in which users are required to pick up, put down or hand over objects is much more straightforward at 2020.2.Ensuring that scripts, interfaces and actions within a scene can be executed by a specific user. A number of areas within the code base have been refactored and adapted in order that the end user experience is more performant and responds to the actions of all users within the visualisation.Complementing the above work are the following two enhancementsUndo/redo now has a readable history so that it’s clear exactly which actions will be affectedWe’ve added an Auto-headlight mode. This enables the headlight whenever there is no other light in the scene. This can be enabled/disabled via the below button and the colour and intensity of the light is configurableFigure 1 Auto-headlight toggleSupport for Noitom Hi5 GloveThe Hi5 allows users to interact within immersive scenes in a more intuitive manner, makes for more accurate spatial assessments and enables a more refined collision detection experience.Figure 2 New avatar model which can articulate individual digits complements the new Hi5 integrationResolved IssuesDefects, or bugs, are an unfortunate, but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis we work hard to maintain and improve the quality of our code base and resolve as many reported issues as we can, as quickly as we can. Alongside 28 issues that have been identified and resolved as part of our own internal automated testing and fixing at the 2020.2 release, the below table lists those issues reported from the field that have been resolved.{{{{{TABLE}}}}}Support Portal ReferenceSummary508First user to click on a GUI button in collaboration "takes control" and otherusers are unable to use the button494Tab doesn't work in the script editorTable 1 Issues resolved at the 2020.2 release

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000031077-presenting-in-visionary-render

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000028823-high-dynamic-range-ambient-occlusion-and-screen-space-reflections-settings

You can find the High Dynamic Range (HDR), Ambient Occlusion (AO) and Screen Space Reflections (SSR) settings by going to the Settings menu (opened by pressing F6) > Renderer and then clicking on their respective tabs.Type image caption here (optional)For the HDR, AO and SSR settings you can try lowering the quality of the setting or, if that doesn't give a large enough change, you could try disabling them. The quality setting for HDR is called Quality and the quality setting for both AO and SSR called Quality Preset.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000062184-virtalis-reach-2021-4-release-notes

We’re pleased to announce the release of Virtalis Reach 2021.4.The headline feature for this release is the addition of web canvas support, but we have also included an experimental feature (mesh splitting) which is explained in more detail below.What's new?Web Canvas SupportEmbedding web canvasses within Virtalis Reach allows scenes to be enriched in a number of different dimensions. For example, users can take advantage of rich 2D user interfaces (UIs), slide shows or videos can be embedded in visualisations, connections to live data feeds can be established and displayed. The canvas allows a wide range of functions and features to be enabled which will increase the utility of Virtalis Reach across a range of domains.Mesh Splitting (Beta)The intent of the mesh splitting feature is to make more intelligent use of the ‘triangle budget’, the raw material from which our visualisations are created.Consider a single piece of geometry, for example a long cylinder. Rendering this in Virtalis Reach means creating a ‘mesh’ of triangles which approximate the outline and shape of the cylinder. The more triangles in that mesh, the higher the fidelity of the output as a representation of the original geometry. Obviously, there is a cost to using denser meshes; more triangles means more work for the client device to do. Moreover, it’s not always the case that the use of a high triangle count mesh is justified: the further a piece of geometry is from the camera, the less resolution is required, or is perhaps even possible as the component appears smaller, relatively. Back to our long cylinder. Without mesh splitting, this single piece of geometry would have one single mesh applied to it which would extend from the end of it closest to the camera (where a high resolution is justified) way off to the far end where a much lower resolution is appropriate. What mesh splitting allows us to do is intelligently sub-divide the geometry to meshes of different resolution such that an appropriate density is used along its length.The result is a more efficient use of computational resources and geometry being rendered at the appropriate resolution across its entire length.Pre-release testing of this feature has left us extremely confident that mesh splitting is ticking all the boxes we need it to. Nevertheless, we have chosen to disable this feature by default in the 2021.4 release. This decision mainly reflects the fact that one issue we were not able to resolve in time for the release was that of selecting a single piece of geometry which had been split. Consider our cylinder again: in a product tree, it would appear as a single node. However, if our mesh splitting algorithm were to divide it into four zones, selecting a location on the cylinder in Virtalis Reach would only highlight one of those four zones, not the entire cylinder.Our judgement was that this was not something we should enable as the default as it’s obviously at odds with the original product tree structure. We will resolve this issue by the next release.Nevertheless, we do think the mesh splitting algorithm is extremely valuable and wanted to give customers the opportunity to take advantage of it should they wish to. Thus, if you have scenes where you think mesh splitting could prove advantageous, please consider enabling the feature and seeing what improvements it offers. Instructions on configuring the mesh splitter can be found on our documentation page. Speaking of which…Technical PublicationsFinally, we’re very pleased to announce that all technical documentation relating to Virtalis Reach can now be found at the following link: Virtalis Reach Help & Support | Virtalis We will continue to update and extend the resources available on this page as Virtalis Reach evolves and develops.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000009087-creating-reflections

First you need to set the material setting of the object that you want to be reflective. You must find the material that is applied to the object in the browser tab. You can search for it in the browser tab or you can press Ctrl+Shift then left-click on the object to select the material that is currently applied to it.In the properties panel increase the Reflectivity and Smoothness properties to 1.00. The Sky-box will be reflected on the material. In order to also reflect objects in the scene we will need to create a Reflection Probe, to do this select the object, Right Click > Create > Lights > Reflection Probe, this can also be done in the Scenes or Developer tree. This will add a reflection probe to you object. This can also be created via the Developer tree by selecting the object there and following the same path to create the Reflection Probe. Move the probe so that the it is at the center of the object. To see a visual indication of the probes location you are able to to enable the helper which is located in the tool bar.Move and scale the probe so that the object fits inside of it. In the probes properties you can also change the shape of the probe to get a better reflection.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000028817-instancing-geogroups

In order to check the performance of your scene the best tool to view this is the Diagnostics Window, you can open this by pressing Ctrl + D, this will you show you a number of useful bits of information including the frame rate (displayed as hz), Cull/Draw, Prims and Models currently being drawn and Memory Usage among others. If you are seeing a low number in the timings then your scene will be performing poorly, ideally you want your scene running at 60hz, though anything above 30 will be acceptable when using a headset. If you are not using a headset you may not see smooth movement below 30hz and it may be somewhat jittery. The cull/draw refers to the two main time consuming tasks that the computer has to do when rendering the 3D scene. The cull is figuring out what objects can be ignored as they aren't able to be seen, the draw is instructing the GPU which objects need to be rendered. The numbers by the cull/draw shows the time taken to complete these tasks in milliseconds. If you are seeing that the cull is taking a long time it will be worth using Overlapped Culling to see if this improves performance.Batches shows the number of commands to draw a mesh that have been issued to the GPU, this means it's the number of meshes in all of the visible objects in the scene, however it is then reduced when instancing is used to draw multiple copies of a mesh in one command, you can refer to Instancing Geogroups to try and lower your number of batches. For further information on the Diagnostics window you can refer to the Visionary Render Manual. To learn techniques to improve your scene performance please see the following pages: Checking Your ModelsCoverage LODOverlapped Culling and Occlusion CullingLighting ShadowsHide HelpersHigh Dynamic Range, Ambient Occlusion and Screen Space Reflections SettingsInstancing GeogroupsManaging Geogroups

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000028822-checking-your-models

If your scene is performing badly it may be beneficial to look into how your models are effecting the scene. By going to the Browser tab, filtering by models and setting the view to List you can sort the models in your scene by IPrims. Searching by IPrims will let you judge weather the total instances of a model are causing an excessive amount of primitives to be drawn. If you think that too many primitives have been drawn by the instances of the model there are some things that you can try to reduce this value:Try re-importing the part/ model after changing the importer settings to reduce the quality of the import by specifying the tessellation drop down or change the chord height. Note that different importers may have different settings that you will need to change due to the nature of each file format.Optimise the model in the models properties under the Geometry OperatorsIf you find that the scene is taking too long to load or that the file size is unusually large for the content of the scene you may also want to delete any unused assets. This can be done by going to the Browser tab, filtering by models and clicking the Delete Unused Assets option

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000028820-scene-lod

To improve the performance of a scene you can apply a Scene LOD which will allow you to specify when objects in the scene will stop being drawn based on the distance from the object.To make a Scene LOD Right Mouse Click on a node in the Scenes tree and go to Create > Level of Detail. Type image caption here (optional)In the properties of the SceneLOD you have created you can specify the in and out distances at which points the objects will be visible. In the example below the Objects under the SceneLOD node will stop being drawn when they are over 10 metres away from the user.Once you have created the SceneLOD node you can place any objects you want to be effected by the scene LOD under the SceneLOD node.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000028814-hide-helpers

Helpers and the Animation Sequencer Keyframe Visuals can be disabled to assist in freeing up resources, firstly the helpers can be affected via the Toolbox by going to the highlighted icon, by right clicking on this icon you can show the full list of options as shown below. To disable the Keyframe Visuals go into your Settings (F6) then select the Animation Sequence option on the left. Once there go to the 3D View tab and untick the Enabled property, this will remove the red orbs denoting the keyframes, but leave the line that shows the animation path.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000017381-simple-transform-link-functionality

To link the movements of an object to another object in a scene you will need to create a transform link. A transform link will force one object to follow another.To create a transform link select the slave object and within the developer tab, right click and choose Create > View/Tracking Nodes > Transform link. Type image caption here (optional) In the properties of transform link you have created set the source to the master object and set the target to the slave object. You can now move the empty assembly around in space to position the slave object wherever you want in relation to the master object while still maintaining the link of the master moving the slave.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000068147-2022-1-release-notes

Thank you for downloading Visionary Render 2022.1. This release introduces new features and addresses various issues reported by customers. Key changesSplines and spline helpersThe editing of splines has been improved in Visionary Render through the addition of spline helpers in the scene. Spline helpers are rendered by default and allow you to more easily adjust the shape of the spline. We have also made various improvements and fixes to tube splines and added support for gradients that show the curvature of the spline.The user manual has been updated to include a new chapter on splines and spline helpers. Improved Revit importerThe import method for Revit files has been revised. Revit models are now imported with greater fidelity to ensure that imported data structures are faithful to the input. The Revit manual has been updated to include descriptions of the new importer properties.Cluster installationInstalling Visionary Render on a cluster is now easier to achieve as you no longer have to manually install the MSVC (Microsoft Visual C++) redistributable libraries on slave machines. The Visionary Render installer provides an option for the redistributable libraries on the master to be shared with the slave machines.Resolved issuesDefects, or bugs, are an unfortunate, but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis we work hard to maintain and improve the quality of our codebase and resolve as many reported issues as we can, as quickly as we can. We have identified and resolved 7 issues as part of our internal testing for the 2022.1 release. This number includes the 2 customer issues detailed in the below table.

We’re pleased to announce the release of Virtalis Reach 2022.3. This release has seen us focus on enhancing the experience for those accessing immersive visualisations via standalone head mounted displays.What’s new?We have taken the opportunity this release to focus in on the performance of Virtalis Reach, particularly for those users accessing visualisations via standalone head mounted displays. Users of these devices will notice a marked improvement in the visual fidelity delivered by Virtalis Reach while still achieving the high frame rates appropriate for a comfortable immersive visualisation.These improvements represent a first step toward further enhancements with respect to performance and scaling that will allow organisations to run vast visualisations with huge numbers of concurrent users in collaboration.

We’re pleased to announce the release of Virtalis Reach 2022.2. This release has seen us focus on enhancing the experience for those accessing immersive visualisations via standalone head mounted displays.What’s new?We have taken the opportunity this release to focus in on the performance of Virtalis Reach, particularly for those users accessing visualisations via standalone head mounted displays. Users of these devices will notice a marked improvement in the visual fidelity delivered by Virtalis Reach while still achieving the high frame rates appropriate for a comfortable immersive visualisation.These improvements represent a first step toward further enhancements with respect to performance and scaling that will allow organisations to run vast visualisations with huge numbers of concurrent users in collaboration.

We’re pleased to announce the release of Virtalis Reach 2022.4. The new feature in this release is the ability to cancel in-progress jobs in the Hub.What’s new?Job cancellation gives you a greater degree of control over the Virtalis Reach Hub. Waiting for long translations that were uploaded in error or automatically triggered jobs whose results are expected to be superseded can waste precious time and be frustrating. The new cancellation feature allows authorised users to cancel in-progress jobs which enables waiting tasks to be processed sooner and increases productivity.In addition to the cancellation button, the mechanism by which completed publishing jobs can be viewed from the job list has been streamlined with the addition of a view button. This replaces the previous behaviour of clicking on the job card.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000062939-customer-advisory

Important information concerning Virtalis Reach and CVE-2021-44228 Log4jYou are receiving this email because you currently subscribe to or are evaluating Virtalis Reach.A critical security vulnerability CVE-2021-44228 Log4j has been identified in a common, third-party software component which is used by Virtalis Reach. This security vulnerabilty may, in some circumstances, enable a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code within the containers on your Virtalis Reach server.The scope of any unauthorized activity will be limited by the Kubernetes network policy for Virtalis Reach and the strict access controls which are not affected. Nevertheless Virtalis consider this vulnerability to be critical and in need of urgent attention.Required actionYou should should install or upgrade your installation to 2021.5.If you are installing Virtalis Reach for the first time at version 2021.5, then you should follow the steps in the setup and configuration guide only.www.virtalis.com/chapter/deploying-virtalis-reach-on-a-kubernetes-clusterIf you are upgrading to version 2021.5 from a previous release, then you should follow the upgrade instructions:Upgrading Virtalis Reach from Version 2021.4.0 to 2021.5.0 | Virtalis Reach Help If you have deployed the monitoring stack then you should upgrade it by following the "Set up the deployment shell" and "Installing Elasticsearch, Kibana, Filebeat" sections in the "Deploying The Monitoring Service Stack" guide.Deploying The Virtalis Reach Monitoring Service Stack | Virtalis Reach Help If you have LogStash installed, but are not using it for any other service, then it can be uninstalled without impacting your Virtalis Reach installation.Otherwise you should disable it, or update Logstash to v7.16.1. To disable Logstash:.To update Logstash:LogStash will no longer be installed with Virtalis Reach, so if you still require it you must manually install future updates to this service.More informationDetailed information regarding CVE-2021-44228 can be found here NVD - CVE-2021-44228 If you have questions please contact Virtalis Support.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000058782-restart-database-if-projects-are-unable-to-be-published

If you are unable to publish new projects then you may be experiencing a very rare bug where a database is stuck. You will still be able to import assets, however new projects will be stuck attempting to publish forever. In order to restart the database you use the following command:

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000060727-virtalis-reach-automated-backup-guide

We recommend that you go through our “Automated Backup” guide and set it up.Once that is done take a manual backup of the cluster state (the whole Reach namespace as a minimum) using Velero and also take a manual backup of the databases that we list using our provided solution.After a while, all the <inline-code>-triggered-backup-<inline-code> jobs should show up as CompletedQuery the list of snapshotsThe output should look something like this with the status of all snapshots showing as CompletedNAMESTATUSIDCREATIONDATEartifact-binary-store-minio-1614596088Completed62e1a3a32021-03-01T10:54:48Zartifact-store-neo4j-core-1614596081Completed6ae45b162021-03-01T10:54:41Zjob-db-mysql-master-1614596084Completed944321c72021-03-01T10:54:44Zkeycloak-db-mysql-master-1614596084Completed468e81a12021-03-01T10:54:44Zvrdb-binary-store-minio-1614596088Completed729ae2192021-03-01T10:54:48Zvrdb-store-neo4j-core-1614596083Completed1c2e7bee2021-03-01T10:54:43Z‍Once you are happy to move on, delete the completed job pods

Thank you for downloading Visionary Render 2022.2. The focus for this release has been on making ergonomic design decisions easier through the introduction of the manikin functionality. The notable new feature is the ability to create a fully rigged manikin directly in a scene. The manikin is rigged with a series of interconnected bones which allows the user to control the human model as needed. Manikins can easily be positioned into relevant and representative poses through the use of inverse and forward kinematics. Manikin bones can also be individually scaled in order to approximate relevant anthropometric measurements and datasets.Key changesCreate a manikinUsers can now create a 1:1 scale manikin directly in a Visionary Render scene.Inverse Kinematics (IK) targets for posingUsers will find it easy to control the position and rotation of various body parts of the manikin by manipulating IK targets. When the user moves a selected IK target, the target and the manikin limbs will respond by moving accordingly.Forward Kinematics (FK) for fine-grained controlToggling IK mode off, in the manikin properties panel, allows users to individually control the bone rotations in order to get precise poses and movements captured in the scene. The fingers of the manikin are articulated and can be simply controlled by default where all fingers follow a parent bone helper. Fingers can also be controlled separately at each individual joint.Manikin colour propertiesEdit the colours for hair, skin, and clothing to allow for easy identification and matching of the manikin to the intended scene.Individual bone scalingThe total height (in metres) of the manikin can be adjusted to match a design specification. Furthermore each bone can be individually scaled in order to correspond to anthropometric data being worked with.Body segment thickness adjustmentsControl the scale thickness of individual body segments to get a more representative model.Constraints and ranges of motionPose the manikin easily within physically plausible and human-like limits. The ranges of motion on all joints are constrained and based on real human ranges of motion.Enhanced measurement toolObtain accurate manikin measurements. The measurement tool updates with live values as manikin bone lengths are scaled. Compare individual measurements with your source data directly to create representative models in your scene.Adding tools to manikinEasily drag tools, PPE, and other accessories to the manikin as sub-assemblies of hands, head, feet, etc. These accessories will naturally follow the IK targets as they move and allow you to pose and arrange your manikin just as you need it.Position at body in immersive modeRapidly place the manikin at the user’s position in the scene while retaining any IK or FK pose adjustments that have been made.Directional light helper updatedThe directional light helper has been changed to clearly demonstrate the direction of the light. The user manual has been updated to show the new helper.User ManualThe user manual has been updated to include a new chapter on manikins and manikin helpers. The chapter includes tips and examples of how to easily pose the manikin.Known LimitationManikin animation: In the current release, while both bone and target nodes can be added to the animation sequencer, only targets can be animated. This method may give unreliable results and is best used for uncomplicated animations.Resolved issuesDefects, or bugs, are an unfortunate, but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis we work hard to maintain and improve the quality of our codebase and resolve as many reported issues as we can, as quickly as we can. We have identified and resolved 7 issues as part of our internal testing for the 2022.2 release. This number includes the 1 customer issue detailed in the below table.‍

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000059773-threads-are-not-associated-with-objects-in-the-scene-and-will-remain-when-objects-aren-t-there

Threads and comments are not connected to assemblies at the moment.If you create a thread on an assembly in a scene then publish an updated scene without that assembly, the marker, thread and any associated comments will remain.This is also the case if the object is hidden - going to comments mode will show the marker in the scene.This is most noticeable in sparse scenes when markers look like they are not attached to anything and the thread has the name of an assembly.

Visionary RenderThank you for downloading Visionary Render 2022.1. This release introduces new features and addresses various issues reported by customers. Key changesSplines and spline helpersThe editing of splines has been improved in Visionary Render through the addition of spline helpers in the scene. Spline helpers are rendered by default and allow you to more easily adjust the shape of the spline. We have also made various improvements and fixes to tube splines and added support for gradients that show the curvature of the spline.The user manual has been updated to include a new chapter on splines and spline helpers. Improved Revit importerThe import method for Revit files has been revised. Revit models are now imported with greater fidelity to ensure that imported data structures are faithful to the input. The Revit manual has been updated to include descriptions of the new importer properties.Cluster installationInstalling Visionary Render on a cluster is now easier to achieve as you no longer have to manually install the MSVC (Microsoft Visual C++) redistributable libraries on slave machines. The Visionary Render installer provides an option for the redistributable libraries on the master to be shared with the slave machines.Resolved issuesDefects, or bugs, are an unfortunate, but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis we work hard to maintain and improve the quality of our codebase and resolve as many reported issues as we can, as quickly as we can. We have identified and resolved 7 issues as part of our internal testing for the 2022.1 release. This number includes the 2 customer issues detailed in the below table.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000060307-error-starting-xr-device

If chrome displays 'Error starting XR Device' you will need to press the Windows key and type RegEdit and open the Registry Editor. From here expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and then expand SOFTWARE. Under software seach for Khronos, expand this, below should be OpenXR, expand this, below should be a folder named 1. Any folders below the one named 1 should be deleted. Next in 1 folder you should see a registry named ActiveRuntime. Double click this to edit it and replace it with the one of the following, select the one that is relevant to the headset you'll be using(drive):\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SteamVR\steamxr_win64.jsonC:\\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\MixedRealityRuntime.json C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime\oculus_openxr_64.jsonIf using a wired Oculus device you are able to also set this via Oculus Home by going in to settings, then the General tab and clicking the 'Set Oculus as active' on the OpenXR Runtime setting.

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000058712-installing-a-tls-cert-in-kubernetes

If you have a certificate and key and want to replace the self-signed certificate on the server you can use the command line‍

https://support.virtalis.com/support/solutions/articles/75000058711-getting-logs-from-reach

To help diagnose issues it may be required to gather the status of the cluster and also the logs. This can be done with the following commands:Get a list of all running podsGet all pod logs and dump them to a file

Visionary RenderThank you for downloading Visionary Render 2022.1. This release introduces new features and addresses various issues reported by customers. Key changesSplines and spline helpersThe editing of splines has been improved in Visionary Render through the addition of spline helpers in the scene. Spline helpers are rendered by default and allow you to more easily adjust the shape of the spline. We have also made various improvements and fixes to tube splines and added support for gradients that show the curvature of the spline.The user manual has been updated to include a new chapter on splines and spline helpers. Improved Revit importerThe import method for Revit files has been revised. Revit models are now imported with greater fidelity to ensure that imported data structures are faithful to the input. The Revit manual has been updated to include descriptions of the new importer properties.Cluster installationInstalling Visionary Render on a cluster is now easier to achieve as you no longer have to manually install the MSVC (Microsoft Visual C++) redistributable libraries on slave machines. The Visionary Render installer provides an option for the redistributable libraries on the master to be shared with the slave machines.Resolved issuesDefects, or bugs, are an unfortunate, but inevitable occurrence in any software product. At Virtalis we work hard to maintain and improve the quality of our codebase and resolve as many reported issues as we can, as quickly as we can. We have identified and resolved 7 issues as part of our internal testing for the 2022.1 release. This number includes the 2 customer issues detailed in the below table.

Release notes for Virtalis Reach 2023.1, including new hand menu, onboarding tutorial, restore tool, support for Pico 4 and more.

Thank you for downloading Visionary Render 2023.2. This release concentrates on three key areas. First, for HoloLens 2 users, we are thrilled to announce an exciting new step forward with Visionary Render’s Augmented Reality (AR) capability in our latest update. Our new AR marker tracking capability will allow you to foster easier communication in training and design reviews, as well as manipulate complex models by integrating real-world objects with their augmented reality counterparts. This new feature broadens the scope for dynamic layout planning, interactive ‘X-Ray’ views, and enhanced engineering design reviews. Collaborate in real-time with team members and share immersive AR views of projects to streamline your project execution.Second, we have continued with our key theme of delivering performance enhancements and have some welcome contributions that will see smaller file sizes, more efficient memory usage, and improved rendering quality.Third, we have addressed several issues reported by customers and implemented key fixes to ensure a better experience with Visionary Render.This release also sees the welcome addition of a brand new Autodesk Navisworks importer. You can import various data that have been exported from Navisworks directly into Visionary Render, saving time and preventing possible feature loss.Key changesHoloLens 2 AR MarkersWe've added new capabilities for aligning virtual objects to real-world locations using the HoloLens 2. By scanning QR code markers placed around your physical environment, you can precisely match the position of 3D models to those markers seen through your headset. This allows entire scenes or individual components to be overlaid onto real objects and locations. As you move around, the virtual content stays fixed to the appropriate marker points. Multiple users with headsets can independently align to the same markers for collaborative AR experiences. Whether prototyping designs, training personnel, or staging virtual events, you can now seamlessly integrate 3D content with the real world.Further to this, our HoloLens implementation in Visionary Render now uses the OpenXR standard as default and this ensures stability, performance, and ease of update in the future.Performance improvementsYou'll notice quicker load times when working with VRNative and VRText files after updating to this release. We've made some changes to reduce the file size and loading times for these files. Now, when you save a file, it will automatically omit any default values, resulting in smaller files with less redundant information. This means faster loading of files without any change to their functionality.In addition to that, we've improved how the physics system handles complex 3D models to make it more memory efficient. Previously, certain detailed models could cause the physics memory use to balloon up and slow things down. We've tweaked the values so now those complex models take up much less memory. This enables the loading and simulation of larger and more detailed scenes without incurring excessive memory costs. If you work with detailed CAD models or scanned objects then you will notice a performance boost.Quality of life updatesYou can now add both male and female manikins directly to the gallery.The visual quality of the immersive GUI has been improved when using a HMD. Previously, the GUI could appear flickery and distorted when moving your head in VR. We've optimised the settings to reduce aliasing while keeping text and icons looking sharp. The immersive GUI now remains crisp and readable even when moving around in VR, improving usability and visual comfort.Importer updatesA new Autodesk Navisworks importer (2012-2024) is now available. We have optimised the memory usage specifically during the metadata import process from various file formats. Metadata structures are now also more faithfully preserved on import. You may also notice a faster import speed with several of our importers based on a key update to our importer system.We are pleased to announce that this update also includes support for Simplified Representations (Simple Reps) for the PTC Creo importer. This focused implementation enhances the way in which views within CAD scenes are managed and interacted with.