studio 2.0a-b/animate 5.0a-b

It's hard to know where to begin! There are so many new, modified, and enhanced things in this version of messiah that it's practically a new program. For starters, before any new features were put in, we listened to all of you and fixed bugs, and, more importantly, modified and enhanced the existing features to make them better and easier to work with. For example, a lot of work was done on the Dope Sheet and Shader Flow (for those of you with messiah:studio). When you first run this version, the changes might not be very apparent, but the more you use it, the more you'll be surprised (unless, of course, you thoroughly read this list and the rest of the docs like you should. )

Here is a spotlight of the key new and updated features: (Use the Back button to get back here if you click on any of the links.)

messiah:animate 5.0a & messiah:studio 2.0a (Click here for 5.0b and 2.0b)

New & Enhanced Effects/Effects Tools:

Bulge - Bulge is sort of a Curve-based version of Spherize or Bloat. Can you say "muscles?" (I hope so; it's not a very hard word.) Anyway, Bulge is great for building up complex muscle systems, especially when using Squash & Stretch.
Curve - Now a full Weight Tool. Plus it has squash & stretch capabilities and supports image maps for weight projection, and much more.
MetaWeight - A Weight Tool that lets you combine various weight tools, creating a customized weight field.
Xform - A transformation effect that allows you to control points (on Curves) or motion. Xform acts like the parent to any item it is targeted to, regardless of where it might be in the hierarchy.
Procedural - Now a full Weight Tool. What this means is that you can use a procedural shape (there are currently 7 kinds) as a weight field. Think of them like custom MetaEffectors. You can even combine and mix & match them using the new Xform effect.
AutoRig - Bigger and better... now with quadruped support!

New & Enhanced Features:

Direct X Export - Export your scenes to the popular Direct X format. If you are creating games, this is for you!
Animate Immediate - This new option lets you just click-drag items in the World View without first having to select them. It really lets you work faster than the select, click-drag method. Perhaps it's not as glamorous as Onionskin or Displacement, but along with the new Item List Filtering feature, and Pose System, it's probably going to be the most useful new tool in the animation portion of messiah. I find it to be especially wonderful for moving Curve Points around. Animate Immediate is accessed from the Animate tab context menu.
Pose System - Imagine this: You get your character into a great pose -- perhaps it's a facial animation pose, perhaps it's the whole body. Whatever it is, it's something you're going to want to use again and again as you animate. Now imagine that you could give a quick right-click, give the pose a name, and save it... and then retrieve it at any time with another quick right-click. Now stop imagining and go try messiah's fantastic Pose system!
Onionskin - An amazingly full-featured onionskinning module. Check it out-- it's really too much for a little blurb like this!
Draw Modes - A ton of new OpenGL draw modes are available
Context Menus - Each of the context menus on the main tabs has been updated, giving you even faster access to messiah's various tools. For example, change onionskin settings, create & modify Groups (character Groups), record previews, bake Key ranges, etc. (Many of the sub-tabs have context menus too, like in Compose and especially Render.)
World Menu - Right-click in the World View (when you have this feature active) and it will bring up the World Menu. This will let you do things like Undo, Redo, Delete, Copy and Mirror objects, Store custom views, etc. There's so much more it can do you'll just have to check it out for yourself, but the big thing is that it is where you access the new Pose system. More about that below.
Enhanced Dope Sheet - We've listened to suggestions from all of you and have even thrown in some more of our own! There's scrolling, easy copying, it's easier to work with multiple items, and WAV files draw on the Dope Sheet for easier synching.
Greatly Enhanced Multi-Item Editing - It's easier than ever now to work with multiple items throughout the program.
Armatures - Loads of new commands! Yes, even more things work with armatures! Even things like Item List filtering (see below)!
Item List Filtering - Those of you who used the old plug-in version of messiah (project:messiah) may remember the Hide feature. Well, it's back, and with a vengeance! Not only do you have the ability to hide all locked items, like in the old version, but you can choose specific Groups to be visible or hidden! So with one click you can limit the Item List to, say, only facial controls, or only IK controls, specific characters, etc. You're pretty much unlimited in what you can do. And of course, just as you'd expect, you can use Armatures (custom on-screen buttons) and even keyboard shortcuts to control the filtering! Note: Drag-and-drop parenting is disabled while Item List Filtering is on. This is to prevent hierarchy structure problems.
Item List Value Editing - When you are in Animate mode (Animate tab) you can edit the values for keyframes directly in the Item List, just like changing the name of an item.
Compose - A Start and End feature has been added to allow clip instances to use a specific portion of a clip.
Tension, Bias, Continuity Shortcuts - By popular demand! In the Motion Graph: Tension: CTRL drag on the keyframe. Bias: SHIFT drag on the keyframe. Continuity: CTRL-SHIFT drag on the keyframe.
BVH (Mocap) to Motion Clip - Load BVH motion capture data directly as a motion clip. This is useful if you are doing a show with a lot of mocap scenes. It allows you to instantly bring the data in and apply it in Compose.
Tablet Support! - Tablet Support! All of you tablet users will be happy to hear that messiah now has full Tablet Support!
Slow-Motion - When this is off, the animation will play at the FPS that you have set, even if that means it will have to skip frames. When it is on, you can set a slow-motion speed by setting a hold time for each frame. This is extremely useful for fine-tuning.
WAV File Offset - By popular demand! Now you can offset the start of a WAV file. No more sound editing program tomfoolery to adjust the start time!
Generate Previews With Audio - The entire preview system has been rewritten from the ground-up to provide more functionality. Previews can now be saved in a much wider variety of formats (such as DivX), and with audio! You can also set the size of the preview instead of it using the World View size.
Customizable Config Path - Previous versions of messiah were hard-coded to look for your system's Temp directory in order to place its own temp directory within it. Now you can set an environment variable in your operating system to set your desired location for messiah's temp directory. This will eliminate problems with lost configs and other data when system cleaning your system's Temp directory.
3D Studio Max 6 support - The host connection has been updated to the current version of 3D Studio Max.
Python Scripting Support - Like the Python scripting language? Good, because now you can use it with messiah!
Massively Enhanced Program API - Take a look at everything that's been added!
Plus tons of miscellaneous enhancements, such as Slider pinning so you can keep sliders on-screen even when another item is selected. Another good one is that you now can save the messiah config any time, not just when exiting. To see everything, look farther down this page, or click here to get there.

messiah:studio Only:

Displacement - Better than bump maps! Displace lets you add dimensional detail to your models. (And you can set the detail level too!) Displacement is set up on the Object block. There are two settings, one to turn it on, and one to set the subdivision level.
Improved Sub-Surface Scattering - Using the new BasicShader, you can create stunning sub-surface scattering effects, even with soft-shadowing backlights!
Faster Global Illumination - Renders up to 20 times faster on scenes that have multiple objects and that use any Global Illumination rendering.
Reflection/Refraction Threshold - These two new threshold settings (on the Quality block) can dramatically decrease render times when using reflection and/or refraction.
New Geometry Rendering Options - Choose from one of four ways for the renderer to interpret the geometry. This is on the Object block.
Vastly Improved TrueBump - More accurate and better looking.
Gradient Control - Fresnel power can be used to flatten or exaggerate the gradient spread calculated by camera fresnel.
Lights Settings - Specularity and Diffuse settings per light and per surface.
Light Materials - Lights can use materials, just like a surface can. In essence you are "illuminating textures" on the object. (This is different than the spotlight projection maps.) So now you can texture lights!
Texture Map Control - Use Curves and Procedural weight tools to control the mapping of a texture map. You are no longer limited to standard Planar, Cylinder, Cubic, UV, etc. types.
Render Groups - Group models and/or lights and control the rendering of the entire group at once. Apply materials to every item in a group-- with the ability to override those materials on a per-surface basis. Not only that, but you can bring lights into a Render Group and they will only affect the models within the group!
Sync Object Selection - Automatically select objects or lights by selecting them (or one of their surfaces) in the Surfaces List.
Improved Motion Blur & New Settings - Motion blur has been upgraded. And a Blur Factor has been added. The Blur Factor is essentially the camera shutter speed. These controls are on the Quality block.
Improved Material/Shader Library - Easily store and retrieve shaders and materials (with previews). The Palette has been improved to allow for directories, so now it's easier to keep everything organized, either by types or by projects (or both, of course).
Streamlined Shader Flow - The Shader Flow system has been completely rewritten to be easier and significantly faster to work with. Improvements include easier copying/pasting, previews for each node (of any input or output), easier navigation, and much more.
Shader Node Previews - It's cool enough to deserve its own line... Every node can have a preview of any of its inputs or outputs. This makes it easy to see exactly how the final material is being built up.
Weight Tool Integration - Curves and Procedurals can be used in texturing. Besides Texture Maps, weights can be used with WeightSpot.
Eye Shader - The DollsEyes shader will let you create almost any eye you want. (Except the eye in Team.)
New Noise Shader - The Noisette shader is great for things like lava and clouds. With two examples like that you can imagine how versatile this is!
ColorCorrection Shader - Adjust Hue, Saturation, Brightness, and Contrast for any input (such as texture maps). You can also Pinch, or "shift" the color toward a specific color.
Image Filters - The image filter system is in place. Image filters are sort of like an overlay over the render. Check out the FilterTest shader!
Particle Rendering - Particles can be rendered as sprites or metablobs. Of course you can still attach objects to the particles too, to have custom particles.
Massively Enhanced Render API - Now you have even more control when you write shaders and shaderscripts! Click here for the list.

Notes for messiah:animate 5.0b and messiah:studio 2.0b:

Features & Modifications
- SetupRestRecord rest for multi-selections - You can set the rest position for multiple items when using the Record feature.
- Change SetupRestXForm setting for multi-selections - You can change the XForm setting on the Rest block for multiple items.
Fixes
- Crash when rendering for the first time
- Image sequences load properly
- Crash when adding a new light in rendermode
- Audio path saves/loads properly
- Audio plays when loaded with scene
- Crash when changing audio offset when no audio is loaded
- Texture updates properly when using a curve map tool
- Transparency occlusion is fixed
- Crash in the AA pass with certain resolutions
- AutoRig (the original) works properly (has Bone_Deform effect, so it will affect the mesh)
- Shadow problem when transparent object with Transmissive is set and that object is sent to the renderer before the shadow.

What follows here is the "one-liner" rev notes with all of the new stuff and enhancements. It's a very long list, but it's a good idea to look over the whole thing at least once if you've already used messiah before. The first couple of sections (a & b) deal with the renderer, so if you are a messiah:animate user and want to skip that stuff, click here.

Program

Features & Modifications

a. Render

Faster Renders
- Renders up to 20 times faster on scenes that have multiple objects and that use any Global Illumination rendering.
Material
- Setting surface thickness on the material without translucency turned on will give your object a simple sub lighting effect , which will soften it's appearance. This effect is controllable by attaching a shader to that input. (Example: paint a map that represents the skin thickness of a face where the fattier and thinner parts are, and attach it through the texture map shader to the surface thickness input)
- The NORMAL input (surface normal) of the material is active now and can except a shader or normal map to control the surface normals.
- Opacity now respects it's input shaders and blends to what's behind it if it's set on the first material, like a dissolve.
- Translucency has Scattering options (F3):
  - Isotropic
  - Rayleigh
  - MIE Hazy
- Materials have a red "x" in the material tray if they're not attached to any surfaces
- The RADIANCE input is now active.
- There are now 2 Material types.
  - Standard Shading: use this type when you want to allow the internal shading/lighting system to be used. This is the default setting.
  - Custom Shading: use this type when you want to bypass internal shading/lighting in order to use other shaders to perform those operations. You'd connect your illumination shaders to the RADIANCE input.
Plugin shaders
- Now have functions to call to access P, PL (local position) N, Ng and to set u and v, when writing shaders instead of accessing the shader globals directly. This allows us to optimize and make sure that variables are only updated if they are needed by a shader, and that when they are requested, they are up to date.
Particles (Experimental)
- The particle effect can now be rendered. You can choose how its geometry will appear by the render geometry popup in Render->Surfaces->Objects (F3) block. Its default is sprite, which will render a UV (only) Texturemap if attached to the particle effects surface. You can also choose metaballs.
- Randomized particle size
Objects
- Render geometry option lets you choose how an object's polygons will render.
  - Pre Generated Polygons - The object will be converted into polygons or sub polys if it's being displaced.
  - Parametric (Low RAM) - object will convert to polys as needed during rendering.
  - Sprites for Polygons - Each polygon is turned into a sprite and renders as a flat square that faces the incoming ray
  - Metablob for Polygons - Each polygon is turned as a metaball.
- Objects that are in a hierarchy should render faster.
- Objects can be excluded from the Color and/or Alpha buffers (Render->Surfaces->Object block - F3)
Displacement
- This displacement has an advantage in that it doesn't require as high of a sublevel to achieve a good look. Even low res sublevels of 1 or 2 create complex looking geometry and render surprisingly fast. A sublevel of 0.0 will displace the object using it's current number of polygons if the object is already sufficiently high in polys.
- Displacement is on if the displacement control in the Render->Surfaces->Object (F3) block is set to 1.0.
- Displacement amount is controlled through the Bump channel on the material. When displacement is active, the Bump channel value represents the maximum allowed displacement and will be multiplied by whatever value a shader sends to that input. A shader attached to Bump should send values between 0.0 and 1.0 to vary the height, and those values will be scaled by the value in the Bump channel control in the material's interface. Subdivision level for the displacement object is controlled from the Render->Surfaces->Object (F3) block.
Bump mapping
- Has a new algorithm and will use the Bump channel in the material's interface as a maximum height value.
Metanurbs
- Now uses the sub level control in Render->Surfaces->Object (F3) block. Allows user to set the sublevel for rending metanurbs which can be different from what is used for displaying them during animating.
- Allows you to use both pre generated polygons or low ram type.
- Metanurb seam artifacts when points don't share 4 polygons (mathematical problem of continuity, not a bug) have been controlled through an experimental routine, but only when rendering the object using pre gen polys mode.
- Metanurbs renders faster.
Gradient
- Fresnel power can be used to flatten or exaggerate the gradient spread calculated by camera fresnel.
Lights
- Specular and Diffuse Intensity Channels
- Shadow Map
- Light Masters's ambient is computed
- Light Materials

Surfaces
- Can exclude lights per-surface for Specular and/or Diffuse (Render->Surfaces->Lights block)
Transparency and Reflection Thresholds. Render->Settings->Quality (F3)
Translucency Shader
TextureMap
- Tool Mapping Type: use Procedurals and Curve objects for mapping
- Spot AntiAliasing
- Flip U/V (F3)
- Supports image sequences
- NORMAL Map (F3)
Render->Surfaces
- Lights are now available in this list
- List has been updated to show group colors, and modified to be more consistent with the general system.
- List item expand/collapse state is saved (same for the Materials List)
RenderGroups - (Render->Surfaces menu)
- This is a hierarchical render-object grouping & management system.
  - Group Render On/Off
  - Group Dissolving
  - Semi-Global Materials
  - Light Localization

Menus
- Render Mode Tab
  - Render Preview
  - Render Frame(s)
  - Update Current Sample
  - Update All Samples
  - Stop All Rendering
  - Reset All Render Params
  - Store All Render Params As Default
- Render->Surfaces
  - New RenderGroup
  - Sync Object Selection
- Render->Materials - most options are also available when right clicking a material in the tray
  - Save Material...
  - Load Material...
  - Copy Material
  - Delete Material
  - Delete Unused Materials
  - Auto Delete Unused Materials
  - Select Material Target Objects
  - Remove Material From All Surfaces
- Render->Settings
  - Save Render Settings...
  - Load Render Settings...
  - Reset Render Settings
  - Use Current Settings As Default
AA & MotionBlur
- Added Enhanced AA to motion blur rendering
- Added AA Pattern choice
- Added a Blur Fraction value to control the shutter percentage for motion blur.
Organized Palettes

b. Render->Materials->ShaderFlow

ShaderFlow Bar Removed
Scrollbars Removed
- Drag Nodes - you can now drag the nodes in the synoptic view
Alt-Drag Viewport
Changed i/o colors so the most common types are easily distinguished
Menus (right click)
- ShaderFlow area
  - New Shader
  - Copy Current Shader
  - Copy Current Shader Branch
  - Paste Shader
  - Delete Current Shader
- ShaderNode header or preview area
  - Store ShaderNode...
  - Preview Input/Output
  - Deactivate Preview
  - Set As Default Node Config
ShaderNode Preview
- Ctrl I/O Show
ShaderNode Palette (F5)
Commands
- Copy Shader
- Copy Shader Branch
- Paste Shader
- Delete Shader
ShaderNode Network Drag
Connection Node Selection
Node Resizing Control Highlights on Mouseover

c. New Tools & Tool Modifications

MetaWeight
Procedural
- Now a Weight tool
- All types are now drawn more efficiently
- Supports image maps for "weight projection"
- Can use partial shapes/volumes (hemisphere, etc) with animatable offsets
- Now has icons to represent each procedural type
- Cycle through the available types by middle clicking on the icon in the Item list
- Has Inverse Square falloff type in addition to the standard types for MetaEffector.
- Functions
  - ProceduralTypeSet/Get
Curve
- Curve Type (F3 on the Curve block)
  - Vector
  - Rail
- Squash & Stretch
- Supports image maps for "weight projection"
- Draw field - draws the curve as a parametric tube
- Modify Point radii in world view
- Function: GetCurveRestLength - get curve's length from Setup mode

d. New Effects & Effect Modifications

Bulge
- A kind of curve-based version of Spherize... only much more powerful, and it also modified motion.
XForm
- A transformation effect that allows you to control points or motion
- Transformation Value Weighting
- Affect Siblings
Particles
- Emission Velocity
- Better Drawing
- Basic Coloring

e. Customize->OnionSkin

A full-featured onionskin module.
- Type->Frames|Keys - onionskin layers can be based on Frame Step from the current frame, or from keys based on Keys Source (see below)
- Pre/Post Drawing - pre and post layering has separate options for:
  - World view drawing modes
  - Visibility & Falloff
  - Colorization (the tab control)
- Target
  - Current Item
  - Hierarchy
  - Primary Group
- Intersect Frame Objects - disables depth buffer clearing for the onionskin frames
- Keys Source (for Type->Keys mode) - this feature will determine what keys will be used to derive the onionskin frame times.
  - Current Target
  - Current Item
  - Pick Object
- Use Current Key Time
- Acetate - draws an overlay so that it's easier to isolate your objects
  - (none)
  - Under Target Objects
  - Over Target Objects
- Animate Mode Only - only allow onionskinning in Animate mode
- Show During Play - disable onionskin when animation is playing
- Select Frames - show selectable frame numbers at the bottom of the world view
- Modify current time - via dragging the current frame maker
- # Cache (Frames) - maximum number of frames that can be stored in RAM
- Commands
  - Onionskin On/Off
  - Onionskin Animate On/Off
  - Onionskin Play On/Off
  - Onionskin Selected
  - Onionskin Hierarchy
  - Onionskin Group
  - Onionskin Acetate Off
  - Onionskin Acetate Under
  - Onionskin Acetate Over
  - Onionskin During Play
  - Onionskin Vis Increase Pre
  - Onionskin Vis Increase Post
  - Onionskin Vis Decrease Pre
  - Onionskin Vis Decrease Post
  - Onionskin Vis Increase Both
  - Onionskin Vis Decrease Both
- Customize->Onionskin Menu
  - Activate
  - Available Only In Animate
  - Available During Play
  - Use Selected Items
  - Use Hierarchy
  - Use Primary Group
  - Show Acetate Under Targets
  - Show Acetate Over Targets

f. Setup->Groups

Keys Source (second column): this feature allows you to choose a group member that will be used as the main source for motion keys. Currently, it is used by OnionSkin to derive frame keys when in Type->Keys mode; it may also be used by other areas in the future.

g. OpenGL Drawing

Drawing Modes
- NONE
- BoundinBoxWire
- Points
- Edges
- Facet
- Facet_&_Edges
- Smooth
- Smooth_&_Edges
- SmoothWire
- Weight
- Weight_&_Edges
- WeightWire
- Flat
- Toon
- Anime
- Texture
- Texture_&_Edges
- TextureFlat
- TextureFlat_&_Edges
- TextureWire
- Texture_&_WeightWire
- Weight_&_TextureWire
- Line
MetaNURBS and Procedural are now compatible with the majority of drawing modes

h. World Menu

Delete Selected Objects
Copy Selected Objects
Mirror Selected Objects
- Local X Axis - this is the default internal setting in the current release
- Local Y Axis
- Local Z Azis
Filter Hidden List Items
Ghost Hidden List Items
Group
- New Group...
- Create Temp Group
- Add to Groups...
- Add to TempGroup...
- Remove from Group...
- Remove from TempGroup...
- Delete Empty Groups
- Select Group Members
- Select TempGroup Members
- Set As Keys Source - see (f.) above
- Primary Group - choose a primary group for the current item
- All Members Primary - sets the primary group of the current item as primary for all members
New Pose...
Paste Pose
DrawMode

i. ColorPicker Control: standard color control for use throughout the program.

Control Mode
- Sliders
- Swatches
  - Reset Swatches
  - Save Swatches As Default
  - Save Swatches
  - Load Swatches
  - Append Swatches
- Palette
RGB/HSV
Eyedropper mode - sample a color from anywhere on the interface

j. DopeSheet & DopeMaster

Scroll items with scrollbar and wheelmouse
Use Ctrl to copy dopemaster keys
Menu when selecting the Active Edit for Items
- Current Item
- Descendents
- Hierarchy
- Group - edit any group of which the current item is a member
  - All Associated Groups
  - Auto Primary Group
- All Items
- Use Item List
Audio wave now draws in the dopesheet
Select an item using the middle mouse button on the info bar
Can now set the Active Edit mode on Dopemaster even if the Dopesheet is inactive

k. Weight Draw List

Draw choice is saved
Defaults to Weight_&_Edges

l. Setup->Armature

Actions
- Run Expression & Execute Expression
change "column channel options" on multiple selected handles/actions
Drag Handle now compatible with the new coordinate system
"Get Item" button added to the Handle->Controller object popup
Add Controller Drag Action
Add Controller Select Action

m. Item Lists

ghosted icons in columns so it's easier to see that they should be clicked
Main List
- Edit channel values
- Popup control to choose visibility in the list
  - Remember Current Item
  - All Items
  - Unlocked Items
  - Locked Items
  - Primary Group
  - Associated Groups
  - TempGroup
  - Groups
- List visibility commands and functions
- List visibility is stored in the scene file
- Select drawing modes from menu when clicking in the first column
- New icons to represent drawmodes
- Access item menu by right-clicking on item
  - Delete Selected Objects
  - Copy Selected Object
  - Group (see above)

n. MotionDynamics: collision radius default = 0.01

o. World Views

"Remember" View Selection
Object & Camera view presets
Preset saving/loading with scenes
Slider tacking
Slider values

p. Graph

Range options for value limits
- Range
- Rang Selected Channels
Commands
- Graph VLimit Range
- Graph VLimit Range Channels
Uses the channel group setting for Copy/Paste
Motion channel keys are set as "editable" by default
TBC hotkeys
- Ctrl = tension
- Shift = bias
- Ctrl & Shift = continuity

q. Transform Key Range

Uses the Active Edit setting on the DopeMaster and respects the Channel Group setting
Copy keys
Repeat keys
Set the source and destination ranges interactively on the graph time bar

r. Copy Key Range

Set the source and destination ranges interactively on the graph time bar

s. Key/Range Edit Panels

Uses the Active Edit setting on the Dopemaster and respects the Channel Group setting

t. Compose

Multiselection is recognized when setting the controller object & channel for clip instance elements
Bake tracks & clip instances
Record
- Channel->Use Channel Group Settings
- Motion->
  - Local Keys
  - Bake Motion
  - Bake Computed Motion

u. Channel Group Editing Modes

Independent Channel : the current system
Independent Channel Group : the current system
Synchronized Channel : use the current channel for all items
Synchronized Channel group : use the current channel group for all items
Motion : use pos & rot only for all items
Object : use pos, rot, & scl for all items
Object All : use pos, rot, scl, & piv for all items
Extended : use all channels>piv for all items
All

v. Commands & Functions

Channel Group Commands
- ChanGroup Independent
- ChanGroup Group
- ChanGroup Sync
- ChanGroup Sync Group
- ChanGroup Motion
- ChanGroup Object
- ChanGroup Object All
- ChanGroup All
- ChanGroup Extended
- ChanGroup Cycle
- ChanGroup Cycle Non-Sync
World Navigation Commands
- World Zoom Increase Micro
- World Zoom Decrease Micro
- World Zoom Increase Macro
- World Zoom Decrease Macro
- World Dolly In Micro
- World Dolly Out Micro
- World Dolly In Macro
- World Dolly Out Macro
Key Edit Commands
- Scene Keys Flat Toggle
Functions
- SelectChannelItem
- SetCurObj
- PrintMessage, PrintWarning, PrintError
- PostMessage, PostWarning, PostError
- PostQuestion
- ProcessAbort
- SceneKeysFlat, SceneKeysFlatToggle, IsSceneKeysFlat

w. Image Control

Snapshot Tray
Popup menu
- Load Images...
- Reload Image
- Auto Reload Images
- Delete Image
- Delete All Images

x. BVH to MotionClip

Hierarchy with Embedded Motion
Hierarchy with MotionClip
MotionClip
MotionClip to Group
Create Bones

y. Animate Immediate mode (Animate menu)

Current Object is highlighted
Highlight objects on mouseover

Select an object with the left mouse button & drag immediately.

Commands
- Animate Immediate Off
- Animate Immediate On
- Animate Immediate On/Off
- Immediate All Off
- Immediate All On
- Immediate All On/Off
- Immediate Hightlight Off
- Immediate Highlight On
- Immediate Highlight On/Off

z. New Coordinate System - (fully operational now)

Local (has always been fully functional)
Parent (has always been fully functional, although it may be more predictable now)
World
Screen

aa. Tablet Support

ab. Pose - A System for Creating & Pasting Poses (World Menu) - (Experimental)

Usage:
1. Create a Group that consists of all the objects you'd like to be in the pose
2. In the world view right-click to access the world menu and go to "New Pose..."
3. When the panel is posted, enter a name for the new pose. If the current object belongs to multiple groups, you may need to select the target group in the list.
4. After you accept the parameters, a pose will be recorded for the current frame for that group.
5. To paste the pose, just go to the desired frame and access "Pose Paste" and choose the desired pose from the world menu.
6. After you've accepted the changes, the chosen pose will be created at the current frame

ac. Selection Parameter Edit/Undo

Edit params on multiple selected objects
Edit motion on multiple selected objects
Undo/Redo

ad. Transport & Playback

FPS/Frame Playback Options
"Animation FPS*" Commands
Left/Right Arrow keys Step
Transport buttons wider

ae. MidGray GUI Style

af. Image Data Formatting

ag. Customize->Wave Audio

Audio Offset
Relative Path

ah. Config & Path

messiah4.cfg
File->Save Config
MESSIAH_TEMP_PATH
File->Launch Docs...
Command->View Function List...

ai. Command->Expression

Get function and channel expressions into text buffer if no variables exist
Automatic variable creation

aj. Setup->New Item

ak. Play->Animation Preview

User defined resolution
Fit To World View
Smoothing & Smooth Level
Supports All Codecs
Remember Last Codec
Always Overwrite Existing File
Record Available Audio
Preroll From Frame 0
Auto Play
Commands
- Preview Record
- Preview Clear
- Preview On/Off
Play->menu
- Record Preview
- Clear Preview
- Activate Preview

Fixes

a. Render

bump map fixes
when a shaders is deleted the next available shader within that same material is selected
graph now shows the proper node/channel when selecting nodes in the shaderflow
TextureMap spherical & cylindrical mapping methods now function properly
Material Instance opacity now animates properly
Area lights now function with motion blur
Materials are properly attached to cloned objects
tabs are now used for Surfaces & Material Instances in Render->Surfaces
RenderMode controls no longer show up in other modes
Crash when rendering with an empty scene
Scaled lights now render properly
Lattice problem with MultiNoise fixed
Overall materials system is more stable
Detached shaders are now reloaded as detached (can't fix old scenes)
Fixed crash with the DOF filter
Fixed crash when closing render window on an animation that was rendering.
You can press F9 or F10 to render even if the renderwindow has focus
Particles crash when changing num particles
Transparent objects not respecting the Transparency options on Render->Object

b. Spotlight channels are now accessible from world view

c. Procedural resolution controls now update

d. Oscillate motion end behavior repeats properly with clip instances

e. Performing motion editing ops that result in "no motion" will no longer cause a crash

f. Copy Key Range->Use Hierarchies now updates properly when the interface is activated

g. Cells in the dopesheet no longer change when selecting one of multiple selected rows

h. Setup->Groups & RenderMode interfaces update properly when loading/clearing scenes

i. JPEGs that originate from digital cameras load properly

j. Animation playback is no longer affected by excessive keys

k. 16 bit grayscale images load properly

l. the 'unknown field tags' message that appears with some tiffs has been eliminated

m. Fixed crash when using Connected/All for Curve weights

n. ClipInstTime now functions properly

o. Drag Handle action no longer requires that you first use the edit sphere

p. Copyied procedurals and other types retains drawmodes

q. Sliders channels reset when using Reset All

r. Channel group settings update when Edit->Key/Frame is active

s. Layered objects are cloned properly

t. Replaced objects that have texture maps now draw properly

u. Changing the bypass on multiple selected Compose items now functions properly

v. Erase Range no longer crashes when editing a single channel

w. Crash when scaling curve points

x. Edit tcb on multiple keys that where directly selected

y. Dragging multiple selected cells in the dopesheet is fixed

API

Features & Modifications

- fxCC_ColorPicker & fxCR_ColorPicker (see messiah_gui.h for details)

- fxKeyExists

- fxKeyTimeGet

- fxKeyFrameGet

- fxGroupPrimarySet

- fxMeshPointWeight

- fxPluginPath - get your plugin's path

- fxConParam

- FX_OBJPATH_ABSOLUTE

- Greater protection against memory offsets when doing fxConArgSet/Get

- new base type: FX_VectorF

- alpha added to shader_globals

- spot_size, spot_aspect added to shader_globals (u_off and v_off removed)

- "Done" shader callback can now be set and is called. Macro added to shader.h

- Get object info from shader globals

fxShaderGlobalsObject
fxShaderGlobalsSubpoly
fxShaderGlobalsRay
fxShaderProcessInput
fxShaderConnectedInputs
fxShaderGlobalsLight
fxShaderRenderCheck

- Image Filters are now called

- Illumination funcs

fxGIType
fxSamplePatternCreate
fxSamplePatternFree
fxIlluminateIndirect
fxIlluminateIndirectScatter
fxIlluminateDirect
fxIlluminatePhoton
fxIlluminateCaustics
fxIlluminateVolumePhoton

- Ray tracing/casting funcs

fxRayTrace
fxRayCast
fxRayResetMemory
fxRayHitCreate
fxRayHitDelete
fxRayHitObject
fxRayHitSubpoly
fxRayHitSpot
fxRayHitUV
fxRayHitBack
fxRayHitColor
fxRayHitAlpha
fxRayHitShadow
fxRayTypeSet
fxRayOriginSet
fxRayDirectionSet
fxRayLevelSet
fxRayDLevelSet
fxRaySLevelSet
fxRayMaxDistSet
fxRaySidePrefSet
fxRayIDSet
fxRayLightSet
fxRayType
fxRayOrigin
fxRayDirection
fxRayLevel
fxRayDLevel
fxRaySLevel
fxRayMaxDist
fxRaySidePref
fxRayID
fxRayThreadID
fxRayXY
fxRayXYScreen
fxRayTime
fxRaySubpixelIndex

- Image Filter funcs

fxBufferSampleCreate
fxBufferSampleDelete
fxBufferSampleColor
fxBufferSampleAlpha
fxBufferSampleSpot
fxBufferSampleShadow
fxBufferSampleObject
fxBufferSampleSubpoly
fxBufferChunkInfo
fxBufferPixel
fxBufferColorSet
fxBufferAlphaSet
fxBufferDepthSet
fxBufferImageSize

- Light funcs

fxLightType
fxLightIntensity
fxLightDiffuse
fxLightSpecular
fxLightColor
fxLightSoftEdge
fxLightConeAngle
fxLightAspect
fxLightLength
fxLightFalloff
fxLightFalloffType
fxLightSize1
fxLightSize2
fxLightShadowType
fxLightShadowQuality
fxLightVolumeShadowType
fxLightTypeSet
fxLightIntensitySet
fxLightDiffuseSet
fxLightSpecularSet
fxLightColorSet
fxLightSoftEdgeSet
fxLightConeAngleSet
fxLightAspectSet
fxLightLengthSet
fxLightFalloffSet
fxLightFalloffTypeSet
fxLightSize1Set
fxLightSize2Set
fxLightShadowTypeSet
fxLightShadowQualitySet
fxLightVolumeShadowTypeSet
fxLightActivate
fxLightDeactivate
fxLightIsActive
fxLightScan

- Skeleton funcs

fxSkeletonEffectExists
fxBoneTargetWeightScan
fxBoneTargetWeightGet

- ACCESS_WORLD_OBJECT

- Weight Tool Module

Weight Tool Module funcs

fxWeightToolData
fxWeightToolValue
fxWeightToolValueSet
fxWeightToolScan
fxWeightToolPos
fxWeightToolSpotSet

ACCESS_WEIGHT

- messiah_utility.h

Fixes

- fxCC/CR_DragFloat/DragInt params now function properly

- messiah_math.h fixes and additions.

- fxEffectCreate receives the proper params, and will name the effects properly

Converted from CHM to HTML with chm2web Pro 2.82 (unicode)