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Novapoint Virtual Map Release Notes - Version History

This document contains information on the product releases of Novapoint Virtual Map.
Version 5.0.1 (Released Feb 2009)
This is a bug fix release with following changes:
Shadows are now calculated more reliably
Artifacts in element top edges (repeated pixels from texture edges) are now removed
and should not be visible any more
No more out of memory errors / crashes when activating simulated sky in big models
Pressing "u" (U-turn) works now correctly
Sunlight analysis (updating sun location, date and time) requires a license. If license
doesnt exist the sunlight button only turns shadows & sky on/off.
Sun-calc dialog now works better (changing location possible and entering location by
hand)
When selecting layers in dwg containing xref files the xref file name is truncated and
only layer name is set into the configuration. This makes config work on xref layers af-
ter xref files are bind to the main dwg.
Some old animations that didnt work, now works
Simulated sky now works more reliable and there is more visible clouds, fogging is al-
so more realistic and color comes from sky
Sun color doesnt change unless you press Apply / OK in suncalc dialog or if the au-
tomatic update checkbox is on. This makes updating time much faster, almost real-
time.
Default time zones are now fixed in some localized vm-viewer.ini

Version 5.0.0 (Released Jan 2009)
Main themes in this new release are:
AutoCAD 2009 platform support
Team working via XREF support
Sunlight analysis and improved realism via shadows and simulated sky
Improved performance via new modeling parameters

New generic features:
New VM5UserFiles is a new default directory for all user files; All files user might need
is there and no more need to go to program folder to search textures.
Completely customized country specific localization including directory and file nam-
ing, default configurations, texture library, web template and other files
New features in Model Builder:
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AutoCAD2009 platform support
Support for XREF files; XREF files can be included in model generation by selecting
Include XREFs from Model menu. This makes it possible to combine different data
sources like design domains together and keep them separated. Main use for this
could be team working so that each domain expert creates their own part of the model
and xref the other domain parts. This makes conflict analysis and overall use of virtual
models as design tools easier to manage.
New object parameter: cut=patch for material area and roadline objects; This will work
like cut=no except material area nor underlaying surface is not divided in any way
meaning much less triangles in end result. This also makes model generation times
much faster especially for models that have many road marking elements
New object parameter: automatic subdivision for material area, roadline, fence, pipe
and ditch objects; This parameter divides polylines for better interpolation / follow sur-
face. This is especially useful when using new cut=patch model for road markings as
long road marking lines will be automatically divided and therefore better follow sur-
face model.
New road model cut parameter weld - will force the terrain model edge to follow road
model edge
Solid objects can now be placed on material area layers where they get their material
Solid objects are now supported inside mesh blocks
Solid object tessellation accuracy is improved
Support for POLYMESH and POLYFACE objects
Support for AutoCAD 3d-rotation for mesh blocks
Notification to save configuration if user exits AutoCAD and config is not saved
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New features in Viewer:
Sunlight analysis with Shadows; User can activate automatically calculated shadows
from new toolbar button and define model location, date and time. Shadows will be au-
tomatically calculated near camera and optionally updated while moving.
New physically correct simulated sky changes colors and shows sun position, realisti-
cally animated 3d-cloud systems, night sky with stars and moon and other effects
based on date and time.
New Drag navigation mode; User can navigate in the model by pointing a model lo-
cation and keeping Alt-Left mouse button pressed and then dragging model. This is
very fast way of navigating from location to another.
Activate links tool; A new toolbar button highlights objects that have external links and
by clicking to the object, the link is activated.
Search tool now includes text elements in search
Texture compression compresses textures in graphics card memory allowing more
textures to be used
New status bar layout displays status information in bottom part of the Viewer window
New improved web template compatible with latest IE versions and makes automatic
ActiveX Viewer update function better
Video export is now possible without VM license so that end users can also export
videos from Virtual Map models
In addition to new features several bugs have been fixed.
Version 4.0.2 (Released 16
th
May 2008)
This version has been tested and updated for the Novapoint 17.10 release and Microsoft Vista
operating system.
Virtual Map 4.0.2 is compatible with Microsoft Vista operating system and Novapoint 16.30,
17.00 and 17.10 international releases.
Version 4.0.1 (Released 15
th
Oct 2007)
This is a bug fix release, with the following updates:
Fixed problem that caused losing of AutoCAD support path settings when user tried to
start Virtual Map directly, without first loading the license from the Novapoint 17 Mod-
ule Loader.
The Virtual Map RUT import was updated to create exactly the same amount of col-
umns and rows as the RUT import in Novapoint Base menu.
Version 4.0.0 (Released 10
th
Oct 2007)
This is an AutoCAD platform upgrade release. Main functionality and user interface is the
same as in version 3.0, with the following new features:
Support for both AutoCAD 2005/2006 and 2007/2008 platforms.
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Integration to Novapoint Module Loader. When running in Novapoint 17 environment,
Virtual Map has to be started from the module loader. The Virtual Map menus and
support files are included in the main Novapoint 17 distribution.
Outside Novapoint 17 environment, Virtual Map can be started as earlier, from the
VM4 toolbar menu. Menu loading system has been changed so that the menu is not
anymore reloaded each time Autocad is started (opening drawings is faster)
The Norwegian localization with English language help files
Model builder now remembers menu options "allow only single viewer" and "remember
viewer viewpoint"
New orbit mode Ctrl-Orbit will take window center point instead of mouse cursor point
for orbit center, this makes recording movements better
AutoCAD 2008 material and texture mapping support (planar mapping)
J PEG default saving quality has been changed to 90
Improvements in roof triangulation for better compatibility with SOSI buildings
Version 4.0.0 contain a great number (>50) of bug fixes from previous release (3.0.1)
Version 3.0.1 (Released 16
th
May 2007)
This is an update and localization release, with the following new features:
Swedish, Spanish and Finnish versions are now included, both user interface and help
system. English and French languages were supported already in the previous re-
lease.
Material settings improvement: Transparency is now fully supported for materials with
textures. Previously only material without a texture could be shown transparent. For
example the road surface could be set partly transparent and the pipes could be seen
though the asphalt surface.
Novapoint Road Model and Terrain Models: Target layer setting for material areas (or-
tophotos) and road lines (road markings) now works also for Novapoint import models.
Animated objects can now follow the 3d-polyline path also in z-direction, previously
only in 2d. This allows for example cars follow the road better.
The release contains a number of bug fixes, especially:
Multiple bugs have been fixed regarding highlight, info tool and measurement tool be-
havior when multiple viewports are active in the Viewer.
Fixed the problem that caused the roofs of buildings being sometimes modeled in a
wrong way if the roofline polylines are not exactly in the right position.
Fixed the problem that caused the Viewer window to come on top when moving the
mouse cursor to AutoCAD window or Model Builder dialog.
The Novapoint road model import module, NPVM_VipsReader.dll has been moved to
Virtual Map program files folder. Previously it was copied in to the Novapoint 16.x pro-
gram binaries folder which caused problems when uninstalling Novapoint.
Groups can now be renamed and deleted and the definitions are correctly removed
from the configuration.
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Virtual Map AutoCAD toolbar help button now launches the correct localized help file.
Version 3.0.0 (Released 16
th
Apr 2007)
This is the first release of the Virtual Map 3.0 series. Please note the following:
This release contains the full English and French versions of the software including the
user interface and documentation in the help system.
For other language versions (Spanish, Finnish and Swedish), the Help files are in Eng-
lish language. The final Help files will be added in the next update.
This release includes the new Sketch tool as an add-on. Please see My Docu-
ments\VMUserFiles\Sketch\Sketch_Guide_English.pdf
The Virtual Map API documentation is available on request. Please contact your sales
representative for more information.
New Features in Novapoint Virtual Map 3.0
Novapoint Virtual Map 3.0 aims to improve usability and integration with Novapoint design
software. Besides that it brings new advanced modeling features for expert 3D modelers and
many visual improvements in the Viewer.
Usability
o User interface redesigned for better usability
o 2x-5x performance in the model creation
o Improved support for localization all items localizable
o Finnish localization
Viewer improvements
o New outlook with an easy to use layout and menu structure
o New navigation modes including allowing underground movement
o Weather effects: Rain. Snow, fog
o Texture styles: Winter, Autumn, Summer..
o Measure distance - function
o Two-sided rendering for surfaces
o New info tooltips including search functionality
o Highlight elements with object information
o Simulate car physics while driving
Novapoint Integration (Engineering Model)
o Read Novapoint grid and triangle model and directly from the DTM.
o Read Novapoint Road Model directly
o Automation API for developers
Modeling improvements
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o New outlook with an easy to use layout and menu structure
o Draw / Edit mode
o User can give a descriptive name for each configuration entry
o Load also partial model builder configurations, merging specific items
o Object groups (turn on/off/highlight in the viewer)
o GIS integration. Show Autodesk Map object data as in the Viewer
o Material area extrusion (e.g. for curbstones in intersection areas)
o Use meshes as elements (Mesh=Autocad block with 3D faces)
o Automatic fence endings (e.g. for guard rails)
o Pipe interpolation to ground, free cross section (e.g. noise contours)
o Audio for animated traffic

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