Update guide

If your contract with Prevu3D allows it, you will regularly receive Prevu3D updates (usually once or twice in a month).

---

Before updating

Before updating please :

• Make sure to make a copy of ALL your environments' data folders, which are alongside Prevu3D.exe. These folders contain the environments and your work and must always be backed up before an update.
• Ensure that the Prevu3D version your have can be updated to the new version of Prevu3D. Some updates are not backward compatible (in the download table below)

note

By default, the data folder is named "Data" and is placed alongside the Prevu3D executable.

info

If you don't make a copy of your environments' data folders, Prevu3D support might not be able to help you getting your data back in case of a failed update or corrupted files.

Updating

As Prevu3D is a no-install executable and for the sake of simplicity, the only thing you have to do to update Prevu3D is to replace your old Prevu3D.exe with the new updated Prevu3D.exe downloadable below.

Download updates

To download updates, you need to get the Download password from Prevu3D.

Version	Backward compatibility	Executable link	Demo link	Comment	Release Date
3.5.1	>= 3.0.0	Download	Download		03/06/2021
3.3.2	>= 3.0.0	-	-		30/03/2021
3.3.1	>= 3.0.0	-	-		28/03/2021
3.3.0	>= 3.0.0	-	-		26/03/2021
3.2.0	>= 3.0.0	-	-		05/03/2021
3.1.1	>= 3.0.0	-	-		28/02/2021
3.1.0	>= 3.0.0	-	-		26/02/2021
3.0.0	None	-	-	Environments of versions >= 2.4.0 are still supported	12/02/2021

Last changelog

Release 3.5.1 Notes

Bug fixes and minor changes:

• Fixed a bug that caused the application to be considered as a malware on some PCs

Release 3.5.0 Notes

New features:

• Clipping manager:
  • Create a small quick clip anywhere in the space
  • Create a global clip that surrounds the whole space
  • If one or several clips are enabled and affect the space, a green dot shows up in the toolbar
  • User can now manage the clips of the scene through the new clipping manager
  • User can now resize the clipping box and move/rotate it at the same time (the resize menu has been removed from the right click contextual menu)
  • All clips can be enabled/disabled with a switch
  • The user can enable multiple clips with a switch. By default, the user can only have one clip at a time.
• Orthophotos exporter:
  • Create orthophotos in low/medium/high quality:
    • As DXF : the exported DXF will reference a grid of pictures that can be opened in AutoCAD
    • As PNG : the resolution of the exported image is limited to 64K
• Minimap:
  • A minimap can be showed by clicking on the button at the left corner of the screen (the minimap is hidden in home view)
  • The user can teleport anywhere in the space using the minimap (using its current navigation mode, photosphere included)
• Floor plan import tool (accessible through the toolbar):
  • Supports AutoCAD DXF import and images import
  • For DXF, the user can toggle layers
  • For PNG/JPEG imports, the user is guided through four steps allowing him to align the photo with the environment
• Orbit navigation mode update:
  • New navigation wheel in orbit navigation
  • Double click teleports the user to the mouse target point
• Revamp of the toolbar:
  • The toolbar has been entirely revamped and all the tools re-categorized in new sub-menus
  • Features have been grouped for more coherency
  • Some inaccessible features have been added to the toolbar
  • License disabled features are now shown in the toolbar
• Windows and UI system :
  • New window priority system: most windows can now be on top of each other, the user can switch between windows
• Environment loading (HLOD):
  • New density support: the selection of the cells selected for loading is improved
  • Performance improvements for slow disks
• Photospheres:
  • Improved the photospheres loading performances
  • New loading transitions
  • Improved colorimetry on the photosphere blending with the space
• Visualization modes:
  • Heightmap has been revamped with new colors and a new shader for more visibility
  • The user can now control the min and max values of the heightmap viewmode with a keyboard field
  • Improved Matcap shader
• CAD importer V2 has been introduced:
  • Improved performance:
    • Triangulation can be up to x5 faster
    • The models imported in the app are lighter
  • Improved support of .STEP/.STP files (ISO 10303-214 AP214 are now fully supported, colors included)
  • Improved support of .IGES files
  • The user can now cancel an import that takes too much time (if the imported file is too large for example)
• New beginner tutorial:
  • Accessible on first startup, or through the question mark button at the bottom left of the screen

Bug fixes and minor changes:

• Navigation:
  • "Top view" has been renamed "Home"
  • Fixed a bug that made the sphere of the orbit navigation mode not resize correctly
  • Fixed a bug that caused the user to teleport when panning too fast in FreeView
  • Fixed a bug with the Freeview speed not being updated correctly with clipping box enabled
• Visualization modes:
  • From more consistency, Wireframe/Heightmap shaders now work within the photosphere navigation mode
  • Heightmap now remembers the min and max values given by the user after toggling the heightmap mode
  • Copy/paste when using Wireframe/Heightmap now works correctly
  • Cut with hole filling while in wireframe/heightmap now works correctly
• Constraint system:
  • The tool is now accessible from the toolbar
  • An help window now guides the user through placing his constraints step by step
  • Fixed a bug that made the tooltip giggling when placing a constraint
  • Fixed a bug on the constraint that allowed the user to edit the constraint distance when the fix distance toggle was disabled
  • Fixed an edge case while placing a parallelism constraint
• Floor plan export tool:
  • Exported floor plans DXFs are now more compliant with the DXF format and are exported in meter
• General UI:
  • UI is now pixel perfect (consistent UI outline no matter the screen size / aspect ratio)
  • Fixed an issue with contextual menus sometimes overlapping to the right of the screen
  • New application icon
  • Updated tooltips texts (in the top bar and bottom bar)
  • Fixed in issue that caused a bug on some validation buttons when pressing enter
  • Explore button has been removed from the navigation bar and put in the top bar
  • VR settings can now be accessed from the VR button underneath the navigation bar
  • When clicking on the top bar menu (File, Edit..), the menu stays open until the user clicks somewhere else
  • Fixed a bug in the object panel the didn't show object at the bottom of the list when a lot of objects were in the scene
  • Fixed an issue on the task message that caused the text to overflow
  • Added a cancel button on task messages, this button will be more and more used to cancel running tasks within the app (conversion, export etc.)
• Cut tool:
  • Concurrency between simultaneous cuts is better handled.
  • Major memory improvement on assets import and cut. Memory required to load a save has been reduced to up to four times.
  • Fixed a memory leak on the cutting tool (textures)
  • Hole filling is now selectable in the object panel (only) and can be deleted or restored with Ctrl+Y/Ctrl+Z
  • The user can now cancel the cut tool with a cancel button in the cut window
  • Fixed a bug that blocked to cut tool when doing simultaneous cuts
• Object / shape library:
  • Fixed 3D shapes placement accuracy on planes
  • Fixed an issue that made the edition window of the imported 3D object freeze for a frame
  • Simplified objects are now named with "_simplified" at the end
  • Fixed an issue with space in file name that caused corruption in the asset library
  • A simplified object will keep the same parent folder as the initial object
  • Emission is now supported for the imported 3D models
  • Added a license permission that allows the user to import objects larger than 100MB (experimental)
  • Added a popup to notice the user when the import of an 3D model fails
• General tool modifications:
  • Removed standard screenshot and pointer from the tools
• Floor plan exporter tool:
  • The user now switch to orbit navigation when using the floor plan exporter (if he has the license to use the orbit navigation)
  • Fixed an issue on floor plan export as image
• Selection:
  • Right select on objects in the scene now only works when the object is selected in the scene
• Clipping box:
  • Fixed an issue with the handle visibility inside of a clipping box
  • Fixed a bug of rendering for the handles inside the clipping boxes
• Environment loading (HLOD):
  • Fixed a bug making the HLOD not fully loading when taking automatic screenshots
• Console and command line arguments:
  • Fixed some issue on the space inspection image capture command line argument
• Exporter:
  • 2D (floor plan) /3D (mesh, pointcloud, cad) exports are now separate buttons within the tool bar.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the 3D model export to be limited to the TXT/DXF formats
  • Major speed/performance improvement on the GLTF (GLB) exporter and save loading
  • Fixed a major duplication issue in the GLTF (GLB) exporter
• Measure tool:
  • Fixed a bug on the measure making the measure sometimes going through the objects of the space
  • Fixed a bug that made the surface measure bug when having two measure points at the same place
• Others:
  • Missing French translations added
  • Removed standard screenshot and pointer from the tools
  • Lot of terminology/texts updates
  • Console is now a window

Release 3.4.2 Notes

Bug fixes and minor changes:

• The pipette now shows a live color preview of the colour underneath the mouse
• Fixed a bug with the pipette of the primitive that made the user teleport when selecting a color
• Fixed an issue with property panel fields update resulting in save problems (Primitive with texture)

Release 3.4.1 Notes

Bug fixes and minor changes:

• Fixed an HLOD bug that caused some frame drops in large environments - Fixed a bug in analytics that prevented the application from closing when no Data folder was specified - Fixed a bug that disabled the close/reduce icons when switching from windowed mode to fullscreen mode - Fixed a bug with the license sometimes not updating from the license server - Fixed several bugs on the object panel that had the wrong behavior on drag - Fixed a bug that made the user lose his folder structure when saving - Fixed deselection problems in the entity panel when multiple elements were selected - Fixed a bug with ambient occlusion and clipping boxes not working properly together - Fixed a bug with photosphere navigation when deselecting an object in the scene

Release 3.4.0 Notes

New features:

• Multiple clipping boxes are now supported
• Changed the wireframe shader to a matcap wireframe shader
• The user now has the possibility to export the content of a clipping box as a mesh (OBJ, GLTF)
• The user now has the possibility to create an object from the content of a clipping box
• The user now has the possibility to start a cut from the content of a clipping box
• New creation pipeline for the objects :
  • When creating an object, the user is shown a window in which he can set up (or cancel) the creation of the object. This applies to all objects/folders (except measures).
  • Objects are now directly put into a folder of their types upon creation

Bug fixes and minor changes:

• Clipping box:
  • "Cropping box" terminology has been changed to "Clipping box"
  • Fixed a bug that made some object no being correctly hidden when outside of a clipping box
  • Fixed a bug that gave an overestimated pointcloud size when exporting the clipping box content as a pointcloud
  • Fixed a performance issue on the clipping box handler
  • Visualisation styles are now compatible with the clipping boxes (xray, wireframe, heightmap)
  • A warning message shows up when the user tries to export or cut a large clipping box
  • Fixed an issue that made the clipping box visible on the layout load
  • Fixed an issue that prevented placing objects within a clipping box at a certain distance
• Settings:
  • Fixed a bug that made the Freeview/First-person speed settings not changeable on fr-FR (France) computers
  • Freeview/First-person speed/height are now associated with the environment instead of the computer
• HLOD:
  • Fixed a bug in the HLOD that made the orthographic camera views not update the HLOD tree, this improves the XRAY view quality
• Contextual menu and right-click features:
  • Removed delete cut from property panel, moved it to right-click
  • Removed the export button for 3D shapes and 3D models in the object property panel, export feature is now accessible through right-clicking for better consistency
  • Possibility to edit (with a full-sized window) and delete most objects from a right-click in the object panel
  • User can now edit/delete folder on right-click
• 3D library:
  • The default name for the imported 3D models in the scene is now the name given in the entity panel
  • Naming consistency for "3D library", "3D models" and "3D shapes"
  • Fixed an issue that made the size text to overflow outside of the asset preview window
• Navigation:
  • Fixed sensitivity issue in the orbit navigation mode
• Constraint system:
  • Support for basic cyclical loop constraints (ENVIRONMENT -> OBJECT -> OBJECT -> ENVIRONMENT)
  • When the user is in orthographic mode in top view, it's easier to place a constraint on objects sides
  • Normal of the plane is now shown when selecting a plane (object or environment)
  • Added right-click Edit and Delete option for constraints
  • Fixed a bug that made the constraints still visible when closing a folder containing a constraint
  • Changed the style/colors of the constraint planes
• General :
  • Support for GLTF export with multiple objects
  • Fixed an error when trying to remove a cut for the object panel
  • Fixed an issue with the annotations becoming red when switching shader
  • Refactored the way the shaders are handled in the application for the modules to register shaders
  • Fixed an issue that made the top bar text not update when switching the application from English to French
  • Fixed an issue with the highlight shader (folder highlight) that would make some environment HLOD cells white
  • The visualization button is now blue when a visualization option is enabled
  • Fixed an issue with the Data folder not always taken in priority when alongside the executable
  • Fixed UI navigation issue: pressing enter when focusing a field now usually validate the field. This fixes several issues of UI interaction when pressing enter.
  • Fixed UI issue on the floorplan UI giving wrong height values for a plan with multiple layers plan
  • Fixed an issue that mode the orthographic button not always activated when the orthographic mode was on
  • Console now opens with the keyboard backquote key ("/" on en-US or "²" in fr-FR )
  • Updated the measure preview to match the screen aspect ratio
  • The colors are now better in the preview
  • Improved the measure/laser pointer preview now works in both orthographic and perspective mode, and the zoom ratio is adjusted more accurately)
  • Support new license settings (orbit, constraints, clipping box) for the SAAS license system
  • Fixed an issue that made some decimal fields (such as the primitive size one) impossible to edit
  • The skybox setting now belongs to the environment settings
  • Fixed some issue for the VR to work with the new settings system
  • Fixed entity panel element position issue when deleting his parent folder
  • Added a setting to hide the measures and annotations at a given distance (10m by default)
  • Replaced Ctrl+O shortcut (open scene) with Ctrl+Shift+O to avoid concurrent shortcuts

Release 3.3.2 Notes

Bug fixes and minor changes:

• Fixed an issue with the new license system causing the license not to update correctly the expiry date from the license server
• Measure thickness is now larger when the measure is hovered to improve selection
• The positioning points for the measure and the cut tool are now smaller to improve visibility upon placement. Their size is left unchanged for edition.
• HLOD debug mode now shows the cell information
• UI fixes on the environment loader interface (overflowing text)
• Environments alongside the executable are now loaded in priority even though other environments are on the user's computer
• Floor plan window now resizes correctly when having additional options.
• Fixed some resolution issues on cropping box icons (blurry icon fix)

Release 3.3.1 Notes

New features: Bug fixes and minor changes:

• Fixed a shortcut bug that made somes shortcuts being trigerred with the wrong keys
• Fixed a bug on the constraint system that made the planes to not appear correctly
• Fixed a bug that made paste with Ctrl+V triggered several times instead of a single time

Release 3.3.0 Notes

New features:

• Cropbox features :
  • The user can now export the content of a cropbox as a pointcloud with adjustable density (from the highest resolution mesh)
  • The user can now cut and extract the content of a box with the mesh cutting tool
• Handles :
  • Some axis that are too colinear with the user camera are now hidden
  • Fixes several bugs on the handles that made the handles go at the infinite when the target object had a rotation
• Constraint system :
  • The base of the constraint system has been integrated with a simple constraint:
    • The user can now place a parallelism constraint between objects (3D models, primitives) and the environment
    • The constraint can be flush or mate and works between the environment, the 3D models and the primitives
    • User can place local references to help him place the parallelism constraints relative to a single reference
    • A constraint can be saved and restored
• New settings and license system :
  • The license and settings files are now split into three files :
    • The license is now held in a .pd3license file alongside the Data folder
    • Standard settings are now stored in the permanent user AppData folder in a .p3dsettings file (per PC save) :
      • Personal settings such as fullscreen resolution, language etc. are not stored in the Data folder anymore (which means they won't be shared anymore, which fixes resolution issues)
    • Environment settings (clip plane, post processing) are stored in the EnvData folder and can be shared

Bug fixes and minor changes:

• New command to debug the HLOD : toggleLodDebugMode
• Hole filling is now hidden when outside of an enabled cropbox
• Fixed some scaling issue on the crop box borders thickness no being consistent for large boxes
• Change the way the multiple selection is handled for improved stability
• Hole filling is now visible in orthographic
• Fixed a bug in the orbit navigation mode that made the user go too far very quickly when approaching a surface
• Fixed undo-redo issues with cropbox
• Fixed an issue in the cropbox shader that made the objects/primitives disappear under certain angles when using a cropbox
• Fixed an issue that caused the TXT pointcloud to be exported with inversed normals
• Fixed an issue that made the user blocked in explore mode when having a large UI window opened
• Removed an error message that should not show up when using the mesh cutting tool without the export feature enabled
• Ctrl+F now focuses on the search field of the object panel
• Fixed a bug that made the handles unusable when using the orbit navigation mode

Release 3.2.0 Notes

New features:

• New photospheres system :
  • Now compatible with the SAAS automatically generated photospheres
  • The circle showed under each photosphere has been removed
• Navigation major update :
  • Introducing the new orbit navigation mode
  • New transitions for the navigation: user can now switch between "Edition" and "Explore" mode depending on the navigation mode he selected:
    • The "Explore" mode works in the following navigation modes: First-person, Third-person, Buggy forklift
    • The "Edition" mode works for the following navigation modes: Freeview, Orbit, TopView
    • Freeview works in both the "Edition" and "Explore" mode. The FreeView is now the default mode used to ease the transition between the explore and the edition mode.
  • Escape does not bring back the user to top view anymore (the user has to use the home button)
  • The user can now switch to Explore mode via the Explore button underneath
  • Escape is now the shortcut to exit "Explore" mode
• Crop-box tool :
  • User can now place cropping boxes in the space with the crop box tool
  • Crop boxes allow the user to restrict his workspace when the crop box is enabled :
    • The rest of the environment outside the box is made invisible
    • The tools only work within the restricted space of the box and do not interact with the rest of the environment.
    • The orbit mode automatically aligns with the currently enabled box
• The user can now export a pointcloud and keep the world coordinates as an option

Bug fixes and minor changes:

• Fixed a bug that made the user teleport when the mouse was focusing outside of the application
• Contextual menus :
  • A contextual menu can now be opened from the object panel by right-clicking on objects
  • Added new annotation contextual menu: possibility to Move, Delete, Edit
  • Added Simplify option on asset contextual menu
  • Added new measure contextual menu: possibility to delete a measure by right clicking on it
• When teleporting to an annotation, the annotation window now opens
• Cut tool :
  • User can now add space the name of the extracted object with the cutting tool
  • Fixed a bug that made the extracted object be named "New object" instead of the given name
  • Fixed a bug that made the cut object be named "New cut" instead of the given name
• Navigation improvements :
  • Added an "Explore button" to switch to explore mode
• Removed the Ctrl+S shortcut as it was sometimes triggered by mistake by the user
• Fixed a concurrency bug that made the user use the tool when hovering the UI

Release 3.1.1 Notes

New features: Bug fixes and minor changes:

• Fixed abnormal UI effect in the entity panel when having a lot of entities
• Fixed the Horizontal / Vertical measures toolbar buttons that were not properly working
• Freeview
  • Now pans (translate) relative to the current view (instead of relative to the normal of the target point)
  • User can now pan even if its mouse doesn't target the environment
  • Added some inertia on the zoom and movement
  • Fixed jiggling issue with the Freeview panning
• Navigation circle
  • The user can now rotate the camera when his mouse cursor is not on the environment
  • The navigation circle now stays under the initial position when the user pans to rotate
• Fixed an object panel issue that caused an offset of the panel on some screens
• Fixed POV command issue (command to automatically generate screenshots)
• Fixed a bug that caused a selected entity to be deleted when focusing a field in its properties

Release 3.1.0 Notes

New features:

• User can now simplify a selected model (cut extracted models or imported models) through the Edit menu (Mesh decimation)

Bug fixes and minor changes:

• Asset library improvements:
  • Library 3D models are now converted to binary GLTF (GLB) before import, which allows faster save loading and uses less space on the disk
  • Fixed a bug that made some models textures not importing correctly
• Cut-extracted objects are now stored as binary GLTF (GLB) on the disk, allowing a much faster export and import after the cut.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the application from closing when importing large models or opening large environments.
• A warning message now shows up if the user tries to quit the application but has unsaved modifications.
• Library window now closes when the user starts to place an object from the library.
• Collision detection :   - An optimized version of the model is generated to calculate the collision data, which greatly improves the performance of the application.   - Fixed some issues with the collision detection not working when an imported file had multiple sub-objects.
• Fixed a bug that made the measure/laser preview thumbnail invisible at first start.
• Fixed a bug that triggered the toggle axis switch (R key) when the user was over UI.
• A loading screen now shows up during the model loading when the user requests to edit a model from the library.
• Fixed some wrong information position on the quick tutorial panel.
• Command "cinematicFreeView ON/OFF" now allows the user to navigate with a slowed-down "cinematic" Freeview.
• Improved object selection: the selection has been entirely refactored :   - Contextual menu of objects now appears upon right-click on an object (replaces the old "edit pen" UI)   - Some selected objects that could not be exported can now be exported.
• Fixed a bug that caused the hover color (orange) to appear on the library assets screenshots
• Teleporting to an annotation now teleports you in front of the annotation
• Copy/Paste and Undo/Redo now works correctly
• Improved the object panel interface:   - Improved visibility for the objects and folders (panel elements have a larger left-margin)   - Redesigned the filter menu   - Folders now open and close with a -/+ icon
  • Fixed some bugs that caused the object panel not to update when an object was added to the layout
• A selected object can now be exported as a binary GLTF file (GLB)

Release 3.0.0 Notes

New features:

• New Data Management System
  • Data structure that allows a better management of all the scene objects (cuts, objects, measures, annotations)
  • Associated with the new data system is the new dependency system, allowing to keep track of the needed external files for each scene objects. It will be used for future features
  • Each save is now independent from the application and can be opened in someone else's Prevu3D application with the same environment
• New Module System :
  • Modules can be easily enabled depending on the user license.
  • New modularised contextual menu system (File, Edit etc.) with new module keyboards shortcuts
  • All tools are now part of modules
  • All navigation modes are now part of modules
• Mesh cutting tool update :
  • Possibility to remove / add the hole filling directly from the object panel
  • Lightspeed loading of saves with cuts
  • Possibility to delete a cut from the object panel
  • When the user is in top view navigation mode and start a cuts, he teleports to freeview to setup the height of his cut
• Navigation update :
  • When using a tool : possibility to rotate the camera using the middle click
  • Navigation circle (Web like navigation)
    • Allows the user to teleport anywhere where he clicks
    • Allows the user to rotate the camera in a "Street view" like way
  • Freeview :
    • "Zoom" : possibility to move the camera forward using the mouse scroll (works in tool mode as well)
    • Possibility to pan using the middle click
  • Transition between two navigation mode has been slightly changed
• New UI :
  • UI has been refreshed with new colors and sprites
  • New sliders, toggle switch, separators, loading screens
  • UI element now have small borders, giving more clarity to the interface
  • Transparency has been removed on most UI components and left on some key UI such as the object panel
  • Toolbar is now at the bottom left of the screen
  • Notifications, tasks (such as cut) UI is now at the bottom left of the screen
  • Most tool windows have been redesigned
• New export formats for selected objects:
  • 3D DXF
  • TXT PointCloud (X Y Z R G B NX NY NZ) with adjustable density

Bug fixes and minor changes:

• Changed the way meters are displayed on measures (16m 10cm 1mm -> 16.101m)
• Local Data folders that were opened from the environment loading panel are now remembered after the applications is closed
• Pressing escape using a tool won't set the user to top view anymore
• Collision detection now performs the collision detection separatly when multiple objects are selected
• When the license is expired, the user can now choose to open another environment with the File Menu
• Added a more accurate progress tracking and some loading screens for some common tool tasks
• Redesigned "Add File" section of annotations property panel
• Possibility to remove the texture of a primitive from the property panel
• The environment now only shows up when it is ready
• Cut objects can no longer be in the hide/locked state in the object panel
• Fixed a bug in the HLOD that made the environment loading and the mesh cutting tool abnormally slow
• Fixed a bug on the lighting of primitives, cut objects and imported objects
• Objects placed in the scene from the library are now fully independant from their library model
• Reduce / Exit button in the top bar are now hidden if the user is not in fullscreen
• Fixed a bug that made the asset library editor rotation sliders not updating
• Asset editor now shows the edited assets at full resolution
• CAD import module : shows a warning message if the module is missing (the CAD conversion module is an external library)
• Removed the asset library synchronization feature (not relevant with the new data system)
• The Close / Reduce buttons are now hidden when the user is not in fullscreen mode
• Fixed a bug that made the field white (on value changed) for a second in the objects property panel
• Primitive extend and delete buttons now only appear when a texture is selected in the primitive property panel