Version 1.8 overview

Version 1.8 introduces a slew of updates for cameras including the ability to place cameras in your scene, switch between orthographic and perspective modes, and use depth of field in Render mode. This release also sees an overhaul of the Inflate and Crease tools, and a new continuous mode for the Flatten tool.

Find out more about these and other features and fixes below.

Major features

Cameras and the Viewport panel

Version 1.8 adds two new panels to the right side of the Top bar on desktop, or on the left side of the support hand in VR:

• The Viewport panel lets you adjust viewport settings, switch between camera positions, and create new cameras.
• The Node properties panel lets you modify the selected camera's settings such as field of view (FoV), and depth of field (DoF).

The Viewport panel lets you switch between perspective and orthographic views You can also set your current camera position to be aligned with an axis to view the front, back, left, right, top, or bottom of your current selection. You can also use numpad keyboard shortcuts to quickly move the camera to different positions and toggle orthographic or perspective views.

The Viewport panel is also available in Render mode, where you now have much more control over renders in Modeler. Use depth of field, set a specific aspect ratio, include a depth map with your render, or render with a transparent background.

Improved Surfacing tools

More improvements have been made to the Buildup tool, so it should feel smoother and better than ever. Additionally, the Inflate and Crease tools have been updated to take advantage of the Buildup tool improvements:

• The Crease tool now provides much smoother, more consistent results, no more spotty creases!
• The Inflate tool now supports alpha textures, just like the Buildup tool. 

The Flatten tool has also been improved, with a new toggle to lock or unlock the flattening plane. Unlocking the flattening plane means that the Flatten tool will adjust the angle at which it flattens based on the clay currently under the brush.

Improvements to Increase resolution algorithm

The Increase resolution algorithm is now Tricubic. This means that details are better maintained as you upres, fewer artifacts should appear, and the upres operation is actually slightly faster than before.

Other features and quality of life improvements

While those are the main features of V1.8, this release also includes a number of quality of life improvements, and importantly, some changes to keyboard shortcuts. Take a look at the full release notes for more details.

Modeler V1.8 full release notes

Features:

• Overhauled the camera system and added a viewport panel to the right side of the top bar:
  • Use the + button to add a new camera at the current position. Use the dropdown to switch between cameras.
  • Use the Perspective toggle to switch between orthographic and perspective view.
    • Use Numpad 5 to quickly switch between orthographic and perspective.
  • Change the camera angle to front, back, left, right, top, or bottom view.
    • Use Numpad 1, 3, and 7 for right, front, and top view respectively.
    • Use Ctrl + Numpad 1, 3, and 7 for left, back, and bottom view respectively.
  • Adjust the field of view.
  • A Node properties panel has also been added to the right side of the top bar: 
    • When a camera is selected, use the Node properties panel to adjust FOV and aspect ratio, use depth of field, or adjust other settings for the selected camera.
  • In render mode, use the Viewport panel to switch between cameras, adjust camera settings, and save renders.
  • In VR, you can switch to a smooth camera which helps when recording or demonstrating content.
    • Note: this requires Modeler to render a third view of the scene, which can impact performance.
• The Buildup tool has been improved and should feel better to use.
• The Crease and Inflate tools have been replaced with Buildup-based versions:
  • The Crease tool now provides much smoother results than the old Crease tool.
  • The Inflate tool has been updated to be faster and more responsive, and can now use alpha textures like the Buildup tool.
• The Flatten tool now has a toggle to lock the flattening plane, which switches between planar Flatten and continuous Flatten.
  • The Flatten tool defaults to continuous mode.
• The Project stats panel has been removed from the top bar. You can still adjust the maximum refresh rate for desktop under Preferences > Editor.
• You can now rename materials. Double-click a material’s name in the Material panel to edit it.
• The Increase resolution operation now uses a tricubic up-res algorithm which does a better job of maintaining sculpt quality without introducing artifacts.
• A toggle has been added to Preferences > Editor to switch smooth shading on or off. Turning Smooth shading off helps you view polygons directly and can provide a more accurate view of your clay.
• Tool parameters are now saved between launches.
• Updated various shortcuts:
  • F4 has replaced the ESC shortcut to pause VR. 
  • Use ESC to close the topmost dialog, such as the Welcome screen or Preferences window.
  • Smooth tool is now on the D key. Tap D to switch to Smooth tool, or hold D to switch temporarily.
  • The Shift key now toggles angle snapping while rotating the Gizmo.
• Use Ctrl + double-click to focus directly on a single layer. 
• Using Ctrl + O or Ctrl + Shift + N while the Welcome screen is open now closes the Welcome screen.

Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where UI scale would behave unexpectedly when the preferences menu was open.
• The Maya Export preset has been updated to set up axis to Z-up.
• Fixed some text rendering incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue where the wrong IBL would be listed as active in the Environment panel.
• Fixed an issue where using Ctrl + O to open a document wouldn’t prompt you to save your current work.
• Fixed text and updated links inthe Welcome screen.
• Tooltips for undo/redo in VR are now in the correct locations.
• Undo is now more consistent in how it affects which objects you’re focused on.
• Improved the wording and layout of the Revert to saved dialog, so that it’s clearer that this will result in lost work.
• Fixed an issue where more than 10 autosaves could be stored.
• Fixed an issue where the Erase tool could fail to work across multiple layers.