Creator
Creator is the industry's leading software for creating highly optimized high-fidelity real-time 3D content for use in visual and urban simulations as well as in other applications. Specifically designed for real-time 3D simulation, Creator streamlines the modeling process and increases your productivity by enabling you to easily and effectively create highly detailed 3D models and digital terrains. The powerful plug-in architecture together with the integrated and extensible toolset provide interactive real-time 3D modeling power for creating precise visually exceptional content and synthetic environments.
One of the key characteristics and a major differentiator of Creator is its extremely high level of precision, control, and accuracy at all levels of the scene, from site level to vertex level. Extensible and multi-purpose, the Creator software provides immersive control over your entire modeling process. The polygon-based authoring system in Creator quickly generates optimized object models, high fidelity terrain, and realistic synthetic environments. And, because Creator displays the scene that you are modeling in an OpenGL-direct renderer, you can build and make real-time changes from within the world being created.
OpenFlight® is the de facto standard real-time 3D database file format and is the native output file format of Creator, offering comprehensive interactive control. The customizable extension capabilities of the OpenFlight format provide a common ground for its diverse users and a mechanism to save and re-use objects or environments for future projects.
New features and enhancements in Creator 3.5
The Creator 3.5 release contains many new features and improvements which are briefly described below.
Building Interior Wizard
The Building with Interior Wizard is a separately licensed new tool in the Wizard toolbox that allows you to create 3D models of buildings, including both exterior and interior. In addition to the visual representation (polygonal geometry) of a building, the tool can also create representations for CGF (Computer Generated Forces) in the form of UHRB (Ultra High Resolution Building) and/or MES (Multiple Elevation Structure).
Benefits
- Dramatically decreases time to generate complex building with interiors
- Generates components needed to generate an MES and/or UHRB building in the CTDB and/or OTF database using Terra Vista
- MES and UHRB explicitly correlated with visual
- Removes the opportunity for error when creating a visual model that will also be used as an MES and/or UHRB
OpenFlight Script Tool
A Python scripting language interface to the OpenFlight API is now available during the Creator modeling session. The OpenFlight Script Editor tool gives you the power of the OpenFlight API to build custom tools in Creator and requires no additional development environment. This tool provides a powerful script interpreter window that helps you to create valid OpenFlight Scripts with advanced features like auto-completion, error highlighting, and context-sensitive help.
Benefits
- Tool provides a powerful script interpreter window to assist in creating valid OpenFlight scripts
- Scripts can include all the advanced features like auto-completion, error highlighting, context sensitive help, etc.
Rendering performance improvements
The rendering performance in the Graphics view has been dramatically increased.
Benefits
- Better performance when manipulating large files across all hardware configurations
- Enables better work flow and processes
New Startup Options
New Startup Options are available in the Desktop Preferences. These options give you more control over how your previous modeling session is resumed when you restart Creator.
Benefits
- More control over how the previous modeling session is resumed results in better work flow
- Less time spent on configuring work space previously setup to optimize work flow
Hierarchy ID Display Length
You can customize the Hierarchy view by specifying a Hierarchy ID Display Length in the Desktop Preferences.
Benefits
- Enables user level control of how many characters are displayed for each node
- Enables ability to display longer node names in the hierarchy view
Default LOD Detail
You can specify which level of Detail (LOD) is displayed for your models when they are opened by use of the Default LOD Detail setting in the Flight Preferences
Benefits
- Enables user level control over LOD display of a model when they are opened
- Provides control over this aspect of a new session, thus removing burden and time in the work flow
Vertex Normal Length Preference
The Vertex Normal Length value you specify can now be saved with your preferences so it can be used in subsequent modeling sessions.
Benefits
- Enables a preference to be established for the Vertex Normal Length value, thus removing burden and time in follow on work flows (no longer have to set it for every session)
Status Log Copying
The contents of the Status Log can now be copied to the Windows clipboard
Benefits
- Enables you to paste information from the Creator Status Log into other text based applications more easily
Opening Recent Files Options
New options are available in the File>Recent Files menu
Benefits
- Enables customization of the Recent Files Menu to allow a user to better organize and keep track of recent models they have worked on
Sign Wizard Improvements
The Sign Wizard located in the Wizard toolbox now includes options to create 2D, 3D, or no legs
Benefits
- Increased options to Sign Wizard construct provides more flexibility in use
Auto Focus Vertex Preference
The Auto Focus Vertex preference was added to the Editing Preferences.
Benefits
- Significant increase in speed of work flow when using many common editing tools during a modeling session
Edge Referencing Enhancement
Edge Referencing has been enhanced to allow you to easily reference edge midpoints.
Benefits
- Significant increase in speed of work flow when working with edges