Viz Artist 5.3.0

Release Date: 2024-10-17

These are the release notes for Viz Artist version 5.3.0. This document describes the user-visible changes that have been made to the software since release 5.2.1.

Note: Viz Engine maintains its release notes in a separate document starting from version 3.12.0.

Installer Notes

General

The Software ships with a bundle installer containing all necessary components. It is recommended to use the bundle installer when setup needs to be done manually.

  • Viz Artist is installed in C:\Program Files\Vizrt\VizEngine\VizArtist.

  • Visual C++ Redistributable files are not part of the .msi setup file anymore. These files are now installed with the bundle setup application (VIZENG-13210, VIZENG-12629, VIZENG-12701).

  • The new bundle setup application installs or upgrades Viz Artist together with its required Visual C++ Redistributable files (VIZENG-12936, VIZENG-13804).

  • All files contained in the bundle setup application can be extracted using the /dump command line option. This creates a sub-folder where the files are extracted (VIZENG-13020).

  • Multiple installations of Viz Artist are not supported.

  • The installer automatically upgrades (replaces) any existing Viz Artist 3.x installation. However, downgrading is currently not supported (VIZENG-7098).

  • The installer package is digitally signed (VIZENG-7378).

  • The user account must have SeCreateGlobalPrivilege (SE_CREATE_GLOBAL_NAME) enabled.

Windows

This software has been tested to run on the following systems:

  • Windows Server 2019

  • Windows Server 2022

  • Windows 10 (LTSC 1809)

  • Windows 10 (LTSC 21H2)

  • Windows 11

Information: Support for Windows 11 LTSC can not yet be announced officially as long-term stability tests are still ongoing.

Note: Only English language Operating Systems are supported.

  • It is recommended to install the latest Windows Security Updates and Patches, except Nvidia drivers.

  • .NET Framework 4.5 or higher is required (VIZENG-6036).

  • Minimum Windows Installer version is now 5.0.0.

  • To run Viz Artist/Viz Engine without Administrator privileges, you need to grant the following permissions:

    • SeIncreaseBasePriorityPrivilege

    • SeCreateGlobalPrivilege

    • SeCreatePagefilePrivilege

    • SeIncreaseWorkingSetPrivilege

Note: Viz Artist requires a minimum resolution of 1920x1080 pixels.

Windows

  • Network shares are not accessible from within Viz Artist when UAC is enabled or when running on Windows 10. The Viz Configuration page Local Settings has been extended for enabling Network drive linking (VIZENG-15594, VIZENG-15319).

UAC

  • Viz Artist is UAC aware. Log-files and additional files are stored in %VIZ_PROGRAMDATA%, which defaults to %ProgramData%\Vizrt\VizArtist. Configuration-files and profiles are stored in %ProgramData%\Vizrt\VizEngine. Temporary data is stored in %VIZ_TEMPDATA% which defaults to %TMP%\Vizrt\VizEngine. The default value can be changed in viz.cmd or on the command line of viz.exe.

  • Starting Viz Artist shows a UAC popup for VizStarter.exe (VIZENG-8683).

Changes

The following default shortcuts have been changed:

Scene Editor

Action

Old Shortcut

New Shortcut

Delete Object

BACKSPACE

DELETE

Camera View Zoom

X/Z

X/Z

Orthogonal Rubberband Zoom

X/Z

Q/W

Camera View Zoom In/Out in Orthogonal mode

SHIFT

removed

Mousemodifier in Scene Editor

Mouse Wheel to Position/Rotate/Scale (Undocumented and Classic only)

removed

Zoom In/Out

O + Mouse Wheel

Mouse Wheel

Switch to Back Camera (Orthononal)

Keypad 0

Keypad 1

Position/Rotate/Scale (Undocumented and Classic only)

X/Y/Z Key + Mouse Wheel 

removed

Render Editor (On Air)

Off Air

ESC

Added CTRL+Q as additional shortcut

Toggle Preview

SHIFT + BACKSPACE

Added CTRL+P as additional shortcut

Stage

Select Keyframe Mode

S

Split into Rubberband Selection (R)

Spline Y Zoom Out

S

S

Set Stoppoint Mode

S

P

View Spline 1/2/3

CTRL Z/X/C

1/2/3

New Features

Key

Summary

VIZART-2683

Ability to manually refresh list of Graphic Hubs to enable autocompletion (e.g. if Graphic Hub is started after the login dialog opened)

VIZART-2267

Ability to switch Graphic Hub on the fly without restart Artist

VIZART-4734

Accept ZIP files to be dragged into Asset View or selectable in Import View

VIZART-4837

Add "Keep Aspect" to superchannels

VIZART-4846

Add "Update Mode" to Texture Renderers

VIZART-5001

Add blur function to Internal Image Editor

VIZART-4849

Add Channel blendmode, SuperChannel texture resolution

VIZART-4601

Add color indicators for Live Media Types

VIZART-4743

Add compilation status indicator for Shaders

VIZART-4960

Add new scene conversion capabilities dock

VIZART-5033

Add possibility to reset kerning settings for the whole text In Classic Text

VIZART-5032

Add tooltips to plugin icons in container dock

VIZART-4969

Add version information overlay for merged objects

VIZART-4593

Adding Shortcut Information (CTRL +F1)

VIZART-4928

Adjust autoscroll speed on drag&drop in scene tree depending on the mouse position

VIZART-4957

Advanced UI for VER particle system

VIZART-4681

Allow bookmarking fonts in Text font selection

VIZART-5217

Change asset view size via CTRL+mouse wheel

VIZART-4664

Config Option to apply color coding to entire container in scene tree

VIZART-4870

Create GUI for Softclip replacement using TextureRenderer for Viz Render workflow

VIZART-4725

Create new icon set for plugins

VIZART-1963

Creating VER lights should add automatically a container

VIZART-5088

Draw color marker on the complete row of the stage tree view

VIZART-4899

Expose Undo Redo History In User Interface

VIZART-638

Global and configurable shortcuts

VIZART-4955

Improve plugin thumbnails/font quality in UHD with Windows scaling

VIZART-4912

Improve Transformation Editor Layout

VIZART-4898

Improved Scenetree Container Search - Added support for Regular Expressions

VIZART-4315

Keep last recipient for GH Message Dialogue

VIZART-4150

Layer Editor should stick with the Scene Editor

VIZART-5198

Make old icons still available via config

VIZART-4877

Make workspace parameters resettable

VIZART-4804

New Blur's kernel type and parameters for SSAO

VIZART-4907

Plugins type selection should be remembered

VIZART-4553

Possibility to switch between Workspaces with keyboard shortcuts

VIZART-4582

Provide a library of shaders

VIZART-4755

Provide example code for TransitionShaders

VIZART-4866

Re-enable Back- and Frontlayer when MainLayer is VER

VIZART-4242

Recognize pbr image set and create PBR shader automatically.

VIZART-4979

Reflect value changes in Interface faster in Render output

VIZART-4897

Remove Layoutbutton from Scene - Rendering

VIZART-4809

Script Editor improvements on code indentation and autocompletion

VIZART-4933

Separate Gamma Correction and Lower/Upper Output Limits

VIZART-4430

Show available adaptive formats in GFX Channel

VIZART-4777

Show correct plugin tooltip for geometry plugins in Scenetree

VIZART-4801

Show only characters available for a specific font

VIZART-4420

Show served VizEngine instance number in VizArtist title bar

VIZART-4832

Support dragging images from Imagelibrary to Artist

VIZART-4965

WindowMask: add container selection for tracking

Fixed Issues

Key

Summary

VIZART-5060

Snapshot names are limited by 30 characaters

VIZART-5035

Scrolling stops midway in some plugin properties

VIZART-5028

Assets name will have (1) inside the name after copy&paste when using multiple different assets with the same name inside the same folder

VIZART-4985

Improve readability of the scripting documentation

VIZART-4981

Focus outline of Scene Editor not always correct

VIZART-4978

Fix wrong DPI scaling inside the stage editor

VIZART-4974

Artist crash when deleting items from the scene tree

VIZART-4927

Drag&Drop blocked by tooltip when Scene Tree is zoomed out

VIZART-4920

GraffiTex brush color alpha shouldn't be availble

VIZART-4914

Director offset, is measured in Seconds - even if Timeline is set to Frames or Fields

VIZART-4913

Deleting Materials on multiple container at once after Undo operation fails

VIZART-4906

Unlit Material has no Alpha-parameter

VIZART-4892

Bring back Front & Backlayer in Director Control window

VIZART-4862

Artist freezes when selected folder inside the import view will be updated in the background

VIZART-4854

List with SyncObjects for Superchannel Start Mode not visible

VIZART-4811

Import panel does not properly handle folder shortcuts

VIZART-4810

Modified Date/Descending sort order doesn't get updated automatically

VIZART-4761

Can't reset stop keyframe name

VIZART-4723

Artist freezes when expanding scene tree container

VIZART-4437

Material Editor icon not updating correctly

VIZART-4177

Favorites not cleared after remove asset in the new version of plugin overlay window

VIZART-3609

Scenetree: Horizontal scrollbar does not appear automatically

Known Issues

  • Due a technical limitation of QT framework, the focus of an input field can not be restored when switching containers.

  • Referenced Materials do not correctly update their icon if changed.

  • It is not recommended to run the User Interface within a Virtual Set environment, as it can cause timing issues under certain circumstances.

  • Viz One Browser: When the Viz One Browser window is minimized (either using the minimize button in the window bar, or WIN + D to hide all windows on the desktop), it can only be brought back to the screen by using the Restore and Maximize entries in the context menu of the window in the Windows taskbar.

  • Viz One Browser: The preview of clip elements in the Viz One Browser doesn't show the content correctly anymore when the browser window is moved to another display (e.g. second screen). The application must be restarted to bring back the clip preview.

  • Viz Engine render window is always on top when started in videowall mode -u1 -y -n and output system FULLSCREEN (VIZART-2400). Does not happen in mode -u1 -w or with any vga_preview and is independent on the number of monitors and if a mosaic is used or not.

    • What can be observed is that the output is always on top and it is not possible to get anything else on top (taskbar, other windows with ALT + TAB, task manager). SHIFT + BACKSPACE works only when Viz Artist has focus. When CTRL + BACKSPACE does not work it can be achieved with CTRL + ALT + DEL, task manager, ALT + TAB to Viz Artist and SHIFT + BACKSPACE. ALT + TAB does not work initially as the window is not shown. This behavior is actually desired to have the output of Viz Engine always on top (for example, interactive scenes shown on screens in the studio).

Windows

  • Right clicking on the Taskbar icon of Viz Engine starts a new instance. Starting an additional Viz GUI process is prevented on Windows 10.

  • On Windows version LTSC 1809: Logging out/in may be required for the fonts in the Viz Artist user interface to apply the set scaling after the user changes the Windows scaling setting.

Build Information

  • Platform Toolset: Visual Studio 2022 (v143)

  • Windows SDK Version: 10.0.22621

Documentation

Documentation for Viz Artist, Viz Engine and Viz Plugins are available at the Vizrt Documentation Center:

Installation and Support

Installation

The installation wizard guides you through the installation process. Make sure to close any running Viz Artist/Viz Engine application, prior to the installation. To run Viz Artist or Viz Engine independent of a database server, you need to install the Graphic Hub database software locally.

Support

Support is available at the Vizrt Support Portal.