SceneComposer Usability Improvements

Default Solutions 
 SceneComposer provides default solutions for both OpenGL ES 2.0 (for shading language 1.1) and OpenGL ES 3.0 (for shading language 3.0). 
 
 
 
 
 
 Multiple Clone Operation 
 It is possible to clone a node multiple times by using the "Multiple Clone" option. The Clone View was improved by adding a Multiple Clone tab that allows to specify the number of the clones (Mantis 4091). 
 
 
 
 
 See also: 
 
 
 Clone, Delete, Rename Scene Nodes in SceneComposer User Manual 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Planar Shadow Plane Alignment 
 A new property is available for planar shadows: AlignmentNode. This property exposes Candera's automatic alignment behavior. When the alignment node is set, Candera automatically aligns the shadow plane to the alignment node (which usually is the shadow receiver) (Mantis 5406). 
 
 
 
 
 See also: 
 
 
 Planar Shadow in SceneComposer User Manual 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Instanceable Shaders 
 New shaders were integrated into SceneComposer. They have "Inst" in their names and are special shaders used for instanced draw. When using an instance-able shader, uniforms that are declared as arrays in the shader, will not be exposed as an array in the SceneComposer view. Instead it has to be exposed as a single value. 
 When an instanceable shader is selected, the property grid will display the Max Instance Count value - represents the maximum number of element that the shader can render in a batch render (Mantis 5487). 
 
 
 
 
 See also: 
 
 
 Instanceable Shaders in SceneComposer User Manual 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Blend Operation Minimum and Maximum 
 Two new blend operations were introduced: Minimum and Maximum. It is possible to export Minimum and Maximum enumerators for the property RenderMode::BlendOperation (Mantis 5407). 
 
 
 
 
 
 Animating SnapToDevicePixel Property 
 SnapToDevicePixel property of 2D nodes can now be animated (Mantis 5689). 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tree Virtualization 
 Tree virtualization is now enabled on SceneComposer UI (several controls affected). Panel loading speed improved (Mantis 5666). 
 
 
 
 
 
 Occlusion Culling 
 A new camera render strategy was introduced: OcclusionCulling. When OcclusionCulling render strategy is selected, a new property becomes available in property grid: QueryType (Mantis 5488). 
 
 
 
 
 See also: 
 
 
 Occlusion Culling in SceneComposer User Manual 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Minor Improvements 
 
 
 
 BitmapFont glyph size per Asset. CFF has been extended and a new information is available in the header of the asset files: maximum size (bytes) of bitmap font glyphs. This information is intended to be accessible to Candera asset loader and applications (Mantis 5517). 
 Text Search in Shader Editor. Text search in shader editor was improved (Mantis 5500). 
 Dragged Images on Billboards. Images can now also be dragged directly on billboards (Mantis 5623). 
 Trigger Update. When a value of a property of a widget is changed, the Update method on the widget will be called immediately. This applies for composites too (Mantis 5668). 
 Info Icon. A information icon for the default asset profile was added in order to inform the user that the changes (CustomID) will not be saved. (Mantis 5675). 
 Bitmap Profile. "Bitmap Profiles" view was renamed into "Bitmap Profile Palette" (Mantis 5717). 
 Additional Info. Additional information is displayed when adding a new TextStyle - "Base Style" and "Default Font" (Mantis 5777). 
 Fixed angle rotation. The button is also displayed in "Animation Design" toolbar perspective. In "Scene Design" is always enable and the button position was changed near the "Rotation button" while in "Animation Design" is enabled only if an "Animated Property" is selected (Mantis 5625). 
 In the SCHost Information panel new parameters were added (CGIDEVICE_OPENGLES_30 and CGIDEVICE_OPENGLES_20) in order to show which OpenGLES version (2.0 or 3.0) is used.