[JPatch-News] JPatch 0.2 pre-alpha released

[<jpa...@li...>]

=============================
JPatch 0.2 pre-alpha released
=============================

Today we* have made availible a new pre-alpha version (0.2) of
our 3D Modeler "JPatch". It can be downloaded from
http://jpatch.sourceforge.net

JPatch is an sPatch like modeler and can export to RIB (RenderMan)
and POV-Ray.

Requirements:
=============

    * Java Runtime Environment Version 1.4 or later
    * Optional: Java3D Version 1.2 or later (for the
      Java3D preview)


Supported Platforms:
====================

    JPatch should run on every platform which supports Java. It has
    been tested on:
    * Microsoft Windows
    * Linux
    * Mac OS-X


What's new:
===========

    1. Java3D Preview
    -----------------
    JPatch now has a shaded preview (requires Java3D)

    2. Javascript
    -------------
    JPatch now embeds Rhino, the Javascript engine from mozilla.org.
    It includes three demo scripts to produce circles, spheres and
    grids.

    3. Background Images (Rotoscope)
    --------------------------------
    JPatch can now load and display a background image in each
    viewport.

    4. javax.vecmath Package
    ------------------------
    We've bundeled Kenji Hiranabe's unofficial free Java3D vecmath
    package into this JPatch release. So there's no need to install the
    complete Java3D distribution anymore (unless you want the Java3D
    preview feature, of course). For more information see
    http://objectclub.esm.co.jp/vecmath/

    5. Bugfixes
    -----------
    We've fixed all bugs that we found in version 0.1


Limitations:
============

    Javascript can only start the three included demo-scripts (circle,
    sphere and grid). Since the internal design of JPatch will change
    completely (see Future Plans), Javascripts written for this version
    will not run in the next version of JPatch anymore. We therefor
    decided to deactivate the possibility to execute custom scripts.


Future Plans:
=============

    We're currently re-writing much of the code to support
    Animation:Master style hooks and five-point-patches. This took a
    little longer than expected, so we decided to release another
    pre-alpha version, still based on the old code, but including
    several new features and bugfixes. The next version (0.3) will
    most likely support hooks and five-point-patches and Animation:Master
    model import.
    Animation features (Morphs, Bones) will follow in 0.4.



*The JPatch-Team are (in alphabetical order):
---------------------------------------------
Dan Bishop          Developer
Robert Hemby        Consultant / Tester
Sascha Ledinsky     Project Administrator / Developer
Giovanni Martone    Project Administrator / Consultant

Other Contributors:
-------------------
Gregg Patton



Best regards,
Sascha Ledinsky