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2.4 Release Notes

Release date: XX XXX XXXX

Beta Build

Cavalry 2.4 is currently in beta and subject to change. Installers are available to download via your account (Beta tab).

Beta builds are available to Professional licences.

Updates

The

New
label indicates an update as part of the current beta version.

New Features​

General​

  • New Dependency Graph window providing an interactive schematic view or map of the connections within a Composition. Starter users can preview but not create or edit. This replaces the Flow Graph.
  • New
    New Mesh Shape for deforming images/shapes by adding vertices to create a mesh. Note this is no longer part of the Footage Shape and any existing scenes will need to be rebuilt.
  • A new Mesh tool for use with the Footage Shape.
  • Third party plug-ins:
    • New
      Add a splash screen via welcome.js
    • New
      “nodeStrings” has been updated to “layerStrings” in the strings.json schema. This is backwards compatible but may be worth updating any existing plugins for tidiness.
    • Now includes support for Filters.
    • Support for 'nice names' and 'tooltips'.
    • A new "author" key is required.
  • Excel (.xlsx) file import including an option to choose sheets/tabs on the Spreadsheet Utility.

Behaviours​

  • The Oscillator has been upgraded. New features include:
    • Seamless loops when used as deformer.
    • New Seconds and Minutes (BPM) Time Modes.
    • Create a custom Wave Type.

Legacy scenes will use the 'old' Oscillator for backwards compatibility. These can be manually replaced but note that feature parity is not guaranteed so some settings may need adjusting.

Effects​

Shaders​

  • New SLA Shader. Big thanks to David Farmer for contributing his SLA noise shaders in celebration of the life of Mark Coleran.

Filters​

  • SkSL Filter. Write custom filters in SkSL ("Skia Shading Language").

Utilities​

Scripting​

Enhancements​

  • New
    getAttributeDefinition now includes a default key.
  • New
    Excel Sheet attribute for the Spreadsheet Lookup.
  • New
    The Shuffle String Manipulator has been updated offering more methods to shuffle strings.
  • New
    New right click options for the Mesh tool.
  • New
    New Size Progress Mode for the Auto-Crop Behaviour.
  • New
    Percentage Based Dash Patterns for Strokes
  • The logic for drag/dropping swatches from Color Palettes onto Shapes in the Viewport has been improved.
  • The Oscillator now produces the same result when used for either values or as a deformer.
  • The Show Composition Boundary Viewport option can now be set to a custom colour.
  • The Viewport's 2D Grid has been updated:
    • New 'Swiss' grid type.
    • A Regular grid's origin can now be specified (e.g top left).
    • Creating non-uniform grids is now supported.
    • 2D Grids are now saved per Composition.
    • Grids can be copied and pasted.
  • When Viewport Playback Caching is enabled, the Update the Viewport in Playback button is now dimmed.
  • A Padding attribute has been added to the SkSL Filter.
  • Window sizes are now remembered when opening windows from the Window menu.
  • It's now possible to 'Run Snippet' from the JavaScript Editor.
  • The Text Shape now inherits its settings. For example, if the last interaction with a Text Shape set the Font to Arial and the Font Size to 100, the next Text Shape created will also match those settings.
  • It's now possible to mute an input connection. This is a temporary UI/UX for testing but right click an attribute with an input connection to mute/unmute.
  • New Skip Invisible Duplicates attribute for the Duplicator (Advanced tab)
  • Several updates to the Color Window including:
    • New
      Delete unused swatches from the Scene Palette.
    • New
      Paste Colors to swatches.
    • New
      Names are now imported from .ase files.
    • Updated UI with tabs for palette types.
    • Re-orderable List view including swatch names. See notes below.
    • Assign to Fill/Stroke in list view (without hotkeys).
    • Add swatches from selection.
    • Select Layers with Color.
  • Several updates to the Gradient widget including:
    • New full width UI.
    • Preview Jitter and Interpolation.
    • Reverse Gradient command.
    • Copy/Paste gradient.
  • Footage Shape Mesh improvements:
    • Edit corner points with the Mesh tool.
    • Wireframe display is no longer reliant on 'Draw Debug Information'.
  • It's now possible to copy/paste the Graph Widget.
  • Various improvements to the Dependency Graph.
  • The Assets from Smart Folder Utility now outputs file names when in Specific Index mode.
  • The Graph Editor's Transform tool now supports top, bottom and corner controls.
  • New Cycles attribute for the Noise Shader.
  • New Gamma attribute for the Noise Shader.
  • New Fit Cover option for the Image Shader's Scale Mode attribute.
  • New Missing Frames option for the Image Shader.
  • New right click > Reveal Composition in Assets Window option in the Scene Tree.
  • Spring loaded UI tabs. e.g. drag a Layer from the Scene Window into a docked Dependency Graph.
  • The JavaScript Window's Snippet panel now supports the new re-orderable list.
  • Improved search in the documentation.
  • The Text Shape now includes a Style attribute with options for applying Underline, Strikethrough, Subscript and Superscript styles to text.
  • Camera Views - Additional Viewports now include the option to select the view from different Cameras.
  • Alpha is now supported for gradient stops when a Stroke's Color Mode is set to Gradient.
  • The Blend Sub-Mesh Positions Behaviour now handles sub-meshes (Text/SVG). Note that this update required a new Layer – Legacy Scenes will continue to work but we recommend replacing the Layer if possible.

Notable Bug Fixes​

  • New
    The Text Shape supports the Justify Alignment option again.
  • New
    Fixed an issue where adding Text Styling could result in certain characters moving.
  • New
    Materials (Fill/Stroke) can now be removed from the Merge Shape.
  • New
    The button to reveal a Project in the Assets Window no longer appears on start up if a Project is not set.
  • New
    An 'order of operations' issue affecting setting keyframe or animation curve interpolation is now resolved.
  • New
    When importing multiple images to the Assets Window they are now added to a selected folder (if one is selected) without being added to a new folder.
  • Deleting an animated Array index no longer causes a misalignment of the Time Editor.
  • Undo after removing indices from an Array no longer triggers a crash (possible remaining gremlin here).
  • A Pre-Comp's Blend Mode is now supported. This also relates to an issue where a change to a Pre-Comp's Opacity from 100% to 99% could cause a big change in appearance.
  • Fixed a regression where duplicating a hierarchy of Layers could cause the Time Editor to become misaligned with the Scene Tree.
  • Re-orderable List (e.g. Color Palettes, Snippets Panel):
    • Filtering via Search is now preserved when drag/dropping a Snippet.
    • Very fast movement/interaction no longer leaves gaps in the list.
    • Dragging immediately after renaming is now working.
    • Improved UI layouts
  • A Shape's Fill Alpha no longer affects its Stroke Alpha when a Shader is connected to the Stroke.
  • Right clicking on a Layer to rename it now correctly deselects any previously selected Layers.
  • Oscillator:
    • Fixed an 'off by one' error where deformation was not affecting the end of an open path.
    • Fixed an error causing deformation to fail at the 'peaks' of a wave.
  • Duplicating and/or copy/pasting Cameras is now working.
  • The topmost active Camera Guide in the layer stack now takes priority.
  • Viewport tools (Select, Edit Shape etc) now draw correctly when there are multiple Cameras in a Composition.
  • Opening Scenes containing missing assets located within a Project now report correctly as missing when a Project is not set.
  • The Dependency Graph no longer hides Layers when interacting during playback.
  • Color Window:
    • Adding a swatch no longer overwrites an existing swatch.
    • The Set Label Color on Selected Items command now includes Markers.
  • Running Shape > Split Path at Selection with no points selected no longer triggers a crash.
  • A missing third-party Layer no longer appears in the Attribute Editor's 'recently used' buttons.
  • The Viewport now updates correctly when undoing adding a Shader to a Stroke.
  • A crash caused by deleting a JavaScript Shape is resolved.
  • A crash caused by deleting a Layer while an animation channel is selected is resolved.
  • An issue causing issues with saved attributes in legacy files has been resolved. This was reported in relation to 'Use Layer as Seed' on the Noise Behaviour.
  • The Pen tool now draws correctly when a Camera is in use.
  • Dependency Graph:
    • Using the Tab hotkey in the Dependency Graph now works as expected when the window is docked.
    • The popover Dependency Graph no longer disappears in Live Mode.
    • The font size for the Tab is correct on Windows.
    • The Snapping button state is now correct when opening the Dependency Graph.
    • Changes to connected Generators (e.g. Shape Type) no longer break the UI.
  • Changing dropdowns that hide/show the relevant attributes will no longer occasionally fail to reveal the correct attributes.
  • F to fit is now working (again) for selected keyframes in the Graph Editor.
  • Deleting keyframes in the Graph Editor no longer clears the animation curve from the view.
  • The Truchet Tiles example has been updated.
  • Missing frames in an image sequence no longer affect its overall duration.

Notes​

  • New
    The Mesh Array has been renamed to Shape Array to avoid any confusion with the new Mesh Shape feature.
  • The hamburger icon has been replaced with a disclosure (...) icon. This is used in the Color Window and Text Shape (variable fonts).
  • In order for the default swatch names in the palettes that ship with Cavalry to appear they will need to be regenerated. To do this:
    • Close Cavalry.
    • Rename the Palettes folder to Palettes-old.
    • Open Cavalry.
    • Manually move any custom palettes from the Palettes-old folder to the new Palettes folder that will be generated.
    • The Palettes-old folder can be deleted once complete.