Skip to main content

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.
  • A new workflow for deforming images/shapes by adding vertices to create a mesh on a Footage Shape.
  • A new Mesh tool for use with the Footage Shape.
  • Third party plug-ins:
    • New
      Now includes support for Filters.
    • New
      Support for 'nice names' and 'tooltips'.
    • New
      A new "author" key is required.

Behaviours​

  • New
    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​

  • Apply Font Style Style Behaviour. Dynamically set text styling features like Underline, Strikethrough, Subscript and Superscript.
  • Camera Guide - Use a guide to drive a Camera's animation.

Scripting​

Enhancements​

  • New
    A Padding attribute has been added to the SkSL Filter.
  • New
    Window sizes are now remembered when opening windows from the Window menu.
  • New
    It's now possible to 'Run Snippet' from the JavaScript Editor.
  • New
    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.
  • New
    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
    New Skip Invisible Duplicates attribute for the Duplicator (Advanced tab)
  • New
    Several updates to the Color Window including:
    • 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.
  • New
    Several updates to the Gradient widget including:
    • New full width UI.
    • Preview Jitter and Interpolation.
    • Reverse Gradient command.
    • Copy/Paste gradient.
  • New
    Footage Shape Mesh improvements:
    • Edit corner points with the Mesh tool.
    • Wireframe display is no longer reliant on 'Draw Debug Information'.
  • New
    It's now possible to copy/paste the Graph Widget.
  • New
    Various improvements to the Dependency Graph.
  • New
    The Assets from Smart Folder Utility now outputs file names when in Specific Index mode.
  • New
    The Graph Editor's Transform tool now supports top, bottom and corner controls.
  • New
    New Cycles attribute for the Noise Shader.
  • New
    New Gamma attribute for the Noise Shader.
  • New
    New Fit Cover option for the Image Shader's Scale Mode attribute.
  • New
    New Missing Frames option for the Image Shader.
  • New
    New right click > Reveal Composition in Assets Window option in the Scene Tree.
  • New
    Spring loaded UI tabs. e.g. drag a Layer from the Scene Window into a docked Dependency Graph.
  • New
    The JavaScript Window's Snippet panel now supports the new re-orderable list.
  • New
    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​

  • Dependency Graph:
    • New
      Using the Tab hotkey in the Dependency Graph now works as expected when the window is docked.
    • New
      The popover Dependency Graph no longer disappears in Live Mode.
    • New
      The font size for the Tab is correct on Windows.
    • New
      The Snapping button state is now correct when opening the Dependency Graph.
    • New
      Changes to connected Generators (e.g. Shape Type) no longer break the UI.
  • New
    Changing dropdowns that hide/show the relevant attributes will no longer occasionally fail to reveal the correct attributes.
  • New
    F to fit is now working (again) for selected keyframes in the Graph Editor.
  • New
    Deleting keyframes in the Graph Editor no longer clears the animation curve from the view.
  • New
    The Truchet Tiles example has been updated.
  • New
    Missing frames in an image sequence no longer affect its overall duration.

Notes​

  • The hamburger icon has been replaced with a disclosure (three dots) icon. This is used in the Color Window and Text Shape (variable fonts).
  • New
    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.