New GT 1.17 release

[ArtF]

Hi All:

  New version is online with a few bug fixes. (Material memory for example).
 
  (Rest of this is technical so ignore it if you like. )
   
  I have dropped the test of Cuda, while it IS very powerfull as a technology it isnt there yet in
  terms of users having the hardware. Someday perhaps.
 
    A new test is in this version, to see if most of you have shader capability. I suspect you do. Shaders
    are small programs I can inject to your video cards at various times to do complex graphics with no
    real time penalty as the GPU does all the work.  This version has such a program test. TO ensure
    it doesnt cause trouble the system tests it as it loads..any error and it wont load again until you tell
    it to. In the options tab, (bottom) youll see "Shaders on" or " Shaders off". If it says off you either
    had trouble loading it, or turned it off. This setting if for generically turning off the Shader/VBO
    code blocks.
   
    On the properties tab is a checkbox labeled "3d grid" which turns on my test shader. This shader only
    does a small job of adding a very discrete checkerboard to the project screen to add a few small visual
    cues as to what direction your facing, its meant to be a background visual clue that doesnt register
    highly or impact graphics in any great way. It has memory and will stay turned off if you turn it off.
     
 
  An interesting feature of shaders is I can allow you to change them ( if you program at all ). Their
  very simple programs. The file labeled shader.frag is my test one, they are written in C and compiled
  during program execution. So if you are of the mind and have programming chops play with it and see
  what you can do with a background for the project screen.  (Should you make a nice one send it to me
  and Ill include it in future releases. ). You only need to change the text , GT compiles it during load.
  As a tool , shaders could help in development of a simulation for cutting which is one reason I was
  investigating them a bit, but as a background when creating snapshots or videos they could be usefull
  as well. Anyway..for anyone interested the capability is there to actually change runtime C code of GT
  ...kinda cool in itself. lol. Ive programmed for quite a while using older OpenGL code which for the most
  part works well and is fast, but standards changed long ago and shaders and VBO's offer much higher speeds
  and programming power so Ill continue to investigate higher level abilities for the future so long as they
  dont cause too much trouble across the user base.
 
 
  Have fun,
  Art
 

[bosr]

Nice touch.

[BobL]

Art;

3D grid works well here, nicely done pal..


Cheers
Bob
;)