2025.1

Thank you for downloading Visionary Render 2025.1. In this release we have focused on improving stability, boosting performance in dynamic scenes, and extending support for large-scale immersive environments. Whether you are doing design reviews, collaboration sessions or editing complex scenes, these changes are designed to make your workflow smoother and more efficient.

What's New in This Release?

Introducing Virtalis Docs - Comprehensive Documentation Portal

We're pleased to announce our new HTML documentation portal, Virtalis Docs. This resource is accessible both locally and online at https://docs.virtalis.com/

• All-in-One Resource: Access all software manuals, guides and changelogs in a single location (local and online).
• Multiple Access Points: Easily access help by pressing F1 or clicking ? icons throughout the application. Launch from the start menu, app menu, importers, or when using specific tools.
• Enhanced Content: The manuals and guides have been extended and re-organised to make related topics easier to find.
• Searchable: The online version of the docs is searchable for easy access.

License Server Updates - Security and Stability Improvements

Our license server has been updated with a set of timely fixes:

• Single Instance Enforcement: It now prevents multiple servers from running at once, which used to cause problems for some users.
• Firewall Rule Handling: The installer now adds firewall rules automatically (and removes them on uninstallation).
• Service Reminder: A warning now appears if the server isn't run as a service.
• Simplified Startup Settings: The "Start licence server on startup" option has been removed, as modern Windows systems are better managed through the service configuration, eliminating potential conflicts.
• Security Updates: All components have been updated to ensure a secure experience.

ActiveMove and Large-Scale Systems Support

We've improved support for large-scale setups, with an additional focus on the ActiveMove LED powerwall:

• Dedicated ActiveMove Support: A new standard tracking mode specifically designed for Virtalis ActiveMove systems streamlines setup and ensures optimal performance.
• Standardised Tracking Files for ART systems: Pre-configured ART tracking files are now included in your installation (under data\tracking\art\targets) for use with ART DTrack3 software. These targets feature standardised origin locations at the flystick tip and on the underside of the glasses bridge for consistent calibration.
• Command-Line Improvements: New command-line options and settings management make deployment and configuration easier than ever.
• Mirror Mode button: A dedicated button has been added to the Tracking Diagnostics tab (previously only accessible via keyboard shortcut) to help when configuring tracking systems.

Smarter Rendering - A Simple Performance Win

We've made a straightforward change that makes a big difference:

• Efficient Rendering: Scenes now only re-render when something changes, reducing unnecessary GPU use and making the interface feel snappier when editing large scenes. This new feature is toggle-able (Renderer/Performance) under the "Stop Rendering when static" setting.

Dynamic Shadow Optimisation - Improved Performance for Moving Objects

Our new shadow mapping approach now separates static and moving objects:

• Better Performance: This means we no longer need to redraw every object for shadows when only a few objects are moving.
• Smooth Animations: In our tests, frame rates doubled for certain types of scenes with animated elements. This is especially useful for animated machinery, avatars, or interactive parts in larger scenes.
• Improved immersive experience: Avatar shadows can now be enabled with minimal impact on frame rate, providing a more realistic and immersive experience.

Save and Load Settings

You can now easily restore some or all settings to a particular configuration through the settings GUI. This is especially useful if you’d like to swap between tailored setups for Visionary Render or to restore to a known configuration.

• Settings Files: Save and load settings using the new .VRSetting file extension.
• Settings Selection: Use the new tree view dialog to select specific settings for saving and loading.
• Command-Line Options: Restore settings via command line with -restoresettings to restore to a selected settings file on application startup.

Importers and Exporters

Importer	Version Support Added
NX	2412
Parasolid	14.0 (Export)
Solid Edge	2025
SolidWorks	2025
STEP (Writer)	AP 242 Ed2 (beta) and Ed3 (beta)

Resolved Issues

We continue to focus on addressing issues you've reported and improving the quality of Visionary Render. In this release, we identified and resolved 18 issues, 6 of which were reported by customers.

ID	Summary
FUS-3290	More reliable importing of revit files when "Read Wireframes" is enabled.
FUS-3455	Fixed the licence server so it works without requiring a user to be logged on.
FUS-3531	Prevent unintended behaviour when the detect clashes system would clash with avatars.
FUS-3636	Fixed the LuaSQL/MySQL error messages by addressing issues with Unicode text conversion in LuaSQL.
FUS-3698	Fixes Anamorphic stereo modes where 2:1 pixel ratio was only applied to UI, not the 3D scene.
FUS-3659	Resolved a crash in the Vive OpenXR extensions, making the experience more stable.

note

See the Changelog for a complete list of resolved issues and changes.

We are committed to continuous improvement - your feedback drives our progress. Enjoy the improved performance and new features in Visionary Render 2025.1, and thank you for your continued support.