What's new in Capture 2024?

Product

Highlights

• Highlight Improved licence handling. It is now possible to move your Capture licence key file between computers any number of times, and without our assistance. Licences remain personal and valid for two computers. On your website account there is a new section called “My Licences” from where you can download key files, view active unlocks, unlock or lock a computer.
• GPU driver date check. If your GPU driver is more than twelve months old you will receive a warning on startup to update your drivers. The majority of support issues are usually because of outdated drivers.

• Highlight Connectivity status. New dialog that reports on the status of Capture’s connectivity providers. It is available via a button in the universes tab. It primarily indicates whether there is a potential firewall issue and/or whether a provider failed to initialise. While it also reveals any network activity, be that incoming or outgoing traffic for each provider.
• Connectivity options. Network protocols now allow selecting a network interface rather than an IP address. Configuration sticks even if the IP address changes.

Design

Highlights

• Highlight Images. Support for images that are visible in wireframe and plot mode has been added. Images can be added from the Built-in / Dimensions section of the library, or through model import from DWG or PDF files.
• Importing from SketchUp. Importing from SketchUp now preserves groups, imports components as groups, sets drawing block names, handles materials better with regard to layers, adds support for hidden, shadow casting and opacity usage properties (on both object and individual face level). Importing from SketchUp now also supports alpha channel textures.
• SketchUp 2023 version file support.
• Improved DWG import. Performance has been improved thanks to optimisations of shell face edge visibility handling and only importing block definitions once. Improved analysis of DWG file drawing units prevents the generation of excessively detailed models for procedural geometry. This improves the legibility and performance of objects imported from DWG files not drawn in meters. Blocks now import as groups when consisting of several objects. Several more DWG entities are now imported as separate objects.
• Drawing name and drawing block name. These properties are now available on groups and images as well, since these can be imported.
• Visualisation aspect ratios. Several new aspect ratios have been added to the view settings. An option between transparent or black aspect ratio masking has also been added.
• Automatic filter inclusion. A new filter option has been added that controls whether new layers and universes are automatically included to the filter set. This was always the case before and now it can be turned off.
• Fixture orientation reference. A new indication design to help orient fixtures is now drawn at the center of fixtures in wireframe view, when they are selected.

• Highlight Scale mode. The new Scale mode allows you to select imported objects, measure a distance and have the entire selection rescaled to match another distance.
• Replace with motion fixture. Imported objects can now be replaced with motion fixtures.
• Scene storage. Transformation and hidden state of objects in scenes is now stored in the objects themselves rather than in the scenes. Therefore measures (distance, angle, line, ruler and cables) as well as snappers now function properly in scenes.
• Select all by Model. A new command that selects all other imported objects with the same model as any already selected object.
• Select layers used by selected objects. This new command in the layers category of the design tab lets you select all layers used by the currently selected objects.
• Fixtures tab commands. Fixture related Edit menu commands are now available in the Fixtures tab.
• Measure mode in presentations. Measure mode is now available in presentations.
• Generic sections in library on top. The Generic section of the Truss, Fixtures and Fixture Symbols categories have been placed on top of the list with a pin icon.
• Console patch. Fixture information in the console patch window has been expanded for better understanding of fixture identification. Fixtures that have been both identified and have position information can be imported directly using the new Import At Position button. It is also possible to drag fixtures from the console patch window onto existing fixtures in the project in order to associate them.
• Circular snapper. A complement to the line snapper.

Documentation

Highlights

• Highlight Reports in plots. A new report plot item makes it possible to add a report from the project in a plot.
• Scene selection in plot views. Plot view insets now have a scene property where it’s possible to explicitly select a scene for the plot view. When not set the view shows the current scene.
• Current date plot text variable. Two new plot text variables for inserting the current date have been added.
• Plot adjustments. It is now possible to enable and disable plot adjustments through a command in the edit menu as well as assigning a keyboard shortcut for this.
• Annotation selection. The Select Only.. Annotations command has been split into three different commands to differentiate between front, centre and tail annotations.

• Highlight Reference grid plot inset. A new reference grid plot inset has been added.
• Vertical ruler text orientation. The text orientation of vertical rulers is not orthogonal to the ruler.
• Patch universe and channel report columns. Two new patch columns have been added that make it possible to group reports by universes, containing a channel column that doesn’t repeat the universe name.
• Circuit property for panels and report items. Both panels and report items now have circuit properties that are visible in plots and reports.
• Reports unit column. The unit column has been added to the Rigging Point, Cable and Other report tables.

Visualisation

Highlights

• Highlight Improved beam sampling. The way the beams are sampled has been improved in order to greatly reduce slicing and pattern misalignment artefacts.
• Multicolour LED fixture simulation. The performance and visual stability of colours (hues and intensities) from multicolour LED fixtures has been improved.
• Multiaperture barndoor visualisation. The effect of barndoors on beams is now visualised for multiaperture fixtures as well.
• Gobo visualisation. Gobos are now scaled to match the field angle of fixtures.
• Prism visualisation. Prisms take into account the size of the field angle in the final size of the beam. Focus and frost is applied to the individual facets, before the prism effect is applied.
• Zoom response curves. The library now supports zoom response curves.
• Star cloth texture generators. Generates luminance textures for star cloth materials.
• Emissive objects precision. Rendering of emissive objects has been reworked to improve precision and avoid glitches.

• Highlight Animated objects. Added support for importing animated skinned glTF assets.
• Movie rendering settings. New options that allow rendering movies with different levels of quality and with different levels of protection have been added. Visualisation and control of multiple frost in fixtures like the Elation Artiste Monet.
• Duplicate, import & export material mapping regions. Material mapping regions can now be duplicated as well as imported and exported in CSV files.
• Separate HDRI lighting intensity. The lighting intensity of an HDRI now has a separate property. An HDRI’s “master” intensity is controlled by the existing property.
• Presentation connectivity options. Exported presentation files now include the current connectivity options, ie. sACN settings or number of PangolinLD projectors.
• Media player DMX control. It is now possible to select 256 instead of 8 playlist entries in a media player over DMX.
• Windows HDR support. Continuous automatic detection of HDR on Windows, both when enabling/disabling HDR on monitors and when moving windows between monitors.