3.4.0 Release

[mwestphal]

Before release:

• Force fetch origin remote tag with git fetch origin --tags --force
• Write and format release notes from the pull requests since last release, including contributors and packagers
• Create a new NPM token and replace the existing NPM_TOKEN in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-superbuild/settings/secrets/actions

Release Split :

• Create, review and merge a MR from master branch into release: release...master

Release Candidates :

• Commit, review and merge a v3.4.0-RC2 version change in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d CMakeLists.txt, pyproject.toml and package.json in the release branch
• Tag and push to https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d: git tag v3.4.0-RC2 -m v3.4.0-RC2
• Trigger a release build using https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-superbuild actions with v3.4.0-RC2 F3D version, superbuild main branch and prerelease publish true
• Download the prerelease from https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d/releases
• Locally test the prerelease on Linux
• Locally test the prerelease on macOS (Intel)
• Locally test the prerelease on macOS (Silicon)
• Locally test the prerelease on Windows
• Locally test the python wheels on Linux
• Locally test the python wheels on macOS (Silicon)
• Locally test the python wheels on Windows
• Locally test the wasm package
• If it fails,
  • Fix the issues in release branch,
  • Edit this issue and increment N
  • Merge F3D release into master: master...release
• Else proceed to the next part

Release :

• Commit, review and merge v3.4.0 version change in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d CMakeLists.txt, pyproject.toml and package.json in the release branch
• Tag v3.4.0 and push it to https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d: git tag v3.4.0 -m v3.4.0
• Commit, review and merge adding 3.4.0 in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-superbuild versions.cmake in the main branch
• Tag v3.4.0 and push it to https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-superbuild: git tag v3.4.0 -m v3.4.0
• Merge F3D release into master: master...release
• Trigger a release build using https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-superbuild actions with v3.4.0 F3D version, v3.4.0 sb version and prerelease publish true
• Finalize release note and add them to the release
• Format the release note into a changelog and commit/review/merge them into https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d
• Update dev and nightly docs as described here, commit/review/merge into https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-website
• Add a new versioned doc as described here, commit/review/merge into https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-website
• Commit review and merge a bump of F3D version in package.json in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-website
• Update download links using GITHUB_TOKEN=$PAT npm run update-downloads, commit/review/merge into https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-website and then immediately
• Release
• Communicate on discord
• Communicate on reddit
• Communicate on hackernews
• Communicate on linkedin
• Communicate on mastodon
• Communicate on bluesky
• Move all issue from current milestone to next milestone, close current roadmap issue and open a next roadmap issue
• Update dev/ROADMAPS_AND_RELEASES.md for next release in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-website
• Create an issue for updating dependencies in CI and superbuild
• Update .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/new_release.md in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d if needed

Linux testing protocol:

• Install F3D-3.4.0-RC2-Linux-x86_64-raytracing system wide
• f3d testing/data/cow.vtp -> check render, orientation, press R and check raytracing
• f3d testing/data/f3d.stp -> check render, orientation
• f3d testing/data/f3d.glb -> press "Space", check animation is going smoothly and takes 4 seconds
• f3d /path/to/any/new/file.format -> check render
• rm -rf ~/.cache/thumbnails
• pcmanfm (or another supported file manager)
• Check that all supported files in testing/data have a generated thumbnails, especially for new file formats if any
• Double click on supported file in testing/data, especially for new file formats if any and check it opens in F3D
• Drag&Drop cow.vtp, Drag&Drop palermo_park.hdr, check render
• Check that CTRL+O (file dialog) is working
• Press "Esc" and check the following commands reload_current_file_group, set_camera top, toggle_volume_rendering, exit
• cd examples/libf3d && mkdir build && cd build && cmake ../ && make
• ./cpp/check-engine/check-engine
• ./cpp/render-interact/render-interact ../../../testing/data/cow.vtp

macOS testing protocol:

• Install F3D-3.4.0-RC2-macOS-x86_64-raytracing.dmg
• Double click on cow.vtp, check render and orientation, press R and check raytracing
• Double click on f3d.stp, check render and orientation
• Double click on f3d.glb, press "Space", check animation is going smoothly and takes 4 seconds
• Double click on any new supported file.format, check render
• Check all supported file in testing/data directory in finder have the f3d mark, if not, check that "open with" suggest F3D
• Drag&Drop cow.vtp, Drag&Drop palermo_park.hdr, check render
• Check that CTRL+O (file dialog) is working
• Press "Esc" and check the following commands reload_current_file_group, set_camera top, toggle_volume_rendering, exit

Windows testing protocol:

• Install F3D-3.4.0-RC2-Windows-x86_64-raytracing.exe, add F3D to path for all users
• Start -> Disk Cleanup -> select thumbnails -> Ok -> Delete Files
• Open testing/data directory in file manager
• Wait for thumbnails to be generated
• Check that every supported file has a generated thumbnails, except .tif.
• Check that every supported file has a small "f3d" mark, for those that don't check that "Open with" -> "Use another app" suggest F3D.
• Double click on cow.vtp, check render and orientation, press R and check raytracing
• Double click on f3d.stp, check render and orientation
• Double click on f3d.glb, press "Space", check animation is going smoothly and takes 4 seconds
• Double click on any new supported file format, check render
• Check that CTRL+O (file dialog) is working
• run f3d-console --version in a Windows command line and check it output the version
• Press "Esc" and check the following commands reload_current_file_group, set_camera top, toggle_volume_rendering, exit
• cd examples\libf3d && mkdir build && cd build && cmake ../ && cmake --build . --config Release
• .\cpp\check-engine\Release\check-engine
• .\cpp\render-interact\Release\render-interact ..\..\..\testing\data\cow.vtp

Python testing protocol:

• Use a venv or make sure f3d is not installed in your python environment
• pip install f3d==3.4.0-RC2
• python

import f3d
eng = f3d.Engine.create()
eng.scene.add("/path/to/cow.vtp")
eng.window.render() # No effect on Windows
eng.interactor.start()

• Check the following
  • The name of the window is f3d at all time
  • Python provides suggestions whenever the "Tab" key is pressed

Webassembly testing protocol:

• Clone https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-website
• Replace the current f3d version by the last RC available and run the website locally to check the web viewer
• Make sure to check for broken anchor in the npm output

npm uninstall f3d
npm install f3d --tag next
npm run start

Once a release cycle:

• Check that completions are still working with fish and zsh when tab is pressed
• Check that F3D is added for extensions on a fresh Windows installation

[mwestphal]

🗣 Join our community:

F3D Community is welcoming to users and developers alike!
Ask questions, gets involved and starts contributing in a beginner-friendly environment.

❤️ Sponsor F3D:

F3D is open source and needs your support!
Many thanks to all our one time sponsors!
Much love to our monthly sponsors for this release ❤️
NGIZeroCore | LambdaTest-Inc | OpenDroneMap
@jgod @exbluesbreaker @parkerlreed @Saijin-Naib @CriticalPoint

⚗️ New Alembic Features!

F3D is now able to read Xform animations and Curves from the alembic format!

🇨 C bindings

The libf3d now have C bindings for complete intercompatibility
with other languages:
https://f3d.app/docs/next/libf3d/LANGUAGE_BINDINGS#c

Here is a quick prototype of Julia biding that uses the libf3d C bindings:
https://github.com/joa-quim/F3D.jl

🔃 Complete examples

We now have libf3d examples for:

• C bindings
• Python bindings
• Java bindings
• C++ bindings with multiple usecase
• FLTK
• Qt6
• QML

See how easy it is to create your own app using the libf3d!

  // Load static/native plugins
  f3d::engine::autoloadPlugins();

  // Create a native-window engine
  f3d::engine eng = f3d::engine::create();

  // Modify options using the struct API
  f3d::options& opt = eng.getOptions();
  opt.render.grid.enable = true;
  opt.render.show_edges = true;

  // UI overlays: axis + some HUD
  opt.ui.axis = true;
  opt.ui.fps = true;
  opt.ui.animation_progress = true;
  opt.ui.filename = true;

  // FXAA + tone mapping
  opt.render.effect.antialiasing.enable = true;
  opt.render.effect.antialiasing.mode = "fxaa";
  opt.render.effect.tone_mapping = true;

  ::AddCustomCommands(eng);
  ::AddCustomBindins(eng);

  try 
  {
    // Add a model to the scene
    eng.getScene().add(file);
  }
  catch (const std::exception& e)
  {
    std::cerr << e.what() << '\n';
  }

  // Start interaction loop
  eng.getInteractor().start();

📝 Complete changelog

Details

For F3D users:

• BEHAVIOR CHANGE: Changed the behavior of gaussian point sprites, it now require the use of --point-sprites-absolute-size
• Added a CLI option to control if point sprites should be scaled or not: --point-sprites-absolute-size
• Added HDRI filename display CLI option and interaction (Shift+N) (thanks @exbluesbreaker !)
• Added progress support to QuakeMDL importer (thanks @Hy-LeTuan !)
• Added point sprites modes switch interaction (O)
• Added console auto completion for all libf3d options with a domain and filepath (thanks @skusel !)
• Added support for Alembic XForm animation (thanks @Ni-g-3l !)
• Added an interaction to play animation backward: Ctrl+Shift+Space (thanks @Ni-g-3l !)
• Added a console command to play animation backward: toggle_animation_backward (thanks @Ni-g-3l !)
• Added support for importing Alembic file with curves (thanks @Ni-g-3l !)
• Added a jump_to_frame command (thanks @Ni-g-3l !)
• Added axes and grid color configuration with a CLI option --x/y/z-color (thanks @snoyer @vincenzonetti !)
• Added proper support for composite data (thanks @noclone !)
• Added an interaction to change the up direction Ctrl+Y and Ctrl+Z and dynamic up support (thanks @noclone !)
• Improved the documentation on https://f3d.app (thanks @pravvvv @ArchiePayne @Ni-g-3l )
• Improved style of progress and animation bar to fit F3D style (thanks @Ni-g-3l !)
• Improved color logging (thanks @snoyer !)
• Reduced VRAM usage of antialiasing and HDRI rendering
• Fixed an issue where the camera would reset after volume rendering (thanks @exbluesbreaker !)
• Fixed multiple issue with temporal anti-aliasing
• Fixed an issue with parsing none CLI options
• Fixed small issues with the event loop
• Fixed a blending issue with external rendering context
• Fixed an issue with display of Ctrl+Shift+ bindings (thanks @Ni-g-3l !)
• Fixed many memory issues in QuakeMDL reader (thanks @iommu !)
• Fixed an issue with elevation and azimuth options (thanks @snoyer !)
• Fixed a small display issue in the cheatsheet
• Deprecated --anti-aliasing-mode in favor of simply --anti-aliasing
• Deprecated --point-sprites-type in favor of simply --point-sprites
• MacOS: Fix native window focus issues (thanks @arcticsixxx !)
• MacOS: Added a native file menu (thanks @arcticsixxx !)

For libf3d users:

• Added HDRI filename display option ui.hdri_filename (thanks @exbluesbreaker !)
• Added an option to control if point sprites should be scaled or not model.point_sprites.absolute_size
• Added x/y/z axis color options ui.x/y/z_color to control the color of the axis widget and grid (thanks @snoyer @vincenzonetti !)
• Added a interactor::requestStop API for asynchronous loop stopping (thanks @snoyer !)
• Added a log API to forward log instead of displaying them
• Added C bindings (thanks @noclone !)
• Fixed potential crash when using interactor::trigger* methods (thanks @Samarthi !)
• python: Added many libf3d usage examples (thanks @noclone !)
• python: Removed Python 3.9 wheel support
• python: Fixed stubs for better auto completion (thanks @snoyer !)
• python: Fixed multiples tests that were not run (thanks @snoyer !)
• python: Fixed an issue when setting a double option from ints (thanks @snoyer !)
• python: Created a dedicated helper repository: https://github.com/f3d-app/python-f3d-extras (maintained by @snoyer !)
• wasm: Added typescript support
• java: Improved the bindings to cover almost the whole API (thanks @noclone !)
• examples: Completely reworked the examples with new and details examples in C++ (thanks @noclone !)
• examples: Added a complete Qt6 examples (thanks @noclone !)
• examples: Added a complete Qml examples (thanks @noclone !)
• examples: Added a complete Fltk examples (thanks @noclone !)
• examples: Added C example (thanks @noclone !)
• examples: Added Java example (thanks @noclone !)

For F3D packagers:

• Removed compatibility with VTK <= v9.2.6. VTK v9.3.0 is the new minimum version.

For Web viewer users:

• Added support for gaussian splatting
• Added console support
• Improved color theme

Many thanks to our returning contributors for this release, they are the life of this community!
@exbluesbreaker @skusel @Ni-g-3l @snoyer @ArchiePayne

Thanks to our contributors for this release!
@Hy-LeTuan @vincenzonetti @iommu @arcticsixxx @Samarthi @pravvvv

Thanks to our packagers that help F3D reach a wider audience!
AndnoVember @kylosus @kevinsmia1939 @yurivict @bcdarwin @svenstaro @mzf-guest @papoteur-mga @berolinux @topazus @thierry-FreeBSD @xiota @alerque @chenrui333 daviddavid @kazzarin @StarsbySea @cho-m @adisbladis @Aleksanaa @pbsds @DimStar77 @AngryPenguinPL @strophy @SokolovValy @xiota @UnownPlain @Saijin-Naib

Credits

[mwestphal]

Comm plan:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/java/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dmodeling/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/C_Programming/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/cprogramming/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/cpp/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/QtFramework/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/cpp_questions/
• rust
• julia ?

Discords:

• Unreal Engine
• Graphics Programming
• Unity 3D

[mwestphal]

3.4.0-RC1 testing results:

• Fix C binding linking export issues #2766
• Axis color: Defaults in option #2769
• Add missing interaction bindings in INTERACTION doc #2771
• config: Adding hdri-filename to default config #2772

[mwestphal]

3.4.0-RC2 testing results: All validated

[mwestphal]

Found a critical issue in 3.4.0 that sadly requires a fix ( #2784 ), 3.4.1 needed.