Changes Since Last Time

  • Leveller 3.3 beta available. Markers are now vector point shapes, making them more flexible to use, import, and export.
     
  • The curvature of path segments can be globally defined or reduced. Multiple polylines, for example, can be smoothed with one command.
     
  • Documentation can be searched. Queries can have any number of AND/OR-connected items, and loose and explicit phrases can be searched for.
     
  • SRTM HGT export added (one-degree SRTM files).
     
  • DXF polylines that are smoothed into curves using arc bulge attributes import properly.
     
  • Vector shapes importable via GDAL OGR; more shapefile formats supported. Shapes can be exported to georeferenced bitmap image files. Scene pane can be zoomed with mousewheel.
     
  • Leveller 3.2 released; vector shapes can be filled and stroked with color.
     
  • Raytrace-selected-area tool added, GDAL library updated to 1.6.2, preferences and other user data stored in My Documents folder for greater Vista compatibility.
     
  • Stability fixes for Pen tool available; recommended update for Leveller 3.x users.
     
  • Filling void areas and holes is easier: the Multismooth plug-in now includes a level connection option. There's also a tutorial here.
     
  • Leveller 3.1 gains some more changes (slipstreamed), including better scene pane navigation, raytracer and POV-Ray export support for textured billboard reference shapes, and smooth path-based camera flyover animations.
     
  • Leveller 3.1 released. If you want to order Leveller but prefer version 2.6 (which is $50 less) and upgrade to 3.1 later, there may still be some licences available at Digital River and Plimus -- you can reach them here.
     
  • Leveller 2.x-to-2.6.2 update released. To get your update, just contact support@daylongraphics.com and provide your name and the email address you used when originally ordering Leveller.
     
  • 2.6.2 build 51 upgrades Texture Auto-select tool to have undoable selmask edits.
     
  • Leveller 2.6.2 released. Texture Placer tool added; lets heightfield textures be positioned and transformed visually.
     
  • User-definable keyboard shortcuts for tool selection added to Leveller 2.6.1.
     
  • Leveller 2.6.1 available. Brushable and polygonal selection tools added, several bug fixes, better memory use, and better displacement map refshapes.
     
  • Displace plug-ins introduced, which create and apply displacement maps similar to those used in Photoshop.


     

  • Cracked Cells plug-in introduced, more Second Life plug-ins added. Plug-ins for Leveller 2.6 are now provided using a self-contained installer which auto-locates the Leveller folder.


     

  • TER thumbnail generator updated to support v7 TER files (those created by Leveller 2.6). It lets you view Leveller documents and Terragen worlds directly in folder thumbnails.


     
  • A tutorial on raytracer texturing (for maps) was added.
     
  • Mauro Nenci wrote an detailed step-by-step tutorial on using Leveller to create the Beleriand region of Middle Earth, starting from topographic drawings.
     
  • Mound plug-in updated to version 1.4; supports merge modes and custom cross-sectioning.
     
  • Carl Lingard wrote an extensive tutorial on using Leveller for terrain editing.
     
  • Bitmap Export plug-in added. Lets one specify output span for 16- and 24-bit files.
     
  • ASC, XYZ, and UKOS DTM/DXF import plug-ins updated; Multismooth filter and DTED import plug-ins added.
     
  • USGS DEM void pixel selector plug-in released; sets the current selection mask to the region of void elevations (if any) in a USGS DEM file.
     
  • Legacy Format Export plug-in released; writes the selected part of the current heightfield to older Leveller file formats. Useful for those needing interop with older versions of Leveller (as far back as 1.4).
     
  • Leveller 2.5 build 1934 released. Fixes several minor bugs in the original 2.5 release. Difference from build 1928 is fixed 16-bit Targa elevation export. Existing 2.5 users can obtain an update by contacting Support.
     
  • Roads Import and Select Roads plug-ins updated to 1.0; fixes problem with road portion gapping.
     
  • Plot Function plug-ins upgraded; they run faster and some bugs were fixed.


     

  • DirectDraw Surface export plug-in released; lets the heightfield be exported as a normal map to a DDS texture file (with or without alpha channel).
     
  • Rhinoceros/OpenNURBS export plug-in updated to 1.4.
     
  • Document Chunk plug-ins released; these let one read/write subsections of a Leveller document, making it easier to work on large files.
     
  • Surfer Export plug-in updated to 1.3.0.1; fixes elevation span error, and export mapping no longer limited to 32,000 units.
     
  • Leveller SDK now includes the open source plug-in projects directly.
     
  • StL Export plug-in updated to 1.3; supports solid (enclosed) mesh generation.
     
  • Xpand Rally import/export plug-in released. Original code courtesy of Darren Hunt.
     
  • Deterrace plug-in fixed for Leveller 2.5. USGS DEM Import plug-in had brute-force span calculation option reinserted.
     
  • THF (MicroGDS Things) mesh import plug-in added.
     
  • ASC import plug-in updated to version 2.4; supports XYZ files. Common GIS import dialog fixed.
     
  • USGS DEM import/export plug-in updated to 1.9.0.2. Exporter writes correct B record spans when using elevation scale other than 1.0 and lets A record span be specified using floating-point values instead of integers.
     
  • Mt. Fractal plug-in fixed.
     
  • The Measure and Veg plug-ins were improved, and they've been documented along with the Contour, Imagemap and Terrain shaders.
     
  • Markers export plug-in was accidentally ommitted from the Leveller 2.4 release; this has been fixed and the plug-in has been updated to 1.3 (text format emits tab-delimited data).
     
  • Adobe Illustrator import/selector plug-ins for Leveller 2.4 fixed. Bevel plug-in uses world unit label and was documented better.
     
  • Zoltan Karpati has added Leveller shape list (LSL) file format support to his 3D Object Converter program. He's up to 370 formats and counting.
     
  • Daylon Fluid 1.0 released. A standalone Navier-Stokes fluid simulator which exports images or heightfields. Results can be copied and pasted directly into Leveller.
     
  • Daylon Waves 1.2 released. A standalone multiwave image/heightfield generator. Results can be copied and pasted directly into Leveller. Screenshots are here and here.


     
  • GeoTIFF import plug-in added. Requires Leveller 2.4.
     
  • DXF plug-in updated to 1.4; fixes import problem with DXF files that include layer/handle data inside 3DFACE entity records. Requires Leveller 2.4.
     
  • Macintosh TERDISP document viewer utility updated to 1.3. Also displays Terragen™ terrain files.
     
  • TMesh 2 plug-in released for Leveller 2.4. Uses the improved algorithm in the TER2WRL program to generate optimized meshes in VRML, DXF, or Wavefront OBJ format.
     
  • Daylon Vectre upgraded to 1.2 build 226. Imports UKOS DTM contour files.
     
  • TERDUMP utility updated. Supports copying any portion of a Leveller heightfield to a new, smaller file; useful for breaking up large documents into several smaller ones.
     
  • John Ratcliff released TER2WRL, a command-line utility that converts Leveller TER files into optimized VRML meshes. Same idea as the existing TMesh plug-in (which he also wrote), but with better results. The picture below shows a resulting VRML heightfield and a closeup of the mesh showing how small details are preserved with more triangles.


     
  • DEMDUMP utility available. This is a Windows command-line program that lists the contents of USGS ASCII DEM files.
     
  • Leveller Import and Export plug-ins for Okino PolyTrans/NuGraf added. Lets these programs obtain depthmaps from 3D scene geometry and save them as Leveller heightfield documents, and bring in Leveller heightfields and convert them to polygon meshes.
     
  • Global Mapper Software has added Leveller TER file export to their Global Mapper GIS program.
     
  • TER format patch for POV-Ray released. Lets you use TER files (Leveller and Terragen) directly in POV-Ray scenes without conversion.
     
  • Terragen plug-in updated to export spans correctly, and to include world scaling if using Leveller 2.2 or higher. Until Leveller is updated, the plug-in also imports Terragen terrains.
     
  • DXF and Wavefront OBJ plug-ins updated to export displacement-mapped meshes if using Leveller 2.3.
     
  • Daylon XaoS 1.0 relisted as freeware. It's our version of the open source XaoS fractal viewer that features clipboard integration with Leveller.
     
  • Daylon Life 1.1 released. A cute cellular automata generator that makes organic-looking heightfields. You can interactively evolve the heightfield you want, and then just copy and paste it directly into Leveller.
     
  • Raw Binary plug-in updated to version 1.4. Importer supports pixel gapping and scanline padding.
     
  • Binary Terrain import/export plug-in updated to 1.5. Fixes UTM extents export bug.
     
  • VistaPro DEM Import plug-in available.
     
  • Mandelbrot plug-in upgraded to 1.5. Smoother colors, aspect ratio stays 1:1 while zooming, and better elevation output.
     
  • World Construction Set import/export plug-in upgraded to 1.3. Fixes read errors on newer ELEV files.
     
  • PowerLine plug-in now available. Requires Leveller 2.1.
     
  • Core shaders plug-in had the Snow colorizer added.
     
  • USGS SDTS plug-in updated to 1.1, ASC plug-in added.
     
  • A tutorial on basic heightfield modeling was added.
     
  • Mt. Fractal plug-in now has random seed field.
     
  • A tutorial on how to merge DEMs was added.
     
  • DEM plug-in upgraded to 1.7. Fixes parser overflow bug when non-standard files begin with five-digit negative elevations.
     
  • Mapping Function plug-in available. Lets heightfields be filtered with arbitrary input-output elevation mappings. Do glaciations, smoothed clampings, and more.
     
  • Alessandro Falappa does it again. He's updated his plug-in suite for Leveller 2.0, concentrating on its fractal noise capabilities, a small sample of which are shown below. He provides the source code as well.


     

  • Erode plug-in upgraded to 1.3. More options; runs 200% - 250% faster.
     
  • HF-Lab plug-in updated to version 1.3.
     
  • GridMaker utility released. This makes it easy to build grid objects that can be imported into Leveller as reference shapes.
     
  • MSH (Carrara Mesh) import/export plug-in released.
     
  • PGM (Portable Graymap) import/export plug-in upgraded to 1.1.
     
  • GTOPO30 import plug-in updated to 1.2
     
  • Common GIS plug-in upgraded to 1.7. Handles premature EOF and initial negative elevation data cases properly.
     
  • Level Connector plug-in updated to version 1.1. Supports deterracing of contoured terrains.
     
  • STM import/export plug-in upgraded to 1.2.
     
  • The Leveller ANSI C Library was made available. It's compatible with Edmond Breen's free EiC C interpreter.
     
  • TMesh plug-in written by John W. Ratcliff. It exports the current heightfield to an optimized mesh using the TopoVista right triangle method.
     
  • Contour and Imagemapper shaders available for Leveller's raytracer.
     
  • Perlin4 plug-in written by John W. Ratcliff. It uses a multilayering system to generate very nice terrains very easily.
     
  • NTF plug-in upgraded to version 1.3.
     
  • StL (StereoLithography) available.
     
  • Perlin Noise plug-in available. Lars Hamre had developed this last year for the original freeware version of Leveller, so we upgraded it to use the latest Leveller plug-in API.
     

 

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