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Comparing ray/doc/notes/ReleaseNotes (file contents):
Revision 1.363 by greg, Mon Jan 20 17:53:40 2020 UTC vs.
Revision 1.441 by greg, Sat Dec 16 03:30:35 2023 UTC

# Line 2237 | Line 2237 | Updates to evalglare and gendaylit from Jan Wienold, i
2237   colored sky option.
2238  
2239   =========================
2240 < Version 5.3
2240 > Version 5.3 (Released September 1, 2020)
2241  
2242   Created radcompare program to compare Radiance tool output to reference outputs
2243   during unit-testing.
# Line 2314 | Line 2314 | column vector.  Also added ability to apply trailing u
2314   Added new depth, normal, and ID file types to radcompare.
2315  
2316   Added BigEndian= header line for automatic byte-swapping in rmtxop
2317 < and radcompare.  Doesn't work quite as automatically as it should
2318 < for pvalue -r, currently.
2317 > and radcompare.
2318  
2319   Added new "turbo" palette to falsecolor (thanks to Taoning).
2320  
# Line 2329 | Line 2328 | Added support for loading RGBE images into matrices in
2328   Added -y option to gensky and gendaylit to support more accurate Michalsky
2329   solar position calculation.
2330  
2331 < Changed rsplit so specifying a space as the separator parses words
2331 > Changed rsplit, so specifying a space as the separator parses words
2332   between whitespace.
2333  
2334   Added ability of vwrays, pinterp, and pmblur2 to read encoded depth files.
# Line 2340 | Line 2339 | Made it so number of segments in genworm, genrev, and
2339   given as expressions of previously defined variables, etc.
2340  
2341   Added -D and -n option to gendaymtx to output sun description and skip
2342 < matrix output on request.
2342 > matrix output on request.  A -M option was also added to output solar
2343 > modifiers for rcontrib.  Support also added for leap days in WEA input.
2344 > Enhancements sponsored by Ladybug Tools.
2345  
2346   Updated eplus_uvf to work with IDF version 9.x, checking version number.
2347 +
2348 + Fix to glarendx issues with dgi calculation.
2349 +
2350 + Made it so rmtxop and dctimestep undo any exposure applied to Radiance
2351 + pictures they may load.
2352 +
2353 + Added robjutil utility to manipulate Wavefront .OBJ files.
2354 +
2355 + Fixed a crash related to rtrace -om or -oM with mesh instances containing
2356 + materials.
2357 +
2358 + Improved rtrace flushing function to handle any value for -x without
2359 + deadlock on controlling process.
2360 +
2361 + Eliminated unnecessary start-up procedures for rtrace when only ray-casting
2362 + is needed (i.e., no tracing or value output).
2363 +
2364 + Improved isotropic sampling method in bsdf2ttree using "zipper" approach
2365 + applied in genBSDF.
2366 +
2367 + Added limit to memory used by high-resolution tensor tree BSDFs for
2368 + cumulative cache during MC sampling (rendering).  Limit set to 250MBytes
2369 + per BSDF for standard architectures.
2370 +
2371 + Added -n and -s options to bsdf2ttree to provide some user control
2372 + over super-sampling.
2373 +
2374 + Improved surface normal codec used by ambient file to store orthonormal
2375 + directions exactly.
2376 +
2377 + Improved peak extraction method, which was undervaluing transmission
2378 + in many cases.
2379 +
2380 + New version of evalglare from Jan Wienold.
2381 +
2382 + Added -u option to gendaymtx to elide data columns (time steps) when
2383 + the sun is not visible above the horizon.
2384 +
2385 + =========================
2386 + Version 5.4
2387 +
2388 + Added rcollate -c option to force operation to continue even if it
2389 + seems unnecessary.  Made tool more robust.
2390 +
2391 + Added -t option to rcontrib (and rfluxmtx) to report progress after the
2392 + given number of seconds.
2393 +
2394 + Added "test" target to makeall to run unit tests.
2395 +
2396 + Modified bsdf2ttree to allow different parameters per input SIR file.
2397 +
2398 + Fixed issues with very large matrix files (> 2GB) in dctimestep, rmtxop,
2399 + and rcollate.
2400 +
2401 + Added -rf and -rb options to rmtxop to load front or back reflectance
2402 + matrix data from XML file rather than transmission.  (Lars Grobe suggested.)
2403 +
2404 + Improved behavior for coincident surfaces with different materials.
2405 + Rather than returning one surface or the other based on floating-point
2406 + vagaries, opaque materials are now preferred over transparent ones.
2407 + If the materials are both transparent or both opaque, then whichever
2408 + surface appeared later in the scene description will be selected.
2409 + This came of a request for consistent behavior with legal CAD output
2410 + from Peter Apian-Bennewitz.
2411 +
2412 + Added explicit tests for on-edge intersections with polygons.  This should
2413 + eliminate stray rays and tiny light leaks that often appear even in
2414 + well-constructed geometry.
2415 +
2416 + Added "-s up" option to pabopto2bsdf to allow for 180 degree symmetry,
2417 + meaning that data repeats after 180 degree rotation (as distinguished
2418 + from "-s bilateral" whose data is mirrored about a vertical plane).
2419 + Thanks to Helen Rose Wilson for the suggestion and informing me that
2420 + such a thing exists.
2421 +
2422 + Removed upper limit on number of modifiers in rcontrib.
2423 +
2424 + Put cap on maximum ambient gradient to avoid over-extrapolation of
2425 + poorly computed irradiance cache values.
2426 +
2427 + Added robjutil +T option to triangulate all faces in .OBJ description.
2428 +
2429 + Altered BSDF library to have both front and back diffuse transmittance
2430 + values, which can be different.  This was necessary to avoid issues
2431 + caused by measurement and modeling discrepancies.
2432 +
2433 + Added pabopto2bsdf -g option to cull near-grazing scattering to avoid
2434 + issues with noise and negative values.
2435 +
2436 + Increased default dynamic range from 32 to 100 in pcond and normtiff.
2437 +
2438 + Added -o and -n options to genbox to create .OBJ output and segment
2439 + edges and corners for transparent materials.  Also added -s option
2440 + to control smoothing for .OBJ and Radiance with segmented rounding.
2441 +
2442 + Made it so robjutil with the +r option for Radiance output now
2443 + produces normal smoothing unless normals are removed with -n.
2444 +
2445 + Added exposure preservation to pcompos when possible (i.e., when
2446 + there is only one input or inputs agree on exposure).
2447 +
2448 + Added -DSHARP_RGB compile-time option to use sharp RGB color space
2449 + rather than historic default.  This can make for more accurate color
2450 + calculations, but requires that materials be recalibrated.  The
2451 + PRIMARIES= line is also produced on output from rpict or rvu with
2452 + the correct set of primaries based on how the system was compiled.
2453 +
2454 + Added automatic flushing to the output of total, except when the -r
2455 + (running subtotals) option is used.
2456 +
2457 + Improved behavior of little-used -aw option, so that it avoids sea-level
2458 + rise caused by adding its own estimate back into the ambient level remainder.
2459 + It ended up being simple enough to derate the final average by the factor
2460 + corresponding to average surface absorpition, thus removing the average
2461 + from the final bounce estimate.
2462 +
2463 + Introduced ies2rad upgrades by Randolph Fritz.  Randolph says it
2464 + fixes the following problems:
2465 +
2466 +        1. Generates correct Radiance geometry for spheres in 1995, 2002,
2467 +        and 2019 IES files.
2468 +
2469 +        2. Generates correct Radiance geometry for vertical cylinders that
2470 +        are taller than they are wide.
2471 +
2472 +        3. Ignores the file source ("File Generation Type") field in the
2473 +        2019 version of the file, which would otherwise be incorrectly used
2474 +        as an output multiplier.
2475 +
2476 +    It also offers the following enhancements:
2477 +
2478 +        1. Shape information is included in the .rad file comments.
2479 +
2480 +        2. 1995, 2002, and 2019-version luminous opening geometry is
2481 +        accounted for.
2482 +
2483 +        3. The 2002 and 2019 IES file versions are recognized and
2484 +        processed appropriately.
2485 +
2486 +        4. I have made an attempt to do something intelligent with less
2487 +        common "luminous opening" shapes in the 1995, 2002, and 2019 versions
2488 +        of the standard, though I have not implemented any support for new
2489 +        geometry; approximations are substituted and warning messages issued.
2490 +        Unfortunately, this code is not tested, since I don't have any IES
2491 +        files that use these shapes.
2492 +
2493 + Added support for depth-of-field blurring in vwrays using -pd option.
2494 + Also, made -c count work with vwrays -i, producing multiple samples
2495 + per indicated pixel position.  At the same time, support for the -pd
2496 + option was added to rtpict, which calls on vwrays for its samples.
2497 +
2498 + Fixed issue with BSDFs that didn't obey reciprocity, where direct
2499 + sampling wasn't following exactly with indirect sampling.  This was
2500 + discovered and reported by Jon Sargent.
2501 +
2502 + Created checkBSDF tool to test XML BSDF reciprocity and perform similar
2503 + sanity checks.
2504 +
2505 + Added -O option to pvalue and pextrem to report watts/sr/m^2 even if
2506 + picture is XYZE.
2507 +
2508 + Made subtle changes to header i/o routines to preserve alignment in
2509 + binary file formats to enable memory-mapping.  Implemented memory-mapped
2510 + matrix loading in rmtxop for binary double files.
2511 +
2512 + Removed ambient value sorting, which was written when ambient caches
2513 + could overwhelm available memory.  This is rarely the case these days,
2514 + and the added code complexity and updating of cache values with LRU
2515 + counts dirties pages that would otherwise remain clean, so it was
2516 + often a loss even when VM was an issue.
2517 +
2518 + Added iso2klems script to compute a Klems BSDF based on specular
2519 + and diffuse measurements as a function of incident angle.
2520 +
2521 + Fixed issue with over-counting diffuse component during aBSDF
2522 + peak extraction.
2523 +
2524 + Added dctimestep -x and -y options to specify image dimensions
2525 + for multiple outputs corresponding to result vectors.
2526 +
2527 + Added -P option to rcalc to pass formatted input when cond is <= 0.
2528 +
2529 + Created rcrop utility for cropping matrices and pictures more
2530 + conveniently, correcting view information.  Expect it to be handy
2531 + for extracting rows and columns from matrices, mostly.
2532 +
2533 + Changed pcomb so -o option elides original exposure values
2534 + from indented source headers.
2535 +
2536 + Added getinfo -r option, which is similar to -a except it will
2537 + replace indicated lines with new ones.
2538 +
2539 + Slight change to vwrays -d option to not spit out "-ld-", and to
2540 + produce "-ld+" without requiring input picture as argument.
2541 +
2542 + Added automatic overture calculation to rtpict with -n > 1 if
2543 + ambient cache is on and file is named.  If straight image output
2544 + is requested, we randomize all samples and avoid cache collisions.
2545 +
2546 + Added cnt -s option to shuffle output.
2547 +
2548 + Fixed issue with divide-by-zero errors in the ambient super-sampling
2549 + routine discovered by Jon Sargent of Solemma.  This affected regions
2550 + that had zero radiance, such as black backgrounds or unlit areas
2551 + with -av 0 0 0, when super-sampling was effectively disabled, causing
2552 + some loss in accuracy of the results.
2553 +
2554 + Updated Klems Half- and Quarter-bases to match angles currently used
2555 + in WINDOW.
2556 +
2557 + Eliminated most aiming failures for triangular light sources, at the
2558 + expense of conservative sampling near the centroid.  Thanks to
2559 + David Geisler-Moroder for his help on this.
2560 +
2561 + Increased maximum set size to 8191 to avoid set overflow errors.
2562 +
2563 + Added source obstruction test to statistics being kept on which
2564 + sources were visible in adaptive shadow testing code.  Previous
2565 + behavior was likely over-estimating source contributions.
2566 +
2567 + Added diffuse components into maximum directional hemispherical
2568 + reported by checkBSDF, so comparing to 100% is easier for each
2569 + component.
2570 +
2571 + Fixed incorrect calculations in iso2klems script, thanks to
2572 + help from Jacob Jonnson.
2573 +
2574 + Updated official copyright and license according to new wording
2575 + provided by Jean Haemmerle at the LBNL Intellectual Property Office.
2576 + Both were copied verbatim from e-mail I received from Taoning Wang
2577 + on 8/20/2022.
2578 +
2579 + Added -features option to rpict, rtrace, and rcontrib to check
2580 + which features are present or look for specific feature support.
2581 + This addition was suggested by Peter Apian-Bennewitz as an easier
2582 + way to determine which version of Radiance is installed and what
2583 + it supports, and is timely as we begin our refactoring of the
2584 + rendering code.  There are no current plans to add this to rvu.
2585 +
2586 + Added falsecolor -odim, -orct, and -c0 options to overlay grid of
2587 + values on image.  This was requested by Rob Shakespeare.
2588 +
2589 + Added -i* and -o* options in rhcopy for reading rays from the
2590 + standard input and writing rays from holodeck to standard output.
2591 + This will hopefully be useful in combining rholo with rcontrib.
2592 +
2593 + Added further checking for coincident (overlapping) flat surfaces,
2594 + preferring front sides to back sides in the ray intersection
2595 + calculation.  This only applies to rings and faces, as the other
2596 + surface types would have required additional calculations to
2597 + make them work.  Material transparency is still the primary
2598 + consideration, now followed by ray hit side, followed by
2599 + modifier definition order in the input.
2600 +
2601 + Increased octree and object limits to allow scenes with billions
2602 + of primitives.
2603 +
2604 + Made reciprocity averaging default to "off" in bsdf2ttree, as it seems
2605 + to create more problems than it solves.
2606 +
2607 + ====================
2608 + Version 6.0
2609 +
2610 + Extensive changes to enable spectral rendering, which defaults to "off"
2611 + to maintain backwards-compatibility with previous versions, with the
2612 + exception of the ambient file format, which is changed.  The MAXCSAMP
2613 + macro, which defaults to 24, sets the maximum number of spectral samples.
2614 + The actual number of samples is set by the "-cs" option, which defaults
2615 + to 3 for rpict, rtrace, and rcontrib.  The latter two programs support
2616 + straight spectral output, but rpict is initially restricted to
2617 + tristimulus output pictures.  New pattern primitives "spectrum",
2618 + "specfile", and "specfunc" have been added as a means to specify
2619 + spectral reflectance, emittance, etc. to materials that still have
2620 + only 3 color channels.  Those RGB channels will still affect the
2621 + spectrum if used.  Unfortunately photon-mapping is currently broken when
2622 + spectral sampling is enabled, but we will fix this as soon as possible.
2623 + Calculation overhead appears to be approximately 10-15% for RGB
2624 + renderings compared to version 5.4a.
2625 +
2626 + Added spectral rendering to rvu as well, and made -cs and -cw
2627 + options standard across the rendering library.  I also brought
2628 + mkillum, ranimove, rsensor, and mksource into the fold.  These
2629 + tools were broken in the initial release.  (Hopefully, they are
2630 + working now, but none have been tested as yet.)
2631 + There was also an indexing bug in the spectral->RGB conversions
2632 + that made reds into blues and vice versa, which has been fixed.
2633 +
2634 + Added i/o for spectral pictures to rmtxop, the first program that can
2635 + ingest them.  (Only rtrace, rcontrib, and rfluxmtx can render them.)
2636 + New symbolic rmtxop -c options, such as RGB, XYZ, S (for scotopic)
2637 + and M (for melanopic) make color conversions simpler.  Alternatively,
2638 + a reference matrix or picture may be given and the color space of
2639 + that file will be used.  The -C option takes either a symbolic
2640 + color space or reference file and is "sticky," so it applies to
2641 + all subsequent input files that do not have their own -c right ahead
2642 + of them.
2643 +
2644 + Added spectral picture support to rcrop and radcompare.
2645 +
2646 + Added new utility, rcomb, which is hard to type and hard to
2647 + pronounce, and probably equally difficult to use.  Sort of a
2648 + combination of rmtxop and pcomb, it works with all the inputs and
2649 + outputs that rmtxop handles, but allows for general expressions
2650 + like those in pcomb for putting matrices together, working on
2651 + an element at a time.  (No resizing of matrices or accessing
2652 + neighboring elements, as permitted in pcomb.)  It saves memory
2653 + over rmtxop by operating on a row at a time, so can handle
2654 + input and output matrices with any number of rows.  It does
2655 + provide for a single matrix-multiplication operation at the end,
2656 + which only requires memory for that final matrix.
2657 +
2658 + Added support for filtering hyperspectral images to pfilt.
2659 +
2660 + Added support for 1- and 3-component float matrix i/o to
2661 + pcomb to allow for better interoperability.
2662 +
2663 + Added support for -co+ option to rtpict, so it can directly
2664 + produce hyperspectral images.
2665 +
2666 + Added new "specdata" and "specpict" primitives to support
2667 + interpolated spectral data files and hyperspectral images
2668 + as patterns.
2669 +
2670 + Added support for multispectal sampling in rsensor, which will
2671 + put out as many color channels as specified in any -cs option
2672 + (default is 3 for RGB).

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