0.51.0.0

This release provides support for the latest versions of Arnold and 3Delight (5.2 and 1.1.7 respectively), along with the usual mix of improvements and bug fixes.

Caution

The specialised switch nodes such as SceneSwitch and ImageSwitch have been replaced with a single all-purpose Switch node. Compatibility for old files is provided by converting nodes during loading, but files saved from Gaffer 0.51 will not be useable in prior versions. This can be worked around with a config file in the previous version which does Gaffer.Switch = Gaffer.SwitchComputeNode.

Features

  • Arnold : Added support for Arnold 5.2. Please note that Arnold 5.2 is not compatible with earlier Arnold versions, so if you wish to use Gaffer 0.51 with an earlier version, you will need to compile Gaffer yourself.
  • 3Delight : Updated to support version 1.1.7. Please note that earlier versions are no longer supported.

Improvements

  • Viewer :
    • Improved interactivity when using transform tools or scrubbing animation (#2818).
    • Added “Escape” hotkey to pause processing (#2838, #2843).
  • SceneInspector :
    • Added inspection of light and shader parameters (#2797).
    • Added annotation for indexed primitive variables (#2824).
  • ScriptNode : Added “frameRange:start” and “frameRange:end” context variables (#2811).
  • Documentation : Added “Anatomy of an Image” article (#2832).
  • Switch (#2123, #2812) : Replaced specialised nodes with a single all-purpose Switch node.

Fixes

  • SceneInspector :
    • The order in which diffs are displayed now matches the order in which objects are selected in the Viewer (#2814).
    • Fixed formatting of Color4f values (#2797).
  • GraphEditor : Fixed problems with nodeDoubleClickSignal() (#2821)
    • The signal didn’t respect slot return values, so a slot couldn’t return True to signify that it had handled the event, and block other slots.
    • The default slot wasn’t returning True.
  • Catalogue : Fixed delay when adding image with downsteam network (#2827).
  • AnimationEditor : Fixed numerical imprecision when snapping keys to whole frames (#2820).
  • RenderController :
    • Fixed bug where objects failed to render after being removed from the lights set (#2825).
    • Fixed GIL management bugs (#2830).
  • SceneView : Fixed bugs that could lead to a hang in the viewer when expanding or collapsing the current selection (#2830).
  • SceneGadget : Fixed GIL management bugs (#2830).
  • Houdini : Fixed compilation with default build flags for Houdini 17 (#2829).
  • TransformTools : Fixed bug which prevented the editing of promoted transform plugs (#2831).
  • ImageGadget : Fixed bug which prevented non-default dataWindow maximum coordinates from being annotated in the Viewer (#2840).
  • TaskNode : Fixed bugs preventing implementation via internal network (#2846).
  • OpenGLRender (#2799) :
    • Fixed crash when trying to use gaffer execute with OpenGLRender nodes.
    • Fixed bug whereby the visualisation of the main render camera was visible.
  • Arnold : Fixed tests for API changes in Arnold 5.2 (#2841).

API

  • BackgroundTask : Added waitFor() method (#2818).
  • Added MAKE_GAFFER_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION macro (#2819).
  • ContextAlgo : Added GlobalScope utility class (#2812).
  • Switch :
    • Added inPlugs() and outPlug() methods (#2812).
  • FilterPlug : Add sceneAffectsMatch() method (#2812).
  • TransformTool : Add selectionChangedSignal() (#2848).

Breaking Changes

  • Removed compatibility for loading files from Gaffer 0.15.0.0 and earlier. Resave the file in a more recent version before loading in the current version. Note that this can also expose bugs in custom scripts : if a script incorrectly attempts to connect to an ArrayPlug instead of a child element, this will now fail instead of being silently corrected (#2805, #2812).
  • Switch (#2812) :
    • Removed SwitchDependencyNode, SwitchComputeNode, SceneSwitch, ShaderSwitch, FilterSwitch, and ImageSwitch nodes. Use Switch node instead. Backwards compatibility for old files is provided by converting to Switches during loading.
  • 3Delight : Removed compatibility for older versions. At the time of writing 3Delight 1.1.7 is the latest tested version (#2836).
  • SceneGadget : Removed private member variable. Source compatibility is retained (#2818).
  • Filter : Made sceneAffectsMatch() protected. Use the new FilterPlug::sceneAffectsMatch() method instead (#2812).
  • UnionFilter : Removed compatibility for nodes created prior to version 0.28.0.0 (#2812).
  • TransformTool : Added private member data (#2848).