Update Notes | v1.5.0

(Build August 20, 2024)

Improved Features

1. Improved IK

- FABRIK algorithm added, which is more improved than the previous CCD algorithm (Link)
- Options are added to determine which IK algorithm to select when updating a character and controlling the editor.
- The CCD method is maintained in existing works, and the default value for characters created after the update is set to FABRIK.
- It is improved to allow more flexible use of IK controllers that were previously limited by parent-child relationships. (Link)
- The "Depth" property is added that allows the user to determine the processing order of the IK controller.
- The "Soft Limit" option is added to make the bone stop smoothly when setting the Angle Constraint in the IK controller. (Link)
- IK controller-related UI when selecting bone is improved.
- It is changed that the IK controller is disabled when a mesh group's "Default Transform" mode is turned on.
- It is changed that Rigging results reflect IK when "Bone Edit Mode" is turned off in the Bone tab of the mesh group.
- It is improved that the IK controller results in the editor and in-game are consistent when “Angle Constraint” is not set.
- When "Angle Constraint" is set, an option is added to determine which value between FK and Prefer Angle to use when starting IK calculation (for FABRIK)

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2. Added Editor Features

- In the Control Parameter tab on the left, a function is added to save and utilize the values ​​of control parameters frequently used by users in a "Snapshot" method. (Link)
- A function to change the positions of selected keyframes by stretching is added. (Link)
- The ability is added to perform an automatic search based on the asset's name when the path to the shader asset in the material preset has been modified. (Link)

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3. Improved editor usability

- When the Select All button is pressed in the dialog for adding a mesh or child mesh group to a mesh group, only objects in the current tab are selected.
- It is improved so that the last selected modifier is selected again.
- It is changed that the visibility of the mesh in keys other than the selected key is set to "default" when registering a mesh by pressing the "yellow eye icon" in a modifier where keys have already been created. (previously, the mesh's visibility values on the selected key ​​are applied in batches)
- It is improved so that when you change visibility by pressing the eye icon, the values ​​of all selected objects change simultaneously.
- It is changed that the editor's tooltip UI appears again starting from Unity 2022.
- It is improved to allow simultaneous selection of multiple timeline layers for Control Parameters
- The layout is improved so that various elements of the animation screen can be displayed on a narrow screen.
- It is changed that a duplicated object is shown right below the original object in the left Hierarchy.
- When adding a key in a modifier for control parameters, the option is added to the Setting dialog to set whether the state of the object at the added key will be "Default value (old)" or "Blended value (new)".

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4. Improved performance and memory handling

- An issue is fixed where it took a long time to open the editor when the number of registered material presets and shader asset information increased.
- The performance degradation issue caused by the editor's memory GC processing is improved.
- Many codes that create unnecessary memory in the editor and in-game are modified.
- The performance of internal code that checks and connects data related to modifiers is improved.
- The “Dirty” related code passed to the Unity editor during the work process is improved.

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5. Improved handling of multiple cameras

- An issue is fixed where the clipping mask optimization function could not respond when the number or properties of cameras were changed during in-game, resulting in poor rendering quality. (Link)
- The ability is improved to perform clipping mask optimization even with multiple cameras when conditions are meet, to perform more smoothly and render at the highest quality possible.
- An issue is fixed where an update error occurred when there were no valid cameras in billboard mode.
- It is changed that resetting Command buffer is operated inside functions related to camera changes, such as the SetRenderingCameras function, eliminating the need for users to call functions such as ResetMeshesCommandBuffers.

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- The function that calibrates the Jiggle Bone calculation when the character's position suddenly changes during in-game is improved to check the "size" and "rotation" values ​​as well.
- When using "Per Time (Not Sync)" among the options for updating the mesh at low FPS, an additional option is added to determine whether to be proportional to the Time Scale. (Link)
- "Light Probes" and "Reflection Probe" options are added to the Bake dialog. (Link)
- Script functions (ResetTextureForExtraOptionAll, ResetTextureForExtraOptionByName) that initialize images changed by the modifier's Extra option are added. (Link)
- "URP (2023)" material preset is added due to changes in clipping handling starting with Unity 2023 and URP 16
- The AnyPortrait item in the Unity menu is changed to be displayed independently from other menus.
- The name of the menu that opens the AnyPortrait editor in the Unity menu is changed from "2D Editor" to "Open Editor"
- The code is improved to prevent cases where the interpolation operation fails when interpolating with Vector type control parameters.

- An option to select whether to apply modifier results to invisible meshes is added to the Bake dialog for continuous processing of physics effects, etc. (Link)
- The weight of the Rigging modifier is changed to automatically Normalize when running the editor and performing bake.
- The option to make the parent's rotation be added to the Billboard calculation is added. (Link)

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Fixed Issues

- An issue is fixed where physics effects, including Jiggle bones, were calculated strangely immediately after initialization or in the first frame rendered.
- An issue is fixed where bones could not be selected in outline rendering mode in the Bone tab of the mesh group.
- An issue is fixed where the animation list did not appear on the root unit screen immediately after loading a character from a backup file.
- An issue is fixed where the order of objects in the right Hierarchy screen was incorrect immediately after adding two or more meshes or child mesh groups to a mesh group.
- An issue is fixed where bones were strangely controlled by a script when the calculation mode was Non-Uniform (Rotation only)
- An issue is fixed where the bone could not be controlled by script when an IK controller was applied and the IK Weight was greater than 0.
- An issue is fixed where the Rigging modifier would remain disabled if you had "Bone Edit Mode" turned on in the Bone tab of a mesh group and then switched to another tab in the mesh group.
- An issue is fixed where if you create a timeline layer and a keyframe at the same time by pressing the "yellow eye icon" on the animation editing screen, the keyframe is created on the first frame rather than the current frame.
- An issue is fixed where meshes whose images have been changed by the Extra option are excluded from script functions such as SetImageAll.
- An issue is fixed where the Extra option would be disabled when using script functions such as ResetMeshMaterialToBatchAll that reset the mesh's materials.
- An issue is fixed where the timeline of an object registered in an animation could not be deleted when selecting one object registered in the animation timeline and multiple objects not registered in the animation timeline.
- An issue is fixed where "Auto-Key" mode in animations did not work properly on timelines targeting Control Parameters.
- An issue is fixed where Undo data was registered abnormally.
- An issue is fixed where when a mesh was duplicated, the duplicated target was not immediately selected.
- An issue is fixed where the interpolation is performed abnormally when the type of a control parameter is Vector type  and the keys do not form a square. (Results are different from existing work, so confirmation is required)
- An issue is fixed where position calculations were performed abnormally in the first and last frames of animation during in-game.
- An issue is fixed where abnormal values ​​were temporarily entered during the bone update process when menus were changed or arbitrary functions were performed in the editor.
- An issue is fixed where the IK application degree did not transition smoothly when the IK Weight value in the IK controller was about 0.005.
- An issue is fixed where the editor's gizmo did not work properly depending on the layer order of the modifiers when the same bone was controlled by two or more modifiers.
- An issue is fixed where the character is displayed in purple when you run the game after pressing the Refresh Meshes button in the Inspector UI of the AnyPortrait character with the Reload Scene option turned on and the Reload Domain option turned off in the Unity Editor options.
- An issue is fixed where the modifier's edit mode is automatically canceled when the value of the control parameter is changed while the calculation result preview mode is on.
- An issue is fixed where the value of the control parameter has a value unrelated to the animation immediately after switching to the animation screen or root unit screen and immediately after executing Bake.
- An issue is fixed where duplicating a mesh within a mesh group would temporarily disconnect it from the modifier.

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Developer Comments

This version is a version with many improvements.
Many features that were held back because they were judged to take time have been developed and implemented.
Also, many of your feedbacks have been implemented.

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First, IK has been greatly improved in this version.
The existing IK algorithm, CCD, has been changed to FABRIK, and the IK calculation has been greatly improved through tuning.
In addition, the IK calculation system has been improved overall so that the IK controller can be configured more flexibly.
For those who created works using the existing CCD method, the existing method has not been discarded, but has been made available as an option.

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Memory-related performance is also an area we focused on improving.
Due to the developer's lack of programming skills, memory allocation occurred in the editor and in-game, and this affected performance due to the memory collection unique to C#.
We reviewed all scripts and modified many of the most important codes.
In particular, performance issues when generating data in the editor have been greatly improved.

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The feedback you sent us also helped us a lot in developing this version.
Features such as snapshots of control parameters, keyframe position adjustment, etc. were developed based on feedback, and issues with more than two cameras were also improved based on feedback.

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We apologize for the fact that the development period of this version took much longer than we planned.
The development was halted for quite some time due to the health issues of our main developer and scheduling conflicts with our other project.
We are truly sorry for the inconvenience caused by internal issues within the team.

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We hope this version will be of help to you.
Thank you.

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