TECH ALERT: Latest supported Java release.

Dear 3DXplorer User,

The new java version (build 1.6.0_31-b05)  released as of 2/26/2012, is not supported by 3DXplorer, so please don’t install it.

If you have installed it, please uninstall it, and re-install the latest supported release of Java 6 – 29 here: http://www.3dxplorer.com/java-download.htm

Thank you.

 

Tech Alert: Firefox 4 on Mac and Java issue.

Follow @altadyn

Firefox 4 was general released last week on all platforms including Mac OS, but several FF4 issues have been reported since. Some of them are fatal for Java applets (and consequently for 3DXplorer users on Mac). See this or this.

Mozilla will soon be releasing a corrective version.

In the meantime, we discourage Mac users to upgrade to FF4.

In case you have already upgraded to FF4, uninstall Firefox and reinstall an older version (3.6.17) from below:

Download Firefox 3.6

Thank you.

Tech Tip: The Golden Rule For Optimizing Image Resolutions in 3DXplorer Studio

Many users of 3DXplorer Studio need to be reminded of the recommended resolutions of JPEG files which are used as a picture or a painting or even a texture in 3DXplorer.

In general, like for any web development platform, you should keep your image resolutions as lowest as possible; an image should not exceed 512 pixels for the larger dimension. A dimension above 512 is considered as a high resolution and such images will be down scaled unless you specifically refuse it at upload time.

But there is also a rule which can help you optimize drastically: Make sure your JPEG file (or PNG file) has the smallest resolution possible while keeping the larger dimension of the image with a number of pixels which is a power of 2 (ie: 16, 32, 64, 128, 512, 1024 or 2048). This means that a 40 x 64 image is well optimized because the larger side (64) is a power of 2. Similarly, an image with a resolution of 40 x 32 is not optimized because the larger side (40) is not a power of 2.

What will happen if you don’t respect the above rule? Well, the real time rendering and the hardware acceleration algorithms used om most computers will be up to 3 times slower and require up to 300% more memory for providing the same visual quality. Same thing for the loading time of the scene which will be up to 3 or 4 times slower for equal visual quality.

Example: Let’s assume you have reached the resolution of 80 x 42 after having optimized your image. You should know that if you reduce it to a 64 x 34 image you may save up to 300% in performance.

Looking forward to your optimized scenes that your users will appreciate.

Test Your Configuration Before Using 3DXplorer

You can now test your configuration here, before entering a 3DXplorer space!

Although 3DXplorer is download-free and browser-based, it’s still a relatively sophisticated application: a real-time 3D engine including a multi-user environment with chat, VOIP, desktop sharing, remote control, and much more. As a result, it does require some system and network characteristics as presented here.

The new diagnostic tool provides information on:

• Your network speed up to our servers,
• Your Browser and some of it’s key options,
• Your Java configuration
• And more….

After a period of successful test, this tool will be integrated into all standard logins to any 3DXplorer space. Feel free to try it now, and feedback on this post.

Enjoy your diagnostics!

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A new maintenance version released today

A new release, numbered T5.4.00 is up today. As any release starting with “T” this is a test release and unless you select it for your space , it’s not going to be automatically active.

This release brings the following enhancements:

• Improved VoIP , more reliable and less network sensitive
• Faster and more reliable network synchronization : avatars motion, laser pointer, etc…
• COLLADA Skinning import improved for max 2010
• Resources download improved to fix problems such as missing or white elements in a scene

Enjoy it!

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New Features For 3DXplorer Account Owners

Today we have released some new features for 3DXplorer account users

Managing Guest Avatars per space:

You can now check the list of avatar models that you authorize to be used by your guests. We have increased the library of avatars including more junior and more casual looks than the business looks we used to have. We have also enriched the number of multi-ethnic models for the V300 category, commonly used in many spaces. So now the account owner can decide, depending on the purpose of the space, which models (casual, formal, …) are adapted to the space and authorize them by checking the model in the list.

Some V300 sample avatars

A default set of avatars are activated in any new space, but the account owner can change that list at any time. Once you save your list, then you’ll have to check for new avatars that we may add to the library in the future, as saved lists will not be automatically updated to avoid undesired avatar models in your space.

V3000 pre-configured guest avatars

The Free Platform:

This change is a result of our new packaging and pricing announced earlier this year (Q2/2010), and that’s regarding the free platform. As per our published product features account owners with no paid licenses can use the studio to create as many spaces as they wish and use the player to enter the space and see their creation and show it to other users, but the multi-user features, including avatars, chat, etc… require at least an Online Meeting subscription if not other subscriptions. With all the new features of moderated chat, private chat, VOIP and more, there is a lot of value in the 3D virtual lobby and Meet-in-3D application. The free platform enables free 3D immersive walk-through, as well as a free creation tool (The 3DXplorer Studio).

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Updated Trouble Shooting page, Bandwidth and System Requirements.

With all the new features now available in 3DXplorer and the multiple types of applications, we needed to update our bandwidth requirements which vary from 1 mbps to 5 mbps depending on what you need to do :

– 1 Meg (1mbps)  for  visitors of a 3D space for walk through
– 2 Meg (2mbps)  for  visitors of a 3D space with less than 20 avatars
– 3 Meg (3mbps)  for  attendees of larger 3D Expo Halls  with no live desktop sharing
– 4 Meg (4mbps)  for  attendees of  a conference with desktop sharing
– 5 Meg (5mbps)  for  presenters of  a conference with desktop sharing

This same page includes also a very useful set of trouble shooting tips & tricks. Check it out now here:

http://www.3dxplorer.com/system_requirements.html

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Built-in Web-native Browser-based VOIP in 3DXplorer: You asked for it, you got it!

As a customer-driven company, Altadyn has constantly been listening to users demands and Voice over Internet Protocol commonly called VOIP, was on top of the list since a while.  To satisfy our customers, we evaluated several VOIP technologies on the market, but noticed that they all require that the end-users download a client software. We believe that 3D web conferencing and virtual events markets will become mainstream only if they are easy to use, and accessible to all. That’s why we developed our own java based VOIP technology which works seamlessly in the browser.  With what we have come up with, in order to attend a meeting, a user just presses on the invitation link received by e-mail and enters the space; he/she immediately hears the attendees voice; nothing to install, no other action required.

The VOIP enabled version is available to all users as of this week, under “Test”. To use it, login to your account, then open your 3D space settings page, under tab “Version” you usually see “LastRelease”. Change it to “Test”. As soon as you do this change, any visitor entering this space will be using the test release, which has Voice enabled.

When a new user walks into your voice-enabled space, he/she will hear whatever is going on in the room, but he/she is not heard, until the “Voice” button is activated. This button appears on the upper left corner of the screen.

A voice icon appears over the head of the avatar who talks, so that everyone can notice who’s talking.

Moderators can cut voice by pressing the  “Mute Audience” button at any time.

Beside the cutting edge VOIP feature, new functionalities have been released:

–          2 weeks free trial for all 3DXplorer products,

–          New meeting planner with invitation text supporting 8 different languages for 3DX/Online Meeting and 3DX/Conferencing

–          Customized invitation templates for 3DX/Online Meeting and 3DX/Conferencing

–          Drastically enhanced features for software developers using 3DX/API

Enjoy the new features, and give feedback to us. Your opinion matters!

3DXplorer Quick User Guide Now Available

Our Quick User Guide is now available for download.  This PDF document is designed to help attendees and presenters get quickly up to speed navigating through virtual meetings and conferences authored with 3DXplorer v5.

The User Guide is divided into three parts:

1. Avatar Guide: This section covers creating and customizing an avatar.
2. Meeting Attendee & Visitor Guide: This section covers basic navigation and chat.
3. Presenter Guide: This section includes presentation techniques such as sharing the desktop with attendees and delivering power-point presentations or demonstrations.

The User Guide also contains troubleshooting tips. This handy resource ensures that both presenters and attendees will participate in successful and productive virtual meetings.

3DXplorer V5 Takes 3D Live Collaboration To The Cloud

As pre-announced a few weeks ago, 3DXplorer V5 is now released. Among the new features of this scalable, efficient, reliable, flexible and secure cloud-based network architecture are additional choices and categories of avatars, capacity for more than 100 avatars simultaneously in a single space (with 3DX/Conferencing), intranet installations with unlimited number of rooms (3DX/Enterprise Edition). V5 offers white label services for marketing partners and includes increased possibilities for customizations.

For the first time, an immersive and interactive web3D platform is offered on a cloud-based architecture. 3DXplorer being browser-based with no download required, enables users to collaborate live, leaning on their set of distributed resources. Primary resources which can each be on a different server on the cloud are:

–          The application: 3DXplorer

–          Static data including the 3D space, and all related 2D/3D content

–          Dynamic synchronized data including the multi-user session service, the streamed data server for presentations, remote access, the chat server.

Cloud-based architectures reduce cost of maintenance, increase scalability, flexibility and reliability. Security is also improved as customers benefit from an easy to maintain SaaS application, while hosting sensitive data internally and inaccessible from outside the firewall. Another benefit of this architecture is increased performance due to the user-defined relay servers. Customers around the world, can now easily setup their own local intranet or web servers relaying their meetings live, faster than global servers. Possible combinations are endless using 3DXplorer cloud-based architecture.

3DXplorer V5 also offers Altadyn’s partners the capacity of building their own branded SaaS applications, using the same platform as Altadyn, and offering value added services to their customers. Initial users of this white label SaaS are Altadyn’s content provider partners and 3D builders.

V5 avatars can now be represented in three levels of resolution: low poly (or low-resolution) avatars, adapted for large conferences, or high poly (or high resolution) avatars adapted for smaller groups.

3DXplorer V5’s new packaging enables customers to start with the 3DX/Platform, free of charge, then upgrade to applications such as 3DX/Online Meeting, 3DX/Meet in 3D or 3DX/Conferencing, depending on their needs.

Finally, 3DXplorer V5 integrates the recently announced new product 3DX/Conferencing under the same user account and the same interface, together with existing products 3DX/Online Meeting and 3DX/Meet-in-3D.

Full release notes of the V5 (details of new features) are available here:

http://www.3dxplorer.com/static-v3/pdf/V5-release-notes-2009_08_Rev2.pdf

Enjoy V5 which is live and in “Last Release” status since last week-end!