What’s New in 2015 Layout3D (and above) Layout3D is a new product introduced to allow users to build layouts from existing catalogs or by

importing CAD files. The models cannot be run in any way but fly through movies can be created

with the new QuickVideo feature.

All features in Layout3D are also available in Demo3D, Sim3D and Emulate3D.

Print/Plot View A new Print menu has been added which allows for more advanced printing configuration:

• Multiple Page Layouts

• Multiple Views

• Crop, Scale and Translate Views on page

• Import existing DWT/DWG/DXF page templates

• Line drawings for plotter output

• 2D/3D Views

• Parallel/Perspective Views

• Edit Front to Back View Order

Quick Video Camera and target paths can now be edited in a 2D plan view without needing to add components

to a scene. The following camera types can be added:

• Circle

• Line

• Freehand (Bezier curves with control points)

The order these cameras link together is shown in a preview timeline

and the view from any point in time can be seen by dragging a time indicator along the timeline.

By default a camera path is created which circles around the entire model.

The quick video setup is saved with the model so camera moves can be re-edited at a later date.

Catalog Explorer

All open catalogs are now shown as top level folders in a single

unified catalog explorer window. A search box at the top allows

searching for components in all catalogs and matching components

are shown as the search expression is typed. Cursor keys can be used

to select a component and pressing enter adds it to the document in

the same way as dragging using the mouse.

Multiple catalog windows can be shown allowing for different views

of the catalogs.

Web Store The Web Store has been fully integrated into the Catalog Explorer

and components are automatically installed when they are added to

a document. Catalogs from the Web Store can be installed by

pressing the install button.

Conveyor Profile Editor Drawings can now be imported from DXF/DWG/DWT files and use

the lines as the definition for a conveyor side profile. The side profile

editor has been enhanced to make it easier to edit profiles.

Import Siemens Solid Edge Emulate3D are now Siemens PLM partners and as part of this Solid Edge files (*.par, *.asm, *.psm)

can now be imported directly without the need for Solid Edge to be installed.

Import Autodesk Revit Autodesk Revit files can now be exported into .raw3d files via a plugin which is installed with

Layout3D. These .raw3d files can then be imported directly into Layout3D.

Import Point Cloud Point Cloud files (*.xyz, *.txt, *.pts) can now be imported directly into Layout3D. This allows for high

resolution scans of an existing facility to be shown together with a proposed layout.

Import IFC-STEP IFC-STEP files (*.ifc) can now be imported directly into

Layout3D.

Import FBX Autodesk FBX files (*.fbx) can now be imported directly into

Layout3D. For now only static hierarchies (not people with

bones) can be imported.

Import Blender Blender files (.blend) can now be imported directly into

Layout3D.

Import Raw3D Emulate3D’s own 3D file format .raw3d (previously

.demo3dmodel) can be imported directly. This file format can

now contain animations as well as static models, allowing an

animation of a component or model to be recorded and then

imported multiple times into another model with the original

animations (including physics effects) preserved.

Import Demo3D Full .demo3d models can now be imported into other .demo3d models allowing easier merging of

models that have been developed separately.

Updated Existing Importers The following importers have been updated to import the latest versions of these third party

product file formats:

• Autodesk AutoCAD 2015 (*.dxf, *.dwg, *.dwt)

• Autodesk Inventor 2015 (*.iam, *.ipt)

• SOLIDWORKS 2015 (*.sldasm, *.sldprt)

• SketchUp 8.0 (*.skp)

These third party products are now available in both 32bit and 64bit modes, and the corresponding

importers work with files saved in either mode.

CSG Operations ImportedMeshVisual objects can have other meshes applied to them to form new meshes. The

range of CSG (Constructive Solid Geometry) operations is:

• Intersect

• Subtract

• Union

This feature allows components to be made that can become windows or doors that can be applied

to walls for example.

Multiple Conveyor Side Cut-outs Each conveyor connected to the side of another straight conveyor

now gets its own cut-out and the gap is filled with the correct

conveyor side graphics and physics.

Box Tube Visual BoxTubeVisual is a new

primitive visual type that

makes it easier to create

pipework, ducting and

boxes with bevelled or

curved edges. It has

properties which configure

the way a box profile is

created and extruded.

Torus Visual A new property CurveAngle has been added to CylinderVisual that allows a cylinder to be extruded

into a torus or part torus. This makes it easier to create tubing for pipework and ducting.

Named Display Settings The current combination of View, Visibility and Graphics settings

can be saved as a named Display Setting. There are two defaults

provided for Default and Movie.

High Resolution Monitor Support The user interface technology used has been changed to support

high resolution monitors (Windows Forms has been replaced with

Windows Presentation Foundation).

User Interface Themes As part of the change in user interface technology multiple visual

themes are now available and can be set from the Options dialog in

the General settings under the Toolbars Theme section.

Edit Keyboard Shortcuts All tools in the ribbon can now have keyboard shortcuts assigned to them and existing shortcuts

edited.

Lock Windows All dock-able window panes are now locked in place

by default. This prevents accidental rearrangement of

the window panes. The behaviour is controlled by

unchecking the lock icon on the top right corner of the main window.

Edition Chooser Help On start-up a new help pane can be shown that explains the differences in capability between the

various editions.

Demo3D (and above)

3D PDF Videos Movies can now be recorded as animated 3D PDF files which playback in the Desktop edition of

Adobe Acrobat Reader. These PDFs are generated with playback controls to allow the movie to be

stopped and started. The camera can be manipulated using the mouse or set to a View name that

was defined in the original model.

MP4 Videos MP4 Movies can now be recorded directly from Demo3D or using the Video Maker tool for stitching

images together. MP4 videos play on many devices, including cell phones and tablets making the

video easier to redistribute.

WMV Videos The technology change that was made to enable MP4 creation has also enabled WMV creation on

the later versions of Windows where Microsoft has deprecated the old tool-chain. WMV movies can

now be created without the need to install Windows Media Encoder Series 9.

GIF Videos Animated GIFs can be viewed on almost every device ever made that can show web pages making it

the format that can be emailed or put on any website reliably. GIF movies can now be made in

Demo3D.

WebGL Videos Modern web browsers (including the latest Internet Explorer and IOS Safari) all support WebGL,

allowing hardware accelerated 3D graphics to exist on any web page. Static or animated models in

Demo3D can now be exported and viewed in a web browser with WebGL support.

Click on Other Tools->Browse WebGL to test this for any loaded model.

C# Scripting Scripts can now be written in C# directly inside Demo3D with the new C# Script Editor with built-in

Intellisense.

Scripts can utilize all C# 5.0/.NET 4.5 features (including classes, etc.) in any script, which gets

compiled to Native Code by Microsoft’s tools chain behind the scenes.

The C# source files are stored in the .demo3d model which means there are no DLLs to redistribute

with a model or catalog that uses C# scripts, the DLLs are created when the scripts are first used by

Demo3D itself.

Visual Studio Debugging Debugging C# scripts (and also

Optimized JScript) can now be done

by pressing the new Debug C# button

in the Script Editor which will launch

any Visual Studio installed on the

machine or prompt the user to

download the Free Express Edition of Visual Studio 2013.

The following Visual Studio Versions are supported and looked for in this order:

• Visual Studio 2013

• Visual Studio Express 2013 (FREE!)

• Visual Studio 2012

• Visual Studio Express 2012 (FREE!)

• Visual Studio 2010

Edit Script Chooser The type of script can now be selected

when it is created. The dialog presents

the following choices:

• C# Script

• Jscript

• Ladder Logic

• QuickLogic

Source Control Demo3D models and catalogs can now be

saved to a new file format

(.demo3dx/.catalog3dx) which stores the

model in multiple files that are designed

for use with a source control system.

All content types that can be converted to

a textual format have been converted and

the order of elements within those files

has been guaranteed so small changes

such as adding or removing a photo eye

from a model will show up as a single line

change in the model XML file.

Binary files such as images are stored as

the original format (e.g. .png, .jpg, etc.).

Mesh files are stored in the same format that is used in the new .raw3d file format.

Animation Slider The speed of playing a model can now be interactively controlled by

sliding the animation slider. The slider includes settings for 0x, 1/4x

and 1/2x to stop or go slower than real time.

Conveyor Motor Arrow Enhancements Conveyors arrows now indicate the speed of a conveyor while it accelerates or decelerates.

The position of all conveyors arrows in the scene can be moved globally to the left or right of all

conveyors by editing the scene property DirectionArrowOffset. This makes it easier to see whether

conveyors are on or off when loads would have been obscuring the motor arrow graphic.

Runtime Edition A new Demo3D Runtime edition has been added which allows a model to be run and properties

changed or visuals moved around or reconfigured and then saved again. New models cannot be

created and therefore catalogs cannot be created but this gives more options than a basic Presenter

edition.

Network connections can be made to the Demo3D Runtime Edition which allows for things like

WebGL visualization of a running model.

Time Box Format Clicking on the Time box toggles the format between dd:hh:mm:ss.ss

and sss.ss which makes it easier to debug models and set time stop

points.

Sim3D

Table Explorer The document explorer window now contains a Tables tree node which

shows all the Visuals in the model that have Table custom properties

and also allows those tables to be edited.

Table Editing A new Tables tool has been added which allows all

the tables for a selected visual or for the scene to be

edited at once. New tables can easily be added and

tables imported from files, all from the Simulation

User Interface.

Combine Linear/Planar/Volumetric Physics Conveyors now have a new property SimulationPreferredPhysicsMode

which is Linear by default. This allows a conveyor to be forced into

Planar Physics mode even with SimulationCenterSnap enabled.

Conveyors can be set to be Volumetric as well which will enable the

PhysicsEngine when loads come into contact with those conveyors and

disabled it again when no loads are on Volumetric conveyors. This

allows combining of components in simulation that require modes

Volumetric or Planar modes while keeping the benefits of Linear Physics for the rest of the model.

Emulate3D

Modbus • Improved protocol driver (4x addresses).

• Support for the Modicon Quantum series PLCs.

Siemens Support for S7-1200 and S7-1500.

Additional string support.

S7 Functions bit-level access.

Individual bits can be set.

Support for DP/DP couplers.

Improved I/O optimization:

Mark individual tags as DontAllowMerge.

Set AllowNonContiguousTags separately for I, Q, M, DB.

User-defined pages.

Rockwell Improved EtherNet/IP (CIP) protocol driver:

Enhanced packet optimiser – now even faster.

Better support for Read-Modify-Write cycles

o Writing individual bits within a SINT, INT, DINT, etc.

Support for older PLCs

o RSLogix version 20 and older.

o SoftLogix version 17 and older.

Support for Program Symbols.

Improved MicroLogix 1100B emulator.

Runs real customer PLC programs!

More instructions (including JSR, BSL, etc).

Indirect addressing with bit offset > 7.

Indexed addressing.

Multiple code files.

Better integration with the internal Emulate3D SoftPLC.

Beckhoff TwinCAT 2 and TwinCAT 3.

Support for 64bit TwinCAT.

Improved accessing and

browsing PLC symbols.

OPC filter comments

o PLC programmer can use familiar constructs to control how symbols are exported to

Emulate3D.

o (*~ (OPC:1:comment) (OPC_PROP[0005]:1:ReadOnly) *)

Better support for TwinCAT 2 PLCs.

Pulse encoders… Non-zero accel/decel hardware pulse encoders.

Pulse encoders work in Fast Forward and Single Step (though hardware pulse encoders

revert back to soft pulses).

Easier binding… Partial names

o Smart heuristics for finding the visual property to bind when using partial names.

o Now correctly bind even if there’s more than one visual with the same name.

Export symbol table – bind later

o Export unbound or incomplete tags.

o Edit later in the export file (excel) and re-import.

o Simple way of extracting the symbol tables

(e.g. ControlLogix and TwinCAT PLCs).

More type conversions… Easier to interface Emulate3D with PLC data.

Support for more data types, and smarter conversion where possible.

Support for singles and doubles (32bit and 64bit floating point numbers), and 64bit integers.

Improved Tag Browser… Configuration:

Enhanced EtherNet/IP and OPC tag server explorers.

Support for Rockwell PLC racks with multiple CPUs.

Better feedback for connections using 3rd party software/hardware (PBMS, TwinCAT,

MxComponent, etc).

Improved performance… • Close Tag Browser to improve performance.

• Tag Browser stops displaying the data streams between the model and PLC improves

model performance

New emulation hardware configuration wizard… • Emulate3D can now directly configure some of the 3rd party hardware/software it uses to

connect to PLCs.