Boxshot 4.0.23 - Almost Out of Beta
02 Apr 2013
This release makes one more step out of beta, and the next one is probably the last. So if you haven’t upgraded yet, this may be the right time to do so, until the prices grow high.
Separate Cover Images for Books
Box Shot 3D had separate book cover images by default, so you had to define cropping frames if you used full cover images. To make things easier, Box Shot 3D has default cropping values, but this leads to issues when you try to load, say, just a front image, not a full cover one.
Boxshot 4 features solid cover images by default, so you need an image containing both front, spine and back parts. Although this is much more predictable, lots of you guys have just a front and spine images and wouldn’t like to combine them just for Boxshot.
The feature request about this got many votes, so here it is. All the closed books now have an option to switch between solid and separated covers. All the book spreads now allow you to choose between solid spread and separated left/right pages.
Please let me know if something is still not perfect there :)
New “Step and Repeat” Tool
One more tool is added that may help those, who use Boxshot to render retail shelves or something like that. Located in the “Tools” menu, “Step and repeat” tool allows you to clone the selected shape many times, defining the distance between the clones. Give it a try, it may save your time.
PDF Support
Sorry Windows guys, this one is just for Mac. Boxshot now supports PDF (and even AI) files as textures. Works like a charm, but not available in the Home edition.
External Files Improvements
This release brings a lot of improvements in external 3D files processing, especially for 3DS files.
The other side of the coin is that unfortunately you may need to review your old scenes width 3D files. 3DS files are not affected, while FBX and Collada files may change their position a bit. Sorry for this.
Queued Rendering
Boxshot now puts the job name to task folder’s name and also uses it for naming the resulting image. This means easier navigation for those who renders a lot in background.
We have also fixed some nasty bugs in job manager, so it should run much better now.
How To Upgrade
Already have Boxshot installed? Simply download the latest version from the main page and install it on top of the current one. That’s all.
Boxshot VR
According to the feedback, you were not so happy about the subscription model of Boxshot VR. So starting from today it is switched to the classic licensing mode: the license you buy is lifetime and you get free updates during the next year. All the details are here.
Current customers will get their lifetime licenses at the end of the subscription period, no worries.
What Else?
Right now we are working on a really cool thing, which I am going to show you soon. Stay tuned and watch this space!
Thank you.