On September 2020, on the Tvori blog we shared some details on new materials and how exactly they can be implemented into prototyping cases of designing an immersive experience.
With new Additive functions you can achieve different intriguing styles such as

• holographic effects and AR interfaces in a specific style;
  
• glow and lightning;
  
• fire and magic;
  
• neon signs and etc.

When applying the Multiply materials you're enabled to create not only semi-transparent effects, but also changing backgrounds by darkening landscapes.

You can also combine Additive and Multiply materials. By using both, you can simulate colored and tinted glass or create various dark magic effects, e.g. portals.

Additive (pink one) function sums up incoming data such as color or transparency.

Multiply (red one) function multiplies incoming data such as color or transparency.

Let's look at the trailer with new promising materials, whilst check out how UI of the Tvori's materializer tool has upgraded.

All in all, do not miss the opportunity to try these effects of Additive and Multiply materials on your design creations!

On September 2020, Tvori released:


IK is one of the ways to animate characters, and allows to control the position of the character's limbs at a certain point / position (arms, legs, tails, etc.), giving an impression of a more natural behavior from the limb.

The New IK system provides more control over characters and their behavior. Just as an example – IK enables to correct the position of the foot on a rough surface, adjust the natural behavior of the hands of a character getting up from the table, etc.
The new IK has three modes: basic IK, IK for arms (with additional logic for the natural behavior of the clavicle), IK for legs (with additional logic for controlling the feet).

The next brand new add-in is a switching function to the free editing mode of the Goal Target or/and default procedural mode, where you're only able to adjust an angle. The Goal Target assists to control and guide character's elbows or knees in a desired direction.

To support realtime animation and autokey modes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UAgfqwMig4
We've updated the design of the materializer tool and added a couple of new materials

• Additive Unlit function sums up incoming data such as color or transparency.
  
• Multiply Unlit function multiplies incoming data such as color or transparency.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0sRa3afbXs
[/h2]You've asked and we added - please welcome new set of assets and primitives on our object shelf.


- auto creation of a zero key;
- correct copying of objects that have animation of materials;
- fixed issues with applying materials to all objects on the scene and setting default custom material.

In the Tvori enterprise you can now share your scenes and animations with your team members, create different teams and host design reviews all within Virtual Reality.

The mission behind the Tvori Viewer is to allow our enterprise customers to easily share & present spatial ideas in VR. Given so many teams are isolated and distributed today, it was important to find a way to host online 3D presentations and pitch immersive prototypes to colleagues and customers with as little friction as possible.

Currently, we have ongoing trials and demos of the Viewer.
Please reach out at hello@tvori.co if you represent a multi members team or a company.

Other improvement

- You can now select the first loadable scene in 2D settings.
- We added a system to check the scene complexity.
- We improved export to FBX, as well as addressed issues with exporting skinned meshes and animation. When exporting, you can now select LODs and Bake scene options.
- New settings button on top of the imported characters (with spawn at center option).
- A full track name appears when you navigate to the track with a controller.

On July 2020, Tvori released the following improvements for real-time animation:

• Enabled recording of realtime animation for camera and light projector sliders
  
  
  
• You can now teleport to the imported character's bones from the animation tracks submenu
  
• Improved logic of copy/paste animation keys between the animation tracks
  
• Enabled fullbody realtime animation recording for imported characters
  
• Single object exporting to fbx improvements
  
• The new default scene
  
• Improved logic for the Viewer tool
  
• Allow removing all track's keys from the animation track submenu
  
• You can control error notification system through 2D setting menu and choose the most convenient notification mode.

The full list of fixes here.

You can modify this scene or transfer the assets you like to your own scene using
the Transit Tool (avaible in Pro)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qa6uZEc6iY
Once you save to a new scene, all icons will appear on a shelf in the Import / Icons folder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO8_AJIQOn4

Or you can transfer these assets with a Transit shelf, they will appear on a shelf in the Import / Icons folder

Text Tool update You can now call the keyboard by clicking the settings button on top of the text tool instead of opening a context menu and selecting Edit Text.


Other improvements:- Undo/Redo for animation looping
- You can now teleport to parts of the puppet from the animation tracks submenu
- Improved logic for copy/paste animation between the tracks
- Additional zone for scrolling the timeline (you can grab the track itself and start scrolling)
- Displaying the number of the current frame on the controller when you touch the stick on the controller
- Added support for turning shadows on and off from the context menu for all light sources

You can export videos from VR using the export panel on the timeline:


Edit handles in animation curves individually by "breaking" them. It's useful for making animations with rapid changes in acceleration. For example, a ball bouncing or a foot stepping on the floor.
We did a number of fixes and adjustments for the new timeline:
• Jumping from key to key
• Selecting and retiming
• Copying & pasting clips
• Adding and deleting keys

Made duplicated objects to preserve animations. Every animation will be present in a copy, except for the positional animation of the root object.

Other improvements:• Improved refreshing of video references when jumping between keys
• Optimized weight of exported VR experiences. Now those will include only assets that are present in the experience
• Re-arranged buttons in context menus to reduce clutter
• Improved visuals of some icons
• Handles that were moved by hand won't be resetting upon insertion of new keys — it makes curve editing more convenient

Full list of updates here.

The animation timeline allows designers to turn their vision into working prototypes and non animators to tell memorable stories.


We improved both real-time and keyframe animation modes — you can now loop animations and use visibility tracks to show and hide objects in a certain time period.

It is now much easier to work with multiple keys — retime, change interpolation, copy & paste multiple keys. Learn more about the update here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYPrj9lQcFM

You can now animate materials! Make objects change colors, radiate, or become semi-transparent over time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgvNwE8JmlA

Scale objects with a new scale slider.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl4ifm2gzZM

Scrub the timeline by holding the Play button and moving the controllers left and right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Kq3BSxRns

In Pro. Export video sequences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBFVZ2rz8IU

Connect any object to the viewer's head. For example, you can set up a field of view bounds of an AR headset to understand how much will be visible in an AR experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFan4Vi1IiA

In Pro. See information on a camera and the timeline screen with the current camera's parameters, such as the field of view, screen size, and the current frame.


Go to the documentation site by pressing "Learn" on the 2D screen.


- Export texts as SDF textures in FBX
- More convenient log out from Poly
- Not including the sun mesh in exported FBX
- Fixed bugs with sounds on the timeline
- Fixed text label for the sound icon on the shelf
- Fixed wrong positions of knees in duplicated puppet
- Fixed the bug preventing correct export of videos if the timeline was playing upon requesting the export
- Fixed exceptions on importing of skinned meshes with odd metadata
- Fixed materials naming on exported FBX files
- Fixed disappearing of objects from the Transit and characters on the Shelf after throwing the shelf away and undoing
- Fixed wrong materials of objects from the Transit if it was set a default material in the materializer
- Fixed visual glitches on duplicated sound player
- Return DOF control to the camera in Tvori Basic.
- Fixed the Materializer's volume palette exception when record mode is on
- Fixed the problem with colorizing multi-part meshes when inserting the picker inside objects
- Fixed incorrect animation timing in FBX
- Improved rotational Gizmos control in skinned meshes
- Export models to subfolders named after the current scene
- Improved removing by the trash bin of grouped groups or with links to other groups
- Disabled getting the material pen when the hand has another tool. For example, the locker.

In this update, we smashed a lot of bugs, improved tools, visuals, and optimized some aspects of Tvori. Tvori works a bit faster, looks better, and is more reliable now.

We are also updating our documentation—improving descriptions and adding videos. We want to eventually cover all of the functionality and make it approachable.

Here's what we improved in July and August:

Better OBJ & FBX Import
- More stable import of OBJ & FBX files
- Optimizations for skinned meshes

Better FBX Export
Now exports cameras to FBX with the following properties:
- Field of view (animation support)
- Position/Rotation. (animation support)

Exports the light bulb and the projector to FBX with the following properties:
- Type of light (spot/point/directional)
- Color
- Intensity (animation support)
- Spot angle (animation support)
- Position/Rotation/Scale (animation support)

- Now always exports scenes with the directional light (the sun) with color, rotation, and intensity
- General improvements of animation exporting to FBX format

General Improvements
- Launch natively on Oculus when using Tvori on Steam. Opposed to launching with SteamVR
- Added the brush to the main menu
- Added the brush's context menu when pressing the menu button with the brush in hand
- Now possible to drop the brush by clicking on the context button and from the brush's context menu
- Improved visualization of animation curves
- Improved visualization of links
- Improved visualization of bones in the puppet and skinned meshes
- Hovering over a camera on the timeline shows a connection with the camera on a scene
- Sliders show rulers with values' steps
- Allow breaking links for all children from the context menu
- Disallow throwing out joint holders from skinned meshes
- Make it possible to rearrange cameras and viewers on the timeline from the context menu
- Now possible to set "Free move" for last bones in skinned meshes from the context menu
- Hide context menu on the shelf for the text tool
- Added "Reset pose" for bones in skinned meshes from the context menu
- Added undo & redo support for parameters in skinned meshes
- If the chosen project folder doesn't exist — Tvori will use the default project folder in documents
- Showing the version of Tvori on the 2D screen
- Improved visuals for the light bulb and light projector on white scenes
- Turn off bloom from the viewer
- Updated a visual for the viewer
- Added a new blue noise algorithm for shaders with transparency
- Improved the logic for the last color slot
- Showing the current project name in the menu
- Added undo & redo for selection of objects
- Improved positioning of the context menu
- Added close button for all workspace tools
- Added undo & redo for context actions in brushes
- Disable linking to workspace tools, such as the timeline and the materializer
- Change animation controls on the puppet and skinned meshes to red in the record mode
- Added haptic feedback on duplication with the gizmos
- Now possible to spawn locators at the center of a scene
- Now possible to ungroup linked groups
- Now possible to scale the microphone
- Added a new FX—the bullet trail
- Activated support of the opacity for imported models from Poly
- Added support of opacity for the unlit material

Optimizations
- Optimizations of importing cubemaps (now they're in DXT1 format, converted to RGBA32)
- Set DXT1 format for imported textures from stuff folder
- Optimized updating skinned meshes' bounds
- Optimized generating joint holders for skinned meshes
- Optimized the x-ray shader on UIs
- Optimized highlighting

Fixes
- Fixed bug with "Make Free" on bones in skinned meshes
- Fixed the gizmos' move for bones in skinned meshes
- Fixed black dots on vertices of imported models
- Fixed problems with applying materials to multi-part models with LODs
- Fixed hiding of tracks with keys if there are more than 10 of them
- Fixed wrong near plane on the camera after bringing it back from the trash
- Fixed problems with skinned meshes on duplication
- Fixed selection of bones in skinned meshes
- Fixed appearance of video player buttons on cameras
- Fixed the problem with the size of skinned meshes linked to animated puppets
- Fixed grabbing images from the shelf when the material pen is in a hand
- Fixed problems of getting the material pen on Vive
- Fixed incorrect FOV value in the first frame on exported videos
- Fixed puppet's twitches in first frames on exported videos

With this update we release Materializer. It's a new tool that allows to customize materials and apply them to objects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucZHtSadgX0
You can switch between 3 types of materials and change their properties. By using the material panel, you can go from a matt, dark material to a shiny, bright one, to a shadowless, solid colored material in seconds.

From the right side of the material panel, you can apply the material (excluding a color) to all objects on a scene or set it as a default material for all new objects that you get from Shelf.

We replaced the old painting case (Paint & Color) with Materializer. So the drawing tools now live in Materializer.

Check a new scene in Tvori that showcases materials made with Materializer.



When you press on the color palette, color slots or a material orb you get a material pen in your hand that can apply a given material and its color to objects on a scene. If you press on a button with a pipette icon on the controller, the pen empties and it becomes possible to pick material properties from objects instead of applying them. You can switch between several modes of the material pen to work only with a color, or all material properties excluding the color. It's handy for when you want to colorize objects without changing all of their material properties and vice versa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F069mI2L3gE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJznk06D2VE
When you take the pen from the color palette or color slots, it works in "colors only" mode, so when you apply the pen to objects—it applies only the color.

Added a Materializer tool that allows creating and setup custom materials; apply a material to all objects on a scene; set material as default for new objects from object Shelf.

Added Material Pen to pick and apply materials.

Camera Tool. When post effects are off—boom also turns off.

Object Shelf. Added a handle under the shelf.

Point lights and projectors visualize as spheres when they are small enough.

Fixed inability to import new objects from a project folder after taking a photo while Shelf was open and in some cases after adding new files to the project.

Fixed occasional appearance of "Create new project" when trying to switch to an existing project from the 2D menu.

Made Locker ignore the grid at the floor level, making locking & unlocking of objects more reliable.

Made it possible to move in space while holding an object.

With this update, we are introducing advanced Puppet customization. It is now possible to change body proportions and create unique characters. You can find inspiration from 5 new customized puppet's on our Shelf and get an idea for what kind of characters you can create.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3Mk0Uw04Oo

This video shows how to change the proportions and work with brand new Puppet's Control Panel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqtB54IjB0w

Also, with the current update, you can export not only animation, 360 or 2D videos but also your complete VR experience! This is our very first version of the future Tvori Player!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYq7vMmnWWw

We updated the logic for locators. You can now use locator as additional control points for your puppet animation when a puppet is in the animation mode (Locked).
This should help a lot for facial animation, like eyes/eyebrows, animation of wings, fingers, etc. You are linking a locator to the required bone, Lock puppet for animation, and animate it as you used to do with existent control points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p8HhptXbxQ



Puppet

• The functionality to change body proportions of puppets. Make elves, gnomes, and Slender men
  
• A control panel for puppets with a bunch of buttons that help to customize
  
• Optional controls for knees that you can enable from the control panel
  
• Locators in a puppet are always active now even when the puppet is locked for changes. It will be easier to make custom controls for facial animation and other features on puppets
  
• An ability to set a puppet in the T-pose with a single button click
  
• The IK system is more optimized now. You can have more puppets on a scene
  
• 5 customized puppets on the shelf to give you an idea what kind of characters you can make

VR Player

• Functionality to export scenes as dedicated VR experiences that exist in separate executable programs that you can run independently of Tvori
  
• Options to make a VR Player run in VR (Steam, Oculus) and in 2D

Tutorial

• The interactive tutorial now has more videos inside that should make it easier to understand how to do certain things that tutorial asks to do
  
• Tutorial has less internal errors that were interrupting people or making it not possible to complete the tutorial

Presentation in Play Views

• A switch between cameras and play views with left and right arrow keys
  
• When playing from a play view, pressing the left and right key switches you between other play views on a scene. Makes it possible to guide people in a presentation or a story

General improvements

• When you're in a play or record mode connections between objects are hidden
  
• Gizmos are faster now when selecting groups objects
  
• Link visualizations are more optimized now. When there's a lot of objects with lots of links Tvori should run faster than before