Official ArtEngine 2021.5.2

Happy May everyone!

We are pleased to announce that the latest version of ArtEngine 2021.5.2 is now available for you to download and use.

Please note that GPU driver requirements for ArtEngine have been recently updated. ArtEngine now supports NVIDIA GPU driver versions 461.72 or later. The newer drivers greatly improve execution speeds of the Upres and JPEG Artifact Removal nodes, as well as neural pattern matching in the Mutation (Structure) node. If you have an older version of the driver, you will be prompted to update it the first time you launch ArtEngine.

It’s always great to get your feedback and to see what awesome things you come up with when working with ArtEngine. Everything is taken on board and is used to further improve the software for future users!

Read on to learn more about the new features and updates in this release.

Victor Kam using feature selector.​

What’s new?

• Share your ArtEngine projects easily using Export Project
  You now have access to the Export Project and Export Graph functionality, available from the File menu. Export Project allows you to easily pack up your project, including the Node Graph and (optionally) your Asset Library assets, into one ZIP file. To import a project, simply extract the ZIP and open the .ART project file on any other machine.
  
  
• Advanced settings for the Multi-Angle to Texture node
  Previously, the Multi-Angle to Texture node was mostly automated, built to work in all contexts. However, we wanted to give you more precision and flexibility over the rig setup and other parameters. The node now allows you to modify settings such as number of images to process, light position for each image, as well as distance and field of view for the camera.
  
  
• Feature Selector Node
  This is a new node that breaks any bitmap down into clusters of similar pixels that you can dynamically select to create masks quickly.

• Error message improvements
  We’ve improved our error messaging system, which will now give you better feedback on which nodes failed to execute along the execution chain, as well as the potential error causes. Nodes which failed execution are now marked with a red header on the Node Graph.
  
  
  
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• 3D Viewport Tooltips
  Tooltips for the various 3D Viewport shortcuts and actions are now available from within ArtEngine. In the bottom right corner of the 3D Viewport, you will find a new help icon. Hover over it to see all available actions and their hotkeys.

Juuso Voutilainen​

Resolved Issues

• Fixed an issue where users were not able to launch the application when one of the cards in a dual GPU setup is from AMD.

• Fixed an issue where Nvidia driver update was prompted even with only AMD GPU.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where the Compose Material node renamed bitmaps when added using the quick-add feature in the node graph.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where Blend Node did not disconnect the existing connection when a new connection was made to its input pin.

• Fixed a crash sometimes caused by the Batch Input node when manually typing in an input path.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where the intensity value on Roughness and Gloss nodes would revert to that of the previous selected material whenever the nodes are copied or reloaded.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where the Batch Output node would sometimes fail to execute on multiple materials.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where cancelling node execution would sometimes cause an error.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where cancelling a Project Export would sometimes result in an error.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where using Save As to save a project in the same location with the same file name would create a new project hierarchy instead of overwriting the existing one.
  
  
• Reduced resource consumption of the Pattern Array node, and made the node less error-prone.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where the Crop node would not display more than 4 digits in the Properties window when working with high-resolution files.
  
  
• Fixed a freeze caused by copying and pasting a Bitmap node on the Node Graph.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where the Histogram Scan node would not update in real-time when working with single-channel images.

Juuso Voutilainen​

Known Issues

• Nodes that are not recommended for Batching: Color to Mask, Color Muse, Mask Paint, Color Transfer, and in general nodes that are more specific to the individual bitmaps coming through.
  
  
• There is an issue with Batching creating extra black maps for output folders to make up the difference in numbers, if one input folder has more maps than another.

Happy creating,

The Unity ArtEngine team