ReadMe file for Piranesi 4.0.1 February 2005 This text file describes the changes between Piranesi 4.0 and Piranesi 4.0.1. Summary of Changes ================== Support for adding 'hotspots' to panorama EPix files has been added, see below for details. We have improved the speed of tweaking of multiple cutouts, and pressing Escape now works more effectively to interrupt tweaking. Copying styles using the Style Browser will now copy the URL, if one exists. The Style Library Builder now sets the size of textures and cutouts correctly, for all types of units. Previously, it worked correctly only when units was set to millimetres. We have corrected a problem with the positioning of cutouts that are imported into different EPix files. We have sharpened the anti-aliasing on non-frontal cutouts. A number of minor problems have also been fixed. Panorama Hotspots ================= You can add 'hotspots' to Piranesi panorama scenes (.EPP files). If you export a panorama to QuickTime Panorama Movie (MOV) file format, the hotspots will be included. In a QuickTime movie, a hotspot is an area of the image that contains a hyperlink. (A hyperlink is a jump from one file to another file in a Web browser.) When the file is exported to a QuickTime Panorama file, clicking a hotspot on the main movie image will open the linked file. You can link to any file the browser can display. You can add up to 254 hotspots to a panorama scene. To export a scene to MOV format, you must have QuickTime installed on your computer. Defining Hotspot Materials -------------------------- Hotspots in a Piranesi panorama scene are defined by setting properties on materials. The names of any materials with hotspots defined are shown blue and underlined in the Material tab of the Information palette. You can change the Hotspot properties for a material by clicking the Link button on the Material tab of the Information Palette. This mounts the Edit Material Hotspot URL dialog. Note that the Link button is not available with standard EPix files. The Edit Material Hotspot dialog has two text boxes: URL link text This box shows the URL of the file to link to the selected material. To link a file, type the URL in the box, or click Browse and select the file. The link can be a full http address, a file link to a local network file, or a relative path. If you are specifying a file URL, the path to the file is absolute and so must be defined on all machines which are to view the movie file. File URLs can be used only inside the local area network. If you are specifying a relative path, the path must be relative to the exported movie file. You might find it easiest to create the EPP and movie files in one folder before moving the movie files to their final destination. Displayed title of hotspot Optional alternative text to display for the linked material. This text is displayed in the QuickTime Player when you hover over the hotspot. If blank, the URL link text is shown instead. If required, type the alternative text in the box. The Clear button clears the linked URL and any associated optional text. When you have specified the details for the hotspot, click OK. Defining the Hotspots --------------------- Any areas using a material with a hotspot URL set will become hotspots in the exported QuickTime movie file. The 'Set Material only' option of the construct action will allow you to change the material for any area you want to use as a hotspot, if necessary. Exporting the Movie ------------------- When you export the panorama EPix file to QuickTime movie format, hotspots are automatically created wherever materials with hotspot URLs are used. If the URLs for your hotspots contain non-ascii characters, the interpretation of these characters depends on whether the movie is displayed in a browser or the QuickTime player, and whether it is viewed on a local filing system or a Web server. We therefore offer two export options for QuickTime movies that contain hotspots. QuickTime panorama - this uses the current Windows encoding for the URLs. QuickTime panorama with UTF-8 links - this uses a Unicode encoding. You should test the panorama in its intended environment to see which option you need. If you only use ascii in your links, then these two options will behave the same. Contacting us ============= You can visit our web site at: http://www.informatix.co.uk Or you can contact us on: email: info@informatix.co.uk Trademarks ========== Piranesi is a registered trademark of Informatix Software International Limited. Piranesi is the subject of the following patent and patent applications: US-6226000 EP-0870284 JP-A-5-511749 QuickTime is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.