HOOPS Visualize 3DF Public Roadmap

As of 2021/03/02

This page provides you with some insights about the HOOPS Visualize roadmap. If you are interested in providing input or collaborating on any of the projects below, please contact HOOPS Visualize's Product Manager or Tech Soft 3D support.

Release Plan

HOOPS Visualize release schedule consists of a major release and two or more service packs(x.10, x.20) per year.

Minor updates (x.11, x.21) might be released in between according to fix regressions or high priority issues.

Release Schedule

Provisional dates – Subject to change

Format Updates Plan

Provisional plan – Subject to change

Short-term projects

Projects planned to be delivered in next release (next 4 months)

• Improved performance of text

  • Models which include many text geometries (such as seen in PP&M models) can see a negative performance hit. This project is designed to allow Visualize to use hardware acceleration on text entities.

• New platform: Support of Apple Silicon platform

  • HOOPS Visualize will be ported to Apple's new ARM64 architecture. This is critical for partners using HOOPS Visualize with toolkits such as Electron, delivering a more native application experience (rather than web based).

  • Beta support was already provided with HOOPS Visualize 2021.

• Improve custom shader support

  • 3DF has supported custom shaders for many years. However this functionality needs improvements. These improvements extend across improving the documentation, supporting custom shaders across all entities (not just triangles), and extending the capabilities allowed.

Mid-term projects

Planned or on-going projects that might be delivered mid-term (in one or two releases) – After 4 months / before 12 months

• Improved performance for large models

  • This project will focus on improving frames per second performance when working with large models, or data sets comprised of many files. Examples include BIM federation workflows and Digital Factory simulations.

• PBR improvements

  • Several improvements are planned for PBR in Visualize. This includes better support for environment mapping, image based lighting, and rendering which more closely matches what is coming in HOOPS Communicator. Finally, we will add a mechanism to allow non-PBR models (such as CAD models) to be displayed in a PBR mode, providing higher quality renderings without having to re-author all data in a PBR application.

• HoloLens 2 support

  • Support for HoloLens 2 will be added. This will include being able to render models to the HL2's view, but also provide a small set of example operators for the new user interface.

• Metal driver for MacOS and iOS

  • We are developing a new native Metal driver for use on MacOS and iOS. This is to protect our partners shipping on these platforms in case Apple removes OpenGL support.

• PBR output through Exchange sprocket

  • The Exchange Sprocket will be updated to offer the ability to take a HOOPS Visualize model and export it to GLTF through HOOPS Exchange.

Long-term projects

Longer term projects we are considering

• Client-side Collision Detection

  • While HOOPS Exchange licensees can use an integration between Visualize and Exchange to check for collisions, this is not designed for interactivity. This project would aim to have collision detection performed in Visualize without reliance on Exchange.

• Add support for implicit modeling

  • The generative design market is pushing the boundaries of what can be manufactured. However since they do not typically use standard BRep / single body mesh forms HOOPS Visualize cannot display these models efficiently. This project will be to investigate what changes would be required to make it easier for generative design applications to use HOOPS Visualize.

• Vulkan or DX12 drivers

  • Adding support for new generation graphics APIs will enable Visualize to add new functionality and to also begin refactoring the 3DF GS to take advantage of modern GPU architecture.