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This page provides you with some insights about the HOOPS Communicator roadmap. If you are interested in providing input or collaborating on any of the projects below, please contact HOOPS Communicator's Product Manager or Tech Soft 3D support.
RELEASE PLAN
HOOPS Communicator release schedule consists of a major release and two service packs per year.
Minor updates might be released in between according to needs:
Fix regressions or high priority issues
Deliver updated formats to reduce availability delays
RELEASE SCHEDULE
See the HOOPS Target General Availability Dates.
FORMAT UPDATES PLAN
Refer to the HOOPS Exchange Roadmap for Format Updates Plan.
SHORT-TERM PROJECTS
Projects planned to be delivered in next release (next 4 months)
IFC Improvements
Support additional classes and information that will help model analysis and querying. This will include both the semantic information and being able to display the relationships graphically.
Optimizations for Pipes and Beams
New format support: Navisworks Reader
Navisworks is a 3D design review solution used primarily in construction industries.
This project will focus on the NWD format which corresponds to the publishing of a project, including all loaded models, the environment, views, and saved viewpoints.
Improved support for SolidWorks materials
The support of visual models’ appearances (material, textures, decals) is meant for high fidelity rendering and full-color printing of parts and will serve PLM/Visualization as well as Manufacturing as a Service applications. The scope of this project is to improve the support of SolidWorks appearances by adding the surfacic projection for textures as well as decals.
Improved rendering quality
Communicator will improve our PBR rendering support, including clearcoat and specular materials. This is required to render many glTF models as expected.
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
New format support: DGN Reader
DGN MicroStation is a CAD software platform developed by Bentley Systems and used in the architectural and engineering industries.
Improved HC WV API Reference
The Web Viewer’s API reference will be improved considerably, with all APIs documented sufficiently.
HC Web Viewer API Simplification
A refactor of the Web Viewer API will be done in order to improve stability and ease of use.
LONG-TERM PROJECTS
Longer-term projects we are considering
Add ability to serialize changes to models from the Web Viewer to Stream Cache
Some partners have requested adding the ability to use Communicator in an editing workflow. This requires adding the ability to open a stream cache file and edit its contents.
Client-side Collision Detection
While HOOPS Exchange licensees can use an integration between Communicator and Exchange to check for collisions, this is a server-side integration. This project would aim to have collision detection performed on the client-side (in the web viewer).
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 Communicator 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 Communicator.
Add DWG & Revit support for 2D Floorplan Generation
The current 2D Floorplan Generation only works with IFC models. Adding support for popular BIM formats is a common request.
Support of massive point clouds
As workflows in BIM & AEC continue to use large point cloud sets, Communicator needs to scale its support for massive sets. Some workflows include comparing large point cloud sets to the original data files to check that construction is as designed.
Investigate adding custom shader support to HOOPS Communicator
Currently, Communicator does not support custom shaders. This project would aim to expose the ability to insert your own shaders into Communicator's web viewer.
Support and display of Mates
This project will focus on delivering support of the CATIA V5 mates to help applications in Manufacturing simulation, Robotic, Kinematics Analysis and more generate a kinematics model of the assembly.
Mates will be supported both semantically and graphically.
Note that the support of Mates for other formats might be considered in future release cycles.
Improved support of HSF files
HSF files that contain drawings may not display correctly in HOOPS Communicator. This project aims to bring parity where possible between HOOPS Visualize and HOOPS Communicator for rendering.
New format support: PLM/XML reader
PLM/XML format is an XML-based file format designed by Siemens PLM Software to facilitate interaction in product lifecycle management.