Vortex Studio 2023.11 Change Log

Owned by Jean-François Emond
Last updated: Jan 08, 2024 by Marc Lievin
8 min read

What's new?

New Vortex Launcher User Experience

What’s changing

The Vortex Launcher interface was revisited to offer a streamlined user experience.

 

Why it matters

The new look is meant to minimize text in favor of icons to simplify usage for international users. 

 

Additional details

Using the Vortex Launcher and Simulator interface

Vortex Studio Demo Scene Package Explained

What’s changing

We spent some time to detail the content and how to use the demo scenes provided with Vortex Studio.

Why it matters

Exploring the demo scenes allows you to understand the extent of Vortex Studio features as well as how to create content that will benefit from these features. Some mechanisms can be used as example or starting point of further explorations.

Additional details

see https://vortexstudio.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VSD2311/pages/3409973060 and Vortex Studio Content Starting Guide

Vortex is being integrated in Unity Editor

What’s changing

The Unity integration API is getting more features,

Why it matters 

By providing more features in the integration API, the integration of Vortex Studio with Unity becomes even more seamless and easy to use.

Additional details  

see https://vortexstudio.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VSD2311/pages/3409981878 and https://vortexstudio.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VSD2311/pages/3409983464

 

Unity Integration Demoscene

What’s changing

The Unity integration demoscene has been expanded to include a city environment, new road meshes and a revised parkour area.

Why it matters

The Unity demoscene is now more representative of the different kind of environment that can be used in a Vortex simulation. Also, colliders of various types have been added and are now supported by the Terrain Streaming feature (see below).

 

Unity Terrain Streaming

What’s changing

The streaming of the following Unity static colliders (a collider without a Rigidbody component) types has been added to the Vortex Unity integration.

  • Capsule

  • Convex meshes

  • Non-convex meshes

Why it matters

Your Vortex dynamics object can now get collisions from these colliders defined in Unity. There is nothing to do to support them, they will be streamed in as they get within the vicinity of the Vortex dynamics object at runtime.

Additional details

See Integrating Unity terrains with Vortex

System Requirements

License Requirements

Starting with Vortex Studio 2023.7, no license is needed to run a simulation of content created with Vortex Studio Editor (or purchased from CM Labs).

Since “running a simulation” is unlocked on any single computer, applications such as Python, Unity, or Unreal can be used to run a simulation containing Vortex Studio content, no matter the operating system, as long as the system is supported by Vortex Studio.

Vortex Studio Create applications, including Vortex Studio Editor and Vortex Studio Debugger, still require a license.

Whenever a Vortex Studio Activate feature is used in a simulation, a Vortex Studio license is required.

Supported Platform

Windows

Vortex Studio 2023.11 runs on the following platforms:

  • Microsoft Windows 10 (x64), version 22H2. 

  • Microsoft Windows 11 (x64), version 22H2. 

Linux

Not all features are available on the Linux operating system. See Features and Capabilities Overview for more details.

2022.8 is the last version supporting CentOS7 or equivalent.

An update to the latest Ubuntu LTS and equivalent operating systems is in progress.

Currently, Vortex Studio on Linux can only open content created on Vortex Studio (Windows) 2023.3 or earlier until this issue is fixed in a later release.

Using an earlier version of Vortex Studio on Windows to create content still works on Linux.

Hardware Requirements

Recommended Configuration for Vortex Create Applications

  • CPU Intel i7-9700 or better

  • RAM 32GB

  • GPU

    • Intel, NVIDIA, or AMD

    • at least 4 GB VRAM, Vulkan 1.3

Any computer running Vortex Studio Create or Activate must support AVX2 instructions set.

Software Capabilities

Mongo DB

Mongo DB is the database engine used in Vortex Activate.

The version supported is Mongo DB 4.2.

Qt

Vortex Studio uses a custom version of Qt 5.15.2.

Python

Unreal Engine Integration

Vortex Studio 2023.11 supports integration with Unreal Engine version 4.27.

Unity Integration

Vortex Studio 2023.11 supports integration with Unity Unity 2021.3.22f1 LTS.

Supported Compiler

Vortex Studio 2023.11 supports Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 (VC14) compiler and above.

GCC 7.3 is the supported compiler on Linux.

Simulink/MATLAB

  • Real-time UDP protocol of Simulink/MATLAB is supported.

  • Vortex S-Function block in Simulink is supported.

Supported 3D model File Types

The following 3D model file types can be imported into Vortex Studio Editor.

  • .cive, .dae, .fbx, .flt, .ive, .obj

  • .osg2, .osga, .osgb, .osgs, .osgt, .osgx, .shp

Vortex Human

In the editor, humans can be represented as a capsule and moved around with a script or an animation path extension.

Visualization of humans can be done in a simulator using Unity or Unreal.

Vortex Vegetation

In the editor, plants and trees can be represented as collision geometries.

Visualization of Vegetation can be done in a simulator using Unity or Unreal.

Licensing

Vortex uses RLM by Reprise Software™ for licensing.

See Licensing for more information.

Compatibility Notice

 

Between the Windows version and the Linux version

 

Between any Vortex version

Record-and-Playback as well as Keyframe files created with previous versions may not work with Vortex Studio 2023.11.

End-of-life Notice

  • Python 3.8 needs to be used.

  • Feature Snap to Surface in the Vortex Editor was removed.

Minor Improvements in Vortex Studio 2023.11

In addition to features documented in the “What's New”, minor improvements have been made during the development of Vortex Studio 2023.11:

ID

Summary

ID

Summary

VP-46881

Unity Usage - In the absence of a Vortex Scene, search for Graphics nodes in the instantiated prefabs from Asset Bundle

VP-47009

Unity Usage -When a Vortex Scene is present, Graphics Gallery prefab from asset bundles are used if available

VP-47010

Unity Usage - When a Vortex Scene is present, Spline prefab from asset bundles are used if available

VP-47145

Vortex Demo Scenes: Create documentation page to explain and describe Demo Scene package

VP-47184

Vortex Demo Scenes: Add Urban Environment to Demo Scene including representative colliders

Fixed Issues in Vortex Studio 2023.11

Various bugs and workflow issues have been fixed during the development of Vortex Studio 2023.11:

ID

Summary

ID

Summary

VP-46546

Vortex Studio Documentation: Broken links and bad images in Paged Terrain Producer.

VP-46745

Constraint with limit does not open when the part is rotating

VP-46770

Vortex Setup: "Waiting to Reconnect..." pop-up message does not always appear on disconnection

VP-46991

When running the TerrainDemo demo scene, collisions between the Vortex SportsCar and box/sphere colliders causes the vehicle to receive random forces.

VP-46996

Vortex Setup: The installation of the Licensing Tools should not be prevented if the machine does not support AVX2

VP-47057

Vortex Dynamics: Incorrect box/cylinder overlap using CylinderHoleBox

VP-47071

VortexSetup: Error on VortexServiceProxy's socket can result in a crash

VP-47101

Unity: Crash when loading the Excavator Demo Scene

VP-47105

VortexSetup - VortexSetup can remain stuck in a transfer loop when a package fails to transfer

VP-47124

Unity Usage - Setting a VHL value from Unity in edit mode doesn't mark the VortexScene as dirty

VP-47151

Vortex Editor: Demo scenes' Hud Controllers (speed, gear, target ad rpm) not displayed while simulating

VP-47182

Vortex Demo Scenes: Broken references in demo Unity project UnityIntegrationDemoUnityProject

VP-47199

VortexSetup: Two addons with two different dependency definitions will try to install both Vortex versions simultaneously

VP-47203

Vortex Editor: Configuration View display issue when multiple documents are open

VP-47205

VortexSetup: Installing 2 products and only selecting a mandatory addon for only one of the two returns no warning for the other one

VP-47208

Vortex Demo Scenes: Errors and Warnings when playing the Mobile Crane scene in UnityIntegrationDemoProject

VP-47215

Vortex Editor: Crash on play using python scripts implementing on_save_keyframe python callback

VP-47319

Unity usage: terrain steaming crashes when the material table is invalid

Known Issues in Vortex Studio 2023.11

ID

Summary

Workaround

VP-41437

When a sound is created such that the listener and the emitter are exactly at the same location, or the listener is moving together with the emitter such that it is precisely above it, the sound that the operator hears becomes garbled. 

This happens for monaural sound track when the listener and the emitter are moving in tandem while being either too close or aligned vertically. The workaround is keep the sound emitter and the listener separate and make sure they can't be move in a way where they could align with each other.

VP-43810

Memory blocks dumped, when terminating the application. 

None. This memory leak is not growing, it's memory that should be returned before the end of the process. Requires a 3rd party update.

VP-44315

Memory leak related to VxContactMaterial when there is a contact upon termination of a VxCore application.

Removing all parts and collision geometries before destroying the VxUniverse ensures that any ongoing contact is invalidated before destroying the VxUniverse. Optionally, using the higher level VxSim API and loading content created in the Vortex Studio Editor seems to work around this issue as the content is automatically unloaded before the application is destroyed.