We're pleased to announce the third release of Orca3D, a marine design and analysis plug-in for Rhinoceros. Orca3D is developed by a team of naval architects and developers who are experienced in the creation, distribution, and support of marine applications, including plug-ins for the Rhino environment.
This is a Work-in-Progress (WIP) release, and we invite all Rhino users to install Orca3D. This is an opportunity to get an early look at the direction of our development, and to provide feedback as we prepare the first commercial release. There is no charge to use the WIP, which will expire on September 1st. If the commercial release is not ready before that date, a new WIP will be released.
Before installing Orca3D, please be sure that you are running Rhino Version 4, Service Release 3; Orca3D will not function with earlier versions of Rhino. Please use the menu above or click here to download the installation file.
Feel free to send comments and suggestions as you use the WIP. We appreciate your interest!
Orca3D Release Notes
Orca3D is a plug-in for designing and analyzing marine structures in Rhinoceros. These release notes describe the status and updates included in the current release of Orca3D.
Orca3D Requirements
Rhino Version 4, SR 3 or higher
Hardware: See Rhino hardware requirements (
http://www.rhino3d.com/4/systemrequirements.htm)
Operating Systems tested: Windows XP , Vista
Operating Systems not tested: Windows XP 64-bit, 2000
Operating Systems not supported: Windows ME, 98, 95, NT
Mac: The Intel Mac with Bootcamp or Parallels has not been tested
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 (the Orca3D installation will install it if it is not already on your computer)
Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable 2008 (the Orca3D installation will install it if it is not already on your computer)
Valid license key (without this, Orca3D will operate as a 30-day fully functional evaluation copy, not required for WIP releases)
WIP Release 3 (June 30, 2008)
New Features:
OrcaProperties: Implemented the line type functionality for Orca3D control nets, set from the OrcaProperties command.
OrcaPointsOfInterest: Implemented a new �Points of Interest� functionality in Orca3D. Points of Interest are defined via the OrcaPointsOfInterest command. They are used in any hydrostatics/stability calculation. The hydrostatics output reports the distance of the points of interest to the resultant waterplane. Points of Interest have an activation flag so they can be disabled/enabled at will. They are persisted with the 3DM file.
OrcaMove: Implemented a new command, OrcaMove. This command allows the user to perform complex manipulations of geometry objects and Orca3D surface control points via a custom user control. This includes absolute or relative translations in either Cartesian or polar coordinates. Use of the up and down arrows permits the user to nudge the selected entities as needed.
Licensing: Implemented a licensing mechanism within Orca3D. This mechanism will allow the end user to try out demo/evaluation versions, to purchase and activate a licensed version, to move a license from one machine to another, and to perform various other licensing operations.
Enhanced Features:
Hull Assistants: Added session persistence to the Orca Hull Assistants so values entered will be remembered the next time that assistant is re-opened during the same session.
Hull Assistants: Add content to Rhino document notes whenever a user creates a new hull via a Hull Assistant to indicate date of creation and parameters used.
Hull Assistants: Implemented modeless forms for Orca3D hull assistants so that the user can modify the view while working with the assistant.
General User Interface: Made numerous text, format, and behavioral changes to enhance the user experience.
OrcaExportCurves: Added a default part name for IDF export since some programs will not accept a blank part name.
OrcaHydrostatics: Modified hydrostatics calculations so that stations are computed on the surfaces selected for hydrostatics, regardless of what surfaces have Orca3D sections defined. If there is a mismatch between surfaces selected for hydrostatics and the surfaces for which Orca3D sections are defined, a warning message is issued to the user.
OrcaHydrostatics: Made hydrostatics more robust for unusual resultant flotation plane attitudes.
Bug Fixes:
OrcaHydrostatics: Only compute section properties for those sections with the �calculation� checkbox set during hydrostatics calculations.
OrcaHydrostatics: Fixed a bug in computation of section properties for heeled models.
OrcaProperties: Fixed a bug in the behavior of the Orca Properties form when switching water density.
Globalization: Fixed a bug which prevented use of Orca3D on computers with non-US keyboard settings. All Orca3D input should use US keyboard settings (decimal separator is �.� and list separator is �,�) as in Rhino.
