Good news, everyone!
3DF Zephyr 9.0 is finally available for download! This one took a while, and for good measure as 3DF Zephyr now features a brand new Gaussian Splatting workflow and yes – it’s available also on 3DF Zephyr Lite!
With integrated Gaussian Splatting generation, faster photoconsistency, satellite map data right in the viewport, revamped selection tools, and much more, we’re sure you’ll love this release!
As always, this new version also ships with a long list of smaller improvements and fixes. Highlights include pseudo Mercator support and automatic online lookup of projected reference systems, a new preset for sequential walkthrough/video streams, CSV export for camera statistics and reprojection data, and clarified terminology and reporting for Ground Control Points and Check Points.
Along with updated ffmpeg libraries, high-DPI layout fixes, and many other quality-of-life tweaks throughout the interface, Zephyr 9.0 is yet again the best release to date!
Check out the new major features in the video below or find the full changelog slightly further down!
3DF Zephyr 9.000 changelog
Major features and updates
Gaussian Splatting: Added Gaussian Splatting generation directly integrated in Zephyr
Improved photoconsistency speed: Photoconsistency has been sped up when dealing with a big number of points
Satellite data tiles: Added support for satellite and hybrid maps data inside the Zephyr render
New camera controller: Added a new tripod-style camera controller (similar to the one in Scarlet) to make defining control points and drawing elements on bubble view images easier
Uniform selection tools: Selection tools have been unified: every subtool (By Hand, Plane, Color, Points, Triangles) now exposes a consistent target selector to operate on all visible objects or on specific ones
Volume of interest selection: Volume of interest selection is now available across all selection subtools (Plane, RGB, By Triangle, By Points, etc.)
Meshes in point filtering tool: The point filtering tool now also accepts meshes as input
New grid object: New antialiased grid object on viewport
ESRI tiled mesh export: Added export option for ESRI i3s tiled mesh format
Custom reference system on export: Added the option to convert to a custom reference system on export for every kind of object: cameras/sparse point cloud, dense point cloud, meshes, textured meshes, and orthophotos
Minor bug fixes and updates
Video Stream preset: Added a new preset for sequential walkthrough / video streams
Pseudo Mercator support: Added support for pseudo mercator reference systems
Reference system online getter: Search and download new projected reference system automatically
Gaussian Splatting export: Added support for exporting Gaussian Splatting objects, and merge workspace now correctly includes Gaussian Splatting objects
Fixed crash on merging unstructured dense clouds: Merging two unstructured dense clouds no longer produces an invalid structured cloud that crashes subsequent operations like orthophoto generation
PLY loader fixed: Fixed regression where some valid PLY files were skipped on load
STL import with non-Latin filenames: Fixed charset issue preventing STL files with Japanese (and other non-Latin) characters in their filename from being imported
Laser scan color toggle fixed: Fixed a bug where laser scans remained stuck on uniform colors after toggling the option off in mixed projects
Circular markers detection fixed: Fixed circular marker detection: the “number of markers” parameter is now correctly honored
Pivot camera controller in Ground Extraction: Fixed pivot camera controller behavior inside the Ground Extraction Filter dialog
Masquerade for orthophoto-to-mesh segmentation: The orthophoto tool can now open Masquerade in a special mode to mask and cut meshes directly from an orthophoto
AI training preparation tools: Added batch processing dialogs to prepare .zep files for AI masking and AI classification training pipelines
Select by plane dialog fixed: Fixed selection not working in the SelectByPlane dialog
Quad buffer picking fixed: Fixed offset 3D picking when using quad buffer stereo devices
High DPI / scaling fixes: Fixed several layout issues with specific resolution and scaling configurations: new project cutting phase buttons, fixed size behavior, and the camera calibration tool now displays correctly at full screen
Path saves: Zephyr now correctly recognizes the folder of the currently open project when using save dialogs
Save As disabled on empty workspace: Save As is now correctly disabled at startup when the workspace is empty
OBJ texture loading fix: Fixed loading of OBJ files exported from other software when the texture filename contains spaces
Image undistortion consistency: Fixed an inconsistency between FlowSaM image undistortion and the box resizer scale factor calculation
GSD as orthophoto property: The GSD used during orthophoto generation is now exposed as a property of the orthophoto object
CSV export of camera stats: The Camera Stats dialog now supports CSV export
Camera Visible Points CSV export: The “Camera Visible Points and Mean Reprojection Error” section of the PDF report can now also be exported as CSV, useful for forensics workflows
Polyline area in properties: Added surface area information to the polyline properties section
Non dataset-dependent multicamera settings: The multicamera wizard now supports saving and loading camera constraints independently of the dataset, so the same XML can be reused across different projects
Improvements to input options dialog: The input section in the options dialog has been improved: hotkey collisions are now reported with the conflicting key shown, message colors have been revised, and a search/filter field has been added
Updated Constraints / Check points terminology: Reviewed and clarified the terminology, accuracy and weight handling for Ground Control Points and Check Points across dialogs, advanced settings and the PDF report; report figures and tables now clearly separate GCP from ChP statistics
Coordinate header labels: Reviewed and made consistent the header strings for coordinate fields when working with geographic coordinate systems (Latitude, Longitude, Altitude/Ellipsoid height)
FPS overlay: Added an optional FPS overlay (off by default)
Network drive warning: Added a warning when saving projects or using image datasets stored on a network drive
Updated ffmpeg libraries: ffmpeg libraries have been updated, expanding video format support, including HEIF video files
Labeled slider update: General improvements to the labeled slider widget used across dialogs
Advanced settings: General improvements and reorganisation of the advanced settings panels
Grid startup effect: Added a cool grid effect on startup
Brand new bugs: Ad maiora semper!
