3.2.0 Release

[mwestphal]

Before release:

• Force fetch origin remote tag with git fetch origin --tags --force
• Write and format release notes from the pull requests since last release, including contributors and packagers

Release Split :

• Create, review and merge a MR from master branch into release: release...master

Release Candidates :

• Commit, review and merge a v3.2.0-RC2 version change in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d CMakeLists.txt and pyproject.toml in the release branch
• Tag and push to https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d: git tag v3.2.0-RC2 -m v3.2.0-RC2
• Trigger a release build using https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-superbuild actions with v3.2.0-RC2 F3D version, superbuild main branch and prerelease publish true
• Download the prerelease from https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d/releases
• Locally test the prerelease on Linux
• Locally test the prerelease on macOS (Intel)
• Locally test the prerelease on macOS (Silicon)
• Locally test the prerelease on Windows
• Locally test the python wheels on Linux
• Locally test the python wheels on macOS (Silicon)
• Locally test the python wheels on Windows
• If it fails,
  • Fix the issues in release branch,
  • Edit this issuethis paragraph and increment N
  • Merge F3D release into master: master...release
• Else proceed to the next part

Release :

• Commit, review and merge v3.2.0 version change in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d CMakeLists.txt, pyproject.toml, webassembly/package.json and the multiple doxygen\conf.py in the release branch
• Tag v3.2.0 and push it to https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d: git tag v3.2.0 -m v3.2.0
• Commit, review and merge adding 3.2.0 in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-superbuild versions.cmake in the main branch
• Tag v3.2.0 and push it to https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-superbuild: git tag v3.2.0 -m v3.2.0
• Merge F3D release into master: master...release
• Trigger a release build using https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d-superbuild actions with v3.2.0 F3D version, v3.2.0 sb version and prerelease publish true
• Finalize release note and add them to the release
• Release
• Update download links and changelog in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d doc
• Communicate on discord
• Communicate on reddit
• Communicate on hackernews
• Communicate on linkedin
• Communicate on mastodon
• Communicate on bluesky
• Move all issue from current milestone to next milestone, close current roadmap issue and open a next roadmap issue
• Update doc/dev/ROADMAPS_AND_RELEASES.md for next release
• Create an issue for updating dependencies in CI and superbuild
• Update .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/new_release.md in https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d if needed

Linux testing protocol:

• Install F3D-3.2.0-RC2-Linux-x86_64-raytracing system wide
• f3d testing/data/cow.vtp -> check render, orientation, press R and check raytracing
• f3d testing/data/f3d.stp -> check render, orientation
• f3d testing/data/f3d.glb -> press "Space", check animation is going smoothly and takes 4 seconds
• f3d /path/to/any/new/file.format -> check render
• rm -rf ~/.cache/thumbnails
• pcmanfm (or another supported file manager)
• Check that all supported files in testing/data have a generated thumbnails, especially for new file formats if any
• Double click on supported file in testing/data, especially for new file formats if any and check it opens in F3D
• Drag&Drop cow.vtp, Drag&Drop palermo_park.hdr, check render
• Check that CTRL+O (file dialog) is working
• Press "Esc" and check the following commands reload_current_file_group, set_camera top, toggle_volume_rendering, exit
• cd examples/libf3d && mkdir build && cd build && cmake ../ && make
• ./cpp/check-engine/check-engine
• ./cpp/render-interact/render-interact ../../../testing/data/cow.vtp

macOS testing protocol:

• Install F3D-3.2.0-RC2-macOS-x86_64-raytracing.dmg
• Double click on cow.vtp, check render and orientation, press R and check raytracing
• Double click on f3d.stp, check render and orientation
• Double click on f3d.glb, press "Space", check animation is going smoothly and takes 4 seconds
• Double click on any new supported file.format, check render
• Check all supported file in testing/data directory in finder have the f3d mark, if not, check that "open with" suggest F3D
• Drag&Drop cow.vtp, Drag&Drop palermo_park.hdr, check render
• Check that CTRL+O (file dialog) is working
• Press "Esc" and check the following commands reload_current_file_group, set_camera top, toggle_volume_rendering, exit

Windows testing protocol:

• Install F3D-3.2.0-RC2-Windows-x86_64-raytracing.exe, add F3D to path for all users
• Start -> Disk Cleanup -> select thumbnails -> Ok -> Delete Files
• Open testing/data directory in file manager
• Wait for thumbnails to be generated
• Check that every supported file has a generated thumbnails, except .tif.
• Check that every supported file has a small "f3d" mark, for those that don't check that "Open with" -> "Use another app" suggest F3D.
• Double click on cow.vtp, check render and orientation, press R and check raytracing
• Double click on f3d.stp, check render and orientation
• Double click on f3d.glb, press "Space", check animation is going smoothly and takes 4 seconds
• Double click on any new supported file format, check render
• Check that CTRL+O (file dialog) is working
• run f3d-console --version in a Windows command line and check it output the version
• Press "Esc" and check the following commands reload_current_file_group, set_camera top, toggle_volume_rendering, exit
• cd examples\libf3d && mkdir build && cd build && cmake ../ && cmake --build . --config Release
• .\cpp\check-engine\Release\check-engine
• .\cpp\render-interact\Release\render-interact ..\..\..\testing\data\cow.vtp

Python testing protocol:

• Use a venv or make sure f3d is not installed in your python environment
• pip install f3d==3.2.0-RC2
• python

import f3d
eng = f3d.Engine.create()
eng.scene.add("/path/to/cow.vtp")
eng.window.render() # No effect on Windows
eng.interactor.start()

• Check the following
  • The name of the window is f3d at all time
  • Python provides suggestions whenever the "Tab" key is pressed

Once a release cycle:

• Check that completions are still working with fish and zsh when tab is pressed
• Check that F3D is added for extensions on a fresh Windows installation

[mwestphal]

3.2.0 Release

f3d-turntable-800x600@30fps-10s.mp4

🗣 Join our community:

F3D Community is welcoming to users and developers alike!
Ask questions, gets involved and starts contributing in a beginner-friendly environment.

❤️ Sponsor F3D:

F3D is looking for sponsors!
We have some expenses mainly related to github and web hosting bills, any help to cover the cost would be highly appreciated.
To thank you, we'll offer preferential support and vote on next feature and bugfix as soon as you start sponsoring.

Much love to our sponsors for this release ❤️
@jgod @exbluesbreaker @parkerlreed @Saijin-Naib @CriticalPoint @Ramalama2

🖼️ Gaussian Splatting improvements

We have improved gaussian splatting support in F3D!
You can now open .spz and .ply files along with the existing .splat support.
Moreover, these new formats support spherical harmonics for high quality renders.

20250707-2020-02.2914928.mp4

🔬 New scivis formats

Scivis rendering has always been a big part of F3D userbase and we want to make sure we keep improving on that regard!
You can now open VTKHDF (.vtkhdf) and NetCDF (.nc) in F3D.
Also you can now open .usd file with embedded EXR textures.

blob.mp4

🕶️ New UI style

In F3D 3.0 we have introduced a new UI based on ImGui, we now have styled it using the new color palette of F3D!

simplescreenrecorder-2025-07-07_07.43.14.mp4

📝 Complete changelog

For F3D users:

• Added support for VTKHDF format, including AMR datasets (Thanks @Lgt2x !)
• Added support for SPZ and PLY gaussian splatting format
• Added a --base-ior option to control index of refraction (thanks @exbluesbreaker !)
• Added a --multi-file-mode=dir option mode to create file groups based on the folder organization (thanks @snoyer !)
• Added spherical harmonics support for gaussian splatting (SPZ and PLY)
• Added a QuakeMDL reader option: -DQuakeMDL.skin_index to select skin to load (thanks @19jrushlow !)
• Added support for reading EXR texture in USD format
• Added support for selection multiple animations using --animation-indices=1,2,3
• Added a --colormap-discretization option to control scalar rendering discretization (Thanks @hant-hub !)
• Added glob support to configuration file (Thanks @skusel !)
• Added a --textures-transform option to set a transform on textures (thanks @samoncrief !)
• Added listing of more exodus extensions .e, .g and .exo
• Added a minimal console, open by pressing : (Thanks @dh-you !)
• Added increase_opacity and decrease_opacity commands and bindings (Ctrl+P and Shift+P) (Thanks @19jrushlow !)
• Added a --force-reader option to select the reader to use, even with the wrong extension (Thanks @0xfedcafe !)
• Added a binding to switch verbose level by pressing Shift+V (Thanks @prathikkaranth !)
• Added netcdf format support (Thanks @vk1cd314 !)
• Added elevation_camera and azimuth_camera commands (Thanks @Medyan-Naser !)
• Added a elevation_camera binding (2 and 8) (Thanks @Medyan-Naser !)
• Improved documentation (Thanks @prathikkaranth @19jrushlow @upadhyayaniket29 @saishreyakumar @Yogesh9000 !)
• Improved logging (Thanks @snoyer !)
• Improved camera management on special locations like looking straight down (thanks @snoyer !)
• Changed UI style to fit with new F3D design
• Fixed multiple issues with coloring while skinning or morphing (thanks for the prototype @exbluesbreaker !)
• Fixed an issue with normals in the QuakeMDL importer
• Fixed a wobbling issue when rotating the camera (thanks @snoyer !)
• Fixed an issue where --verbose=quiet was not respected
• Fixed multiple UI issues (thanks @exbluesbreaker !)
• Fixed an infamous crash on Windows when username has a special character in it
• Fixed an issue where configuration file loading order was not respected
• Fixed an issue where optional option were not kept when changing file group
• Fixed a crash when using Ctrl+O but then selecting no files (Thanks @0xfedcafe !)
• Fixed an issue with colinear camera and Up vector (Thanks @skusel !)
• Deprecated --animation-index option

For libf3d users:

• Added scene.animation.indices to select multiple animations
• Added model.material.base_ior to control index of refraction (thanks @exbluesbreaker !)
• Added model.scivis.discretization to control scalar rendering discretization (Thanks @hant-hub !)
• Added model.textures_transform to set a transform on textures (thanks @samoncrief !)
• Added scene.force_reader to force a specific reader to be used (Thanks @0xfedcafe !)
• Added streaming support to Splat reader (not exposed yet) (Thanks @Medyan-Naser !)
• Improved camera API and default values (thanks @snoyer !)
• Improved python stubs (Thanks @snoyer !)
• Fixed help(f3d) (Thanks @carsonRadtke !)
• Deprecated scene.animation.index option

For F3D packagers:

• Fixed a missing include in vtkF3DQuakeMDLImporter (Thanks @pbsds !)
• Fixed a configuration against assimp 6.0
• Removed f3d_PREFIX_DIR and rely on PACKAGE_PREFIX_DIR instead
• Renamed F3D_PLUGIN_BUILD_EXODUS into F3D_PLUGIN_BUILD_HDF
• Added a few new VTK module dependencies

For F3D plugin developpers:

Many thanks to our returning contributors, they are the life of this community!
@Lgt2x @exbluesbreaker @snoyer @19jrushlow @samoncrief @0xfedcafe @skusel

Thanks to our contributors for this release!
@hant-hub @dh-you @prathikkaranth @vk1cd314 @Medyan-Naser @upadhyayaniket29 @saishreyakumar @Yogesh9000 @carsonRadtke @pbsds

Thanks to our packagers that help F3D reach a wider audience!
AndnoVember @kylosus @kevinsmia1939 @yurivict @bcdarwin @svenstaro @mzf-guest @papoteur-mga @berolinux @topazus @thierry-FreeBSD @xiota @alerque @chenrui333 daviddavid @kazzarin @StarsbySea @cho-m @adisbladis @Aleksanaa @pbsds @DimStar77 @AngryPenguinPL @strophy @SokolovValy @xiota @UnownPlain

Credits

TODO

[mwestphal]

3.2.0-RC1 testing results:

ply + gaussian splatting + HDRI -> artifacts
invalid file + CtrlO -> crash

Linux tested.
Windows tested.
Linux wheel tested.
Windows wheel tested.
macOS arm tested.

[xiota]

Trying to build on Arch Linux with F3D_PLUGIN_BUILD_USD=ON requires extra/cuda, which is a 2GB package. I can't find the reason. Is this an Arch-specific packaging issue?

ninja: error: '/opt/cuda/lib64/libcudart_static.a', needed by 'lib/libf3d.so.3.2', missing and no known rule to make it

[Meakk]

CUDA dependency has been added here: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/packaging/packages/usd/-/commit/90d6cd4b27cf25df5eca710fe2cdef451dfcb9c1
It's a make-only dependency though, so I don't know why there's a link to the CUDA RT lib here.

[alerque]

I huge dependency at build time is not a problem for ARCH packages. @xiota If you include Cuda at build time, does it have any issue without it at runtime? What does find-pkgdeps your_built_package_file.pkg.zst show ... anything Cuda related in there?

[mwestphal]

I huge dependency at build time is not a problem for ARCH packages. @xiota If you include Cuda at build time, does it have any issue without it at runtime? What does find-pkgdeps your_built_package_file.pkg.zst show ... anything Cuda related in there?

I confirm that I'm unable to build anything against usd in Arch currently, F3D or otherwise, as it require cudart somehow:

*** No rule to make target '/opt/cuda/lib64/libcudart_static.a', needed by 'bin/VTKExtensionsPluginUSD'. Stop

[alerque]

I don't know what your issue is, but I can confirm that the currently packaged version of f3d does rebuild against the currently packaged version of usd. Are you doing this on your host system or in a clear chroot using the arch build tools?

It sounds like we're derailing this discussion and you might just have some local system mixup. Can you please open an issue from the Arch package page (see "Add New Bug") with whatever details you have about not being able to rebuild the f3d package. We can go about figuring out what is up with USD and/or Cuda from there.

[mwestphal]

3.2.0-RC2 testing:

Linux validated.
Linux wheel validated.
Unmutable Windows extension validated.
macos x86_64 validated
macos arm validated
macos arm wheel validated
Windows validated
Windows wheel validated
fish/zsh validated

[xiota]

Thank you everyone for responses and additional info about usd and cuda.

I was testing aur/f3d-git after receiving notification of upcoming release. Program seems to run okay without cuda at runtime, but did not test extensively. Was mainly checking whether cuda makedep is Arch specific, since cmake didn't request it during config.

[mwestphal]

Release done!