
  Release Notes Amira 2.2
  August, 2000


-----------------------
Introduction
-----------------------


  This document describes changes and improvements in version 2.2 of
  the Visualization and 3D Reconstruction System Amira.
 
  The most noticeable change in Amira 2.2 is the availability of a
  development option. This option allows the user to extend the
  functionality of Amira by adding new modules, data objects, or read
  and write routines.


-----------------------
Supported platforms
-----------------------
  

  - Microsoft Windows 95/98, NT4 Service Pack 4 or higher, 2000
  - HP-UX 10.20 with OpenGL support
  - SGI Irix 6.5.x (all SGI graphics cards)
  - SUN Solaris 2.7 (Creator, Elite, or Expert graphics)
  - Linux with OpenGL support (RedHat 6.2, Suse 6.3, or higher)

  Details about Software and Hardware configuration are given 
  in the section "System Requirements" of the User's Guide included
  in this distribution and also available at http://www.amiravis.com.

  In order to add custom extensions to Amira also a C++ compiler
  is required. Details about the supported compilers and compiler
  versions can be found in the section "System Requirements" of the
  Programmer's Guide included in the Amira developer version.


-----------------------
Changes since Amira 2.1
-----------------------

* New button in viewer window to rotate around view direction.

* Improved focus behavior for text fields.

* Support for volume rendering with 3D textures under Windows (will only
  work on systems where the OpenGL driver supports OpenGL 1.2 or the 3D
  texture extension of OpenGL 1.1)

* Support for the Mitsubishi VolumePro board (Windows)

* Support for ZEISS LSM file format

* Improved DICOM import, more import options can be interactively adjusted

* Import 3D image with variable slice distance from an arbitrary set of 2D
  image files (image files and corresponding z-positions have to be listed
  in a text file).

* Support of color fields in ProjectionView (multi-channel data).

* New data type for representing point data with associated data values.
  Modules for visualizing and combining such data (cluster extension).

* LineProbe can be attached to any 3D data object now to measure lengths.

* Bug fixes

