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Alias 2025.1 Update Release Notes

November 7, 2024

This release of Alias addresses many customer-reported crashes and issues, and includes UI updates and improvements to existing features.

New Features and Enhancements

Fixed Issues

Known Issues


New Features and Enhancements

For new features and enhancements in this release, see What's New in Alias 2025.



Fixed Issues

Install and Licensing
Fixed an issue that caused working offline with a USER ID License to work for Alias 2024 but fail for Alias 2023. ALS-26974
Alias Surface: Resolved an installation issue associated with FCheck. ALS-28393
Alias Surface: The amount of disk space required for Alias installations has been reduced. ALS-28161


General
Alias no longer crashes when you attempt to import the ConstructionPresets.json using User Preferences > Import and Merge. This is an invalid workflow. To transfer Construction Presets, see Set up site-wide construction presets. ALS-28004
Maximizing and minimizing windows using the menu or hotkey now works as expected and no longer affects the active window. ALS-27905
Fixed an issue that allowed the Subdivisions value in the Preset Grid Options to be set to 0, either by entering the number or by using the slider control. A value of 0 is invalid and should not have been allowed in previous versions of Alias. ALS-27902
Login names are no longer displayed in Alias. ALS-27400
Turning on Activate Layer Name On Create in the Layer Preferences now automatically names new layers and layer folders as expected. ALS-23000
Windows 10 and 11: When Automatically Hide Taskbar is on, the task bar now appears as expected when hovering over bottom of the Alias window. ALS-25624
Hotkeys assigned to plug-ins are now preserved between Alias sessions as expected. ALS-27081
Resolved ViewCube performance issues. ALS-27994
Non-proportional view no longer resets after changing the window size or executing a copy-and-paste. ALS-27656
Fixed an issue that caused Annotation locator text to be unreadable when printed (File > Print). ALS-27997
Grid labels now appear when printing (File > Print). ALS-28109
When Non-Proportional Scale View is on, copying-and-pasting objects no longer toggles the view mode back to normal view. ALS-28575
When attempting to save a file with a name that exceeds the maximum number of characters, an error message now displays to specifically indicate that the long file name is the reason for the error. ALS-28453
Fixed a crash associated with a custom profile and activating a hotkey while in full-screen mode. ALS-27933
The Titlebar Transparency preference now works as expected. ALS-25770
Fixed an issue that caused the screen to temporarily display black during copy and paste operations in certain situations. ALS-11732
FCheck has been removed from all versions of Alias. ALS-28393
Resolved two issues associated with naming stages in the Stage Editor. Stage names are no longer automatically incremented if you rename a stage using the same name as a previously deleted stage. When saving a stage, the stage name is used as the file name. ALS-25679
Fixed an issue that caused the file browser windows for File > Open and File > Save operations to always open in the main monitor. Now, the file browser window opens in the same location as the previous File > Open or File > Save operation, such as in a secondary monitor. ALS-23927
Fixed an issue that caused the Controls On and Controls Off options in the marking menu to have no effect while the Display Control window is open. ALS-28684
Fixed an issue that caused the Move tool (LMB, MMB, RMB) and Grid Snapping to stop working after importing a Preference Profile. ALS-28346, ALS-29188
Fixed an issue caused the visibility state of the Grid to change when switching Workflows. ALS-28861
Fixed an issue related to custom Preference Profiles that caused Alias to crash when started. ALS-28650
Publishing a variant with Image File Type set to PNG With Alpha now always generates a file with a transparent background. The Background Gradient Style setting is now disabled when the viewport contents is exported to a bitmap file. ALS-29137
Fixed an issue that caused Draw Style to revert to Default setting after opening a file. ALS-27222
Object Lister: Repeated scrolling of the object list after opening and closing the lister multiple times no longer affects Alias performance. ALS-27587
Resolved an issue the caused the Align Tool Reset to not work in specific situations. ALS-26191
3Dconnexion SpaceMouse®: Fixed an issue that caused the cursor to change to a four-arrow panning cursor when in an orthographic view with no way of resetting the cursor back to default. ALS-29207
Fixed an issue that caused an "Error in Errlog: Unable to load library 'C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AliasSurface2024.1\bin\libextensions.dll" message to appear in the error log file. ALS-28009


UI
Full Screen mode now hides the Windows taskbar like other programs such as Autodesk VRED. ALS-28365
The hit zones for checkboxes, buttons, and radial buttons are now more accurate so that these controls can longer be modified by mistake. ALS-27770
Draw Styles: Imported References now display with set Line Style as expected. ALS-27900
We've improved the UI to ensure that check mark options can only be toggled by clicking directly inside the check mark box. This should prevent accidental changes to your settings and ensure the tools behave as expected. ALS-27396
Cross sections on reference geometry now draw as expected when the Draw Style for Visual Curves (Cross Sections) Line Width is set to Double ALS-17079.
Messages warning that construction history will be deleted if the command is executed now display with Yes preselected as in previous versions of Alias. This includes commands such as Ungroup and Move. ALS-27866, ALS-27869
The promptline now scrolls automatically when commands are executed as expected. ALS-24732
Missing hotkeys have been restored to the Hotkey Editor. The list of hotkeys is now consistent with Alias 2023.1 Update. ALS-26066
Dragging and dropping a tool palette tab to create a new shelf while the palette is expanded in portrait mode now works as expected. ALS-26289
You can now MMB-drag to reorder tool palette pullouts when they are added to a custom shelf. ALS-20145
Object Lister: Clicking the Fit Window icon now reduces the window size as expected. ALS-27185
You can now navigate the SBD window using Shift + arrow keys as expected. ALS-26601
Construction Options window: The hit zones for buttons no longer extend beyond the button's perimeter. ALS-26747
Floating grouped windows now reopen as a group on a secondary monitor after being closed using a menu item. ALS-26802
The layer and layer folder color swatch now displays as expected when the Object Lister is docked to the right-side of the Alias window. ALS-27431
Custom Puck: The amount of screen space occupied by the puck's hit zones has been reduced. For example, objects can now be placed, selected, and manipulated around the puck's perimeter. ALS-27192
Docked grouped windows: Double-clicking the space beside a tab now expands or collapses the group the same way as doubling-clicking the tab. ALS-26713
The contents of a tool palette or shelf tab no longer remain open after RMB double-clicking the palette or shelf tab. ALS-27477
The default sizes of tool control, option, and editor windows are now better optimized for the contents they display. ALS-24668
Fit Curve tool: Fixed an issue that caused fit curves to be duplicated after the input curve is edited using another tool such as the Stretch tool. ALS-16647
The Control Panel now supports click-and-hold behavior. For example, you can now use click-and-hold when you input values for Degree and Spans. ALS-23744
Fixed an issue that caused inconsistent spacing between shelf icons after Alias is idle for extended periods. ALS-28710
Fixed Go button cropping, position, and sizing issues. ALS-27657
Tooltips now display when you hover over the icons for Current Tool, Tool Locator, Stages, Abs/Rel, input method, and Promptline History. ALS-24515
Floating docked windows can now be hidden by pressing Ctrl + Spacebar. ALS-28118, ALS-28964
Alias Concept: Fixed an issue that caused text in the title bar, such as the file name, to overlap with menu items. ALS-26550
Marking Menu Editor: You can now create pullout groups by dragging tools onto existing Marking Menu items. Add more tools to the pullout by dragging them onto the new group. When creating pullout groups, you must set the Style option to Icon Only. Otherwise, the existing item is replaced with the new tool. ALS-26645
The Layer Bar context menu now supports RMB-click and hold behavior. For example, after RMB-clicking to access the context menu, the menu remains open when you hold the RMB and then drag across other layers. This behavior allows you to quickly assign objects to layer without needing to reopen the context menu. This changes restores Alias to the Alias 2023.1.1 behavior. ALS-25215
Measure Distance locator: Fixed an issue that caused the locator points to remain visible in the Object Lister after the tool became inactive. When the tool is active the locator points are now visible, but they are grayed out and not selectable. ALS-3121
Reference Manager: Selecting None from the layer color picker for a layer now applies an overlay with no color as expected. ALS-27492
You can now single-click the title bar of a docked window to collapse it. ALS-26270
The Layer Bar and Object Lister color pickers now support RMB-click and hold behavior. For example, after RMB-clicking to access the layer color picker, holding the RMB and then dragging across the color palette activates the color for selection. Release the RMB to assign the color. ALS-26537
Tool Palette: When a palette is opened in List View mode, the window now auto-scrolls, when necessary, to display all tools in the palette. ALS-27079
The order of tools in tool groups on custom shelves now persist between sessions as expected. ALS-26286, ALS-24593
Align tool: The Extra CV Row slider control now resets to 0 when no edge is selected, and when two edges are selected, the Extra CV Row slider can no longer move above the Max value. ALS-28115

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Modeling
The Pick option in the Visible Options window (Display > Visible) now works as expected. ALS-27958.
When the Pick Object tool is active, Hide Selected (Display > Hide Selected) no longer makes previously invisible objects visible. ALS-27865
Key Point Curve Arc tool: Fixed an issue that caused the arc end points to move after the Arc value is changed, even though the End Tangents are set to Locked. ALS-27791
The Shell Stitch tool and Export Rapid Prototype now display the same error message when encountering a stitch error with similar geometry. ALS-27786
Fixed a crash associated with certain files created in Alias Learning Edition when the file is loaded with the Layer Bar enabled, or when the Object Lister is opened after the file is loaded. ALS-27732
Place tool: The appropriate in-canvas buttons are now preselected as expected when working with construction planes. ALS-27794
Modifying the keypoint curve attributes of a copied circle in the Information Window no long causes the curve Degree and Spans values to change unexpectedly. ALS-16225
Fixed an issue that caused gaps to display between very small-scale surfaces even when no real gaps existed. ALS-16870
Object Lister: Clicking the Next button now scrolls the Object Lister view to display the selected item. ALS-25656
Curve Section tool: Selecting curves for trimming now works as expected. ALS-26126
Multi-Surface Draft tool: The Modify Range End manipulator now correctly indicates the end of the draft surface. ALS-26260
Fixed an issue that made it difficult to orient Tube Flange Surfaces in certain cases. ALS-27423
Project tool: The Continuity Check option can now be toggled on and off when a projection source is a line. ALS-27329
Reference Manager: Invisible References items (Files, Layers, Objects) can no longer be selected in the Reference Manager, and when they become invisible, they are now unpicked. ALS-27686
Resolved an issue that caused the curvature comb to display incorrectly on some trimmed surfaces. ALS-27349
History Visualizer: When viewing Extrude tool history, the chevrons now display on input and tool nodes as expected. ALS-27047
Project tool: Curves-on-Surfaces now extend as expected. ALS-27162
Cross Section Editor: Updates to the default Steps for X, Y, and Z are now saved to your preference profile and will be used across any file you open. ALS-27498
Fixed an issue that caused canvas images to be deselected if you attempt to manipulate the canvas, for example move or scale it. ALS-27618
Bridge Fillet: History is no longer lost when Trim Type is on and an input surface is updated by Surface Offset. ALS-27348
You can now click and drag references to change their order in Reference Manager. ALS-27434
Fixed an issue that caused the Project tool to create inconsistent COS results when projecting a surface fillet edge in the normal direction. ALS-27346
Stitch and Seam tool: The Seam Offset and Stitch Diameter parameters are no longer coupled, which now makes it possible to place a stitch directly on a curve-on-surface. ALS-27673
Keypoint Curve Arcs: Setting End Tangents to Locked in the Information Window now works as expected. ALS-26994
Fixed an issue that prohibited a Curve to Surface Deviation locator from being added to trimmed surfaces in specific cases. ALS-27345
Object Lister: Fixed an issue that caused grouped geometry to disappear after being assigned to a hidden layer with Layer Symmetry on, and then executing an Undo command. ALS-27690
Stage Editor: Show File Path is now on by default as in previous versions of Alias. ALS-27490
Subdiv Retopo tool: The tool's construction history is no longer retained after the reference mesh is deleted. ALS-27009
Transform CV tool: Fixed an issue that caused the arrow keys to no longer move the transform manipulator after a value is entered into the promptline. ALS-28506
Fixed an issue that caused Alias to crash when using the Align tool with Continuity set to G2 on fillet surfaces in certain situations. ALS-29325
Blend Curve Edit tool: You can now enter values for Sweep Angle in the promptline after clicking the angle adjustment manipulator. ALS-27094
Symmetric Fillet tool: Fixed an issue that caused trimming (Trim Type set to Automatic) to not work as expected. ALS-27531
Align tool: When projecting using the X, Y, or Z Vector Options, the tool now chooses the nearest result. ALS-16890
Fixed an issue that caused the Stitch and Seam tool to fail with COS in some cases. ALS-27671
Keypoint Arc (two point): Entering arc radius values in the promptline no longer generates unexpected results. ALS-27790
Alias Surface: Fixed an issue that caused Alias to become unresponsive when copying and pasting a surface in some instances. ALS-27581, ALS-28511
Stretch Curve tool: The in-canvas Tangent On button is no longer highlighted all the time. The -/+Handles buttons now display when active. ALS-28217
Surface Offset tool: Turning the Create Trim option on and off now works as expected. ALS-28438
The Object Lister now automatically scrolls to new layers or layer folders after they are created. ALS-27805
Blend Curve Edit tool: Blend point manipulators now display as expected in Orthographic views. ALS-28475
Cross Section Editor: Visual cross sections are now hidden on unselected objects when All Objects is turned off. ALS-27616
Category Lister: Selecting a category, then clicking the Isolate icon now display the layers belonging to the category in the layer bar. ALS-28014
You can use MMB drag to reorder references listed in the Reference Manager as expected. ALS-25505
Transform CV tool: When the promptline is set to Abs input, and in Automatic (default) mode, pressing an arrow key now allows you to input values for the tool in the promptline as expected. ALS-27093
Fixed an issue that caused the center point of a construction plane to be incorrectly positioned in certain cases. ALS-27773
Objects selected using the Pick Chooser no longer have brighter highlighting than other objects selected in the scene. ALS-25946
Objects selected in History View are now highlighted yellow in the viewport. This is the same as Alias 2023.1 and previous versions. ALS-24554
Surface Fillet tool: Fixed an issue related to creating a fillet between two revolved surfaces when Construction Type is set to Build Theoretical and Flow Control set to Start/End. ALS-27344
The message in the Delete History confirmation window has been improved and now includes a No option to cancel the action. ALS-16688
Subdiv Thicken tool: Using Undo now only removes the last operation as expected. ALS-26705
Mesh Intersect tool: Fixed an issue that caused poor results when intersecting a surface and mesh in some situations. ALS-16864
Text tool: Pressing Enter now creates a new text string in the viewport as expected. ALS-27922
When using the TransformCV tool to move CVs in PROJ mode, the transformation is now instantaneous and has no delay. ALS-27053
The Deviation Panel and Information Window now display the same values for Min Comb Density as expected. ALS-27509
Curve Curvature tool: Fixed an issue that caused the Modify Range manipulators to be become unusable after adjusting the End manipulator to a value of 0, which causes the Start and End manipulators to overlap. ALS-16126
Skin tool: Fixed an issue that created poor results and uneven CV layouts when creating a skin surface between the two surfaces in certain situations. ALS-28994
Project Tangent tool: You can no longer query edit the results of this tool. Although this tool does not generate editable history, in previous versions of Alias, you could use Query Edit to re-invoke the tool results, which is misleading since the tools settings cannot be changed. ALS-11623
Performing an Undo on a subdivision object after using Symmetry Plane Align followed by Insert Edge now returns the object back to its original shape as expected. ALS-15753
Display > Hide Unselected and Display > Toggle Visibility now works the same with subdivision and NURBS objects. ALS-28860
Round tool: The default option for Unequal Radius Corner is now Single Surface. In previous versions, it was With Setback. ALS-28682
Information Window: After creating a Keypoint Curve ellipse, editing the Minor Axis value no longer sets the Major Axis value instead. ALS-29154
Fixed an issue with some Surface tools, such as the Surface Fillet, Round, and Multi Surface Draft, where confirming an update value entered in the promptline using the Spacebar was not applying the change to the tool as expected. ALS-29067
Fixed an issue that caused gaps to display between very small-scale surfaces although no real gaps exist. ALS-16870
Corner Blend tool: Fixed an issue that caused the input surfaces to be trimmed incorrectly, which resulted in gaps appearing between the trimmed edge and the yielded surface edge. ALS-23714
Tube Flange tool: Creating a tube flange with Layer Symmetry on now works as expected. For example, the symmetric half now appears in the Object Lister and toggling Layer Symmetry on and off now shows and hides the symmetrical half. ALS-26782
Symmetrical Fillet tool: Fixed an issue that caused the resulting fillet to not extend to end of the input surface when the End Flow Control is set to Edge Align. ALS-23862
Fit Curve tool: The Fit Curve Control window now displays when you Query Edit a result that has history. ALS-23925
Surface Fillet tool: When Construction Type is set to Radius, entering a Center Radius value in the promptline now updates the surface fillet as expected. ALS-16686
Stitch And Seam tool: Fixed an issue that caused the tool to incorrectly indicate gaps in the input surfaces. ALS-28576
CV Transform tool: Working with the tool set to PROJ mode while in an orthographic view now works as expected. ALS-27412
Measure Distance tool: The promptline now displays a "Could not place a point for that polygon" message when the picked area is too small to place a measurement point. In this case, zoom in the view, then try picking the area again. ALS-28740
Stitch and Seam tool: Fixed an issue that caused Seam Offset adjustments to have an unexpected effect on the diameter of the stitch. ALS-8643
Fixed an issue that allowed some objects with construction history to be transformed by updating the Transform Info values in the Information Window. ALS-29426
Clean Up tool: Fixed an issue that caused the history of inputs to trimmed geometry to be deleted when Delete Unused Curves on Surface is on. ALS-26617
Reference Manager: References no longer occasionally become visible after toggling off visibility for all references, then pressing Ctrl + Spacebar to hide the editor. ALS-25234
Duplicate > Object: After duplicating an object created by Symmetrical Modeling, construction history is now deleted on the duplicate object as expected. This means that edits to the duplicate object no longer affect the source object. ALS-28841
Align tool: Fixed an issue that caused Alias to crash after selecting a vector in the scene while working in Vector mode with Continuity set to G1 to higher. ALS-29200
Stage Editor: Creating a new stage, changing its Window Source to one without the default windows layout, then clicking the ViewCube that appears no longer causes Alias to crash. Now, the ViewCube no longer appears when a stage is created without the default windows layout. ALS-29010

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Visualization
You can now delete all the lights in the scene using the Delete All option in the Light Lister. Click the Delete All icon in the lister icon bar or select the option from the Light Lister More menu. ALS-27967
You can now save and open custom lights using the new Save Selected As and Import Light options (More menu) ALS-27443.
Curvature Evaluation Diagnostic Shader: The Curvature Color Scale values are now incremented by a value of 0.001, which is the same as Alias 2023.1. ALS-27763
Shaders no longer get unnecessarily duplicated when you merge stages. ALS-26278
Shader Lister: The Pick Objects option accessed using the Pick Objects icon now respects the hidden status of objects as expected. ALS-27972
Fixed an issue that caused Markups and Camera controls to stop working after changing the Camera Clipping Near value to 0.001. ALS-28207
You can now rename a variant as expected by double-clicking it in the Variant Lister. ALS-27441
Fixed an issue that caused Markups in a layer to be deleted when objects on another layer are selected and deleted. ALS-27634
Shader Lister: When Sort by is set to Alphabetical, renamed shaders are now sorted alphabetically in real time as expected. ALS-27125
Box Mode shading: When on, newly created subdivision geometry displays with Box Mode shading as expected. ALS-26914
Canvas Lister: Fixed an issue that caused Alias to become unresponsive after clicking the Missing Source icon in certain instances. ALS-27742
The Shader Settings window now updates as expected after using the Set Visual Surface Orientation tool. ALS-17026
The draw color of mesh objects now changes as expected after changing the layer color. ALS-15967
When switching between environments in the Stage Editor, all the environment parameters, such as Rotation, Ground Plane Height, and Shadow Position now update as expected. ALS-27550
You can now assign a hotkey to the Assign Current Shader command. To do this, open the Hotkey Editor (Preferences > Hotkeys/Menus Editor) and go to Special > Shader Lister Functions > Shader Lister: Assign Current. ALS-28669
Fixed an issue that caused View in Alias VR to crash or hang when reading Alias files with embedded HDR image environments in certain cases. ALS-28903
Fixed an issue that caused the Isophotes diagnostic shader to produce unexpected results on geometry when a construction plane is set. ALS-28991
Texture projections now appear on the object at the expected location when Mapping type is set to Camera. ALS-27954
Fixed an issue that caused the Shading Map Ramp Texture to be unresponsive to changes, and in some cases, caused Alias to crash. ALS-26562
The Shader Lister no longer changes the active shader to the DefaultShader after selecting the Vis 1, Vis 2 or Vis 3 shaders in the Diagnostic Shade panel. ALS-28345
Importing a .prt file with Hardware Shade on no longer causes incorrect shading and coarse faceting. ALS-27580
View in Alias VR: Fixed an issue that caused view orientations to unexpectedly reset when switching variants even though the Orientation setting is off. ALS-28855
Replace Shaders by Name: Layered shaders and switch shaders are now imported and assigned to geometry as expected. Duplicates of shaders are also deleted. ALS-13605
Color Editor: RGB color values entered using the keyboard now update the current color as expected. ALS-27891
Stage Editor: The Environment Source icon now correctly indicates which shader environment is currently being used in the scene. ALS-27549, ALS-28411
Keypoint Rectangle: Fixed an issue that caused the Height value in the Information Window to unexpectedly change when the rectangle is moved. ALS-29408
Fixed an issue that caused shaders promoted by the Reference Manager to become unassigned when the geometry is viewed using View in Alias VR. ALS-27662
Tube Flange tool: The tool now provides more consistent results when Surface Type is set to Multiple Surfaces. ALS-26190
Corner Blend tool: Fixed an issue that caused the result to fail when blending long fillet edges in specific situations. ALS-28589
Transparency now works as expected when PNG image files are imported as canvases. ALS-29254


Performance
Reference Manager: We've improved performance when promoting references to geometry (Reference Manager > Edit > Promote Geometry). ALS-25261
Resolved performance issues related to the Hotkey/Marking Editor. ALS-27038
Resolved ViewCube performance issues. ALS-27994


Data Transfer
FBX Export: The Tessellation option now only exports the mesh. In previous versions, NURBS data was also exported in addition to the mesh. New options have also been added, which let you choose to only export the mesh or NURBS data or export both in the same file. See Data Translation Additions and Improvements (2025.1). ALS-26976
Fixed an issue with JT import that caused unexpected results in specific cases. ALS-28920
CATIA V5 Export: When Export By Layer is on, Alias layer colors are now transferred to the resulting CATIA geometry color as expected. ALS-27362
Alias no longer stops working after importing an EDF file while using the Unigraphics Construction Preset. ALS-28982
Fixed an issue that caused tessellation to be off by a factor of 10 when exporting NURBS to USD. ALS-27607
Fixed an issue with JT import that created incorrectly scaled geometry in specific situations. ALS-28920
FBX Export: Fixed an issue that caused stitched objects to be exported as unstitched individual surfaces rather than stitched. ALS-28538
CATIA V5 Import: Geometry containing small faces now imports correctly with all edges around the small faces intact. ALS-25687


Dynamo
Construction planes are now sent to Dynamo with local coordinates converted to world space coordinates. This fixed an issue that caused construction plane orientation in Dynamo to be incorrect. ALS-28208
Scripts containing Combo Box nodes that include commas in their node name no longer crash Alias when they are loaded into Dynamo Player. ALS-28651
Fixed a crash issue in Alias when using Dynamo Player with Auto Update enabled, and performing Undo (Ctrl+Z) followed by Pick > Nothing.ALS-29521


Alias API
New AlContinuousFunction::updatePrompt() and AlContinuousFunction::getPrompt() methods have been added to the AlFunction class to address this issue. For more information, see Alias API changes (2025.1). ALS-28569


Known Issues

Text tool: In Alias versions before 2024, you could use the promptline to enter text for the Text tool. Now, you must type the text directly in the viewport.

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