Improved "Final Photorealistic" renderer
The Final Photorealistic renderer which was introduced in KitchenDraw 6.0 has been improved. It is now two times faster and produces more realistic images.

"Handmade" drawings
In addition to "photo like" images the new Final Photorealistic renderer can produce images that look like drawings made by hand (see images in the gallery).

New dialog box for scene lighting
The photorealistic image quality depends greatly on the scene lighting. However, placing and properly adjusting the light sources in a scene can be a long and complicated task.
To facilitate this process, KitchenDraw 6.5 gets a new dialog box that collects all the settings related to standard light sources which can be natural light (sky and sun lights) or artificial lights (automatic lamps).

In "Real-time photorealistic perspective" mode, changes in this dialog box are immediately reflected in the view; thereby achieve the desired lighting very quickly.

Heliodon
It is possible to perform a simulation of the real sunshine of a scene by placing a "Wind Rose" system object ("Place | Wind Rose" command) which specifies the orientation of the scene and by indicating the position of the scene on the earth (longitude and latitude) and the date and time desired for the simulation.
This simulation is available in both "Real-time photorealistic Perpective " and "Final photorealistic Perpsective" modes.

New real-time OpenGL renderer
KitchenDraw 6.5 introduces a new real-time rendering engine based upon OpenGL, which greatly improves the quality of real-time view.

Thus, the "Real-time photorealistic Perspective" view mode gets close to "photo" quality while allowing to walk through the scene in real time.

Both "Hidden faces drawing Perpective " and "Realistic drawing Perpsective" modes also benefit from this new engine.

Import of 3D objects made with SketchUp software
SketchUp is a powerful yet very easy to use 3D architecture and modeling software. It also has the advantage of being free.
KitchenDraw 6.5 can import SketchUp models (.SKP files) thanks to its "File | Import | 3D File (.SKP, .3DS, .DXF, .ALK)" command. Then, a dialog box shows up to let you set up the size of the imported object and give it some attributes (reference, price, etc.). In this dialog box it is also possible to change the object default colors.

SketchUp models can also be imported into KitchenDraw catalogs.

Access to the "3D warehouse" object database
The "3D warehouse" is a huge 3D objects library available for free on the Internet. A search engine allows you to find the desired object among hundreds of thousands of objects.
The "3D Warehouse" contains many famous monuments as well as everyday objects. Considering the huge number of objects it's likely that you will find everything you want.

The KitchenDraw 6.5 "Place | 3D Warehouse object" opens a web browser at the library home page. You just have to find the desired object and click on the download button to get it automatically in the current scene. Just before appearing in the scene a dialog box lets you set up the object size, assign attributes (reference, price, etc.) and change its default colors.

Secondary Window
In addition to the main window, KitchenDraw 6.5 lets you open a second window always showing a perspective view of the current scene. You will be able to work in top view or elevation while seeing the scene being built in perspective.

If you have two monitors connected to your graphics card you can get the main window on one screen and the secondary window on the other one. Eventually, the screen displaying the secondary window (always a perspective) can be turned to the clients.

Compatibility with the AppliCats
AppliCats are 3D configurators for complex and/or on measure objects. They are stored into KitchenDraw catalogs.
When they take advantage of AppliCats, catalogs become simpler to use and much more flexible.

With KitchenDraw 6.5 AppliCats enter the "@CONSTRAINTS" standard catalog. They will progressively be generalized to most catalogs.

Transfer and automatic backup of scenes
Used in conjunction with a free DropBox account, KitchenDraw 6.5 can save your scenes "in the cloud" seamlessly and free of charge.

In addition, this feature also allows you to automatically transfer scenes between two accounts (for example one account at work and one at home) or centralize on one account scenes that have been created in different places.

Emails direct sending
Sending scenes and purchase orders by email can now be done in two ways:

• either via your email software using MAPI (as in previous KitchenDraw versions),
• either directly by specifying an SMTP server.

The choice between these two methods is done in the "Settup | Send by email" dialog box.

New SDK functions
The KitchenDraw 6.5 SDK includes many additional features:

• functions to manage suppliers and associated catalogs,
• functions to manage sites and their users,
• functions to manage text documents (to create your own document generation plugin),
• miscellaneous functions like GetCurUserIdent (please refer to the KitchenDraw SDK documentation for more information).

JavaScript or VBScript embedded catalog functions
It is now possible to develop SDK based KitchenDraw plugin functions in JavaScript or VBScript. No need for an external development platform like Visual Studio, Delphi, WinDev or others to produce an ActiveX Dll. A simple text editor is enough.

In addition, it is possible to integrate functions written in JavaScript or VBScript directly into catalogs and execute them when an event occurs on an object in the scene from this catalog (place, delete, modify, etc.. ). Events and their associated functions are specified in the block script.

For more information please refer to the KitchenDraw 6.5 SDK documentation (in French for the moment):
KitchenDraw SDK Documentation.

Dynamic CNC programs
With catalogs designed for this purpose, KitchenDraw 6.5 is able to generate a .PRJ project file from the current scene. This .PRJ file lists all the items (cabinets) in the scene and for each of them lists all the panels to be produced and the machining lists that are necessary to produce them. A machining list refers to the basic CNC programs that are needed to produce the elementary panel. Basic CNC programs are developed with specialized CAM software such as Homag WoodWop (.MPR files). KitchenDraw 6.5 builds the machining list of each panel dynamically depending on the location of items in the scene. For example, placing a drawer in a carcass will change the machining list of the carcass sides by adding the drawer slider basic CNC program to the carcass side panels machining lists.
Then, the .PRJ file exported from Kitchendraw must be processed by a software like ProjectManager from Homag to generate the final CNC programs that are suited to produce the individual panels.

Interface with iMos production software
KitchenDraw 6.5 can generate the XML file that the iMos production software can use to produce the cabinets. Please contact us for more information.

Various improvements
Interesting improvements but less important were also incorporated. The most important are:

• Possibility to change up to eight colors in the "Object | Attributs" dialog box (instead of the previous two),
• Possibility to change the texture coefficients (brillance, réflexion, transparence, etc.) of the eight colors in the "Object | Attributs" dialog box,
• More reliable object selection operations in perspective modes,
• Dynamic rotation of the observer in perspective modes (press the right mouse button and move the mouse),
• New standard textures catalog (@TX_STD.CAT) incorporating more textures and textures suited to the new renderers.
• etc.

Furthermore, the www.kitchendraw.com web site has been redevelopped.

Finally, a Google+ page has been created so that you can get information about optimizing the use of KitchenDraw as well as let us know your opinion and wishes.

You are welcome to follow us on