Cortex Studio 4 - ROAN

Changelog

All notable changes to Cortex Studio are documented here.

---

[4.0.0] - 2026-07-02 — ROAN

Named after the Roan Mountains / Roan Highlands on the Tennessee–North Carolina border.

Added

• Vehicle Slot Colors - Per-slot color controls for primary, secondary, accent, and glass materials; paint each region of the vehicle independently instead of one flat body color. Available in Livery and All Textures modes
• CLMESH binary cache - New .clmesh binary mesh format replaces the old JSON pipeline between the CodeWalker bridge and the viewer; smaller payloads, faster loads, and proper multi-UV channel support (UV2/UV3/UV4)
• Skeleton parsing - YFT parser now reads skeleton/bone data, enabling correct skinning setup for models that rely on bone transforms
• Interactive Light Dome - Drag-to-position hemisphere lighting control that adjusts both azimuth (0–360°) and elevation (0–90°) simultaneously from a single interactive SVG widget
• Preview watermarks - Configurable text watermarks automatically stamped on preview captures; customize font family, font size, text color, opacity, position (corner/center/tiled), and rotation from Settings
• Context menus - Right-click context menus throughout the UI with custom Cortex Studio styling and portal position guarding
• TIFF texture support - Native TIFF decoding via UTIF for texture loading
• AVIF texture support - AVIF added to supported texture formats
• Console log buffer - Captures console output for optional inclusion in bug reports
• Workspace save-fail toast - When localStorage runs out of space, a clear toast is shown instead of a silent failure

Changed

• YFT parsing pipeline - Replaced JSON mesh output with .clmesh binary cache plus manifest.json; cache key bumped to parse_yft_v5
• File-open argument handling - Full percent-decoding of file:// URIs (not just %20) and resilient mutex access for pending open-file state
• CodeWalker bridge discovery - Consolidated candidate search with publish output paths and on-demand source build fallback
• PDN decoding pipeline - Paint.NET files now decode via dedicated Web Worker with Tauri native fallback for improved reliability and performance
• Texture loading pipeline - Custom DDS parser with DXT1/DXT3/DXT5, BC4 (ATI1), BC5 (ATI2), BC7, and uncompressed format support (A8R8G8B8/A8B8G8R8/X8R8G8B8/A1R5G5B5/A8/L8) tried before Three.js DDSLoader fallback; signature-based format detection for DDS, PSD, PDN, and AI files; matches CodeWalker's TextureFormat enum
• Multi-angle preview capture - Preview capture enhanced with selectable camera angles (Front, Back, Side, 3/4, Top), adjustable zoom factor, and progress indicator
• Camera framing - Improved bounds-computation and auto-framing with persistent camera state across model swaps and preset switches

Fixed

• YTD staging - Surface copy errors instead of silently ignoring failed YTD staging during conversion
• Poisoned mutex recovery - Pending open-file state recovers from poisoned locks instead of panicking
• Camera preset bugs - Fixed camera presets causing world tilt on 3/4 view followed by manual camera movement

Full Changelog: v3.8.1...v4.0.0

v3.8.1

---

Full Changelog: v3.8.0...v3.8.1

[3.8.1] - 2026-04-06

Fixed

• Fixed camera bugs

---

v3.8.0

1775065261834.compressed.mp4

Full Changelog: v3.7.0...v3.8.0

[3.8.0] - 2026-03-31

Added

• Model shadows - Added shadow rendering for improved depth perception on models
• Missing set file warning - Added warning when users don't have a set file configured for capturing previews
• Template Generator manual marker selection - Pick individual markers with Alt/Ctrl/Shift + click in "Marker Edit Mode"—selections stay staged until you confirm

Changed

• PDN support improved - Enhanced Paint.NET file handling and compatibility
• Template Generator marker behavior - Only explicitly selected markers are painted in the generated PSD; removed "Regenerate Behavior" setting from marker interaction controls

Fixed

• UI fixes - Various UI improvements and polish
• Camera preset bug - Fixed camera presets causing the world to tilt down when selecting 3/4 view and then moving the camera manually

Cortex Studio 3.7.0 Release

Full Changelog: v3.5.0...v3.7.0

[3.7.0] - 2026-03-08

Added

• Template Generator (beta) - Dedicated workspace for auto-generating layered .psd templates from .yft models with live preview, workspace persistence, and beta badging across the app
• Flexible template exports - Save generated templates as .psd, .png, or both, remember output folders, and open export folders directly from Cortex
• Template diagnostics & reporting - Template map JSON download, world-space-normal and wireframe diagnostics, and telemetry reporting for failed generations
• Cage wireframe overlay - Optional cage-style mesh overlay for model inspection in the viewer
• Recents/workspace upgrades - Pinned projects, search, sorting, richer recents grouping, and Template Generator as a first-class launch target

Changed

• Cortex Software palette alignment - Reworked the desktop UI around the main website brand system with Paper Base, Stone, Card Off-White, Soft Black, Warm Clay, and Danger Red tokens plus updated typography
• Light/dark brand theming - Added branded light-mode defaults, dark-mode token overrides, and a native dark mode toggle in Settings
• Shell and branding refresh - Updated shell chrome, titlebar, release notes surfaces, select menus, and app icon/logo to match the new Cortex branding
• Viewer control polish - Reorganized viewer panels, refreshed light/material controls, and restored the Exterior Only workflow
• Packaging & release metadata - Updated app metadata for 3.7.0, refreshed Tauri branding/package config, and restored linked release notes in the release workflow

Performance

• Background template builds - Template generation can run in a dedicated Web Worker to keep the UI responsive during PSD builds
• Template extraction pipeline - Improved mesh extraction, UV shell mapping, spatial color generation, and preview generation for better throughput on complex models
• Texture application path - Smarter UV selection and wrapping reduce unnecessary remaps during livery application

Fixed

• Exterior Only visibility - Better hiding behavior for interior, glass, wheels, and window-target edge cases
• Model compatibility - Hardened YFT parsing with better index-buffer detection and broader texcoord handling for problematic files
• Texture targeting reliability - Improved livery/material mapping heuristics, UV fallback behavior, and alpha handling
• Context menu positioning - Context menus stay anchored more reliably under scaling and resize changes
• Updater & PDN safety - Clearer updater failures plus stricter PDN decode limits to avoid bad-file crashes

v3.5.0

Full Changelog: v3.1.1...v3.5.0

Complete UX Redesign and Workflow Expansion

This release is an end-to-end redesign focused on usability, visual control, and faster day-to-day workflow.

New

• Full Application Redesign | Entire interface redesigned for improved user experience.
• Native PDN Support | .pdn files are now supported natively.
• Scene Lighting Controls | New controls let you adjust lighting directly in the scene.
• Vehicle Material Controls | Customize material behavior for glass, metal, plastic, and more.
• Automatic Updates | App updates can now be delivered automatically in-app.
• Capture Preview Angle Selection | Select the exact angles used when snapping capture previews.
• Background Image Support | Use custom images as scene backgrounds.
• What's New Window | In-app changelog window now shows release notes directly inside the app.
• Wireframe Toggle | Toggle wireframe mode for quick model inspection.

Improved

• UI Scaling Settings | UI scaling options were improved for better readability and consistency.
• Background Performance Optimizations | General background performance and rendering were optimized.
• Updated Color Presets | Presets for body colors and background colors were refreshed.
• Legacy Layers Layout Setting | Added a legacy layers layout option for compatibility workflows.

Fixed

• Variant Window Resize Flashing | Fixed flashing in the Variant window while resizing.

Cortex Studio 3.1.1

What's Changed

• Single-instance file-open & multi-model support by @IEver3st in #6

Full Changelog: v3.1.0...v3.1.1

• Fixed Elegant window mode not showing up.

• Fixed 3D Grid option not showing up.

• Fixed Variant Builder Errors on Startup.

• Fixed multi-model automatic livery updates not registering on either model.

v3.1.0

What's Changed

• Perf improvements unstable by @IEver3st in #3
• Restore workspace state; refactor variants panel by @IEver3st in #4
• Add 'Show recent sessions' setting, layout & bugfix by @IEver3st in #5

Full Changelog: v3.0.2...v3.1.0

Cortex Studio v3.1.0

Images Below

Automatic Vehicle Previews

• Added a Preview workflow that automatically:
  • Captures 5 images (five angles) of the vehicle
  • Applies your preferred zoom
  • Exports the set to your chosen output folder

Variant Builder

• Introduced a new Variant Builder mode featuring:
  • Vehicle previews
  • Live livery preview (both on-vehicle and off-vehicle)
  • Variant creation with a fully customizable UI:
    • Adjustable image sizing
    • Selectable output folders
    • Export all variants in one go

File Associations (Open With)

• You can now open .yft and .ydd files directly in Cortex Studio by double-clicking them.

Improved

UI Overhaul

• Rebuilt the UI into a tab-based layout
• Added a new Home page with:
  • Recents
  • Quick launch into your preferred mode or directly into Variant Builder
  • Toggle recents in the settings page

Known Bugs:

• Transparent Liveries/EUPs are a little silly. EUP specifically makes patches, and such have squares with body colors.

Images

3.0.2

Full Changelog: v3.0.0...v3.0.2

3.0.0 Preview

Full Changelog: v2.3.3...v3.0.0

Many Changes this time around! For the full changelog, please view above.

UI Changes

• Control panel overhaul, New elements, removed the mode selector from the control panel.
• Sidebar toggle moved to inline with window controls.
• settings panel repositioned.
• window control presets moved inline and available toggle for legacy view.
• added Elegant & Standard window controls

Multi-Mode Changes

• Added EUP support
• Similar redesign of the control panel.

File support changes

• .dds support added.

General Changes

• Vehicle Extras with Default Settings.
• Togglable setting for Grid Background.

Experimental Settings

• YTD Dictionary added.
• YTD vehshare support.
  Important Note: This is not a guarantee that YTD support will ever be fully working. This application's purpose is to preview liveries in real time across different 3D model formats, including but not limited to YFT and EUP files.

v2.3.3

Full Changelog: v2.3.2...v2.3.3

Patch

• Fixed the glossiness slider not affecting liveries/loaded textures.
• Added warning for Standard Models (non _hi models)