Upgrade Notes for OpenSim 3.0

Installation and Setup

The installation process for OpenSim 3.0 are very similar to earlier installations.

• One main difference between version 3.0 and earlier versions (on Windows) is that the application is now launched from an executable rather than from a batch file. 
  
  • This should not affect users, except for the added benefit that you can create shortcuts to the executable (the installer now doesn't ask or try to place a shortcut on the desktop). 
  • You can also run the application from arbitrary directories and you don't need to set the Path environment variable unless you plan to use the command line utilities and/or build plugins. 
  • In the case where you need to build plugins you'll need to manually add the install_directory/plugins to the Path environment variable.

• When installing OpenSim 3.0 on a machine that has an earlier version installed, you may need to change a few directory settings that are used to locate your preferred directory of geometry files.
  
  • This can be done after you launch the application first time, if you notice that the bones in your models don't show up any more. 
  • In this case you need to change the User Preferences (Edit->Preferences...->Geometry Path). Set the value for the "Geometry" directory to your new install directory (e.g. C:\OpenSim3.0\Geometry).
• You need to make sure you have write permissions to the directory where OpenSim is installed. Otherwise OpenSim could run into problems when writing intermediate files and results files (e.g. Tutorial 3 Scale Tool output). In this case you need to change permissions on the directory where OpenSim is installed to allow write access. Alternately, you can run OpenSim as an admin (on Windows 7).

Converting your Model, Setup, and Data Files

• Conversion of most model and setup files should go smoothly, particularly if you are upgrading from OpenSim 2.4
• The muscle models in OpenSim have been revamped for version 3.0. Watch the Muscle Model Webinar to learn more. When your model files are imported, the following conversions will take place automatically:
  
  • Thelen2003Muscle -> Thelen2003Muscle with new implementation that matches the literature better, you can still access the old implementation as Thelen2003Muscle_Deprecated
  • Schutte1993Muscle -> Schutte1993Muscle_Deprecated (we no longer support the use of this muscle)
  • ContDerivMuscle -> ContDerivMuscle_Deprecated (we no longer support the use of this muscle)
  • Delp1990Muscle -> Delp1990Muscle_Deprecated (we no longer support the use of this muscle)
  • Several new muscle models have also been introduced.
• The old implementation of NaturalCubicSpline has been deprecated as it doesn't correspond to the widely known definition of a Natural Cubic Spline curve, instead the class has been renamed to "SimmSpline" and will appear as such in xml and osim files. This conversion happens automatically.
• Model files created before version 1.8 of OpenSim are no longer supported, please use any version prior to OpenSim 3.0 to read and then write the model to file. OpenSim 3.0 will then be able to operate on the resulting model.

Other Upgrade Notes and Tips

• We've moved the models and data that we distribute to a central "Models" folder (not examples, as in previous versions of OpenSim)