Intelligent solutions save time, money, and costly man hours of sought-after experts. This is true especially for complex projects such as in HMI creation. CGI Studio 3.12 features several intelligent solutions to everyday challenges in HMI creation, for example: The Fusion Editor, an enhanced Smart Importer with Figma import, an upgraded help system, a large set of 3D primitives, and support for vector graphics.

CGI Studio 3.12 highlights include: The new enhanced Smart Importer now supports the import of Figma files – while recognizing controls more precisely. With the new Fusion Editor users can visually compose their application logic. Support for Vector Graphics ensures more brilliant HMI graphics with lower memory footprint. An improved State Machine Editor comes with plenty of options to visually enrich your specification, and the Player allows for rotation and seamless scaling of GUIs in the making. The upgraded Help System now offers dynamic documentation incl. search and history as well as support for multiple languages – perfect for international teams, beginners and HMI Pros who want to further speed up their HMI game.

Want to see for yourself? Watch the CGI Studio 3.12 film!

A free trial of CGI Studio is also available.

Fig. 1: CGI Studio 3.12: High-performance HMI creation – the intelligent way.

Enhanced Smart Importer: Figma Cloud Import & better AI

The Smart Importer is Candera’s award-winning technology that lets users import graphics files directly into CGI Studio. During the import, its innovative AI detects industry standard controls such as gauges, sliders, and buttons – and automatically adds their proper functionality.

Significant improvements of the Smart Importer made this detecting process more precise and easier to use – for more accurate control mapping via AI.

The Smart Importer has been supporting the import of graphics files from Adobe Photoshop®, Sketch, Axure RP, and Adobe XD for a while. The direct import of Figma files, including support of the cloud interface, is the latest addition to a growing list of supported tools.

Fig. 2: Figma import directly from the cloud in CGI Studio 3.12

Candera’s Smart Importer speeds up the whole HMI creation process by providing a direct preview, full re-import for quick design iterations, and image merging to reduce the memory footprint.

Fusion Editor: Visual Composition of Logic

In the 3.12 release, Candera has introduced the Fusion Editor in CGI Studio for the first time. The Fusion Editor allows users to easily compose the application logic in a graphical manner and combine it with the user interface. This feature is aimed at users without any programming skills and is intended to make HMI creation more accessible for everyone.

Fig. 3: Fusion Editor: Visual composition of logic and behaviors.

Support for Vector Graphics: Go Big!

There are many advantages to vector graphics: Their scalability, their small file size even when scaled very large, that they are easy to edit, load, modify, and duplicate.

In CGI Studio 3.12, vector graphics can now be used in HMIs – for creating even more brilliant Graphical User Interfaces. Users can simply import SVG files into the Scene Composer and use them as they would any other graphics file.

State Machine Editor: Design your Specification

Significant improvements in CGI Studio 3.12’s State Machine now allow for users to design their screen transition specifications with flexible use of screenshots, custom images, colors, or even annotations. Elements of the state machine have become “designable”, so users can design their state flows according to their needs. For better overview, more efficient HMI creation and in the end: Faster time to market.

Fig. 4: State Machine Editor: Individually designable state machine for better overview.

State Machine Editor – NEW: Pseudostates
The improved state machine Editor of CGI Studio 3.12 now also gives users the option to work with pseudostates. A pseudostate is used to simplify specifications of multiple state transitions. It combines and encompasses multiple direct transitions like forks.

   Fig. 5: A) state machine with two transitions vs. B) state machine with two transitions WITH pseudostate.

CGI Studio Player: Rotate and Zoom

Speaking of ‘What You See Is What You Get’: CGI Studio’s Player lets users view their HMI right away. With the latest upgrade, it is now also possible to fit one’s HMI simulation to one’s screen while rotating it any way one needs – as well as scaling it to any size necessary. HMI simulation has never been more comfortable.

Fig. 6: CGI Studio Player: Easy rotation and zoom.

Upgraded Help System: Dynamic – and in your language

A clearly structured, extensive help system is the basis for fast on-boarding and overall effective use of any design tool. In CGI Studio 3.12, a new dynamic documentation including search & history get users to their answers faster. Also, a new look & feel with images and multimedia content makes looking for answers more effective and enjoyable. Lastly, the updated help system provides support for multiple languages.

Fig. 7: Help & Documentation: Answers to any question, here in Japanese.

Further improvements include an extended set of 3D Primitives for users to quickly draft their 3D scene.
The Extended Android support now includes features such as runtime resource overlay (RRO), virtual display support and revised touch & keyboard input.

Fig. 8: CGI Studio 3.12 provides a large number of 3D Primitives.

For more, watch the CGI Studio 3.12 Highlights video.

Not quite convinced yet?

Request a trial version of CGI Studio.

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With CGI Studio 3.11’s ability to import directly from Adobe^® XD, HMI creation is now faster than ever.

For users of CGI Studio, time-to-market is of high priority. This understanding is reflected in the main new features of CGI Studio 3.11. These features include an improved user interface, the award-winning Smart Importer’s new ability to import graphics directly from Adobe XD, accompanying documentation to help integrate CGI Studio 3.11 into an automotive Cybersecurity environment according to the ISO/SAE 21434 standard, and a new extended Control set to speed up HMI creation.

To learn more about CGI Studio or request a trial version, please visit the link below:

https://cgistudio.at/hmi-design/

Anyone working on HMIs shares the challenge of striving to create the most brilliant graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in the shortest time possible. In an age in which time-to-market is becoming ever more important and HMI teams are comprised of people with differing levels of coding and design skills, it is now more important than ever to have an HMI tool such as CGI Studio that puts users in the position to meet these demands – as quickly and efficiently as possible.

With a focus on advanced usability features like ready-to-use HMI controls, automated workflows, and integrated state machines, CGI Studio makes HMI creation easy, even for users without coding skills.

CGI Studio’s Smart Importer allows for even faster creation of HMIs

“Winning the Car HMI Europe Award for our Smart Importer in 2021 gave us confidence that we are on the right path with Smart Importer and made us even more determined to push the boundaries of what can be done with it,” says Reinhard Füricht, CEO of Candera.

Based on innovative AI-detection technologies, Candera’s Smart Importer speeds up the whole HMI creation process. While other HMI design tools require the user to import each element and add functionality to them one after another, Candera’s Smart Importer will do a direct import of a design file and add functionality to it automatically. Users can import graphics files into CGI Studio from Adobe Photoshop^®, Sketch, Axure RP, and now also Adobe XD. Relevant components like gauges, sliders, and buttons are then automatically detected, and the proper functionality can be added to each element.

Candera’s Smart Importer supports a direct preview, full re-import for quickly importing design iterations, and image merging to reduce the memory footprint. It even allows for the creation of state machines to support the import of multiple scenes at once.

A fully-functional HMI that can be easily created using Smart Importer

Automotive Cybersecurity: integration in accordance with ISO/SAE 21434

Modern cars tend to use more and more interconnected features. At the same time, the number of cyberattacks is rapidly growing. In response, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) released regulation No. 155, making cybersecurity compliance a pre-requisite for the approval of new vehicle models. With CGI Studio 3.11, Candera supports automotive OEMs and Tier 1s in the successful integration of CGI Studio into their cybersecurity-related HMI applications and their endeavours to conform to requirements for newly developed vehicle models.

The document on the topic provided with 3.11 guides cybersecurity experts through the recommended way of integrating CGI Studio as an off-the-shelf product (according to ISO/SAE 21434 chapter 6.4.6). It introduces the available configuration options for an ISO/SAE 21434 cybersecurity software stack, and lists known vulnerabilities related to the product as well as to the various 3rd party and open-source software (OSS) components. A CVSS v3.0 vulnerability report is also attached to support Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment (TARA).

Easy implementation of bar graphs and line graphs

In response to user requests, CGI Studio’s vast Control set has been further extended with 3.11 in the form of easily implementable bar graphs and line graphs. Using these new controls, users can now bring their HMIs to life faster than ever before.

Support for even more platforms

With CGI Studio 3.11, Candera is expanding its already far-reaching target hardware support, most prominently to NXP Semiconductors’ i.MX 8M Nano Applications Processor and STMicroelectronics’ STM32MP1.

With this latest release from Candera’s design tool user projects now also benefit from Multi-Display Support for DRM/KMS.

Additional improvements

The focus for CGI Studio 3.11 is speed; from performance improvements to the State Machine Editor, Scene Editor, and Player to support for multiple global state machines. New documentation (such as a detailed guide for using the built-in state machine), an updated best practices design guide, and a new in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) tutorial all help users onboard even faster. Enhanced color palette integration, optimized handling of the state machine, the ability to play only certain parts of animations, and dynamic changing of text style all allow users to design HMIs more quickly and efficiently.  CGI Studio’s graphics engine was also optimized in size and runtime performance to provide users with the most efficient embedded graphics rendering.

With over 20 years of experience in embedded software development, Candera offers a customizable product for our broad customer base. We work closely together with our customers and industry partners to provide solutions for both current and future HMI needs.

Request a trial version of CGI Studio:

https://cgistudio.at/hmi-design/

About Candera

Candera is a leading HMI tool provider and development partner for worldwide automotive and industrial customers. Candera supports its customers with the CGI Studio tool environment, as well as provision of software services mainly in the areas of HMI development and embedded software. Candera GmbH in Linz, Austria and Candera America Inc. are part of KAGA FEI Co., Ltd., situated in Tokyo / Japan.

Corporate site: https://cgistudio.at/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/canderacgistudio/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZyzdK8yFY52Ot-SvaGkM_A

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CanderaGmbh

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/candera-cgistudio/

Candera significantly improves CGI Studio on all levels

After the successful release of CGI Studio 3.9, Candera has further improved several features in their new version CGI Studio 3.10. In the spotlight is the now established “Smart AI-based graphics Importer”, which automatically transforms graphics into fully functional HMIs.  The “Smart Importer” now also permits direct import from PSD, Sketch, or Axure RP. More highlights of CGI Studio 3.10 are the Japanese user interface, in addition to English, enhanced samples and tutorials for easy onboarding, and “Candera LINK” for remote services. All of which will help especially designers to save precious time and costs.

Designers and graphic artists are playing a crucial role in HMI development. They need to deliver quick results, implement many design iterations and create fully functional HMIs. With our focus on advanced usability features like ready-to-use HMI controls, automated workflows and integrated state machines, Candera makes HMI creation for users without coding skills easy. “With CGI Studio 3.10 we take another large step forward,” says Reinhard Füricht, CEO of Candera. “By further simplifying the composition process it is now even easier for designers to intuitively follow their creativity and get great HMI solutions in the process. Moreover, the Smart Importer allows to facilitate and speed up the HMI development process and so reduces costs. This enables a faster time to market and also creates space for creativity.”

Candera Smart Importer with extended functionality

 Users of CGI Studio 3.9 have gotten to know first features of Candera’s Smart Photoshop Importer in a preview, now CGI Studio 3.10 includes the Smart Importer with extended functionality.

Based on innovative AI detection algorithm technologies, Candera’s Smart Importer has one major goal: to speed up the whole HMI creation process. Indeed, whilst other HMI design tools oblige the user to manually add functionality to each single element of their UI artwork, Candera’s Smart Importer will handle this job automatically. It imports from Photoshop, Sketch or Axure RP files into CGI Studio and can be extended in the future for additional graphic or prototyping tools. Moreover, the Smart Importer detects relevant components like gauges, sliders, buttons and many more and adds the most probable functionality to each of these elements. Candera’s Smart Importer now supports a direct preview, a control mapping and control configuration, a full re-import for quickly importing design iterations, image merging to reduce the memory footprint and even allows the creation of state machines to support several scenes. For using the Smart Importer no programming skills are needed.

Figure 1: Axure RP is directly supported by Candera’s Smart Importer.

Scene Composer – now also in Japanese

Candera’s multilingual user-interface “Scene Composer” is now available in English and Japanese. To make sure every user gets on board quickly and can use the full potential of CGI Studio 3.10, the Candera team has enhanced samples and tutorials.

There is now for example a new “Quick Start Guide” for CGI Studio 3.10 for quick user onboarding, using an instrument cluster sample:

New Menu Control

In CGI Studio 3.10’s updated Menu Control a new menu list control was added allowing users to create menus for their HMI application. It lets the users easily create unique menus that fit their individual project or adopt it to their own requirements. All in Candera’s aim of speeding up the HMI creation process and saving time and resources.

Enhanced Candera LINK remote services

“Candera LINK” makes sharing content across process and operating system boundaries easy. It enables for example remote rendering, so that less powerful platforms can be used by streaming high end graphics to them. Candera’s remote service also allows platform independent data and service to be shared by multiple clients (for example in In Vehicle Infotainment, Cluster, AR Head up Display, or smartphones). Candera LINK simplifies holistic HMI via a domain computing architecture and, functioning as a One-System-on-Chip-Hub, connecting clients’ devises to clouds or remote services (for example smart assistants, Internet of Things devises etc.). Since it is not necessary to place a powerful SoC on each client, it enables to reduce costs and resources. If multiple suitable services are registered, the Candera LINK Hub will always make sure that the client receives the “closest” and fastest service.

Candera LINK is the flexible transport channel to exchange any kind of data – in even the most heterogeneous software environment.

Monotype Spark Engine

CGI Studio 3.10 now also supports Monotype Spark Engine, an alternative to iType in resource-constrained environments. It is designed for embedded application with low memory and low CPU speed. Monotype Spark Engine is the 4th supported CGI Studio text engine, following Monotype iType, Freetype, and Bitmap Font.

Extended target hardware support e.g. for Infineon Traveo II

Candera has been accredited as first certified partner within Infineon’s HMI Tool Certification Program. In a years-long cooperation, both companies worked on creating the perfect HMI solutions for the TRAVEO-series, starting with the reference board Amber S6J3200 up to TRAVEO II Graphic MCUs (CYT4DNxxx).

In Infineon’s latest HMI Tool Certification Program, Candera successfully implement the defined requirements: setting up a full virtual animated dashboard as well as a warped dual Head up Display using CGI Studio and the TVII-C CPU boards, while leveraging all the HW features that the GPU offers.

CGI Studio 3.10 now provides extended target hardware support for Wayland Device Package for NXP iMX8 as well as STMicroelectronics STM32.

Performance Improvements

All of the above listed improvements for CGI Studio 3.10 were made possible by performance improvements, one example being the enhanced moving and zooming options of the state machine in the refined Scene Composer.

To learn more about CGI Studio 3.10 or request a 30days trial version please visit: www.cgistudio.at

About Candera

Candera, is a leading HMI tool provider and development partner for worldwide automotive and industrial customers. It supports its customers with the CGI Studio tool environment as well as provision of software services mainly in the areas of HMI development and embedded software. Candera GmbH in Linz, Austria and Candera America Inc. are part of KAGA FEI Co., Ltd., situated in Tokyo / Japan.