Proof 5 (P5) Overview

P5 is an exciting new version of 2D Proof Animation that builds on the strengths of its predecessor, P4, which we are no longer distributing.  P5 offers all the functionality of P4 and includes some new goodies, such as the ability to easily map imported bitmap images onto Proof geometry.  If you're animating air traffic and would like to superimpose moving aircraft on a map of the region over which the planes are flying, P5's "Pictures" provide a convenient solution.

P5 is built on Microsoft's Direct3D platform (using two of the three dimensions) and runs in a resizable window.  P4 was built on Microsoft's older 2D interface, DirectDraw and ran full-screen only, making transitions back and forth between Proof and other applications somewhat jarring.  P5's ability to run in a window allows it to work very harmoniously with other applications.

The stand-alone version of P5 runs as a post-processed, file-driven application.  The library (DLL) version of P5 works concurrently with running applications.  Concurrent P5 is ideally suited for running in concert with simulation applications on computers that contain two or more cores.  The stand-alone version of P5 is multi-core aware, so a considerable portion of its workload can be spread across multiple processors.

P5 Licensing

Existing commercial customers who licensed P4 in 2007 or 2008 can upgrade to P5 free-of-charge.  Commercial customers who licensed P4 prior to 2007 must pay an upgrade fee.  Click here to obtain commercial update pricing and here to obtain government update pricing.  Academic licensees can update free-of-charge.

P5 Updates

The AY138 release of P5 corrects an event scheduling problem caused by a flaw in the corrections made in Release PR308 (below).

Click here to download Release AY138 of P5.  Note that this download is a complete installation.  You should remove the old version of P5, if any, before installing the new release.

The PR308 release of P5 corrects an internal roundoff problem that could lead to spectacular failures by scheduling events to occur at the current animation time minus epsilon.

The PR218 release of P5 corrects the following problems:

The PR218 Release corrects a number of minor problems and incorporates changes that offer greater licensing flexibility for users who employ network-based security keys.

The PR018 release of P5 corrects the following problems:

1.  The "Plot Clear" command now works properly with "thick" plot lines.  Previous versions of P5 could "forget" that plot lines were drawn as thick lines and erase them as "thin" lines, leaving residue on the screen.

2.  Area fills for objects containing large numbers of lines are now done using P4's pixel-based algorithm.  For objects with small numbers of lines and no arcs, P5 constructs fills as triangles.  While geometric fills are superior to pixel-based fills, the algorithm P5 uses has at least N² complexity, where N is the number of lines in the object's class, so objects with large numbers of lines cannot be done using geometric fills.

3.  P5's multi-core recognition algorithm has been revised to recognize configurations used in older CPUs.

The AR138 release of P5 corrects video problems encountered with ATI X1300/1550/2400 video cards and recognition of Intel dual-core CPUs.