Originated and owned by Dr. Wolfgang Ahnert of ADA (Acoustical Design Ahnert), Berlin, EASE has developed since its introduction in 1990 into a standard for sound system simulation software. EASE 4.0 has an improved look that features icons and better menus, making its use much simpler and more intuitive. Easy-to-use wizards help to create new projects and simplify mapping functions and ray tracing. A new ‘Objects Function’ allows users to select any items in the drawing, including vertices, faces, edges, seats, lights or speakers, group them together and then save them into a separate file as an object. The object can then be imported into the model, duplicated, rotated or moved in any of three axes to allow rapid insertion of complicated details.
Other notable changes to the program include the addition of phase data for loudspeakers and loudspeaker clusters; Caesar, a complex acoustical mapping module; EASEVision, an architectural rendering module; and new Texture and Light Source Editors.