Navigating the Visualizer Window

Last updated: Sept 13, 2019 by james

5 min read

The topics in this section include:

A Visualizer window is shown here.

The Toolbar is in the upper left corner.

The expandable View Controls Menu is in the upper right corner.

The sections below describe the keys/shortcuts supported by the Visualizer window, the Toolbar, and the View Controls Menu.

Navigating the Visualizer Window

The Visualizer (3D View) window comes with a built-in set of key bindings that you can use to navigate within the window and to perform rotation, pan, and zoom operations. The key bindings differ depending on whether you are running OpenSim on a Windows or Mac platform. You can translate and rotate in the 3D View window using the following:

rotate	To rotate the view, left-click and hold (PC or mouse) or single-finger click and hold (Mac trackpad) in the Visualizer window and drag the cursor.
translate	To translate the view, right-click and hold (PC or mouse) or two-finger click and hold (Mac trackpad) in the Visualizer window and drag the cursor.
zoom	To zoom in or out, scroll up or down in the Visualizer window with the mouse or trackpad. Alternatively on a trackpad, pinch or expand.

The Visualizer Window Toolbar

The Visualizer window comes equipped with a set of standard buttons to make it convenient to orient the objects in the 3D View according to your preferences. These buttons appear in a Toolbar, which is located by default at the top left corner of the visualizer window. The following buttons are available in the Toolbar:

	Look at the model from the world's –X direction. Note that multiple models could be loaded and each model could have its own concept of "front," but there's one unambiguous –X direction within the world's coordinate system. Similarly, = +X, = -Y, = +Y, = -Z, = +Z.
	Toggle the display of world coordinate axes on and off.
	Take a snapshot of the view. When you click this button, a file browser is brought up and you are prompted for the name of a .png file in which to save an image of the 3D View.
	Record a movie. Clicking this icon toggles movie recording on and off.
	Zoom-in.
	Zoom-out.
	Fit the model in the Visualizer Window using the current camera orientation.

Hot Keys

The following set of hot keys are available and can be used to achieve some of the same functionality that is available through the Toolbar:

Button	Function
i	Zoom in
o	Zoom out
Arrow keys	Reposition camera field of view

Selecting Objects in the Visualizer Window

Selecting objects in the visualizer View is a fundamental part of the graphical editing capabilities available in OpenSim. It makes it easier to perform tasks, such as moving muscle attachment points. The following operations are supported:

select	Select an object using single click. An object that has been selected will be indicated by a yellow wireframe bounding box around it, and its name will appear in the status bar. If there is a node corresponding to the selected object in the Navigator tree, it will be selected. Selection is possible only on the current model. Objects can also be selected by double clicking on them in the Navigator. The top image shows scene light-source with an attached selection triad.
clear	Clear all selections with a left mouse click in an empty area of the view.
drag	Drag objects by selecting them, if dragging is allowed you'll see a triad attached to the selection box. Use the left mouse to click and drag the object to its new location using the arrows of the triad. Currently only dragging of muscle points and markers is supported.

View Controls Menu

At the upper right corner is an expandable menu of options to further customize the Visualizer window. You can expand the menu (collapsed by default) by clicking the "Open View Controls" button.

The following table describes the names and functions of these options:

Option	Function
Backdrop: Background Color	Select solid background color from popup.
Backdrop: Image	Select from a preset list of images to serve as a backdrop or select nobackground for solid/no-image backdrop.
Floor: Texture	Select from a preset list of textures for floor material or no floor at all
Floor: Height	Use this slider to move the floor up/down as needed. Models project shadow on the floor by default.
Lighting: Select Scene Light	Picking this option will show a triad attached to the light source used to generate shadows, use the triad to position the light source as needed.
Lighting: Model Light	This slider controls the intensity of the light source placed by default on top of all your models.
Snapshot Quality	This slider controls the quality of images generated using the "snapshot" button. Values range from (1-4) where 4 is max resolution/quality.

Next: Loading and Saving Models and Motion Data

Previous: Toolbar

Home: Graphical User Interface

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