Navigating

JetStream enables intuitive and interactive navigation around your 3D models at a guaranteed >frame rate. The nine navigation modes give you complete flexibility to navigate around the model in real time. In addition to these navigation modes, there are selection and measuring tools that further facilitate the interrogation of model data.

The navigation tools allow you to do things such as focus on objects and change the view parameters. There are also options to look from predefined views, set the world up vector to a direction different than the one brought through from the CAD model.

The tilt bar enables you to tilt the model, or the camera (depending on if the navigation mode is camera-centric or model-centric) and has the same effect as spinning the wheel on a mouse. Two thumbnail views also give you a good overall view of the scene, allowing you to see whereabouts you are in the whole model and quickly jump from one end to the other.

Navigation Modes

There are nine navigation modes to control how you move around the main navigation view - six >camera-centric modes and three >model-centric modes. In a camera-centric mode, the camera moves within the scene, whereas in a model-centric mode, model moves inside the scene. For example, the Orbit and Examine modes essentially do the same thing, except that Orbit moves the camera around the focal point and Examine moves the model around the focal point. Movement in each mode is based on the cursor keys, the Shift and Control keys and mouse drags. The mouse wheel is also supported, allowing quick and easy zooming or tilting, depending on the current navigation mode.

Note

Dragging with the left mouse button while holding down the Control key performs the same actions as dragging with the middle mouse button, which is useful if you only have a two-button mouse.

The Shift and Control keys modify the movement, for example holding down Shift in Walk mode speeds up movement, and holding down Control in this mode, glides the camera left/right and up/down.

Note

Gliding the camera is opposite to panning the model. Gliding is a camera-centric motion and panning is a model-centric motion.

Right clicking on any item in the main navigation view or selection tree displays a context menu that shows a list of commands relevant to a particular item.

The Navigation Mode toolbar also includes the Select tools, as they are mutually exclusive to navigation just as redlining and measuring are. See for more information on the selection tools. Below is shown the Navigation Mode toolbar and the navigation modes available:

Walking

Walk mode enables you to walk through the model on a horizontal plane ensuring that "up" is always "up".

To walk through a model

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Mode, Walk

Click Walk on the Navigation Mode toolbar.

Dragging the left mouse button, or using the cursor keys, spins the camera left and right and moves it forwards and backwards.

Holding down the Shift key speeds up this movement.

Holding down the Control key glides the camera left and right and up and down. As walk mode is camera-centric, this mode differs from the normal pan mode in that the camera is moved rather than the model.

Spinning the mouse wheel tilts the camera up and down.

Looking Around

Look around mode enables you to look around the model from the current camera position and gives the effect that you are moving your head around.

To look around a model

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Mode, Look Around

Click Look Around on the Navigation Mode toolbar.

Dragging the left mouse button, or using the cursor keys, looks left, right, up or down.

Holding down the Shift key speeds up this movement.

Holding down the Control key rotates the camera around its viewing axis.

Zooming

Zoom mode enables you to zoom into and out of the model. Cursor up zooms in and cursor down zooms out.

To zoom

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Mode, Zoom

Click Zoom on the Navigation Mode toolbar.

Dragging the left mouse button up and down, or using the up and down cursor keys, zooms in and out respectively.

Zooming to a Box

The zoom-to-a-box mode enables you to drag a box so that the contents of the box fill the view.

To use the zoom box

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Mode, Zoom Box

Click the Zoom Box on the Navigation Mode toolbar.

Dragging a box with the left mouse button over the main navigation view fills the view with the contents of the box.

Holding down the Shift or Control keys, or spinning the mouse wheel, temporarily puts this mode into normal Zoom mode.

Panning

The pan mode enables you to pan the model rather than the camera.

To pan a model

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Mode, Pan

Click Pan on the Navigation Mode toolbar.

Dragging the left mouse button pans the model up, down, left and right.

Holding down the Shift or Control keys, or spinning the mouse wheel, temporarily puts this mode into normal Zoom mode.

Orbiting

The orbit mode enable you to orbit the camera around the model, ensuring that "up" is always "up". The camera always orbits around the focal point of the model.

To orbit a model

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Mode, Orbit

Click Orbit on the Navigation Mode toolbar.

Dragging the left mouse button, or using the cursor keys, rotates the camera around the model.

Holding down the Shift key or spinning the mouse wheel, temporarily puts this mode into normal Zoom mode.

Examining

The examine mode enables you to rotate the model about.

To examine a model

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Mode, Examine

Click Examine on the Navigation Mode toolbar.

Dragging the left mouse button, or using the cursor keys, rotates the model about.

Holding down the Shift key or spinning the mouse wheel, temporarily puts this mode into normal Zoom mode.

Holding down the Control key, temporarily puts this mode into normal Pan mode.

If the mouse is moving when you let go of the button, the model keeps spinning! Click on it to stop. Holding the Shift key allows you to zoom in and out.

Flying

The fly mode enables you to fly around the model like in a flight simulator.

To fly through a model

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Mode, Fly

Click Fly on the Navigation Mode toolbar.

Holding down the left mouse button moves forward. As in a flight simulator, the left mouse button banks left/right when dragged left or right and tilts up/down when dragged up or down.

The up and down cursor keys will zoom in and out respectively and the left and right cursor keys will spin the camera left and right respectively.

Holding down the Shift key speeds up this movement.

Holding down the Control key rotates the camera around its viewing axis, while still moving forward.

Spinning on a Turntable

The turntable mode enables you to spin the model around the up vector. This navigation mode behaves as though the model is sitting on a turntable, ensuring that "up" is always "up".

To use the turntable

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Mode, Turntable

Click Turntable on the Navigation Mode toolbar.

Dragging the left mouse button left and right, or using the left and right cursor keys, spins the turntable left and right respectively.

Holding down the Shift key or spinning the mouse wheel, temporarily puts this mode into normal Zoom mode.

Holding down the Control key, temporarily puts this mode into normal Pan mode.

Spinning the mouse wheel, or using the up and down cursor keys, tilts the turntable up and down, like the tilt bar.

Navigation Tools

Navigational tools are a number of handy tools for altering, resetting or changing the type of the camera, and the viewpoint displayed. These tools can be accessed from the Viewpoint, Navigation Tools menu, or from the Navigation Tools toolbar:

Navigation Tools comprises the following functions:

Set World Up to Current View

Note

The Straighten and Set Up buttons are not on the toolbar by default, but can be added by customizing it (see

Viewing Everything

This function dollies and pans the camera so that the entire model is in view, which is very useful if you get lost inside a model or lose it completely.

Sometimes on doing a View All , you seem to just get a blank view. This is usually because there are items that are very small in comparison to the main model located a long way away from the main model. In these cases, it is best to click on an item in the selection tree and do a View Selected to at least find your way back to the model before trying to figure out which items are "lost".

To view everything

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, View All

Click View All on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Viewing Selected Items

This function zooms the camera so that the selected item fills the main navigation view.

To view a selected item

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, View Selected

Click View Selected on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Focusing

This function puts the main navigation view into focus mode until the next click. Left click on an item and the view swivels so that the point clicked is in the center of the view. The point clicked becomes the focal point for examine orbit turntable navigation modes.

To focus the camera

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, Focus

Click Focus on the Navigation Tools toolbar

Right click on an item in the JetStream scene or Selection Tree, then choose Focus on Item from the context menu.

Perspective Camera

Uses a perspective camera to view with.

To select a perspective camera

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, Perspective Camera

Click Perspective on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Orthographic Camera

Uses an orthographic camera to view with.

To select an orthographic camera

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, Orthographic Camera

Click Orthographic on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Note

Orthographic cameras are not available with Walk and Fly navigation modes.

Collision Detection

This function defines you as a collision volume - a 3D object that can navigate around and interact with the model, obeying certain physical rules that confine you within the model itself. In other words, you have a mass and as such, cannot pass through other objects, points or lines in the scene.

You can walk over, or climb over objects in the scene that are up to half the height of the collision volume, thus allowing you to walk up stairs, for example.

The collision volume, in its basic form, is a sphere (with radius = r), that can be extruded to give it height (with height = h >= r). See diagram below:

The dimensions of the collision volume are user definable settings for the current view or as a global option. See and for more information.

Collision detection is only available when in either the walk or fly navigation mode.

To activate collision detection:

In Walk or Fly navigation mode, go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, Collision Detection

Click Collision Detection on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Press D to toggle collision detection on/off.

Note

When Collision Detection is turned on, rendering prioritization is changed so that objects around the camera or avatar are displayed with much higher detail than normal. The size of the region of high detail is based on collision volume radius and speed of movement (needing to see what is about to be walked into).

Gravity

This function only works in connection with collision detection

Where collision detection gives you mass, gravity gives you weight. As such, you (as the collision volume) will be pulled downwards whilst walking through the model scene (gravity is only available when in the walk navigation mode).

This allows you to walk down stairs, for example, or follow terrain.

To activate gravity:

In the Walk navigation mode, go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, Gravity

Click Gravity on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Press G to toggle gravity on/off.

Crouching

This function only works in connection with collision detection

When walking around the model with collision detection activated, you may encounter object that are too low to walk under, a low pipe for example. This function enables you to crouch under any such objects.

With crouching activated, you will automatically crouch under any objects that you cannot walk under at your specified height, thereby not impeding your navigation around the model.

If however, you are using collision detection to identify areas of the model that you cannot walk under, (again, using a low pipe for example) then there is also a temporary crouch function to allow navigation to proceed once the obstacle has been identified.

To activate crouching:

In the Walk or Fly navigation mode, go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, Crouch

Click Crouch on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

or, if you only want to temporarily crouch

Hold down the Space bar to turn crouching on. Releasing it will turn it off again.

Third Person View

This function allows you to view from a third person perspective.

When third person is activated, you will be able to see an avatar which is a representation of yourself within the 3D model. Whilst navigating you will be controlling the avatar's interaction with the current scene.

Using third person in connection with collision detection and gravity makes this a very powerful function, allowing you to visualize exactly how a person would interact with the intended design.

User definable settings are available for the current view and as global options, including avatar selection and dimensions and third person positioning. See and for more information.

To view in third person:

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, Third Person

Click Third Person on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Press T to toggle third person view on/off.

Note

When Third Person mode is turned on, rendering prioritization is changed so that objects around the camera or avatar are displayed with much higher detail than normal. The size of the region of high detail is based on collision volume radius, speed of movement (needing to see what is about to be walked into) and the distance of the camera behind the avatar (in order to see what the avatar is interacting with).

Straighten

This function straightens the camera to align with the world up vector when it is already close to the world up vector.

To straighten the camera

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, Straighten

Click Straighten on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Note

This button is not on the toolbar by default, but can be added by customizing it (see

Set World Up

These functions set the world up vector to align with the selected orientation.

To set the world up vector to the current view

Go to Viewpoint, Set World Up, Current View

Click Set Up on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Alternatively, to set the world up vector to one of the orthogonal axes

Go to Viewpoint, Set World Up and choose one of the pre-defined axes (+X Axis -X Axis +Y Axis -Y Axis +Z Axis , or -Z Axis

Note

Navigation modes Walk Turntable and Orbit all use the World Up vector, so navigation will occur at whatever angle is set using this function.

This button is not on the toolbar by default, but can be added by customizing it (see

Preset Viewpoints

The orthogonal viewpoints are preset inside JetStream and can be accessed from the Navigation Tools toolbar and the Viewpoints menu.

Aligning With The X-Axis

This function toggles between Look From, Front and Look From, Back views.

To align the viewpoint with the x-axis

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, Align X

Click Align X on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Aligning With The Y-Axis

This function toggles between Look From, Left and Look From, Right views.

To align the viewpoint with the y-axis

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, Align Y

Click Align Y on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Aligning With The Z-Axis

This function toggles between Look From, Top and Look From, Bottom views.

To align the viewpoint with the z-axis

Go to Viewpoint, Navigation Tools, Align Z

Click Align Z on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Looking From a Preset Viewpoint

When this option is chosen the model is displayed from this viewpoint in the main navigation view. This is equivalent to toggling the Align X Align Y and Align Z buttons on the Navigation Tools toolbar.

Looking from a preset viewpoint

Go to Viewpoint, Look From
Choose any direction from Top Bottom Front Left Back and Right

Tilt

The slider on this control bar provides direct control over the > tilt angle of the camera, in degrees below (negative) or above (positive) the horizontal at the base of the tilt bar.

This is particularly useful in walk mode to look up and down. If your mouse has a wheel, this can be used to adjust the tilt angle.

To switch the tilt bar on and off

Click on View, Toolbars, Tilt

The Tilt control bar is displayed

Thumbnail Views

Thumbnails are useful to get an overall view of where you are in the whole scene and to quickly move the camera to a location in a large model. There are two thumbnails available in JetStream so you can have one showing a section and another showing a plan view if you wish. The thumbnails show a fixed view of the model, with a triangular marker representing your current viewpoint. This marker moves as you navigate, showing the direction of your view. The marker may also be dragged by holding the left mouse button over it and dragging to move the camera in the main navigation view.

Note

The marker changes to a small dot when the thumbnail view is in the same plane as the camera view.

To turn on the plan thumbnail:

Go to View, Control Bars and select Plan Thumbnail

Click Plan Thumbnail on the Workspace toolbar.

The Plan View thumbnail is displayed

To turn on the section thumbnail:

Go to View, Control Bars and select Section Thumbnail

Click Section Thumbnail on the Workspace toolbar.

By default the Section Thumbnail shows the view from the front of the model and the Plan Thumbnail shows a plan view. The thumbnail view can be manipulated by right clicking on the view. You can select from the following options: Look From Edit Viewpoint Update Viewpoint Lock Aspect Ratio and Refresh

Manipulating a thumbnail's view

Right click anywhere in the thumbnail to open the context menu.
Use the Look From menu item and choose from Top Bottom Front Back Left or Right to set the thumbnail view to any of these pre-set viewpoints. You can also choose Current Viewpoint to set the thumbnail view to the active navigation viewpoint.
Choose Update Current Viewpoint to set the current active navigation viewpoint to be the same as that of the thumbnail.
Choose Edit Viewpoint if you want to set up the thumbnail's viewpoint by hand using the Edit Viewpoint dialog (see for more information on this).
Choose Lock Aspect Ratio if you want the aspect ratio of the thumbnail to match that of the main navigation view and remain matching even when the thumbnail dialog is resized. This will usually give gray strips either to the top and bottom, or to either side of the thumbnail view. See for more information on aspect ratio.
Choose Refresh to redraw the thumbnail based on the current setting. Thumbnail drawing uses software OpenGL and so can take a couple of seconds for large models.

Using a SpaceBall

Note

The term SpaceBall is used as a generic term for all 3D motion controllers from 3Dconnexion, including the SpaceBall, SpaceMouse and SpaceTraveler.

A SpaceBall can be used as an alternative to the mouse to move around the main navigation view. The behaviour of the SpaceBall corresponds to the currently selected Navigation Mode. If no mode is selected on the Navigation Mode toolbar or if the selected mode is not a valid mode for the SpaceBall, then a default navigation mode will be used. This enables the user to navigate with the SpaceBall whilst performing other operations with the mouse. The default navigation mode can be set in the Global Options dialog.

The speed of navigation is sensitive to the amount of force applied to the SpaceBall. However, the user can also adjust the speed of translation and rotation by applying a factor to each of these in the Global Options dialog. These options are offered in addition to the adjustments that can be made using the Control Panel for the device which is supplied by the SpaceBall manufacturer with the installation.

Setting the SpaceBall behaviour

Go to Tools, Global Options, SpaceBall

The SpaceBall dialog is displayed
Modify the Scale translation value if you want to increase or decrease the speed of translation.
Modify the Scale rotation value if you want to increase or decrease the speed of rotation.
Select the Default navigation mode from the drop down list. This will be used when no valid navigation mode is currently selected.