Viewpoints
Viewpoints
Viewpoints are an important feature of JetStream. They not only allow you to save and return to views of the model which are of importance, but they can also be used for design review audit trails and for setting up animations of the model.
Editing Viewpoints
Editing Viewpoints
You can edit by hand any viewpoints attributes, including camera position, field of view, speed of motion and saved attributes. All entries are measured in scene units (see
If accessed from Viewpoint, Edit Current Viewpoint , the Edit Viewpoint dialog box allows editing of the current viewpoint's attributes. Alternatively, if accessed via the saved viewpoints list by right-clicking on a viewpoint or animation frame and choosing edit, this dialog allows editing of the currently selected viewpoint's or frame's attributes as outlined below:
To edit a saved viewpoint, right click on the viewpoint in the Viewpoint dialog and choose Edit from the context menu.
Alternatively, to edit the current main navigation viewpoint, go to Viewpoint, Edit Current Viewpoint
Or to edit a thumbnail's viewpoint, right click on the thumbnail and choose Edit Viewpoint from the context menu.
The Edit Viewpoint dialog box is displayed.
Set the camera position's x-, y- and z- coordinates using the Position boxes.
Set the focal point's x-, y- and z- coordinates of the camera using the Look At boxes.
Enter the Vertical Field Of View and Horizontal Field Of View . If the units are set to degrees, then these numbers should be between 0.1 and 90 and if in radians, between 0.002 and 3.124. See for more details on what field of view means.
Enter the Roll of the camera about its viewing axis. This value is not editable where the world up vector stays upright (i.e. in walk, orbit and turntable modes).
Enter the speed of motion in a straight line for the viewpoint in the Linear Speed box (the minimum value is 0 and the maximum is based on the size of the scene's bounding box).
Enter the speed of turning for the viewpoint in the Angular Speed box.
If the viewpoint being edited is a saved viewpoint (i.e., selected from the Viewpoint control bar), checking the check box of a saved attribute will store that attribute with the viewpoint. See for more details.
Click on the Collision Detection, Settings... button to open the collision detection dialog:
Check the Collision Detection check box to activate collision detection
Check the Gravity check box to activate gravity
Check the Auto Crouch check box to activate crouching
In the Viewer, Radius text box, enter a value for the radius of the collision volume. See
In the Viewer, Height text box, enter a value for the height of the collision volume. See
In the Viewer, Eye Offset text box, enter a value for the distance below the top of the collision volume, where the camera will focus upon when auto zoom is activated.
Check the Third Person, Enable check box to view from a third person perspective.
Check the Auto Zoom check box to automatically zoom from third person view into first person view, whenever the line of vision is obscured by an item in the model scene.
From the Third Person, Avatar drop-down, select the avatar you wish to represent yourself as. See
In the Third Person, Angle text box, enter the angle at which you wish to look at the avatar. For example, zero degrees will be directly behind and 15 degrees will be looking down on the avatar at a 15 degree angle.
In the Third Person, Distance text box, enter the distance behind the avatar, from which you wish to view from.
Click OK to accept the settings, or Cancel to return to the Edit Viewpoint dialog without changing the settings.
Click OK to set the viewpoint or Cancel to exit the dialog without setting it.
Editing a viewpoint
Recalling Viewpoints
Recalling Viewpoints
To return to a viewpoint
Go to Viewpoint, Saved Viewpoints and choose the saved viewpoint from the list.
or
In the Viewpoints control bar, simply click on the viewpoint from the list.
Note
On recalling viewpoints the navigation mode that was active when the viewpoint was created will be re-selected. Any redlines and comments associated with the viewpoint will also be reinstated.
Saving Viewpoints
Saving Viewpoints
Viewpoints contain more than just the camera information - each viewpoint can also contain redlines and comments. In fact, you can use viewpoints as a design review audit trail. They can be used as hyperlinks in the main navigation window to click on and zoom to the viewpoint, which will also bring up the redline and comments associated with it. The viewpoints, redlines and comments are all saved into an .nwf file from JetStream Roamer, so even if the native CAD files are changing, the saved viewpoints remain the same over the top, so you can see how the design has evolved. See for more information on hyperlinks, comments and redlines and for more information on the .nwf file format.
Viewpoints also retain the section planes active at the time of viewpoint creation, which can be useful in animating sliding sections. See for more information on sections. Viewpoints can optionally retain saved attributes too, so that on returning to a viewpoint, overridden colors, transparencies and hidden items are reinstated. This can be used to great effect to create animations where items appear and disappear from the scene in time. See for more information on options and for more information on animations.
To save a viewpoint
Go to Viewpoint, Saved Viewpoints, Save Viewpoint
or
Right click on the Viewpoints control bar and choose Save Viewpoint
New viewpoints are named "ViewX" where 'X' is the next available number added to the list. This new viewpoint will take all the attributes of the current viewpoint in the main navigation window.
The Viewpoint Context Menus
The Viewpoint Context Menus
You get a different context menu, depending on what element you right click on in the Viewpoints control bar:
All context menus share the Sort option, which sorts the contents of the Viewpoints window alphabetically, including folders and their contents.
Animations
Animations
Right click on the animation, or any of the animation's key frames, in the Viewpoints control bar.
Choose Save Viewpoint to add the current viewpoint as the last key frame in the selected animation.
Choose Add Cut to add a cut to the end of the animation. Cuts are pauses in the animation and are 1 second long by default.
Choose Add Copy to add a copy of the element. If you've right clicked on an animation, the whole animation will be copied and named the same but with a "- copy" suffix. If you've right clicked on a cut or a frame, then the cut or frame will be copied.
Choose Add Comment to add a comment regarding this viewpoint. See for more information on comments.
Choose Edit to edit the element. Editing a frame will open the Edit Viewpoint dialog. See for more information on editing animations, frames and cuts.
Choose Update to update all frames in the animation with the current render style, lighting and navigation mode. Choosing Update on a single frame will only update that frame with the current modes.
Choose Delete to remove the animation from the list of saved viewpoints, or in the case of a frame or cut, to remove the frame or cut from the animation.
If you've right clicked on a frame, you can also choose Update to make the frame the same as the current viewpoint.
Managing Animations
Folders
Folders
Right click on the folder in the Viewpoints control bar.
Choose Save Viewpoint if you want to save the current viewpoint. A new viewpoint will be created in the folder with its default name ("ViewX") editable.
Choose Add Animation if you want to create a new animation, ready for dragging viewpoints onto, in this folder. A new animation will be created with its default name ("AnimationX") editable. See for more information on animations.
Choose Add Copy to create a copy of the folder in the saved viewpoints list. The copy will be named the same as the folder clicked on, but with a " - copy" suffix.
Choose Add Folder if you want to add another folder underneath the selected folder. A new folder will be created with its default name ("FolderX") editable.
Choose Add Comment to add a comment regarding this folder. See for more information on comments.
Choose Update to update all viewpoints in the folder with the current render style, lighting and navigation mode. Choosing Update on a single viewpoint will only update that viewpoint with the current modes.
Choose Delete to remove the folder and all its contents from the list of saved viewpoints.
Managing Folders
The Viewpoints Control Bar Context Menu
The Viewpoints Control Bar Context Menu
Right click on a blank space in the Viewpoints control bar.
Choose Add Folder if you want to add another folder. A new folder will be created with its default name ("FolderX") editable.
Choose Save Viewpoint if you want to save the current viewpoint. A new viewpoint will be created with its default name ("ViewX") editable.
Choose Add Empty Animation if you want to create a new animation, ready for dragging viewpoints onto. A new animation will be created with its default name ("AnimationX") editable. See for more information on animations.
Saving viewpoints, adding animations and folders
Viewpoints
Viewpoints
Right click on the viewpoint in the Viewpoints control bar.
Choose Edit to manually edit the viewpoint's attributes (see
Choose Add Copy to create a copy of the viewpoint in the saved viewpoints list. The copy will be named the same as the viewpoint clicked on, but with a " - copy" suffix. The main navigation window will jump to this viewpoint.
Choose Add Comment to add a comment regarding this viewpoint. See for more information on comments.
Choose Update to make the saved viewpoint the same as the current viewpoint.
Choose Delete to remove the viewpoint from the list of saved viewpoints.
Managing Viewpoints
The Viewpoints Control Bar
The Viewpoints Control Bar
Viewpoints allow you to keep a record of all the different views of a model so that you can jump to preset viewpoints without having to navigate each time to reach an item. Animations are also saved with the viewpoints, as they are simply a list of viewpoints treated as key frames of the animation. In fact, animations can be made by simply dragging preset viewpoints onto an empty animation. See for more information on animations. You can also organize your animations and viewpoints using folders.
The Viewpoints control bar is shown above. To open it,
Go to View, Control Bars, Viewpoints
or
Click Viewpoints
on the Workspace
toolbar.
Icons are used to represent different elements:
represents a folder which may contain all other elements (including other folders).
represents a viewpoint saved in orthographic mode.
represents a viewpoint saved in perspective mode.
represents an animation clip.
represents a cut inserted into an animation clip.
You can select more than one viewpoint by either holding down the Control key and left clicking, or by left clicking on the first item, and then clicking on the last item while holding down the Shift key. You can drag viewpoints around the viewpoints control bar, and reorganize into folders or animations.
There are no buttons on this control bar, and commands are actioned through context menus. Through these menus, you can save and update viewpoints, create and manage animations and create folders to organize these viewpoints and animations. You can also drag and drop viewpoints or animations onto animations or folders, and holding down the Control key during this operation will copy the element being dragged. This allows fairly complex hierarchies of animations and folders to be easily composed.
Viewpoints, folders and animations can all be renamed by slow clicking (clicking and pausing without moving the mouse) on the element, or clicking on it and hitting F2 . Right clicking on an element in the Viewpoints control bar gives you a different context menu, depending on the element, or if you've right clicked in a blank space. The following section explains the different context menus.
Viewpoints Options
Viewpoints Options
Two view attributes can be saved with a viewpoint:
Hide/Required - whether items are hidden or required.
Override Materials - the color and transparency of items.
You can set a viewpoint to save either attribute by editing the viewpoint. To update changes to overridden material or hide/required, use Update in the viewpoints context menu. Be careful, though, as this also updates the point of view as well, which may disrupt any redline information stored with the viewpoint.
By default these attributes are not stored with new saved viewpoints. If you do wish them to be saved by default, then this can set in the Viewpoints Options
Go to Tools, Global Options, Viewpoints
The Viewpoints dialog is displayed
Check the Hide/Required check box if you want to save the hidden and required items with the viewpoints you save. This means that when returning to those viewpoints, the items that were hidden when the viewpoint was saved will be hidden again and those that were drawn will be drawn again. The default is unchecked as it requires a relatively large amount of memory to save this state information with each viewpoint. See for more information on hidden items and for more information on making items required.
Check the Override Material check box if you want to save the material overrides with the viewpoints you save. This means that when returning to those viewpoints, the material overrides set when the viewpoint was saved will be reinstated. The default is unchecked as it requires a relatively large amount of memory to save this state information with each viewpoint. See for more information on overriding materials.
Check the Override Model Linear Speed to be able to set a specific speed to navigate on loading a model. Without this checked, the linear navigation speed is directly related to the size of the model loaded.
The Default Angular Speed can be set to any number of degrees per second. This affects the speed at which the camera turns.
Click OK to set the profile or Cancel to exit the dialog without setting it.
Setting the default viewpoints options
Collision detection settings can also be saved with a viewpoint, including whether collision detection, gravity, crouching and third person view are enabled.
You can set a viewpoint to save any of these settings by editing the viewpoint, in the same way as the view attributes, above.
By default, all of the collision detection settings are disabled. If you wish to save your preferred collision detection setting defaults, which will be used each time you open a model or a new JetStream session, then these can be set in the Viewpoints Options
Go to Tools, Global Options, Viewpoints and click the Settings... button.
Select the default options you wish JetStream to initialize with. See >Editing Viewpoints for a description of each of the available options.