5. Render Window
1.4 Opening Files
The Autodesk VRED Professional software enables you to open 3D CAD geometry from a wide range of CAD design software programs. You can open a file or multiple files by selecting File>Open, or by clicking (Open) in the Icons Bar. The Open File dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 1–25.
Figure 1–25
• The Open File dialog box opens in the default
VRED\Examples folder, which is typically saved in the
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ folder. Once you open a file from a different folder, that folder becomes the new default folder.
The next time you use the Open command, the Open File dialog box will begin from the selected folder.
Learning Objectives
• Open 3D CAD data files in the Autodesk VRED Professional software.
• Review and modify the import settings for files.
• Control the settings while importing a model or scene using the Import Options dialog box.
• The Open command enables you to open and edit a new or existing file as a new 3D scene. You can only have one scene open at a time. If you have a scene open with unsaved changes and try to open a new or existing scene, the software prompts you to save or discard the unsaved changes or cancel the Open command, as shown in Figure 1–26.
Figure 1–26
• You can either import a complete scene which has already been compiled in the originating CAD software, or you can import multiple files as separate files and combine them in the Autodesk VRED Professional software. To import multiple files, place the files into a single folder, hold <Ctrl>, and select all of the required files.
• The types of files that can be opened into the Autodesk VRED Professional software are listed in the All Supported File Types drop-down list in the Open File dialog box. A large number of 3D CAD data types are supported by the Autodesk VRED Professional software, as shown in Figure 1–27.
Figure 1–27
• Files that have recently been opened can be reopened quickly using the File>Open Recent menu option, which lists
Figure 1–28
• You can use the File>Open Examples menu option to open the example files that are provided with the software, such as armchair.vpb and tracking-art.vpb. The Open Examples command always opens the Open File dialog box in the VRED/examples folder.
• You can combine other files into the currently open scene by selecting File>Add. Alternatively, you can click (Add) in the Icons Bar.
• Although the majority of file types are opened using the Open command, there are a few file types which cannot be opened using this command, such as the xml files for Variants and Sequences. Select File>Import and select the specified option to open that particular type of file, as shown in Figure 1–29.
How To: Open a Scene
1. Click (Open) in the Icons Bar, or select File>Open.
2. In the Open File dialog box, locate the required folder.
3. Select a file from the list.
4. Click , or double-click on the file.
• If the currently open scene contains unsaved changes, a dialog box opens prompting you to save or discard the unsaved changes, or to cancel the Open command.
5. If the type of file that you selected is not a VRED native file type (i.e., .VPB, .VPE, or .VPF), then the Import Options dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 1–30. Specify how you want the file to be opened.
6. Once the options have been set, click .
Import Options
The Import Options dialog box (shown in Figure 1–30) enables you to set options so that the software can convert and correctly process a file’s data. The dialog box is only available for files that are not a native Autodesk VRED file format.The options in the Import Options dialog box are as follows:
Tesselation
Scene
Keep Surface Data
Preserves all of the surface data that comes along with the imported geometry
Merge Geometries
Enables you to merge the imported geometry.
Create Groups for Layers
Enables you to create groups.
Remove Empty Groups
Simplifies the geometry structure by removing empty groups.
Tessellation Quality
Sets the tessellation quality as Coarse, Low, Medium, High, or Custom.
Chord Deviation Enables you to set the distance from the middle point of the tessellated edge to the geometry.
Normal Tolerance
Enables you to set the normal deviation that can be permitted between the normals of the tessellated edge.
Max Chord Length
Enables you to set the maximum length of a tessellated edge.
Enable Stitching Stitches adjacent edges.
Stitching Tolerance
Enables you to set the tolerance value that controls when adjacent edges are stitched together.
Apply Materials from Asset Manager
Replaces each imported material with the
similarly-named material that is found in the Asset Manager.
Opens the Asset Manager, where you can set the material folder.
Center in Origin Moves the imported geometry so that its center is placed at the center of the environment.
Put onto the Ground
Moves the imported geometry so that it placed on the ground surface.
Adjust Object Size
Activates the Which size fits your object best?
slider bar. You are able to assign the correct size to the model. This helps to realistically render the model and gives you better quality.
If you want to add a file to the current scene, you must know the size that was originally selected to ensure
1.5 Preferences
You can use the Preferences dialog box (shown in Figure 1–31) to control many important operational settings for the Autodesk VRED Professional software. To open the Preferences dialog box, select Edit>Preferences.
Figure 1–31 Learning Objective
• Understand the function of the tabs in the Preferences dialog box.
The Preferences dialog box enables you to control the display and operational settings for every aspect of the Autodesk VRED software. The dialog box contains a list of nodes along the left side, and selecting a node from the list opens the settings which are specific to it. In Figure 1–31, notice that the node FileIO has been selected to display the preferences that are used to set the global settings for importing. You can either set the preference before you open a file (so that the file opens with all your
preferred settings), or you can adjust the settings while you are working on a model. If you want to revert to the default settings, click to reset the parameters of the selected node, or click to reset all of the nodes to their default settings.
FileIO
This node enables you to set the options for opening data in the software, as shown in Figure 1–31. These settings are:• Base rollout: Options that enable you to verify that the geometry structure is suitable for rendering, rebuild the geometry, convert the materials to Truelight plastic materials, and set the temporary path.
• Import Dialog rollout: Options that enable you to control the display of the Import dialog box, add a skydome environment, and place imported geometry at the origin of the scene or on the ground.
• Texture Compression rollout: Options that enable you to control the texture compression. The Auto option
compresses textures if they exceed the memory limit, while Always compresses the file whenever the model is loaded.
You can also use None to never compress the file.
In the FileIO node, there is a list of file format sub-nodes.
Selecting a file format opens its associated preferences. Some of the file types import settings include:
• Maya: Sets the installation path and units that will be used for imported and exported Maya data, as shown in Figure 1–32.
• OSB / VPB: Enables you to set the file and texture
compression, as well as set the incremental save function and the number of backup steps used.
• Rhino: Enables you to set the geometry merging and NURBS import settings for importing Rhino files.
Main Window
This node enables you to control the settings for some of the interface components, as shown in Figure 1–33.Figure 1–33
• Show FPS in Status bar: Toggles the display of the current frame rate in the lower left corner of the Render Window.
• Show Rendering Log Messages in Terminal: During rendering, the Terminal Window displays all of the log messages.
• Show Internal Nodes in Scenegraph: The internal nodes are displayed in the Scenegraph.
• Show Toolbutton Text: Toggles the display of the name below the icons in the Icons Bar and the Quick Access Bar.
• Window Opacity: Controls the opacity of the module windows.
• Disable Docking: Toggles the ability to dock the module windows.
Navigator
This node enables you to control the settings for various navigation modes, as shown in Figure 1–34.Figure 1–34
• Navigation Mode: Enables you to change the default Navigation Mode from Two Axis to Trackball, Fly, or, Orientation.
• Invert Zoom: You can invert the zooming in and zooming out with the direction of rolling the mouse wheel.
• Auto Center: Sets the rotation pivot to the center of the object.
Render Options
This node enables you to control the settings for the Render Window parameters, as shown in Figure 1–35.• Pixel Resolution: Enables you to set a custom pixel resolution for the Render Window.
• Use Fixed Resolution: Sets the use of a custom size for the Render Window.
• Enable Downscale: Enables or disables downscale, which affects the visual quality and is available while using
Raytracing render mode.
• Downscale Quality: Sets the downscale quality to Low, Medium, or High. For efficient interactivity of complex
scenes, it is recommended to have a reduced display quality (i.e., a medium or high level of downscale quality).
• Low: Every second pixel in the Render Window is processed for rendering, resulting in the clearest rendering.
• Medium: Every fourth pixel in the Render Window is processed.
• High: Every eighth pixel in the Render Window is processed, resulting in the most reduced visual quality.
• Enable Realtime Antialiasing: Enables or disables realtime antialiasing for the OpenGL render mode.
• Antialiasing Quality: Sets the quality of antialiasing for OpenGL render mode.
• Low: One and half times (1.5x) the original resolution is calculated.
• Medium: Double (2x) the original resolution is calculated.
• High: Four times (4x) the original resolution is calculated.
• Enable Stillframe Antialiasing: Toggles antialiasing for still rendering in both OpenGL and Raytracing modes.
• Stillframe AA After: Sets the time (in seconds) before the calculations for stillframe antialiasing starts.
• Lighting rollout: Options that enable you to set the headlight behavior state for all new scenes.
• Wireframe rollout: Sets the display of selected objects as a wireframe, and enables you to set the color of the wireframe and bounding box.
• Navigation Help rollout: Contains options that enable you to
• Visualization Advanced tab: Enables you to set the background color of the Render Window. To display the background color, you must disable the Environment material in the Material Editor module.
Selection
This node enables you to control the settings for selection display and working in the Render Window, as shown in Figure 1–36.Figure 1–36
• Bounding Box Visualization Size: Sets a minimum bounding box size for objects.
• Auto Scroll to Selected Node: When you select geometry in the Render Window, the associated node is automatically scrolled to and displayed in the Scenegraph.
Transform
This node enables you to control the precision settings for the transform tool, as shown in Figure 1–37.Figure 1–37
• Translation Step Size: Sets the default precision range when moving the geometry.
• Rotation Step Size: Sets the default precision range when rotating the geometry.
• Scale Step Size: Sets the default precision range when scaling the geometry.