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Instructions for using ScanView
When first running ScanView, the default 3D model should be visible
in the display window. The viewing controls described below can
be used to change the view and the lighting direction. By default, ScanView
will send a request to the rendering server whenever the user sets new
viewing conditions, and the higher-resolution rendered image will be displayed
after a brief delay (the length of the delay will depend on the
speed of the network connection).
Viewing Controls
- To rotate the view: hold left mouse button and drag
- To pan or translate the view: hold right mouse button and drag
- To zoom the view: hold left and right mouse buttons and drag, or
press the Control key and left mouse button and drag
- To change the light direction: hold the middle mouse button and
drag, or press the Control key and right mouse button and drag
Menu Options
- File menu
- Open model...: This menu option lets the user select from
the models folder which 3D model to view. Also, the local model detail can
be selected. Higher polygon counts provide more detailed
model renderings while positioning the model, whereas lower
polygon counts may allow faster, more interactive performance
on slower computers.
- Reset all defaults: This menu option resets all of ScanView's
settings to their values when the application was first run.
Warning: the current viewpoint will be lost when this option
is used (the default viewpoint for the default model will be set).
- Quit: Quit ScanView. The current settings (other than the
viewpoint position and direction) will be saved and then loaded
when ScanView is run again later.
- View menu
- View options...: This menu option leads to a dialog box which
allows the user to select:
- The local model detail. Higher polygon counts provide more
detailed model renderings while positioning the model, whereas
lower polygon counts may allow faster, more interactive
performance on slower computers.
- Whether the low-resolution local model
should be rendered using a smooth or flat shaded lighting model.
- The "shininess" of the model material.
- Show refined image URL: This menu option will show the URL of the
currently displayed refined rendering (if applicable). This URL can be
copied from ScanView and pasted into a web browser's address bar for
later viewing or into an email message for distribution to others.
- Reset viewpoint: This menu option resets the viewing position
back to the way it was when the model was first loaded.
- Refine rendering: This menu option is used to explicitly request
a refined rendering from the rendering server. This option is mainly
useful when automatic refinement mode (see below) is disabled.
- Server menu
- Server Options...
- Select rendering server: This list may contain multiple
rendering servers on the network that can be used to
render the high-resolution images requested by ScanView. As a
rule of thumb, users should select the rendering server which is
geographically closest to them. If the selected server seems
slow or is non-responsive, other servers may work better.
- Proxy Server: To access the rendering server via an HTTP
proxy server or firewall, check the "Use Proxy Server" box
and specify the address and port number of the proxy server
in the corresponding fields.
- Refined image quality: This slider allows the user to specify
the tradeoff between image size and image quality used by the
rendering server when it compresses the images for network
transmission.
If there is a slow network connection between the local client
computer and the rendering server, lower image quality settings
may yield image updates with shorter delays.
- Automatic refining: By default, automatic refinement mode is
enabled, which causes a remotely rendered image to be requested
after each change to the model view. If the user turns off
automatic refinement, image updates must be explicitly requested
(see above). This menu option toggles the automatic refinement mode.
- Help menu
- About this model: Shows details and copyright information
pertaining to the local models. Also provides a link to online
information about the remote models used by the rendering server.
- Help with controls: Shows ScanView's mouse controls.
- Go to online instructions: Opens this webpage in a browser
window.
- Go to ScanView website: Opens the main ScanView webpage in
a browser window.
- About ScanView: Shows information about ScanView, including
version number, credits, and copyright.
Status bar indicators
There are two status bar indicators in ScanView:
- Polygon counts (left): This indicator displays the number
of polygons of the local model (the user can select this value when
selecting a model to view) as well as the number of polygons of the
remote model rendered by the rendering server. The number of polygons
of the remote model will change depending on the viewpoint for some models
(in general, closer viewpoints will cause higher resolution models to be
rendered).
- Refined rendering request status (right): The refined rendering
request indicator will provide information pertaining to the status
of the current refined rendering request. The status bar will say when
a refined rendering is being requested from the rendering server, when
the rendering has been received, when a request has been cancelled, and
when there has been some error in the process of obtaining a refined
rendering. Error messages will always be prefixed with the string "ERROR:"
to make them obvious. If errors are encountered in communication with the
rendering server, this likely means that the server is currently
encountering some sort of problem. If these errors are encountered,
please run ScanView again later; the server problem may be fixed by then.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to frequently asked questions about ScanView are available in the
ScanView FAQ.
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