Scene Attributes Reference

Model Window Properties

Use these properties to control the width, height, and position of the model window.

Width: The width of the model window as a fraction of the visualization display width, where 1.0 equals the full width.
Height: The height of the model window as a fraction of the visualization display height, where 1.0 equals the full height.
Position: The position of the lower left corner of the model window in the visualization display.

Background Color Properties

The Background Color node lets you select the background mode of the scene.

Option	Activated Child Nodes
Solid	Solid Color Provides the Color setting, which controls color.
Gradient	Gradient Background Provides the following settings: Color 1 The first color that is used in the gradient background color of the visualization display. The color can be input directly in RGB format (for example, white would be entered as 255,255,255). A comma must separate the numeric values. The property customizer executes the define color action. See Defining Colors. Color 2 The second color that is used in the gradient background color of the visualization display. Gradient Mode Controls the direction from Color 1 to Color 2 with the following options: Top-Bottom: Color 1 at the top to Color 2 at the bottom. Bottom-Top: Color 1 at the bottom to Color 2 at the top. Left-Right: Color 1 on the left to Color 2 on the right. Right-Left: Color 1 on the right to Color 2 on the left. Radial: Color 1 at the center to Color 2 at the outer edges.
Checkerboard	Checkerboard Background Provides the following settings: Color 1 The first color that is used in the gradient background color of the visualization display. The color can be input directly in RGB format (for example, white would be entered as 255,255,255). A comma must separate the numeric values. The property customizer executes the define color action. See Defining Colors. Color 2 The second color that is used in the gradient background color of the visualization display. Squares per Color Controls the checkerboard resolution. Each color has an equal number of squares. The available range is 1 to 100.
Environment Map	Environment Map See Setting an Environment Map.

View Properties

Use the view properties to control the position, coordinate system, and projection mode.

Focal Point

Cartesian vector specifying the numerical coordinates of the focal point. A comma or space must separate the numeric values. To see the effect, select the Restore View submenu of the

(Save-Restore-Select Views) menu in the toolbar. This property also changes when you zoom, pan, or rotate the visualization display.

The <H> key sets the focal point of the camera to the position where you hover with the mouse.

Coordinate System

A list of coordinate systems in the simulation for use by this view.

Position

Cartesian vector specifying the numerical coordinates of the position of the camera. This property also changes when you zoom, pan, or rotate the visualization display. A comma or space must separate the numeric values. To see the effect, select the Restore View submenu of the

(Save-Restore-Select Views) menu in the toolbar.

Projection Mode

Controls how the camera maps world coordinates into view coordinates in the visualization display.

Perspective—implies a mapping of world coordinates into view coordinates that roughly approximates a camera lens. The center of projection is a finite distance from the view plane. As a result, the scene will have a vanishing point, and closer objects appear larger than more distant objects.
Parallel—implies a mapping of world coordinates into view coordinates that preserves all parallel lines. In this mode, an object appears the same size regardless of how far away it is from the viewer. This is equivalent to having a center of projection that is infinitely far away in perspective mode.

View Up

Cartesian vector specifying the direction where the camera is pointing. This property also changes when you zoom, pan, or rotate the visualization display. A comma or space must separate the numeric values.

Coordinate System Representation

Specifies a solution history representation to use recorded coordinate system data (see Following the Moving Object with the Camera View). When this property is set to None, you are using unrecorded data for setting up the camera view.

View Node Actions

The View node pop-up menu lets you edit views and store new ones.

Edit...: Opens the Edit View dialog, which can be used to control the current view of the scene.
Store View: Executes the store view action to save the view of the current scene.

Parallel Scale Properties

The Parallel Scale subnode of the View node is used to scale the image in parallel projection mode. It is made available when you set the Projection mode property of View node to Parallel. You can specify the scale in this object’s properties.

Parallel Scale

The user-defined value of the scale. The parameter works as an inverse scale, in that larger numbers will produce smaller images. Any user-defined value should be greater than zero.



Setting of 0.2	Setting of 1.2

Perspective Angle Properties

Perspective Angle

Adjusts the viewing angle of the scene. This control has the same effect as changing the focal length of a camera lens.



Perspective Angle = 30 (default)	Perspective Angle = 100

Note	The limits to the view angle are 179 and 0.00000001, which are given by VTK. However, it is recommended that you avoid approaching these limits since they make the image incomprehensible.

Views Node Actions

These are the pop-up menu items available when you right-click the Tools > Views node.

New: Adds a new view to the Views node.
Add Current View: Executes the store view action to save the view of the current scene.

Animation Properties

In the Animation properties, set the frame rate of the animation.

Target frame rate (fps): Maximum number of animation frames that are displayed in one second (less for complex scenes, or when less computing power is available).

Axes Properties

The properties of the Axes node let you specify various characteristics of the axes in the scene display.

Text Color: Controls the color of the X, Y, and Z labels of the axes. The property customizer executes the define color action. See Defining Colors.
Visible: When activated, makes the axis indicator visible. You may want to hide the axis indicator when it overlaps with an object in the visualization display, or when you want to produce a printout or a screenshot.
Viewport: Gives the coordinates, in the form [x0, y0, x1, y1], of the lower left and upper right corners of a rectangle containing the axes. By changing the coordinates, you can control the position and size of the axes. Units are fractions of the viewport height and width. The axes do not fill the rectangle.

Lights Node Properties

To specify the lighting model, use the properties of the Lights node.

Lighting Model

Chooses a mode for lighting and shading.

Per Vertex Lighting—calculates lighting by interpolating among vertices. It is relatively economical with graphics processing requirements.
Per Pixel Lighting—calculates lighting based on pixels. While it requires more graphics processing power than the Per Vertex Lighting option, it also provides a more precise image. Also, this option makes it possible to light streamlines.

Lights Node Actions

These pop-up menu items are available when you right-click the Lights node.

Restore Default Lighting

Reverses all of your changes to the light settings. If no adjustments have been made to properties of any lights during this session, then this action has no effect.

Head Light

Focuses Light 1 on the object in the visualization display. Specifically, this action does the following:

Turns off the other three lights
Sets the intensity of Light 1 at the maximum
Reverts the color of Light 1 to white
Sets the azimuth and elevation of Light 1 to zero

Refresh

Refreshes the lighting. This lets you see the effects of your changes.

Light Properties

The properties of a typical light object lets you activate or deactivate it, as well as control its lighting characteristics.

Azimuth: Azimuthal location of light in degrees.
Elevation: Elevation of light in degrees.
Enabled: Uses a checkbox to turn on or off the light.
Intensity: Controls the strength of the light with text entries that are typically fractions of 1. An entry of 0 effectively turns the light off.; Although values higher than 1 are allowed, they are appropriate for advanced rendered scenes with photorealistic materials. With standard (OpenGL) rendering, as well as with OpenGL materials in advanced rendered scenes, values above 1 generally cause the surface to saturate quickly with the color of the light. (For example, a white light causes the surface to become solid white.)
Color: Controls the color of the light. The property customizer executes the define color action. See Defining Colors.

Clip Planes Node Actions

Toggle Clip Enabled: Activates and deactivates the clip planes using a checkbox.
Edit Clip Planes: Opens an in-place dialog to modify the clip planes visually.
Invert Clip: Switches the normals of the clip planes to their negative equivalents.
Reset Clip Planes: Clears all unsaved changes to the clip planes, including activation.

Annotations Node Properties

To add or remove annotations in a particular scene or plot, access the properties of the Annotations node.

Annotations: A list of the annotations added to the scene or plot. Editing the property accesses the in-place object selector to add or remove annotations. See Activating the Object Selection Dialog.