Exploring the Virtual Scene

After loading a scene into Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Virtual Reality, you can enter the virtual environment that the headset now displays.

To get brief, helpful information right in the scene view, access the Quick Start guide using either of the following techniques:

Select Help > Quick Start from the top menus of Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Virtual Reality.
Press the menu button on top of either controller. Press again to view the next slide. To turn off Quick Start, press both menu buttons simultaneously.

The Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Virtual Reality controllers provide a palette of options for controlling view, movement, and other aspects of the scene. For details, see Controller Action Reference.

To explore the environment:

Stand or sit approximately in the center of the designated floor area, put on the headset, and hold the controllers.

Note For better responses from the controllers, press the virtual controls in the interior of the touchpads, not directly on the edges.
To move the model closer to you, point one of the controllers so that the controller handle and the hoop are aligned with your forward line-of-sight. Using your thumb on the same controller, press Pull. To move the model away from you, press Push.
To move the model sideways, or up and down:
1. Point the controller hoop in the corresponding direction.
2. Press Push or Pull.
To fly around the model while it remains stationary:
1. Press a grip button on one of the controllers; the palette appears. A laser beam shines from the front of the other controller.
2. Point the laser beam of the other controller at the (Static/Fly) icon on the palette; squeeze the controller trigger at the same time.
  You are now in Fly mode; the controller buttons update to show +Fly and –Fly, and the Fly mode icon appears in the scene.
3. Hold one controller at arms length in front of you; point the hoop in the direction in which you wish to move.
4. Press +Fly to move forwards in that direction; press –Fly to move backwards in the opposite direction.
5. To return to Static mode, repeat the action with the controller palette.
To release particles into the flow:
1. Using the pan, move, and fly controls, move to a position where you can place one of the controller hoops into the flow domain.
2. Hold one of the controller hoops in the flow at the point from which you want particles to appear.
3. On the same controller touchpad, press Flow. Particles now enter the scene through the hoop.
4. To make this injection point a continuous source, press + on the touchpad of the other controller.
5. While particles are entering, control the speed at which they travel using the Increase Particle Speed and Decrease Particle Speed actions on the palette.
  For increased accuracy, reduce the speed of the particles (making the step size of the integrator smaller).
6. Control the diameter of particles using the Increase Particle Diameter and Decrease Particle Diameter actions on the palette.
7. Change particle direction to flow "upstream" towards the source using the Toggle Particle Flow action on the palette. This way you can use particles to probe sources, as well as sinks in a vector field.
8. To remove a continuous source of particles, point a controller hoop at the source, press Flow, and then press - on the other controller.
One or multiple plane sections can be used to create slices through the scalar volume. To add a plane section in the scene:
1. Press Plane on the right controller.
  The plane section icon and a temporary plane section appear, moving as you move the controller.
2. Position the plane section where you want it.
3. With the left controller, press +.
  The plane section remains in the selected position, with scene data displayed on it.
4. To remove the nearest plane section, press Plane, and press - with the left controller.
One or multiple isosurfaces can be used to represent constant scalar values in the scalar volume. To add a isosurface in the scene:
1. Press Iso on the right controller.
  The iso color bar, with a pointer, and a temporary isosurface appear, moving as you move the controller.
2. Position the iso color bar where you want it, with the pointer at the desired scalar value along the bar.
3. With the left controller, press +.
  The isosurface remains, with the scalar value displayed on it.
4. To remove the nearest isosurface, press Iso, and press - with the left controller.
To view volume rendering in the scene:

Note The resampled volume derived part must be included in the Simcenter STAR-CCM+ scene.
1. Press a grip button on one of the controllers; the palette appears. A laser beam shines from the front of the other controller.
2. Point the laser beam of the other controller at the (Volume Rendering) icon on the palette; squeeze the controller trigger at the same time.
  The resampled volume appears in the scene.
3. To deactivate the volume rendering, repeat the action with the controller palette.
To hide surfaces using clip planes:
1. Press Clip on the right controller.
2. Position the clip plane icon in the plane where you want the clipping to occur.
  As you move the icon, the part of the model beyond that plane becomes invisible.
3. With the left controller, press +.
  The part of the model beyond the clip plane remains invisible.
4. To remove the nearest clip plane, point at it with the right controller, press Clip, and press - with the left controller.

You can edit derived parts directly in Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Virtual Reality. There are customized widgets for all types of point-based probes (point probe, line probe, presentation grid) and plane sections. They have different interaction modes described as follows:

The point probe has a single interaction mode: grabbing and moving around the point.
The line probe has two handles/modes: line and line end points. You can grab the line to move the widget as if it was attached to the controller. Grabbing and moving a line end point keeps the other end point fixed, and thus rotates and scales the line part.
The presentation grid has three handle types: the plane interior, each of the four edges, and each of the eight corners. In accordance to the line probe, you can grab the plane to translate or rotate the whole widget. Pulling an edge or corner keeps the rest of the widget fixed, thus corresponds to non-uniform scaling.
The plane section has two interaction modes:
- translation along the normal (with rotation around the center point locked) as default, in which case the widget looks like a stop sign with a white vertical bar
- rotation around the center point and translation, if the controller is tilted sideways by 90° when grabbing the widget handle (indicated by the vertical bar turning gray)

Point parts are updated interactively updated while moving the widget. To avoid delays, plane sections are updated just once when releasing the widget.

To select a part for manipulation:
1. Invoke the laser pointer by holding the grip button.
2. Aim at the derived part with laser pointer, in which case a widget appears.
3. Press and hold the trigger to grab the widget handle.
The controller switches to widget mode and the touchpad icons are changed accordingly.
Apply any of the following widget actions on the controller to each supported derived part type:
- To delete a part, press – (same action as for VR-native widgets).
- To copy in place, press + (same action as for VR-native widgets).
- To create a copy of the part right in front of the controller, press Clone.
- To create a copy of the current part at the next intersection between the laser and a surface, press Splat.
Generate hardcopies of the scene, perhaps to produce an animation of the simulation, using the Hardcopy action on the palette.