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A few questions on the basics
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A few questions on the basics // New Users
Post by MountEtna // Sep 20, 2008, 1:48pm
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MountEtna
Total Posts: 6
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Sorry to bother everyone again but I have a few questions which don't seem to be covered by the very detailed manual - or which I'm having difficulty finding. I am currently working exclusively in Model View so I'll need info relevant to that.
1. Looking at the 'Stampeding Tricycles' mini-tutorial, chapter 4 page 8 of the PDF manual: how do you 'enable Look Ahead'?
2. Where is the 'Geometry Paint Tool'?
3. I'm pretty certain you can pull up an alphabetical list of all the features and their corresponding icons - does anyone know how to do this? It would be very handy and would probably answer my questions 1 and 2.
4. How do you save (and then load back) individual items such as a cube, space-ship etc as opposed to a whole scene? How do you save an individual path or curve? (Both these operations were straightforward on my ancient Amiga application by the way!)
5. How do you save a rendered scene as a picture (e.g. .JPG etc)? I'm assuming this has NOT been disabled in the freebie download version!
6. Layers: In themselves, well explained but how do you pick the objects to make up a layer in the first place - CTRL/Click? Rubber-banding? Other? The manual seems a bit coy unless I'm missing something.
7. How do you get 'Camera View'? I.e. to view the scene as seen through the 'lens' of a camera obect. |
Post by spacekdet // Sep 20, 2008, 5:19pm
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spacekdet
Total Posts: 1360
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1. how do you 'enable Look Ahead'?
The object first needs a Path assigned.
Select object, then click Path tool. Click in workspace to define path. Additional tools for Path manipulation will appear in the pop-up toolbar.
'Ahead' is determined by objects Z axis- this may need to be adjusted using the axis tools. I.E., the Z axis of an airplane object should point out through it's nose. The Path disappears when you select another object, to make it visible again just click the Path icon. You can save a Path into natch, the Path Library.
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2. Where is the 'Geometry Paint Tool'?
Your location may vary, but the icon is identified in the following image.
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3. I'm pretty certain you can pull up an alphabetical list of all the features and their corresponding icons - does anyone know how to do this? It would be very handy and would probably answer my questions 1 and 2.
Locate the Icon Helper (it's in a 'Sideways Flyout')
This is the list; it also does some cool tricks.
For example, click an item in the list, then hit the 'Find Icon' button.
Sit back and watch as it locates it for you.
You can also see/change/assign hotkeys here.
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The rest of your questions answered in the next post... |
Post by spacekdet // Sep 20, 2008, 5:40pm
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spacekdet
Total Posts: 1360
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4. How do you save (and then load back) individual items such as a cube, space-ship etc as opposed to a whole scene? How do you save an individual path or curve?
Save individual items in an Object Library, or use the ts6File/ Save-Save As Object menu command.
Open the Library, select the object, right click in the Library and choose Item/Insert.
To save a curve or path, use the curve or path Library (located in the same flyout);
all the Libraries are located on the left side of the screen.
To load them back, just click the item in the Library and it will load into the 3D space. Or use the ts6File Load menu command.
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5. How do you save a rendered scene as a picture (e.g. .JPG etc)? I'm assuming this has NOT been disabled in the freebie download version!
Locate the 'Render Scene to File' icon indicated in the image. There are two of them, one determines the default action of either render to screen or render to file, and the other actually initiates the render. You'll know you have the right one when a panel pops up that allows you to type in a file name, pick the size and format, and pick where you want the file rendered to. This toolbar is on the right top of your screen.
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6. Layers: In themselves, well explained but how do you pick the objects to make up a layer in the first place
First, you add additional Layers via the 'Add New Layer' icon (has a + sign on it). Right click the Add New Layer for an additional panel where you can turn on layer colors. Also Right Click on the Object Tool (the cursor icon). Note that you have drop-down lists for Objects and Layers, here is where you assign what Object is on which Layer. Use the 'Name' drop down list to select the object, and then the Layer drop-down list to choose which layer you want it on.
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Final answer in next post... |
Post by spacekdet // Sep 20, 2008, 5:53pm
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spacekdet
Total Posts: 1360
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7. How do you get 'Camera View'? I.e. to view the scene as seen through the 'lens' of a camera obect.
First, you create a camera.
I usually then open a new Small Top View window and roughly position/aim the camera with the Object Move/Rotate tools.
Then, inside the Small view window, click and hold on the icon labeled 'Top Small View' and choose 'Small view from Object' from the flyout.
Be sure you have the camera selected first, as you can actually 'view' from any object.
*Tip: This is also handy for aiming spotlights- Open a small view, select the spotlight, and then View from Object... now you can 'see' what the spotlight is pointing at and can adjust it's aim accordingly.
Now you can use the Eye move/rotate/zoom tools in the small window to adjust your camera view. I sometimes also open an additional top view and use the Object Move tool on the camera if I need to move the camera long distances.
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Post by Emmanuel // Sep 20, 2008, 11:31pm
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Emmanuel
Total Posts: 439
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6. Layers: In themselves, well explained but how do you pick the objects to make up a layer in the first place - CTRL/Click? Rubber-banding? Other? The manual seems a bit coy unless I'm missing something.
7. How do you get 'Camera View'? I.e. to view the scene as seen through the 'lens' of a camera obect.
Never forget that most of trueSpace tools have ben enhanced over the years by dedicated plugins. So it is worth searching for the plugins that will make your Modeler work more confortable.
For example, trueSpace forces you to select the camera first before selecting the Camera View. Many users prefer to use FindCamera (http://emmanuel.asset.free.fr/tsxarchive/index.htm), a plugin by Chikara Kojima that let you view from a list of cameras at one clic.
Layers management can become a real pleasure with RSLayers, a plugin by Riccardo Scannu. You can download version 1.2 from this page (http://ricscan.altervista.org/plugin/plugins.htm). I don't know if Riccardo plans to sell or give for free the version 2 below. |
Post by transient // Sep 21, 2008, 2:33am
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transient
Total Posts: 977
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Yes, both these plug-ins are great, and are major reasons I still really like 6.6. It would be great if these developers made updates for 7.6. |
Post by MountEtna // Sep 22, 2008, 1:16pm
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MountEtna
Total Posts: 6
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Thanks very much for replies so far - that already helps a lot - I'll look forward to answers to my remaining questions if you or anyone else can give them! |
Post by MountEtna // Sep 22, 2008, 1:45pm
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MountEtna
Total Posts: 6
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Never forget that most of trueSpace tools have ben enhanced over the years by dedicated plugins. So it is worth searching for the plugins that will make your Modeler work more confortable.
For example, trueSpace forces you to select the camera first before selecting the Camera View. Many users prefer to use FindCamera (http://emmanuel.asset.free.fr/tsxarchive/index.htm), a plugin by Chikara Kojima that let you view from a list of cameras at one clic.
Layers management can become a real pleasure with RSLayers, a plugin by Riccardo Scannu. You can download version 1.2 from this page (http://ricscan.altervista.org/plugin/plugins.htm). I don't know if Riccardo plans to sell or give for free the version 2 below.
Thanks for the tip re plugins - I've had a look at the list and it looks a veritable treasure-trove! The one helping users look through the camera looks particulary tempting just now. I also notice a 'magnet' plugin - now 'Magnet' was actually available on the Amiga's 'Imagine' way back in the early 1990s! Interesting... (although it was very slow, you seemed to have to hold the mouse button down for ages).
Just one question though: once I've unzipped the plugin file, whereabouts in TrueSpace do I copy it to? The directory structure I've got at any rate (and which I assume is the default) is TrueSpace76\tS\Configs, Library, PDFMan, Procsets, Projects, PythonScripts, RSData, Rs Main Libraries, RS Tmp Textures, Scripts, Shaders, SupportFiles, Textures, tsx, VirtuaLight.
Common sense would suggest for instance that plug-ins aren't copied to the manual (PDFMan) but 'common sense' doesn't eliminate all the destinations. Does anyone know where these things go?
Aha! I've just noticed having methodically gone through the subdirectory list and copied it - is the correct destination the tsx subdirectory above? That probably is the right answer but I want to be 100% certain before I start adding things. The learning curve I think will be steep enough without hangs, crashes and other 'funnies'! Will an icon be added to the user interface automatically? |
Post by spacekdet // Sep 22, 2008, 3:58pm
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spacekdet
Total Posts: 1360
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Yep, they go into the tsx (trueSpace Extension) folder.
Depending on the installer, some create their own folders inside, some just can be copied straight in.
Once copied into the folder, find and click the 'Install trueSpace Extension' icon.
Here, I've Control/Dragged it out into it's own toolbar:
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Locate the desired *.tsx and click Open.
A new icon will show up in the tsx flyout.
The tsx is now ready for use.
To uninstall a tsx, Control-Drag and drop it onto the tS Trashcan icon in the lower left. Note that this just prevents it from loading when tS starts, it will remain in the tsx folder.
Edit/PS: This is in Model side; Workspace side uses the LE for 'embracing and extending' tS... and that's a whole 'nother ball of string. |
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