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Chapter 2 | Interface Basics

Introduction

This chapter contains a basic review of the Virtual CRASH for Public Safety workspace. More details are provided in the chapters that follow where specific workflows and features are reviewed.

Overview

The Virtual CRASH for Public Safety workspace is divided into a few major parts, shown below. In dark blue, we see the Menu Bar. Note, many commands available in the Menu Bar can also be accessed using the icons in the Upper (green area below) and Side Tool Bars (purple area below). In the Menu Bar, you’ll find standard file functions such as open and save. You’ll also find geometric primitive shape functions such as draw sphere and draw box. In the Side Tool Bar, you’ll find features such as the snaps toggle and control (magnet icon), the gridlines toggle (grid icon), and the motion control toggle (gears icon). In the Lower Tool Bar (light blue area below), you’ll find controls such as the interactive display mode (sphere icon), camera perspective (head icon), motion playback control (play button icon). The time-slider and time input field can be found in the Time Controller area (shown in yellow below). You can keep track of your memory usage with the Memory Resource Monitor (black outlined area).    

Left-Side Control Panel

The left-side control panel has three major parts. Left-clicking on “gallery” (in red below) will take you to the vehicle and object gallery. New vehicles can be placed in the scene by using the gallery browser. This process is described in detail in the Prelude. By left-clicking on “help” (in yellow below), the Virtual Tutor menu will open. Double-left-click on any of the lessons to see how the various features work. See the Prelude for more detail on how to play a Virtual Tutor lesson. Left-clicking the “edit” button (black outline below), will return you to the home screen (default view) of Virtual CRASH for Public Safety. 

Edit menu

When you left-click “edit” in the left-side control panel, you will be taken to the home screen or primary view mode for your project. This gives you access to the project menu, the properties menu, and the tools menu. In the project menu, you can select any object that has been placed into the project and modify its properties in the properties menu, so long as it is not frozen or hidden (discussed below). The options displayed in the properties menu will depend on what type of object is actively selected (indicated by its name being highlighted in the project menu or layer view and by a visible bounding box appearing around it in the workspace). If no object is selected, the options displayed within the properties menu will be related to the project itself. Additional options are available in the tools menu. For example, you can create videos of your animated motion by left-clicking the “animation” button to reveal its submenu and choosing the appropriate options (creating videos is described in the chapters below).   

In order to see all items in the project menu, it may be necessary to move the properties menu down in the left-side control panel. Similarly, you may need to move the tools menu down in order to see all options in the properties menu or move the tools menu up to see the various tools menu options. To move a menu, simply left-click on the menu heading bar and hold, then drag your mouse up or down.

In cases where the menu contains more objects than can be displayed simultaneously in left-side control panel, simply hover your cursor within the menu and use your mouse scroll wheel to scan up or down or left-click, hold, and drag the vertical slider bar up or down.

Project Settings

When you start a new project or have nothing directly selected in your project, you will have access to the project settings. If you have an object selected in your project, simply deselect them by either right-clicking on its name in the project or layer menu, or by left-clicking in an empty region of your scene (with cursor control on “Select And Move” or “Select, Move And Manipulate”). This will reveal the project settings in the properties menu.

Properties > Colors > Background Color

The “background color” option controls the ground and sky color in the orthographic views (discussed in chapters below) and the sky colors in Contours, Wireframe, Hidden Lines, Flat, and Smooth preview modes (the preview modes are described in chapters below).

Properties > Colors > Foreground Color

The “foreground color” option controls the appearance of certain objects in the project workspace. For example, it controls the contour line color for objects displayed in flat, smooth, and texture draft preview modes (discussed in chapters below). Foreground color also controls the vertex color when in vertex select mode (discussed in chapters below).

Colors > Selection Color

The “selection color” option controls the appearance of the bounding box for selected objects, and the color of selected vertices, lines, and faces for 3D objects.

Here we see both the bounding box and selected vertices highlighted in selection color of green. When working with red objects, you may find it desirable to work with a different selection color (red is the default color) to make object manipulate (modifying vertices or faces) easier to see.

Properties > Grid > Grid Spacing / Major Lines Every

The grid line visibility can be enabled using the grid line visibility toggle (see below). The toggle can be found in the side or upper tool bar, depending on which theme is being used, or by going to Window > Show/Hide Grid in the menu bar. In the “grid” properties menu, you can control the grid spacing – that is, the distance between all neighboring grid lines (major or minor). “major line every” controls the frequency with which major grid lines are drawn.

Grid line and grid point snapping can be enabled by left-clicking the magnet icon in the side or upper tool bar, or by going to Edit > Snaps Toggle [Alt+S]. Use the snaps toggle menu to select which snapping options to enable.

Properties > Report > Decimal Places

Report > decimal places will affect the number of decimal places reported by distance line 2D, distance line 3D, dynamics info, on-screen dynamics info, and dynamics report. Other options in the report menu are discussed in chapters below.

Properties > Units > velocity / metric / mass

To change the units displayed in Virtual CRASH for Public Safety, go to the project properties menu and open the “units” menu. Use the “velocity” dropdown menu to choose the unit for speed. Use the “metric” dropdown unit to choose the unit for distance/length. Use the “mass” dropdown menu to choose the unit for mass/weight.

Drawing 2D Shapes

2D shapes, such as lines and curves, can be introduced into the project by using the dropdown menus from the upper tool bar (see below), or by going to Create > Shapes 2D or Create > Shapes 2D Filled in the upper menu bar. The sequence of mouse cursor movements and clicks required to make each shape will depend on which shape has been selected. Remember to right-click to finish the command altogether or else the command will repeat with the next left-click of the mouse. This may be desired, for example, if you are drawing a row of skip lines in the center of a road, but other times the repeat draw feature may be undesirable.

Below we add a line object to depict a tire mark. After selecting the line object from the 2D shapes dropdown menu, left-click on the starting position for the line and hold, drag the mouse to the final position for the line and release. Right-click to terminate the line draw command, otherwise you will continue drawing lines. If you are in “Select, Move And Manipulate” cursor control model, you will then be able to see the line’s control vertices (yellow dots). These control vertices can be moved interactively (left-click and drag) to adjust the line’s orientation.

Creating various 2D shapes is discussed in more detail in the chapters below. You can also learn more about creating 2D shapes with the Virtual Tutor: help > shapes.

Organizing Assets using the Layers Menu Display

You can switch from the project menu display to the layers menu display view by left-clicking on the “layers” button (see below). 

The layers menu display may be preferable for ease of organizing project assets. To create a layer, go to Layer > New Layer in the menu bar. Note, if you have an object already selected in the project, using Layer > New Layer will automatically place the selected object into the new layer. If you wish to create a new layer without placing an existing object into it, first deselect all objects (alt+left-click to deselect an object or left-click in an empty section of the project space while in “Select And Move” or “Select, Move And Manipulate cursor control mode), then use Layer > New Layer.

To change the layer’s name, left-click to expand the “misc” menu in the properties menu, then left-click in the name field and type whatever name you wish to use and press “enter”.

Once a new layer is created, left-click in the box next to its name (see below) to make it active. Once a layer is active, any new object placed into the project will be automatically placed into the active layer. You can left-click the “+” symbol to expand the layer to see its contents. Press “-” to hide the layer’s contents.

You can move objects between layers by left-clicking in the box next to the target layer to make it active. Next, select the object or objects (ctrl+left-click or left-click and drag to multi-select) to be moved. Finally, go to the tools menu and expand the “arrange” submenu. Left-click “send to current layer” (see below).

You will now see the selected objects moved to the active layer. Again, new objects placed into the project will be automatically placed in the active layer.

You can rearrange graphical elements (text, 2D shapes, and images) within a layer by selecting the given element and left-clicking the desired option in the tools > arrange menu. In the example below, our text is beneath the black line (in red circle below). This can be fixed by selecting the text object and left-clicking “bring to front” in tools > arrange.

Below we see our text element now appears over the black line.

Note, the tools > arrange menu options set display priority based on their order within the project menu display, regardless of what layer the objects are in. The order in which layers appear within the layers menu display can also be modified using the tools > arrange menu options. This will rearrange the display priority of all objects within the selected layer simultaneously.

Hiding Layers

To hide a layer, left-click in the middle box next to the layer’s name.

A dark mask icon will appear in the box indicating the hide property has been activated. Here we hide the layer containing Google imagery data to create a diagram more suited for printing physical copies. 

Note, hiding the layer will hide all of the layer’s contents. This can be seen by expanding the layer.

This will also hide any of the layer’s contents in the project menu view. This is indicated by a light mask icon. To unhide the layer’s elements, you will need to return to the layers view and left-click on the dark mask icon to disable the hide layer property.

You can separately hide or unhide an individual element within a layer by toggling the mask icon next to its name either in the layer display or project display menu. 

Freezing Layers

To freeze a layer, left-click in the right side box next to the layer’s name.

A dark snowflake icon will appear in the box indicating the freeze property has been activated. Here we freeze the layer containing Google imagery data. Freezing such data is recommended as it prevents the possibility of accidentally moving the underlying aerial imagery after the diagram graphical elements have been introduced to the project.

Note, freezing the layer will freeze all of the layer’s contents. This can be seen by expanding the layer.

This will also freeze any of the layer’s contents in the project menu view. This is indicated by a light snowflake icon. To unfreeze the layer’s elements, you will need to return to the layers view and left-click on the dark snowflake icon to disable the freeze layer property.

You can separately freeze or unfreeze an individual element within a layer by toggling the snowflake icon next to the element’s name either in the layer display or project display menu. 

Organizing Assets using the Project Menu Display using Groups

It is not necessary to use the layers menu display to organize assets. You may prefer to simply use the project menu display (this is the default display mode). To organize assets in groups, first select all assets to be placed into a group, then go to Group > Group (see below).

Then rename the group object as needed in the “misc” menu.

To access elements within a group, left-click to open the group object folder, then left-click on the element.

Note, items within a layer can also be grouped.

To eliminate a group, go to Group > Ungroup. When a group is eliminated, all objects are returned back to the project or layer menu display as ungrouped.

Groups can be quite useful in Virtual CRASH for Public Safety, but they do have two important limitations. First, you cannot add elements to or remove elements from an existing group. To add or subtract elements, you must Ungroup the current group, then regroup the new list of elements. Second, groups can only be composed of like objects. For example, you cannot group a 3D vehicle object with 2D graphical elements such as curves. Because of these limitations, it may be more desirable to arrange your project’s assets using layers.

View Layout

You can adjust the view layout in Virtual CRASH for Public Safety by adding more view panes. You can find the view layout icon in the lower tool bar or by going to Window > View Layout in the menu bar. Left-click on the preferred option from the view layout menu.

Once the view panes are visible, hover your mouse cursor over the boundaries between panes, left-click, hold, and drag to adjust the size of each pane as needed (see below).

Left-click inside of view pane to adjust its other properties. You will know the pane is selected because you will see a bounding box around its frame (note the selected lower right pane below).

Camera View

Once the pane is selected, go camera view selection menu in the lower toolbar (see below), or go to  Window > Views to select one of the orthographic views (top, bottom, right, left, front, back) or perspective. Note, each view pane can have its own camera view. Displaying simultaneous camera views can be very useful for 3D modeling.

Draft Preview Render Mode

Once the pane is selected, go to the draft preview render mode selection menu in the lower toolbar (see below), or go to Window > Render Mode to select one of the render modes (hotkeys are shown in image below). Note, each view pane can have its own render mode. “Contours” can be very useful for aligning vehicles at impact as it allows you to see through the vehicle volume. “Wireframe” and “Hidden Lines” can be useful for understanding the details of a mesh’s geometry at a glance. “Flat”, “Smooth”, and “Smooth + Texture” can be useful for diagrams and presentations, though the recommended workflow is to render in Direct light or Skylight (discussed below).

Adaptive Toggle

The Render Mode menu shown above has an “Adaptive” toggle. Left-click on this toggle to enable it. When “Adaptive” is enabled, the draft mode will automatically switch from whatever mode is currently selected (such as flat or smooth), to contours mode whenever you interactively change your current view. This may be preferable in cases with many high polygon count mesh objects, which could slow your pace of project development due to your graphics card refresh rate. Simply disable the toggle if you no longer need this feature.

Here we see the preview mode change to Contours as we move our camara.

High-Quality Visual Productions

For most diagrams and videos, you will most likely want to “render” the final productions in “Direct light” or “Skylight” render mode. These modes simulate the behavior of rays of light permeating throughout your scene. When scenes are rendered in Direct light or Skylight, you will notice enhanced textures, complex shadowing, and reflections in your visuals. Your visuals will have a more polished and professional look overall.

To render a static view of your project, left-click on the teapot icon (see below), left-click on the preferred “Supersamples” option, then left-click on either “Direct Light” or “Skylight”. You can also go to Window menu in the menu bar. The teapot icon is typically used to generate a quick rendered preview of your scale diagram or single frames of a video. The Supersamples determines the quality of the render. As you select a higher value for Supersamples, the rendering quality increases at the expense of render time. For scale diagrams, the render time is not a critical issue since a diagram will be rendered once. For videos, which require numerous frames to be rendered, you will need to decide the optimal Supersamples setting for your project in order to reduce render time, while maintaining adequate visual quality. Rendering videos is discussed in the chapters below. Rendering high-resolution diagrams is also discussed in the chapters below.

Below we see a preview of our diagram rendered in Skylight.

Differences between Skylight and Direct light

When rendering in Virtual CRASH for Public Safety, you will need to decide the best look for your visual – either Direct light or Skylight. In both cases, there is a non-shadow producing ambient light which illuminates the scene which is not configurable (note, the ambient light intensity is configurable in Virtual CRASH versions 4 and 5). Direct light adds a second directional light sources to the scene which is placed behind the camera with a lateral offset (note, the direct light source’s position is configurable in Virtual CRASH versions 4 and 5). Direct light leads to a hard-edge shadow effect and reflections off materials designated as glass, cab, or chrome. Below we see an example render in Direct Light.

Skylight provides the same lighting as Direct Light, with the addition of light rays emanating from a hemisphere around the Virtual CRASH environment. This leads to the addition of diffuse shadows directly underneath all objects. In general, Skylight provides the most realistic renders. Below we see our scene rendered in Skylight.

Object Selection Types

You can use the object selection type dropdown menu in the upper tool bar to select subcomponents of your vehicle or 3D object (see below). Object (the default mode) selects the whole object when selected.

If, however, you wanted to select the vertices of the object’s mesh to modify its geometry, left-click the “Vertices” selection type.

With vertices selected, you can now easily impart crush damage to the vehicle’s mesh (see below). This type of 3D object manipulation and customization is discussed in the chapters below.

Multibodies

You can add multibodies (human models) to your scene by going to the gallery browser. Left-click on “multibody” in the upper window of the gallery. Next, left-click on the male or female multibody, hold, and drag and drop into the scene.

After you import the multibody, left-click on “edit” to reveal the properties menu. In the multibody’s “misc” menu, you can adjust the name and shirt color. In the size menu, you can modify the multibody’s height.

Go to the poses menu to select from a list of pre-defined poses. Left-click on the pose name and you will see the multibody automatically change to the selected pose.

Changing the selection type to “Joints” in the upper tool bar will reveal the joints within the multibody. Switch to one of the “Restrict To” modes to reveal the roll, pitch, and yaw control grips once a joint is selected. You can also modify the joint angles using the input fields in the “joint” menu.

Once you’re finished setting the joint angles, you’ll want t switch back to “Object” selection type.

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Tags: Selecting objects, select objects, moving camera, move camera, panning, pan camera, rotating objects, rotating cars, rotating vehicles, rotate vehicle, translating objects, translating cars, translating vehicle, translate vehicle. 

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