3D-Special View
The 3D-Special view in CadnaA is a special graphical view of the project model with hidden lines taking into account the visibility of individual surfaces (Dynamic Ambient Occlusion). The 3D-Special view may be used for the following tasks, for example:
- checking whether all relevant objects are present in the model,
- checking the object‘s geometry for correctness (regarding their extent and their height).
The scenery on the screen is illuminated by a simulated light source causing also shading effects due to the angle of light incidence. The 3D-Special view can be transferred to an external 3D TV set or monitor as an stereo image (see Menu Commands).
3D-Special View (Dialog CadnaA 3D): bottom left: grid legend, top right: mini map
Calling the 3D-Special view
Call the 3D-Special view by selecting this command from the context menu of a polygon object. In this case the camera is looking from the first to the last point of the selected polygon. This requires that are in edit mode (CTRL+E).
Besides this, the 3D-Special view can be called by:
- selecting the command 3D-Special using total limits on the Options menu (or the key shortcut ALT+3): The 3D view is opened using the total limits. The camera‘s position is near the lower left corner of the total limits and looking from the lower-left to the upper-right corner of the total limits.
- selecting the command 3D-Special using current limits on the Options menu (or the key shortcut CTRL+3): The 3D view is opened using the current limits. The current limits are determined by the project‘s section currently displayed on the screen. The camera position is near the lower left corner of the current limits and looking from the lower-left to the upper-right corner of the project section.
In all cases, the animation is started by selecting the Animation! command on the Display menu or by pressing the RETURN/ENTER key.
The camera moves along the selected polygon (from the first to the last point), or along an imaginary line from the lower left to the upper right corner of the entire limits (or the currently project section) at the speed set in the Properties 3D-Special dialog (see Menu Commands).
Moving in 3D-Special view
With the help of the mouse (by keeping the left mouse button pressed) and by using the arrow keys on the keyboard you can freely move through the 3D scene or move along a polygonal line entered or generated. At any time the direction of flight or inclination of the flight path may be changed.
- mouse: moving the mouse with the left mouse button pressed changes the angle of view.
- arrow keys:
| Keys | Effect |
|---|---|
| ↑ ↓ | move forward / backward |
| ← → | turn left / right |
- numeric keypad:
| Keys | Effect |
|---|---|
| 8 and 2 | move forward / backward |
| 4 and 6 | turn left / right |
| CTRL+4 and CTRL+6 | move sidewards left/right |
| 9 and 3 | rotate up / down |
| 5 | move to starting point |
| 7 and 1 | vertically up / down |
| 0 | Reset rotation (back to the initial angle of view) |
All three methods (mouse, numeric keypad, arrow keys) can be used individually or in combination.
Generate Camera Line
Pressing the C button generates a camera line at the current position. The new camera line will be saved as an auxiliary polygon with ID „3DCAMERA“ (see menu Tables/Other Objects/Aux. Polygon). Note that again pressing the C button will replace an existing camera line with the ID „3D-CAMERA“. Therefore, already existing camera lines may need to be renamed to keep them.
Besides, there are 10 presets available to store camera positions (see Menu Commands).
3D-camera with a fixed viewpoint
During a 3D movement or a virtual flight, the viewpoint follows the direction of motion by default. If instead a specific point should remain in view at all times, a short auxiliary polygon with the ID 3D_CENTER can be defined for this purpose.
Mini Map
The mini map shows a thumbnail view in the upper right corner of the dialog CadnaA 3D using the actual limits and the grid, if any. Objects are however not shown. In order to change the location within the thumbnail view quickly, double at the new location in the Mini Map. The observer‘s location (white circle) will jump to the new location.
Grid Legend
The grid legend is displayed in the lower left corner of the dialog CadnaA 3D. Both displays - mini map and grid legend - can be toggled via the Properties 3D-Special dialog (see Menu Commands).
Editing Objects in 3D
In case changes need to be made at individual objects, double-click on the object in the 3D-Special view opening the object‘s dialog. After changing the object‘s geometry the updated geometry is displayed immediately after closing the object‘s dialog.
Deactivated Objects not in 3D
On the 3D-Special view, all objects, such as obstacles, sources and receivers are displayed as long as they are not deactivated and, thus, taken into account in a calculation.
Terrain Model
The digital terrain model (DTM) - if any - is displayed automatically in 3D-Special view provided the option „Triangulation“ is used (see DTM Digital Terrain Model Tab).
Ground Texture
Activated bitmaps are displayed on the 3D-Special view as ground textures. This applies to line drawings and to geo-referenced colored bitmaps as well (see Import Bitmap). With existing terrain model the image file is adjusted to the terrain‘s shape.
The maximum number of pixels of bitmaps depends on the hardware (video memory). For example, the memory requirements for a bitmap with 8192x8192 pixels (RGBA format) is about 256 MB.