Antz User Manual 2011, November 5th by: Shane Saxon Draft
Contents
1. draw the label draw value z int draw the label selection set x int reserved for future support of multiple selection sets selection set y int reserved for future support of multiple selection sets selection set z int reserved for future support of multiple selection sets size int size in bytes of memory used per node B 4 Key Tables B 4 1 type node type type key table value desc 1 kNodeCamera 2 kNodeVideo 3 kNodeSurface 4 kNodePoints 5 kNodePin 6 kNodeGrid B 4 2 geometry geometry key table value desc kNPglutWireCube kNPglutSolidCube kNPglutWireSphere kNPglutSolidSphere kNPglutWireCone kNPglutSolidCone kNPglutWireTorus kNPglutSolidTorus CO NID O B UINE oO kNPglutWireDodecahedron 9 kNPglutSolidDodecahedron 10 kNPglutWireOctahedron 11 kNPglutSolidOctahedron 12 kNPglutWireTetrahedron 13 kNPglutSolidTetrahedron 14 kNPglutWireIcosahedron 15 kNPglutSolidIcosahedron 16 kNPprimitivePin 17 kNPprimitiveWirePin 18 kNPglutWireTeapot 19 kNPglutSolidTeapot shader key table value desc 1 kShadingWire 2 kShadingFlat 3 kShadingGouraud 4 kShadingPhong 5 kShadingReflection 6 kShadingRaytrace B 4 3 indexColor indexColor key table value RGB value2. SHIFT Z but stay the same height If the only Z axis is active then the pin would become taller or shorter SHIFT Z while staying the same width The active axes effects the uniform or non uniform scaling of both the root pin and child nodes 6 2 6 a inner amp outer radius jmages showing 3 pins with non uniform scaling 6 2 7 Animation A useful bug is to change selection to another object TAB New etc while performing a rotation the object will continue to rotate indefinitely The same methods also apply to zoom and translate This is due to the fact that rotations translations and scale commands set a rate that updates the parameter each cycle Normally releasing the key sets the rate back to zero However if a different object is selected while the key is still down then the previously selected objects never receives the key up command This results in the rate being kept indefinitely For example press 4 to select all then press the up or left arrow to start rotating then while holding the arrow key press G to select the grid now all the objects will continue to rotate even after releasing the arrow key To stop an object from rotating re select it and press the same key and release The bug that results in animation will be made into a feature providing a specific method to animate without changing selections 6 2 8 Object Geometry 0 alpha Iterates through the list of geometric primitives The def
3. because the currently active object is a child and not the root pin Pressing SHIFT Enter multiple times will eventually select the root node of the pin then you can change to other pins xinsert image of 3 selected pins with a root pin active red 6 2 4 d Choose Child or Parent Node Keyboard Enter Selects the child node if it exists otherwise nothing will happen Pressing SHIFT at the same time will select the parent node if the root pin is currently selected then selecting the parent will do nothing If the camera or grid is selected then nothing will happen 6 2 4 e Select Deselect Keyboard Spacebar Toggles the active node selection set status If the node is not part of the selection set it will be added and a yellow wireframe drawn around the node If already part of the selection set then it will be removed from the set and the yellow wireframe will be replaced with a red one to indicate the node is the active object but not part of the selection set 6 2 4 f Camera Selection Keyboard C If the camera is not currently selected it will select the previously active camera If the camera is already selected it will select the next camera The default scene is created with 4 cameras to choose from Each camera can be positioned separately and the position is stored in the State File SHIFT C will reset the camera position to its default Each camera has it s own default position 6 2 4 9 Grid Selection Key
4. child torus regardless if it is in the file Planned future support for pin s with no primary toroid node ID The id field is used to build the pin tree hierarchy and link to additional node type specific data The node ID is only unique within the file When a file is read in a new set of IDs are assigned This allows for merging multiple files with overlapping IDs without any contention Note that if you save out a file read it in delete and or add some nodes then save you will get a different set of IDs currently the nodeID is ignored and the order of nodes in the file coupled with the branchLevel determine the tree hierarchy of a pin parent The id of the parent except root pins which are set to zero branchLevel starts at zero for the root pin 1 for the primary toroid 2 for its child nodes and so on recordID Because the node id is subject to change the recordID is provided for your use It is retained by the node and is not modified by the application This can be used to reference the original DB record that the node represents ehildCount the number of child nodes attached to the node at the current level Does not include sub children of the attached child nodes childIndex Specifies which child node is actively selected used mostly for keyboard navigation of the tree topology B 2 2 Position Translation is determined relative to the global origin for root pins and relative to the p
5. color desc 0 255 255 255 white 1 0 255 0 green 2 255 0 0 red 3 0 0 255 blue 4 255 255 0 yellow 5 152 0 255 purple 6 255 168 0 gold 7 0 255 255 cyan 8 255 0 255 magenta 9 0 153 0 dark green 10 173 255 202 light aqua 11 255 180 255 pink 12 0 152 255 sky blue 13 185 255 0 light green 14 152 0 0 dark red 15 50 101 101 dark grey 16 127 127 255 light purple 17 185 153 102 tan 18 197 82 0 rust 19 127 127 127 grey The channels file allows for animating the position scale of child nodes and color offset of pins It is formatted as a single table with the field names at the top Currently the file must be a total of 30 columns It increments one row each program cycle once per video frame typical rate is 60Hz and when it reaches the end it loops back to the start The first column is the cycle count followed by the channels columns 29 of them Upon loading the entire file is read into a buffer and begins to play incrementing the current row Each node has 3 parameters that can be mapped to any of the 30 channels For root pins translate x translate y Color Offset channel x channel y channel z For child nodes channel x rotate x channel y scale x y z channel z Color Offset You can animate the XY position of a root pin and its color offset Child nodes allow you to rotate around the parent torus scale size and shift
6. hue of the current color so that red becomes green green becomes blue and blue becomes red To animate position of a selected root pin set the Active Axes to XY and then change the channel Child nodes are different in that the X axis is mapped to the position around the parent and the Y is scale Z remains Color Offset See the File Types Channels section for additional info Future support will include live IO channels such as audio EEG light temperature and video 6 2 18 URL recordID retrieval U Opens the default system browser with the currently active objects recordID appended to the specified URL This can be used to retrieve and display additional information about a particular object using a standard browser The default URL is hard coded and appears as http temporalzone com id html id 0 To set the URL you may pass it in as a command line parameter see the Command Line section for more info 6 3 Command Line The application excepts 2 types of command line parameters files to load at startup and the URL used for recordID retrieval through the system browser You may pass multiple files C apps gt antz exe antz0001 CSV antz0002 CSV This can also be combined with the URL which must start with http C apps gt antz exe antz0001 CSV antz0002 CSV http myDomain com recordID html This will open both CSV files and set the recordID URL Section 7 File Types This section is designed to be an over
7. int auto zooms plots to keep in bounds of the screen autoZoom z int auto zooms plots to keep in bounds of the screen scroll int scrolls plots in an oscilloscope fashion triggerOnHi x int if 1 then use the triggerLevel typically for limits triggerOnHi y int if 1 then use the triggerLevel typically for limits triggerOnHi z int if 1 then use the triggerLevel typically for limits triggerOnLow x int if 1 then use the triggerLevel typically for limits triggerOnLow y int if 1 then use the triggerLevel typically for limits triggerOnLow z int if 1 then use the triggerLevel typically for limits triggerLevelHi x float typically the upper limit triggerLevelHi y float typically the upper limit triggerLevelHi z float typically the upper limit triggerLevelLow x float typically the lower limit triggerLevelLow y float typically the lower limit triggerLevelLow z float typically the lower limit recordID int recordID of the external source DB record proximity x float reserved for future proximity and collision detection proximity y float reserved for future proximity and collision detection proximity z float reserved for future proximity and collision detection proximity radius x float reserved for future proximity and collision detection proximity radius y float reserved for future proximity and collision detection proximity radius z float reserved for future proximity and collision detection draw value x int draw the label draw value y int
8. mode XZ Note that it is possible to switch directly between Examiner mode XZ and XY by releasing the right button and continuing to hold the left button A 2 Keyboard Numbers etc apply to the main keyboard not the numberpad A useful bug is to change selection to another object TAB New etc and do this while performing a rotation it will continue to rotate also applies to zoom and translate It is possible to press multiple keys at once 3 5 typical depending on the keyboard and key combo So for example you can do a rotation and zoom while simultaneously changing the color SHIFT Reverses some functions speeds up rotation and translation ESC Fullscreen Exit X change active aXes used by Z Y lt gt etc Object Creation N New object root pin or child node Del Delete object root pin or child node Selection Tab select sibling node SHIFT Tab for previous Enter select child node SHIFT Enter for parent 4 select All Pins toggle spacebar select or unselect current object C select Camera if selected selects next camera 4 total G select Grid Translate Camera or Objects A X decrease D X increase W Y increase S Y decrease Z increase decrease O ti N Rotate Arrows Left Right Up Down rotate left rotate right rotate up effects position of child nodes rotate down Scale amp Geometry Z O alpha Scale objects up SHI
9. re assigned at run time in the same manner as other objects see Commands Texture Maps section The grid parameters are modified in a similar manner as other objects and respond to changes in color hide scale and texture map assignment There are some difference in behavior from other objects Only the grid lines are effected by color and lighting the texture map is always drawn in full white Hide will turn off the grid lines but not the texture map To hide the texture you must assign it to texture zero which prevents any texture from being drawn The scale and grid segment commands are specific to the active axes Vertical stacks are added and subtracted with the grid segment command when the z axis is active see Command Active Axes section Currently there is only the primary grid xximage of primary grid with a couple of stacks and background texture 4 4 Lighting The scene has a pair of white lights designed to provide good front and back shading of objects They are located in world coordinates at x 1500 y 1500 z 1500 and x 1500 y 1500 z 1500 Standing at the world origin center of the grid one light is over you right shoulder behind and the other is in front of you down to the left Generally this will light most objects fairly well though note that objects moved far from the origin may appear to have different shading Planned update to allow user to specify the number of lights position a
10. Antz User Manual 2011 November 5th by Shane Saxon Draft Table of Contents Section 1 Introduction 1 1 Quick Start 1 2 What is Antz 1 3 Developer Section 2 Installation 2 1 MSW 2 7 1 windows XP and 2003 2 1 2 windows 7 32 bit 2 1 3 windows 7 x64 64 bit 2 2 OSX 2 3 Linux Section 3 Input amp Output Overview 3 1 Keyboard amp Mouse 3 2 Joystick amp 3D Controllers 3 3 Command Line 3 4 File 3 5 Database 3 6 Live Channels 3 6 1 TNG3B 3 6 2 Audio 3 6 3 Video 3 6 4 Network 3 7 Displays 3 7 1 3D Stereoscopic 3 7 2 Cluster Section 4 Graphing Overview 4 1 Topology 4 1 1 Orbital Tree 4 1 2 Fractal Tree 4 1 3 Cubic Tree 4 1 4 nD Tree 4 2 Geometry 4 2 1 Primitives 4 2 2 Color amp Texture Maps 4 2 3 Points amp Lines 4 2 4 Surface FFT 4 2 5 3D Model 4 3 Grids 4 4 Lighting 4 5 Cameras 4 6 Animation amp Physics Section 5 HUD 1 Compass amp Axes 2 Console 3 Labels 4 Legend Section 6 Commands Mouse 1 Selection 2 Navigation 3 Object Manipulation Keyboard Fullscreen Active Axes Creating amp Deleting Objects Selection Translation amp Rotation Scale Animation Object Geometry Grid Segments Channels File Channel Assignment URL recordID Retrieval Command Line WNHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDN NN gt PRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPOOIDUBRWNE 0 Color amp Transparency 2 11 Texture Maps 2 12 Freeze amp Hide 13 Set Poi
11. FT Z for down based on active axes X change object geometry type Color amp Transparency plus minus 9 0 zero onw next color previous color less opaque more translucent more opaque less translucent toggle Background between white and black Rescale normals toggle change transparency mode 3 alpha modes none Texture Map selection SHIFT T for previous map Freeze Hide Low set point effected by active aXes High set point Grid Segments adds or SHIFT Y to subtract 2D and 3D layers effected by the active aXes Z axis creates 3D grid layers Scene Presets 5 6 7 Preset 1 Preset 2 Preset 3 State Files K L WNFr Keep ANTZ0001 CSV SAVE Load ANTZ0001 CSV Load ANTZ0001 CSV SHIFT 1 to save Load ANTZ0002 CSV SHIFT 2 to save Load ANTZ0003 CSV SHIFT 3 to save Channels File and Assignment P gt lt v Load channels file TNGO0001 CSV for animation Channel Up applies to currently Active aXes Channel Down URL recordID Retrieval U open URL with recordID in a browser Appendix B State File CSV B 1 State File Overview The file is in CSV format Comma Separated Values The first line is blank the 2nd line contains the field names for the columns Individual nodes start with the 3rd line and continue to the last node parameters are either 32bit integers or 32bit signed floats The c
12. GB or RGBA or indexed uncompressed or RLE DDS DXT1 2 3 4 5 uncompressed cubemaps can t read 3D DDS PSD from stb_image documentation HDR converted to LDR unless loaded with HDR functions RGBE or RGBdivA or RGBdivA2 Future Feature Allow for selecting a specific texture map with any name and file path The path will be stored in the CSV file and or DB Future Feature Use an image sequence for video playback 7 5 3DS Models Future support for 3DS models will allow for adding custom geometry to the scene for use as root pin child node objects or grid geometry Section 8 DataBase MySQL DB support is currently in development The DB structure mimics that of the CSV state and channels files It is possible to import and export between the DB and the CSV files Certain data such as textures maps and 3DS models are referenced using file paths in the DB but the data itself is stored externally A l Mouse R Click on object toggles its selection on off R Hold on object DRAGS selected objects in XZ plane L R amp Up Down R Hold on background FLY s camera L Click on an object NOT selected will select it and unselect all others L Hold on an object NOT selected will drag only the object DRAGS in XY L Hold on an object CURRENTLY selected will drag all DRAGS in XY L Hold on background orbits object in both axes of EXAMINER mode XY L R Hold on background orbits and ZOOMS in and out Examiner
13. act items from the selection set If the item is active but not part of the selection set it will have a red wireframe around it and any commands will only apply to the active object However if the active object is part of the selection set it will have both the red and yellow wireframe drawn in which case all items in the set will be effected at once The keyboard can be used to change the actively selected node by traversing through the objects In addition the camera and grid can be selected Each root pin is at the same level and are considered siblings A pin s tree can be traversed by selecting the child parent or sibling of the current node 6 2 4 b Select All Keyboard 4 Selects all nodes A yellow wireframe will appear around the objects If all nodes are already selected then it will deselect all nodes 6 2 4 c Choose Sibling Keyboard Tab If the grid or camera is currently selected then the previous node will be re selected If a node is already selected then the next sibling will be selected if it exists If a root pin is currently selected then the next root pin will be made active displayed with a wireframe above and around it If a child node is selected then the child s sibling will be selected if it exists If no siblings then nothing will happen Pressing SHIFT at the same time will iterate through siblings in the reverse order Note that if you are unable to choose a sibling root pin it is likely
14. al children at the same branch level The default geometry for a root pin is an ice cream cone looking shape with a single torus around it The default for child nodes is a torus In order to create a child node you must select the parent torus you want it attached to Additional child nodes are created at the same level spaced around the parent left image is of root node creation and right is child node creation Delete Node DEL DEL key deletes the active node and all children attached to it Press and hold to delete multiple objects Applies only to the active node and not the entire selection set May update delete to effect entire selection set 6 2 4 Selection Keyboard If the active node is NOT part of the selection set red wireframe then the command will apply only to the active node If the node is part of the selection set yellow wireframe then the command will apply to all of the selection set Left image is an active object yellow that IS part of the selection set Right image is an active pin red that is NOT part of the selection set 6 2 4 a Object Selection Keyboard Essentially there are two types of selection the active node drawn with a red wireframe around it and items that are part of the selections set drawn with yellow wireframes The purpose of the active selection is to allow keyboard traversal of the objects without effecting the selection set This is needed to add or subtr
15. ally occupy the same orbit at different positions around their parent The positions can be modified and set to either stationary or moving A second order child node orbits its parent in an orthogonal orbit Similar to the moon around Earth except that it would be orbiting around the poles instead of the equator Third order child nodes are similar to satellites around the Moon but once again in an orthogonal orbit to that of parent The depth of the tree is unlimited however computer resources do impose a practical limit Future feature additional topologies to include Fractal Tree Cubic Tree and nD Tree The cubic tree has a fixed maximum number of 5 branches 1 branch for the connection to the parent node at each level where as an nD Tree has an arbitrary number of branches 4 2 Geometry A variety of geometric types are supported These range from basic primitives and line graphs to complex fractal geometries FFTs and custom 3D models The line graphs can serve as a traditional plot or operate ina realtime oscilloscope fashion image of primitives with texture maps using different colors 4 2 1 Primitives The default root pin type looks like an ice cream cone and typically has at least one torus ring shape around it The default child geometry is a torus However both the root pin and its children can be represented by any number of geometric primitives such as a cone cube tetrahedron sphere etc Primitives can
16. an interactive multi dimensional spatially based environment or rather a unique type of cyberspace aimed at data visualization Think of it as spreadsheet meets cyberspace Capable of displaying any dataset and combining it with real time real world inputs so that the user may control the virtual representation on the fly The ultimate goal of the application is to close the cognitive loop between users and the powerful logic engines known as computers For example you may take a table of data representing academic test scores and display them as a series of tori that are distributed over a map At each location various rings would represent components of the students demographics and various test types over a period of time Parameters such as shape color transparency size and position provide for a rich set of dimensional depth cues that can be mapped to the data The visual representation enables one to view an entire region at once and quickly identify how specific factors effect performance In addition to static scenes animated information aids in the pattern recognition process Movement can either be based on rotational velocities driven by physics or externally defined time based data channels such as position of a moving object Realtime IO channels can work with a host of sensors such as audio video GPS or even EEG brainwaves The system is well suited for real time machine control of robotic systems and scientific instrum
17. anslate though an object that is continuously scaling or translating will typically become unwieldily Feature update for the animation bug will provide a method for setting the motion without the need to select a different object Note that the number keys apply to the number row across the top of the keyboard and NOT the number pad Left Click Depends on whether the node being picked is already selected Selects a single node when clicking on a node that is NOT already selected If the node IS already selected then will allow dragging all selected nodes All other nodes are un selected Clicking on the background unselects all Right Click Toggles the selection status of the node picked picking an already selected node will un select it You can select multiple objects by clicking on them The mouse behaves differently depending on whether an object is clicked or the background is clicked Also the combination of Left and Right buttons being pressed determines the mode Navigation is performed by clicking on the scene background the grid and its texture map are considered part of the background 6 1 1 Selection Mouse L Click on an object NOT selected will select it and unselect all others L Click on an object that IS selected will result in no change R Click on object toggles its selection state on off Clicking on an object effects its selection state The currently active object is drawn with a red wireframe a
18. any channel to a particular axes of any object ch0 is typically reserved for a cycle count Future updates to the Channels will allow for a variety of sample rates and depths varying from 8bit low sample rate single channels to high frequency audio or even HD video Appendix D Database Tables Glossary Node A single object in the scene Can be a root node or child node A child is considered a different node then its parent object The pins grids lights and cameras are different types of nodes Root Node The base of a tree graph of objects Pin The entire tree structure that represents a root pin and all its child nodes Root Pin The base object of a pin by default looks like an ice cream cone but can be changed to other geometries Is a specific type of root node Child Node If attached to a pin then the default geometry is a torus this can be changed to other geometry types Channels Represent data that changes over a period of time typically changes every cycle Though some channel types like sound may have multiple samples per cycle Each sample can be a single numeric value like pressure or have multiple values per sample such as the X Y Z position of an object multiple audio channels or image raster composed of millions of pixels Torus A geometric object in the shape of a donut or ring Toroid Same as torus Tori Multiple toroids additional terms will be added Acknowledgements S
19. arent node for all child nodes The child node radial offset from it s parent node is set by translate x Typically you only set velocity rates for rotation as an object with a translational rate will continue to move until it disappears by leaving the scene boundaries clipping plane Root pin global position is determined by translate x y z and rotate_x y z The translational velocity is set by translateRate x y z and is the delta distance applied per cycle typically runs at 60 cycles per second Rotation The rotate x y z sets the rotational position of the node in degrees other then the camera x axis of a child node can be used to set the spacing of toroids around there parent y axis will spin the torus not very noticeable unless it has a texture map or is assigned a different primitive Rotational velocity is set by rotateRate x y z but at this time root pins only rotate using the x axis Child nodes rotate about the x and y axis Note that the rate is applied per cycle 60Hz and is in radians soa value of 0 01 is equivalent to about 6 rpm Scaling The size of an object set by its scale x y z A scale value of 1 0 is equivalent to 100 and results in no change in size Valid scale values can be negative or positive negative values result in an inversion of the geometry including all child nodes of the current node For uniform scaling the x y and z values must be identical Individual axes ca
20. ault pin is typically an ice cream cone and the default child nodes a torus Primitives include both solid and wireframe objects Standard objects include a cube sphere tetrahedron torus and several others see the appendix for a complete list Pressing SHIFT will iterate in the reverse order Planned support for adding geometric primitives that include FFT surfaces and external 3D models xximage with variety of primitives 6 2 9 Grid Segments Y Changes the number of grid segments both 2D and 3D stacks layers are effected by the active axes If all three axes XYZ are active then will add grid segments in both directions on XY plane and add stacks in the Z direction If you wish to add segments without effecting the number of stacks set the Active Axes to XY If you want to add just stacks set the Active Axes to Z Similar for changing the individual segment count for X and Y directions independently Using SHIFT will subtract segments kximages showing different amounts of grid segments 6 2 10 Color amp Transparency minus previous color plus next color 9 more translucent less opaque 0 zero less translucent more opaque Global Settings 8 Transparency mode 3 alpha modes none B Background between black and white R Rescale normals toggle 6 2 10 a Index Color Object color can be selected by index from a palette of 20 preset colors by pressing the next or previous keys image
21. be solid or wireframe For a complete list of primitives please see the Geometry Table in the appendix 4 2 2 Color amp Texture Maps Optionally a texture map image can be applied which is effected by the color assigned including transparency For a complete list of geometric primitives see the appendix 4 2 3 Points amp Lines Traditional looking graphs can be generated using Channels to plot lines and or a series of points However these graphs are in 3D though you can ignore the Z channel to make a 2D plot Points and Lines graphs are capable of changing with time to create an oscilloscope type graph 4 2 4 Surface FFT The surface object is similar to a Points amp Lines graph in that it uses channels to map onto the surface of an object A common example is an FFT surface Other surface types include a sphere torus and cylinder These graphs are generally designed to be updated with time 4 2 5 Custom 3D Model Support for 3DS models will be added to allow for any type of geometry to be loaded to be used to represent a root pin or child node There are two types of grids the primary grid and secondary grids In addition to the grid lines a texture map may be applied to the grid The primary grid is locked to the origin and cannot be translated or rotated This provides a fixed global reference point The primary grid has a default texture map file loaded at application startup maps map00001 jpg which can be
22. board G If the grid is not currently selected it will select the previously active grid If the grid is already selected it will select the next grid The default scene is created with a single default grid with its center on the global origin of 0 0 0 Pressing Y or SHIFT Y will change the total number of X Y and Z segments that can be added or subtracted Note that the primary grid can be scaled but is not allowed to rotate or translate This restriction is to maintain a defined global coordinate origin The secondary grids can be scaled translated and rotated Secondary grids can be created by selecting the primary grid and pressing N for new Scaling and changing the grid segment count is specific to the active axes With the Z axes active changing the segment count will add stack layers in 3D The primary grid has the default textureID 1 assigned which corresponds with map00001 jpg this can be changed by pressing T Note that pressing SHIFT T will set the textureID 0 resulting in no texture the grid lines will remain If a texture is desired without grid lines then press H to hide the grid lines the texture will remain visible Grid lines also respond to changes in color and transparency the grid texture will not be effected by changes in color or transparency Secondary grids not yet supported 6 2 5 Translation and Rotation see below Translate W Forward S Back A Left D Right E Up Q Down Rotat
23. dated to allow choosing a file using the standard OS file dialog box 6 2 15 c Quick State 1 2 3 Loads or Saves the State File to a preset filename Pressing either 1 2 or 3 will Load the corresponding state file ANTZ0001 CSV ANTZ0002 CSV or ANTZ0003 CSV To Save the state file press SHIFT 1 SHIFT 2 or SHIFT 3 6 2 16 Load Channel File P Loads the Channel File into memory and starts playing the file The default name is TNGO0001 CSV see the File Channels section and appendix for more info will add a file dialog box for the user to select a specific file 6 2 17 Channel Assignment lt gt The Channel Assignments allow for objects to be animated based on the data contained in the Channels File Channels may be mapped to position scale and color offset depending on the object type This allows for time based data to move a pin along a path or a child node to change position and scale There is also a Color Offset channel Z that allows for a hue shift that can be animated with time Normally all objects have their XYZ channels set to zero which is equivalent to no channel assigned If you want to animate the Color Offset then first select the object s then make Z the Active Axes Now press either lt or gt keys to change the channel assigned This may be done either before or after loading the Channels File though nothing will change until the file is loaded The Color Offset shifts the
24. e cycle update index current time stamp channellndex z int the cycle update index current time stamp averageType x int type of averaging used for channel data averageType y int type of averaging used for channel data averageType z int type of averaging used for channel data sampleInterval x int number of samples per average sampleInterval y int number of samples per average sampleInterval z int number of samples per average rotate x float rotation vector rotate y float rotation vector rotate z float rotation vector rotate s float rotation vector scale x float 1 0 for no scaling negative value inverts geometry scale y float 1 0 for no scaling negative value inverts geometry scale z float 1 0 for no scaling negative value inverts geometry translate x float position root pin world coordinates child node offset translate y float position root pin world coordinates translate z float position root pin world coordinates origin x float reserved origin y float reserved origin z float reserved rotateRate x float rotational velocity rate rotateRate y float rotational velocity rate rotateRate z float rotational velocity rate rotateRad x float polar coordinates used to calculate the rotate vector rotateRad y float polar coordinates used to calculate the rotate vector rotateRad z float polar coordinates used to calculate the rotate vector scaleRate x float rate of scaling applied per cycle scaleRate y float rate of scaling appl
25. e of conversion factors Please see the File Section of this document for information on how to setup unit conversion factors A variety of icons are provided to aid in creating the legend Icons are designed to refer to parameters such as scale color range geometry type texture and orientation The legend parameters are part of the conversion table see the File Section of this document for additional info Section 6 Commands The primary method for control is through the keyboard and mouse Additionally parameters may be passed in from the command line upon application launch This section covers each command in detail for a simple cheat sheet please see the appendix The mouse allows for navigating the scene selecting items moving objects and scaling child nodes The keyboard can do all the functions the mouse is capable of plus additional commands that change both object parameters and global settings The keyboard responds to multiple simultaneous key presses and may be used simultaneously with the mouse So you can do a rotation scale and change color all at the same time while using the mouse to position the selected objects The mouse can be a lot easier for navigating selecting and positioning objects The typical limit for the maximum simultaneous key presses is usually 2 5 standard keys plus the modifiers SHIFT CTRL ALT COMMAND The number of simultaneous keys supported depends on which specific keys are being pres
26. e scene 3 7 1 3D Stereoscopic The entire scene is in 3D which allows for integration of stereoscopic displays Potentially a large variety of display types may be supported from consumer laptops and TVs to more custom solutions such as the InfiniteZ or even a full cave environment 3 7 2 Cluster Currently the application is based on GLUT using OpenGL and includes a Linux version tested on CentOS This means that in theory it should be relatively easy to create a version for the Star Cave at calit2 using CGLX We also plan to make a version that utilizes the equalizer library that will work for a variety of cluster based cave environments Section 4 Graphing Overview The scene is comprised of 3D objects that represent data based on spatial parameters such as position color size and geometry type The objects can be positioned anywhere in the scene and be represented by a single primitive or a collection of different objects in a tree topology In addition to objects the scene is made up of multiple cameras grids lights and the HUD The primitives and grid can be set to a specific color as well as texture mapped with any image such as a map or abstract pattern for additional dimensional data cues The object properties can be animated or changed with time based on velocity rates physics and channel assignments Channels may either be streamed from file or other IO devices All of the parameters serve as spatial cues So green
27. e with ARROW keys Left rotate left Right rotate right Up rotate up effects rotation of child nodes only Down rotate down effects rotation of child nodes only In addition to the mouse objects and cameras can be positioned and rotated using the keyboard You first must select the item s you wish to manipulate then you can use the keys to translate WASD gaming standard and rotate with the arrow keys Will apply to all selected objects at once Press C to select camera or TAB to select pins also can use the mouse for selecting objects for more information see the Selection section of this guide The pins will move in world coordinates where as the camera moves relative to the direction it is facing Child node radius can be offset using A amp D keys and rotated with arrow keys Using the SHIFT key at the same time will increase the speed of an operation 6 2 6 Scale Z Z Scale objects up SHIFT Z to scale down Mouse Scales child nodes only mouse vertical axis Objects can be scaled up or down using the Z key or the mouse The mouse will scale a child object but not the root pin for more detail see the Mouse section of this document Scaling effects the active axes only X key this allows for both uniform and non uniform scaling So if XYZ axes is active then scaling will be uniform or symmetric in all directions If you scale a pin with only the XY axes active then the pin will get wide or narrow
28. ents where low latency physics based feedback algorithms are necessary to interact with the real world Antz is an open source project that is free to the world for any purpose free as in free Source code and compiled apps are provided for all major desktop platforms including Linux MSW and OSX 1 3 Developer Please see the Developer Guide for information on the source code and development installation instructions If you would like to contribute or have questions feel free to get in touch via the contact page on the website The project is hosted at http TemporalZone com Section 2 Installation Application installation is specific for each operating system In general no installer package is used but rather just copy the application with sub directories and manually install any required system files as specified below Currently the MSW version is most up to date with the OSX and Linux versions being updated later Optional sub directories include sample CSV state files and texture maps maps data The freeglut dll and glut32 d1l must be copied to the appropriate system folder location depends on the specific flavor of MSW In addition Windows XP requires the 2008 version of the Visual C redistributable to be installed unless you have already done so such as when you have already installed VS2008 Windows 7 does not require this step Note that we have not tested the application under Vista nor versions older
29. exture Maps section for information on how to assign the textures to objects Be aware that non sequential texture names can be used but there numbers will not correspond to the textureID stored in the CSV State file Also they must be named with the JPG extension but do NOT need to be a JPEG format A variety of image types can be read in but they must have the names specified Yes it s strange to rename a PNG image to map00008 jpg but it will work The textures are automatically loaded at launch and may cause a significant delay if they are numerous and large Note that the application will appear to not be responding until all textures are loaded can be minutes The GPU memory determines the total size of the textures loaded Maximum texture size depends on GPU hardware however the user does not need to be concerned as the loading routine will down convert large textures if required by the hardware A typical GPU today will support maximum size of either 1024x1024 or 2048x2048 some support 4096x4096 Power of 2 sizes are also no longer required in most hardware the texture loader will handle any necessary scaling All textures are converted to 8 bits per channel Both RGB and RGBA with alpha channel is supported Readable Image Formats BMP non lbpp non RLE from stb_image documentation PNG non interlaced from stb_image documentation JPG JPEG baseline from stb_image documentation TGA greyscale or R
30. f it is the active object or part of a selection set then the red or yellow wireframe will be drawn around the invisible object To unhide you can use the keyboard selection methods to navigate to the hidden object and then press the hide key again Note that hidden objects are not frozen so animation and live channel data will continue to be updated If you wish you can freeze and then hide to prevent updates add feature to unhide all by selecting all and then pressing hide ximages of hidden object with wireframe around it plus un hidden image 6 2 13 Set Points The set point is typically used to restrict an objects movement Root pins have a default low set point of Z 0 0 which prevents them from being moved below the surface of the primary grid This restriction can be turned off by selecting the Z axes using the X key and then pressing key left bracket will turn off the Z axis low set point for the current selection The set point is applied to all currently active axes For example setting an objects low set point with Z axis active will prevent the object from being moved lower then its current position Similar for the high set point as a ceiling Set points for root pins apply to global coordinates Set points for child nodes are relative to the child coordinate system Currently the set points are toggled using the left and right brackets this will be updated so that simultaneously pressing SHIFT will c
31. faces of interest include SpaceNavigator www 3dconnexion com A 3D mouse that is a full 6 axes device that allows for simultaneous translation and rotation input InfiniteZ www infinitez com An affordable desktop VR system that includes 3D stereoscopic glasses with head tracking and a 3D stylus that can be used to manipulate objects 3 3 Command Line The command line will accept parameters upon launch please see the Command section of this document for more detail The state of the entire scene can be saved and retrieved using the State File in CSV format In addition a separate Channels File is used for time based data that can be recorded and played back for animating objects See the File section of this document for more detail 3 5 Database DB support is currently underway to support MySQL and is designed to be directly compatible with the application data files that store a the state and time based channels data 3 6 Live Channels Currently no live channels are supported only file based channel data Future support for a variety of live input and output devices will add Significant capability to combine real time real world data with static file based data Also will allow for combining and analyzing multiple channel types and sources in a unified environment Applications include realtime EEG machine control and operation of scientific instruments A simple RS232 based input device that provides 8 analog cha
32. ied per cycle scaleRate z float rate of scaling applied per cycle translateRate x float translational velocity rate applied per cycle translateRate y float translational velocity rate applied per cycle translateRate z float translational velocity rate applied per cycle translateVect x float reserved translateVect y float reserved translateVect z float reserved State File Field Descriptions continued shader int shader type flat phong see key table geometry int primitive type used see key table lineWidth float line width used for wireframes and line plots pointSize float point size used for point plots ratio float geometry ratio such as innerRadius of a torus colorIndex int color index from color palette see key table color r int 8bit RGB color value typically set by the index color color g int 8bit RGB color value typically set by the index color color b int 8bit RGB color value typically set by the index color color a int 8bit alpha transparency of node colorFade int fades older data points over time textureID int texture map ID none 0 starts at 1 2 3 hide int hides the plot if set to 1 freeze int freezes the plot if set to 1 center int centers plot on the current data point autoZoom x int auto zooms plots to keep in bounds of the screen autoZoom y
33. lear the set point The toggle can be confusing for example if you press the key while XYZ axes are all active whichever axes has a set point currently ON will be turned OFF while those with no set point will be turned ON set Update set point for children to restrict rotation around the parent 6 2 14 Scene Presets 5 6 7 Loads a preset scene There are 3 hard coded preset scenes that can be loaded by pressing the corresponding number keys 5 6 and 7 Note that you can load the presets repeatedly and the additional set of objects will be positioned relative to the currently active node 6 2 15 State File Load amp Save L Load ANTZ0001 CSV Open K Keep ANTZ0001 CSV Save 1 Load ANTZ0001 CSV SHIFT 1 to Save 2 Load ANTZ0002 CSV SHIFT 2 to Save 3 Load ANTZ0003 CSV SHIFT 3 to Save The State File contains the entire scene including all object parameters and camera locations Some global parameters are not stored such as Alpha Mode Grid Segments Background Color It is possible to merge scenes by loading multiple files into the same scene Camera and grid parameters will be what the last file loaded sets them to future support for storing global parameters 6 2 15 a Keep State K Saves the scene to the CSV file ANTZ0001 CSV more detail is provided in the File section of this document 6 2 15 b Load State L Loads the scene from the CSV file ANTZ0001 CSV Keep and Load will be up
34. llowing list of keyboard commands gives the name of the function followed by a dash then the default key s that are assigned to the function For example New Node N means pressing the N key will create a new node 6 2 1 Exit Fullscreen ESC The application starts up in Fullscreen mode This function allows Displays the scene in a window there is also a system console window that becomes visible 6 2 2 Active Axes X The active axes determines which axes commands will be applied to The active axes can either be a single axis or a combination the default is all three XYZ Each press iterates through XY X Y Z and then back to XYZ SHIFT X will iterate in the reverse direction The only commands that currently use the Active Axes are scaling limits and channel assignments There will likely be new commands added in the future that will be axes specific 6 2 3 Creating amp Deleting Objects N DEL Objects can be individually added or deleted from the scene using keyboard commands There are also presets that load sets of objects see the Scene Presets section New Node N N key creates a new object if a root pin is currently selected it will create another root pin the newly created root pin will be made active Ifa child node is currently selected it will create another child node attached to the active parent node The original child node will remain selected for easy creation of addition
35. may represent good while red is bad A large object might indicate a particular property such as a high flow rate of a water source or lots of money in a fund while a particular geometry type may be used to represent an ethnic group age bracket or whatever the user defines HUD is under development The HUD is the 2D overlay on top of the 3D scene used to display text and indicators that display the object labels compass and legend Some HUD objects such as labels track the position of 3D objects Currently channels can only be streamed from file future support for audio video and other IO devices EEG will allow for combining real time real world data with that of files 4 1 Topology ijmage of varying topology geometry texture color and transparency The scene is composed of a collection of root pins which may have any number of child nodes attached as sub objects in a tree topology Root pins are independent of each other and can be placed anywhere in the scene The child nodes are attached to their parent branch in the tree at a radius that is relative to parents scale The color scale geometry type and position around the parent represent different parameters of the data set being visualized 4 1 1 Orbital Tree The topology is similar to the way planets and moons orbit in our solar system The root pin is akin to the Sun and first order child nodes are like planets Multiple children at the same level typic
36. n have different scale values which result in a non uniform scaling or a stretched looking object Ratio inner radius of a torus The ratio sets the inner radius of the torus as a factor of its size Generally between 0 01 and 1 0 where 1 0 is a donut with no hole and 0 01 is a very thin donut will be implemented shortly Currently the default ratio is 0 1 equivalent to 10 of the outer radius Texture Maps The textureID specifies the texture map of an object A textureID 0 results in no texture map and is the default for most objects The primary grid has a default textureID 1 which corresponds to the file map00001 jpg For more detail see the File Texture Maps section Color The color r g b is set by the colorIndex from a palette of 20 colors Additionally the alpha transparency is set by color a Note that you may set the color to any custom RGB and alpha you choose but if the user changes the color the custom color will be lost In general match the RGB values to the colorIndex using the key table at the end of this appendix section B 2 2 Camera Position There are four cameras available to the user nodes 3 4 5 amp 6 They are all attached as child nodes to a root camera which is node 2 Effectively all the root camera does is determine which of the child node cameras is currently active using it childIndex You can set a cameras position in world coordinates using the translate x y z and
37. nd color The camera can be flown over the scene using either the keyboard or the mouse The mouse has several distinct camera translation modes and the keyboard works in a standard flight mode Also the camera will auto center actively chosen objects There are 4 cameras in the scene which may be selected from and the positions of which are stored in the S Clipping planes are required by OpenGL for efficient 3D rendering They define the volume in which objects are rendered any objects outside this volume are clipped and therefore not drawn You commonly observe this in 3D video games as the point at which distance objects disappear The default near clipping plane has been set to 1 and far is set to a 1000 So objects more then a 1000 units from the camera in world coordinates are clipped Similar for anything closer then 1 unit from the camera Planned update will allow the near and far clip parameters to be set by thes user Also the ability to add additional cameras 4 6 Animation Objects have velocity rates associated with them This can be used to make objects rotate or orbit around their parent or simply move across the screen The other method for animation is using Channels that are keyed on a frame by frame basis The Channels may be assigned to parameters such as position rotation scale and color offset see Commands Channel Assignment section Physics is currently limited to basic velocity rates including rota
38. nnels and 8 digital switches to be monitored in real time A myriad of inexpensive sensors can be used to capture everything from EEG signals to temperature and position just to name a few In addition to the built in audio capability of nearly all computers a large variety of affordable audio IO solutions exist that offer both in and out connections at up to 192kHz 24bit with lots of channels 16 Audio can be recorded and analyzed in real time while comparing to other data sources Also it is relatively easy using various simple circuits to connect all sorts of other sensors up to an audio input and actuators to an output Video support will include multiple channels of real time un compressed HD video for use in everything from machine control to complex analysis through various CPU and GPU based algorithms 3 6 4 Network Network support will allow retrieving real time data from remote sources and support for clustering of the application across multiple systems to enable multi user environments 3 7 Displays Currently only one graphing window is supported and a console window that outputs information for debugging The graphing window can be stretched across multiple displays In Fullscreen mode only the primary display is used xximage of graphing and console windows Planned support for multiple windows and multiple displays in Fullscreen mode will allow for both a single camera view and multiple camera views of th
39. nts 4 Scene Presets 2 15 State File 6 7 8 ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNON ON Section 7 File Types 1 State CSV 2 Channels CSV 3 Event Log CSV 4 Texture Map JPG TGA 5 3D Model 3DS Section 8 DataBase 8 1 MySOL Tables 8 2 Storing Scene State 8 3 Retrieving Scene State 8 4 Labels and Conversion Factors 8 5 External Files Video Audio Appendix A Command Cheat Sheet A l Mouse A 2 Keyboard Appendix B State File CSV Overview Camera Position Node Fields Key Tables type node type geometry shader indexColor BSRBRPRPPUwMNH w w w w w w w w PUNE Appendix C Channel File CSV Appendix D Database Tables Appendix E Acknowledgements Channel Data xindicates not yet implemented but planned for future version Section 1 Introduction 1 1 Quick Start If you just want to get started read the installation instructions in the next section and then jump to Appendix A Command Cheat Sheet Use N to create new objects and the mouse to move objects or navigate the scene Click hold on the background with the Left Right or BOTH buttons for different navigation modes 1 2 What is Antz Antz is a 3D data viewer that facilitates user interaction with complex datasets through use of intuitive spatial cues The purpose is to provide a more efficient mechanism for identifying patterns and relationships in vast quantities of information It is
40. ot very fast ximage of Rescale Normals ON amp OFF 6 2 10 Background Color B Toggle the background color between black and white Useful for saving ink when printing mouse background camera selection only works with a black background 6 2 11 Texture Maps T Iterates through the list of textures for the currently active objects SHIFT T for reverse order The default for an object is no texture assigned except for the grid which defaults to textureID 1 map00001 jpg If you do not want a texture on the grid then select the grid G and press SHIFT T once to decrement to textureID 0 This will result in only the grid lines being drawn Object textures are also effected by color and lighting parameters the exception is the grid texture which is always lit 100 white Textures are loaded at application launch see File Types Texture Map section for more detail SHIFT reverses the iteration order Planned future support for choosing a texture during runtime image of texture maps on grid and objects 6 2 12 a Freeze F Toggles freeze state By default all nodes are not frozen and they can be positioned scaled and rotated If frozen then they will stop being updated and not be modifiable Includes keyboard and mouse controls for position scale and rotation Also stops animation physics and live channel data 6 2 12 a Hide H If hidden the object will no longer be drawn However i
41. point them using rotateRad x y z The rotate x y z s vector can be ignored since it is calculated from rotateRad and is automatically updated rotateRad is in polar coordinates using radians The x axis will tilt the camera up and down the z axis will rotate right and left The y axis is unused at this time The vertical tilt rotateRad x is restricted from 1 57 pi 2 is straight up to 1 57 pi 2 straight down x 0 0 is level Horizontal left right rotation rotateRad z is restricted from 0 0 to 6 28 2pi Looking straight down rotation is clockwise B 3 State File Field Descriptions Field name type description id int nodeID used for pin tree relationship graph type int node type camera grid pin etc see key table data int additional node specific data defined by the node type selected int Selection Set status 1 if part of set 0 if not parent int ID of parent node branchLevel int root node is 0 each sub level is 1 2 3 4 n childArray int same as nodeID childIndex int index of the currently selected child node childCount int number of child nodes attached max of 16 channel x int channel number channel y int channel number channel z int channel number channellndex x int the cycle update index current time stamp channellndex y int th
42. round it If it is part of the selection set then a yellow wireframe is drawn Left clicking on an object that is NOT selected will result in all objects being un selected and only the picked object becoming selected If the object is already selected then the selection set will remain the same The keyboard may also be used to change the state of the active object 6 1 2 Navigation Mouse R Hold on background FLY s camera L Hold on background orbits object in both axes of EXAMINER mode XY L R Hold on background orbits and ZOOMS in and out Examiner mode XZ Note that it is possible to switch directly between Examiner mode XZ and XY by releasing or pressing the right button while continuing to hold the left button 6 1 3 Object Manipulation Mouse L Hold on an object NOT selected will drag only the object DRAGS in XY L Hold on an object CURRENTLY selected will drag all DRAGS in XY R Hold on an object DRAGS all selected objects in XZ plane L R amp Up Down Objects can be moved translated rotated and scaled using the mouse Child nodes behave differently from root pins since they are fixed to there parent The child can be rotated around it s parent and scaled Scaling is subject to the active axes X key The mouse will effect the entire selection set simultaneously this allows you move groups of objects Object manipulation occurs when then the mouse button is held while dragging 6 2 Keyboard The fo
43. s can be quite useful for data sets where multiple data points pile up Instead of the objects being obscured they will appear to be a bright spot where the data points objects overlap You can also select None to turn transparency off Note that in Standard transparency mode objects may range from completely transparent to fully opaque However in other modes such as Additive and Dark the objects may not be able to be either fully opaque or fully transparent This is fundamental to the OpenGL methods used to calculate the various transparency modes ijmages showing the different alpha modes 3 or 4 with none 6 2 10 e Rescale Normals R By default normals are always rescaled this results in uniform shading of objects regardless of the scaled size Scaled objects must have their normals lighting vector for polygons rescaled in order to have proper lighting However not rescaling the normals has the interesting effect of making small objects appear brighter and large ones darker This may be a desired look Since it has the benefit of making it easier to spot small nested groups This is particularly true when using additive transparency So with normal rescaling ON everything appears as you would expect it to With rescaling OFF small objects appear brighter and large ones darker Note that re scaling normals does cause a minor performance loss so turning it OFF may speed things up a little in situations where the GPU is n
44. sed and the keyboard model some high end keyboards feature N key rollover NKRO which do not have this limitation Objects in a selection set appear with a yellow wireframe around them Note that in addition to selected objects there is also the active object which has a red wireframe around it Most commands will operate on all the selected nodes at once when one of the selected items is also the active node If the active node is not part of the selection set then only the active node will be effected Some commands ignore the selection set and only act on the active object regardless of selection states Such commands include creating new pins and deleting them Some commands are axis specific and depend on the currently active axes X key changes the active axes This allows for operations such as non uniform scaling setting individual limits and channel assignments The SHIFT key reverses the action of several commands like scaling Z key and changes the speed of translation and rotation when using the keyboard A useful animation bug is to change the selection to another object while performing a rotation the original object will continue to rotate after you release the rotation key arrows To do this while rotating click with the mouse on another object or any selection command that changes the active node press TAB Select Grid Select Camera etc to initiate the animation state Also applies to zoom and tr
45. the hue with the color offset The color offset has a value range of 0 to 255 Zero does nothing while 255 shifts the hue by one full color component that is red becomes green P key will load the file TNG00001 CSV lt and gt keys will change the channels assigned to the currently active selected objects based on the current Active Axes The console will display the assigned channels See the Command Channels and File Channels section for more info The Channels File is hard coded to be TNGO0001 CSV and is located at the same level as the application A crude demo but works To test the sample file follow these steps Launch the application Rotate the camera so that it is pointing to the grid corner to the right press P loads the time based channel CSV file press N to create a pin press to change color to green press lt this will assign the channels to the object The PIN will zoom in from the distance and change color from red to green Channels are set using lt or gt based on the active axes XYZ XY 2 X amp Y set the position Z is color shift color channel should be between 0 255 color shift works with most of the pallete but not all green gt red other colors to different colors certain colors like grey do not have a noticeable shift akin to changing the HUE in photoshop or an old TV channels are in CSV columns 0 29 you can assign
46. the user at runtime or at launch by passing in multiple file names See the Commands State File section on how to Load and Save files or the appendix on how the files are formatted Also Commands Command Line on how to load files upon application launch 7 2 Channels CSV The antzch000x CSV contains time based channel information The channels can be used to modulate animate objects position scale and color Each object has up to 3 channels assigned to it To change the assigned channel use the lt and gt keys applies the currently active axes X key Channels effect different parameters based on the object type For root pins the X and Y channels effect the X and Y position and Z effects the color For children X is rotation around the parent Y is scale and Z is color See the Command section on how to Load the Channels file or the appendix on how to format the file Future support to include mapping channels to more parameters 7 3 Event Log Event log records all user commands and other specified triggers 7 4 Texture Map JPG TGA Up to 256 textures can be loaded for use in the scene The textures are located in a sub folder of the main application named maps The texture maps need to be sequentially numbered to be properly organized starting with map00001 jpg on up to map00256 jpg By default the grid uses map00001 jpg this can be changed See the Commands Keyboard T
47. then XP however it may work 2 1 1 Windows XP 32 Pro and Windows 2003 Enterprise R2 SP1 freeglut dll gt Windows System32 glut32 d11 gt Windows System32 run vcredist_x86 2008 exe run the app 2 1 2 Windows 7 32 bit freeglut dll gt Windows System32 glut32 d11 gt Windows System32 run the app 2 1 3 Windows 7 x64 64 bit freeglut dll gt Windows Syswow64 glut32 d11 gt Windows SysWOW64 run the app Tested to work with 10 6 and 10 7 likely works with 10 5 and possibly 10 4 Uses the built in GLUT library by Apple no installation required Simply download and run the application Tested to work with CentOS 5 5 32 bit Note that there is a make file for compiling Prerequisites Internet Connection Step 1 install freeglut libraries open terminal sudo yum install freeglut devel Step 2 Run Application Section 3 Input amp Output Overview Significant updates are planned for handling multiple types of real time IO 3 1 Keyboard amp Mouse The primary method of input is the keyboard and mouse Generally all operations can be performed through use of the keyboard where as the mouse provides an easier method for selecting and moving objects For more detail see the Command section of this document 3 2 Joystick amp 3D Control Interfaces Secondary input devices such as Joysticks allow for more intuitive navigation and object manipulation 3D control inter
48. tion significant enhancements are planned ranging from Newtonian mechanics to relativistic flight sim QED and nD user defined basis ximage representing torus rotating around parent based on velocity The Heads Up Display HUD provides feedback of the current state of the scene and command status In general it is a 2D overlay on top of the 3D scene which contains indicators such as text labels compass and console output The HUD console will implement a LISP interpreter or equivalent 5 1 Compass amp Axes The compass displays the position and orientation of the currently active object If the camera is selected it will display the altitude and coordinates of the camera along with the direction bearing it is facing and vertical angle Units are typically in degrees and global units however it is possible to switch the units to custom types with offsets If a pin is selected the coordinates of the pin will be displayed with the altitude and orientation Indicators will include the active axes state 5 2 Console The console serves as the primary message output for the user Most commands return a result that is sent to the console to give the user feedback on the action taken and the resulting change of state Pins can have a label with up to 3 lines associated with them For example a name with latitude and longitude could be displayed The 3 line label can display specific units and properties defined by the tabl
49. urrent software version writes out 3 tables into a single file This may change in the future such that only 1 table per file exists At this time you may ignore all but the first table as the software only reads in the first table If your curious the 2nd table is for auxiliary data specific to the node type and the 3rd table is a list of child nodes attached to each node referenced by its nodeID Tree Topology Perhaps the most difficult aspect of formating the file is properly defining the hierarchy of nodes in the tree topology The file is sequentially processed such that the order of the nodes in the file coupled with the branchLevel determines the hierarchy At this time the order is defined by a recursive algorithm that traverses the tree Starts with the root pin then adds the first branch the primary toroid The first child node of the primary toroid is next followed by its first child and so on until it reaches the end of the branch leaf It then goes backs up as many levels required to find a sibling and then down the sibling branch following its child nodes to the leaf This pattern repeats until all nodes in the tree are created An update is planned very soon to make the file read function agnostic to the ordering of nodes in the file so that one must only properly define the parent node ID and the software will re order as necessary Currently a root pin branchLevel 0 automatically creates a first level
50. view of the file types supported by the application Please see the appendix on information on how CSV files are formatted The Commands section explains how to Load and Save the CSV files Texture Maps are loaded at application launch The primary file type is the State File it is used to store and retrieve the entire state of the current scene The secondary data file type is the Channels file which allows for data that changes over time such as audio EEG position etc It is used to animate object parameters Additionally various image formats are supported for texture mapping File Name Conventions State antz000x CSV Channels TNGO0001 CSV Event Log 10g0000x CSV Texture Maps map0000x JPG 3DS geo0000x 3DS An Event Log file is planned Support for 3DS files to load custom 3D models is planned 7 1 State CSV xximage of dataset loaded in from a CSV file The antz000x CSV is a snapshot of the entire scene It contains all information needed to represent the spatial characteristics of the scene at the specific moment the file is generated However some global parameters are not stored in the file such as window position Alpha Mode transparency type and grid segment count The State File will store velocity rates that result in rotational animation However the data that changes over time per cycle is stored in the Channels file It is possible to merge scenes from multiple files This can be done by
51. with different colors 6 2 10 b Color Offset The color offset shifts the hue by up to one component The internal values range from 0 0f to 1 0f where a value of 0 is the primary color and 1 would be a full shift by one RGB component For example a value of 1 0 will result in red becoming green or green becoming blue or blue becoming red This value can be modulated using the Channels CSV file by assigning the Z channel of the object see Channel Assignment section for detail Currently the Color Offset is accessible only with data loaded in from a CSV file The State File retains the current color offset as well as the channel assignment which can be modulated from the Channels data 6 2 10 c Transparency 9 0 By default objects are 100 opaque To make the selected objects transparent press 9 to decrease opacity Pressing 0 zero will increase opacity less translucent Note that there is also a global alpha mode for the entire scene that effects how transparency is calculated 6 2 10 d Alpha Mode 8 Changes the transparency alpha mode of the entire scene The default is a rather standard subtractive transparency The other modes include a Dark Additive and None Dark results in an overall darker looking scene that appears highly saturated Additive is akin to a flame or light beam where each transparent object adds color to whatever is behind it when several objects stack up they appear brighter Thi
52. ynergist Dave Warner Demo Applications Allan B Scrivner Jeff Sale Coders Shane Saxon Lucas Erickson Mark Buchanan
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