A Quick Look at the User Interface
on this page: viewers | menus
| palettes | toolbar
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Examiner Viewer: use for
rotating, panning, zooming to examine objects.
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Walk Viewer: use for
navigating through a scene.
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Plane Viewer: 2D viewer
used in some editors and fixed views (top, left, right, etc.)
Viewer Buttons

Also see Tools to Use: Viewing.
Grouping Buttons

When you select an object that is grouped, the Parent or Child buttons
become visible.
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Parent: Press Parent to select the top-most level of the
grouping.
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Child: Click on the part of the object you'd like to select,
then press Child until that part becomes selected (manipulator handles
appear on the selection).
See Selecting and Grouping Objects for
more information.
File Menu
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New: clears the window to create a new scene.
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Open: opens and reads a
scene saved in Cosmo Worlds and related formats
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Import: imports
objects from a specified file.
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Import as Inline: creates
an inline to include distributed objects referenced by URL.
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Interactive Import
Placement: check this option ON to interactively place and
resize an imported object; deselect (turn checkmark OFF) to retain
object's original placement.
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Open Gallery View: open Cosmo Worlds gallery, a collection
of sample VRML files for use in your own scenes.
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Save: saves the scene in Cosmo Worlds format (VRML 2.0 plus
special authoring nodes).
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Save As: saves the scene under a new filename.
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Revert: opens the last saved version of the current file.
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Preview: launches Cosmo Player with the current scene loaded
for viewing and interaction.
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Package: launches Cosmo
Package, a program that locates all files included by your document,
scene, or world, and organizes the files for publication on a server.
This process strips authoring source nodes from your scene to produce a
strictly compliant VRML 2.0 file.
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Save Layout: retains current layout for next session
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Exit: exits Cosmo Worlds.
Edit Menu
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Undo: undoes each previous operation in a linear succession.
You may "rewind" back any number of steps until the last,
previous file operation ( i.e. open, save, etc.); until the first
action after a previous undo sequence; or until you have
exhausted the memory of the Cosmo Worlds authoring system.
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Redo: redoes what was just undone, if applicable.
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Edit Object: launches the editor appropriate for modifying
the currently selected object. For example, selecting an extrusion
object, then choosing Edit Object will open the Extrusion Editor.
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Cut: removes the selected object from the scene, and retains
it in the clipboard for further use.
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Copy: copies the selected item into the clipboard for
further use.
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Clone: defines the selected object as a master for producing
multiple instances. All instances share this master description
identically, tracking all changes to its shape and appearance. Use
Paste Clone to place a new instance of this cloned object in the scene.
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Paste Copy: pastes a new copy of objects from the clipboard
into the scene.
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Paste Clone: pastes a new instance of a cloned object into
the scene (see Clone above).
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Interactive Paste
Placement: check this option ON to interactively place and
resize a pasted object; deselect (check OFF) to retain the object's
original placement.
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Group: collects selected objects under a new parent group
node, making a hierarchy.
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Ungroup: disbands a selected parent object. The selected
node is removed and its constituent children become top-level objects
in the scene.
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Add to Group: inserts the selected object into the selected
group.
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Detach from Group: removes a selected object from its parent
group and add it as a top-level object to the scene without ungrouping
the rest of that group.
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Create Parent Group:
creates a new parent group over the selected object, retaining its
place in the scene hierarchy. This is a good way to insert a dedicated
transform node, for example, in applying a jointed animation.
Select Menu
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Select All: selects all top-level objects in the scene.
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Deselect All: deselects all objects in the scene.
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Select Highest: selects the highest level parent
group that contains the picked objects will be selected.
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Select Lowest: selects the lowest level object picked.
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Select Parent: selects the immediate parent of the current
selection.
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Select Child: selects the next lower child object within the
selected group in the hierarchy.
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View All: moves the camera so all objects are in view.
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View Selection: moves the camera for a close view of the
selected object. This is very helpful when a selected object is not in
direct view.
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View Home: positions the camera to show a view from the home
position.
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Set Home: sets the current view as the home position.
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Hide Selected Objects: hides selected objects from view.
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Hide Unselected Objects: hides all unselected objects from
view.
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Show Selected Objects: shows all selected objects that were
hidden by choosing Hide Selected Objects
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Show All Objects: displays any objects that were hidden
using Hide Selected/Unhide Selected.
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Show/Hide Iconic Objects: toggles between hiding or showing
all iconic objects in the
scene; these include objects like sounds and local viewpoint cameras.
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Display Polygon Count:
lets you keep track of the polygon count for a single object or for
all objects in the scene.
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Nice Transparency: renders objects in a transparent, high
quality manner.
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Display Fog: toggles between showing and hiding a fog node
added to the scene.
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Display Background: toggles between showing and hiding a
background node added to the scene.
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Set Working View: choose from a perspective projection
("free" view) and construction views, which limit the camera
to a single plane and an orthographic projection.
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Examiner Viewer: activates the Examiner Viewer mode, in
which the scene is rotated as if it were a ball held in your hand.
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Walk Viewer: activates the Walk Viewer mode, in which the
scene is traversed as if walking.
Palettes Menu (explained in next section)
Find it: Choose Palettes > Creators, Editors, etc.
The palettes include:
To use the palettes: Click on a button to perform an action. A
short description of each button appears below the menu bar when you
pass your cursor over the button.
To customize the palettes:
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Collapse and expand palettes by clicking their heading names; these
look like tabs.
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Drag the palette heading tabs to:
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move the palette up or down within the palette window
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break out the palette into its own window
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drop the palette into another palette window
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When you drag a heading tab, a blue marker appears. This indicates
where the palette that you are moving will appear:
The toolbar is a collection of palette buttons and
spacers that you can add and subtract to create your own custom toolbar.
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Drag buttons off the toolbar to remove them. Drag buttons from the tool
palettes to add them to the toolbar. A blue marker indicates where the
button will appear:

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Create and remove spaces between buttons by dragging palettes a
half-button width to the left or right on the toolbar.