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Frequently Asked Questions about Flux Studio
- How do I get rid of those green axis arrows in the center?
Select the View menu, then Render Options. In the pop-up window uncheck Show Axis, and
then check Apply to all windows.
- How do I make the VRML elevation grid node (ground) with Flux Studio?
While Flux Studio does not currently support the elevation grid, you can deform an
IndexedFaceSet (IFS) into a very convincing ground. Please see my page on IFS editing.
- How do I get something on the ground in Cybertown?
In Flux Studio go to View>Grid>Grid Options and set the spacing to 0.25. This will
make a grid with a line at exactly Y=-1.75. Make a new group, move all your geometry into
this group (drag & drop in the scene tree window) and set your object on this line.
- How can I make my filesize smaller?
Did you know that in Flux Studio after you make an object, select it and hit copy, that you
can then hit an icon labeled "Create reference node (USE)"? This places a
reference to the geometry in the file at the new location. Basically the geometry
coordinates are in the file only once, but USEd two or many more times. This reduces
file size (a bunch if you have many similar objects in different locations). Also, if you
change the color or texture of the "master" or DEF(ined) object, all the
references also change.
- How can I hand edit a file produced by Flux Studio?
Easy, just export a ASCII text file instead of a gzipped compressed file. File
menu>VRML export options>un-check GZip World file. Then back in the File menu select
Export VRML97 World. You will then have a plain text file that you can edit in a text
editor such as notepad (or better yet, try the vastly more sophisticated and free notetab).
Another quick and dirty way to view the code; Select the Node of interest, (or Group of
nodes), then hit: "Clip Boards"->"Copy VRML into clipboard."
It will export the VRML ASCII for the selected node, and put it in the Windows Clipboard.
You can then Paste it into your ASCII text editor.
- How do I make a group of objects?
The easiest way is to create a Group node - just click on the button and click in any
of the window (you can then modify the group's origin, rotation, etc. in the object
properties window). Then if you select the group object and from the Selection menu and
choose "set working Group", all objects that you create from then on will
automatically be placed under the group node you just created.
If you have already started making shapes and want to organize them into groups, create
new groups and name them appropriately. Now you can use the hierarchy scene tree (is that
what its called?) to simply drag and drop your objects into the correct group node.
Just a note: be sure you know the translation and rotation, etc. of your groups - I
usually try to set a 0,0 point for each groups' objects... Hope that makes sense?
Ricki
- How do I make a 2D image of my object?
There are a couple of ways to make a snapshot of your object. The most general way is
to...
- View your object in your browser.
- Hit <alt><prtScr> keys; this prints the screen image to your cut &
paste buffer
- Open up your image processing program (PhotoShop, PaintShop Pro, Microsoft Paint,
etc...)
- Hit <ctrl>v this pastes what is in your cut & paste buffer to the image
processing application.
Another technique is to use the tools that Flux Studio has provided.
- View your model in Flux Studio
- Go into the Browser Simulation mode (F5)
- Position your object and hit the camera icon
- You are given the choice of where to save the image
- You still may need to crop your image to make it smaller
Watch the size of the image, I think there is a 20KB limit for thumbnails in Cybertown.
- What I cant for the life of me figure out now is how to make em small enuff..I mean i
made a sword that was pretty small on my screen as I made it but when I checked it on that
mall scale page its like 3 times the size it should be.
Yes, scale of objects takes some getting used to in VRML. 1st you really need to turn
on the background grid in Flux Studio. Either hit the grid icon of go to the View
Menu>Grid>Grid Options. The major (annotated) divisions are one meter (units in VRML
are meters, not yards). I use the grid and especially the snap to grid options frequently.
YOu can easily change the grid divisions if you are working on a real small object. This
will help you to build objects the right size to begin with (that is the best
method). IF you have made an object and you discover that it is too large or small,
you can make a new group, then in the scene window drag the items that compose the obkect
into the new group. Then you can scale the entire group smaller (like multiply by one
third, 0.3).
- I was wondering how a person could make a 2d thing follow your eye?
In Flux Studio, add a group. Put the stuff in that group.
Click the properties tab for the group.
Select the radio button for "billboard".
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