align a vertex / capture a vertex
You can align a vertex with a vertex of another chain very simply. Select the vertex you want to align and move
it in the direction of the other vertex. When you are close to the destination, press the CTRL key while keeping
the left button of the mouse down. If you are close enough, the vertex will align itself with the other vertex, which
means that its three coordinates will be the same as the coordinates of the other vertex. If several vertices appear
at the same location in the selected view, a pop-up menu is displayed beside it, which allows you to select the desired
vertex by clicking on the menu option the label of which shows the "third" coordinate of the vertex
(x in the side view, z in the top view, y in the front view).
animation blocks
If you press the SHIFT key instead of the CTRL key, the vertex will be captured. That means that the two vertices
will be merged into a single one belonging to both chains. If several vertices appear at the same location in the
selected view, a pop-up menu is displayed beside it, which allows you to select the desired vertex by clicking on
the menu option the label of which shows the "third" coordinate of the vertex (x in the side view, z in the top view,
y in the front view).
Animation blocks are used in the Model Tree Editor to set the attributes of
the animation nodes. To define an animation block, select an animation node in the Model Tree Editor and click on the
properties button.
There are to kinds of animation block:
assembly
A 3D model can be made of several assemblies. There is one assembly per *.3DM file. One of them is associated with
the master-project.
Please look at the section of this tutorial dedicated to the components of
an AD2K2 3D model.
branching instruction
Please have a look at the Project Editor reference guide.
chain
A chain is a set of vertices. It can be:
The chain editor allows you to edit the chain.
Please look at the section of this tutorial dedicated to the components of
an AD2K2 3D model.
chain editor
The chain editor allows for the creation of a new chain as well as the modification of an existing one.
It is launched by activating the Draw/New chain menu option or the Draw/Edit chain menu option
or by clicking on the appropriate button of the tool bar. It is displayed in a temporary input panel on the right
of the graphic window.
You can create or modify a vertex directly in the graphic window with the mouse or through the chain editor input panel.
The chain editor input panel The chain editor panel is composed of three input fields, a listbox and two ranges of buttons.
The input fields allow the input or the modification of the coordinates of a vertex (x, y and z). The listbox lists the
vertices of the chain. Each vertex is represented by a line showing its three coordinates. The selected vertex is highlighted.
When the listbox has the focus, you can scroll in the listbox with the keys of the keyboard. Coordinates are expressed in
feet.
When you are in the chain editor, the focus is shared between the temporary input panel and the Graphic Window. When the
temporary input panel has the focus, you can use the keyboard but the Graphic Editor shortcuts have no effect. On the
other hand, when the Graphic Window has the focus, the keyboard is useless except for the Graphic Editor shortcuts. To
give the focus to the Graphic Window or the temporary input panel, click on it.
There are 8 buttons in the chain editor:
You can move an existing vertex as you would do out of the chain editor.
Exiting the chain editor : you can exit the chain editor either by clicking on the cancel, line or poly buttons of the
Chain editor input panel or by clicking on the end capture mode button on the tool bar. The class of template
button has the same effect as the poly button.
See the template section below.
A Template class defines the common features that will be shared by the templates of the class:
There are 3 different kinds of template :
code page
A code page is associated with a project. To display the project code page, click on the model editor
button of the Graphic Editor tool bar. The code page is composed of instructions
that control the way the model is displayed by Flight Simulator. The animation of the moving parts is performed thanks to
these instructions. Look at the section of this tutorial dedicated to the Project Editor
to get more details on it.
This code page allows you to merge several assemblies into the project.
There is also a code page at the sub-assy level. It is displayed when you select the sub-assy and when you click on
the combined pair of instruction
button of the sub-assy panel tool bar. Look at the section dedicated to
the sub-assy code page in this tutorial to get more details.
Please have a look at the Project Editor reference guide.
export chains
You can export chains from a project to another project or to an assembly. To do that, you need to mark these chains for export. You can do that:
hinges
Hinges are used in the Model Tree Editor to set the rotation axis
of most of the animation nodes and of the moving nodes.
To define a hinge, activate the Utilities/Define a hinge menu option.
A hinge is based either on two existing vertices or on a vertex and a vector. The vertices are to be selected by clicking on the Graphic display window. When the show hinges option is selected, the hinges are displayed and can be edited.
Why do we use vectors with some animation instructions and hinge with the others ?
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move point / move chain
In the move point mode, you can move a single vertex by a simple click-and-drag operation on the Graphic Editor screen.
In the move chain mode, you move the complete chain by doing that. You can go from one mode to the other by clicking on the
model tree
button of the tool bar.
Every assembly is associated with a model tree. Each branch of the model tree can be a part (a sub-assy), a set of parts or
a sub-tree. Any branch at any level of the model tree can be animated or can be subject to a condition. To display the model tree
and modify it, click on the button of the Graphic Editor tool bar.
The Model Tree Editor is launched.
Look at the section of this tutorial dedicated to the Model Tree Editor
to get more details on it.
multiple selection
The multiple selection mode allows you to manipulate several chains at the same time. It acts as a clip-board
where you temporarily store these chains. To work with the multiple selection clip-board, you need to activate
the multiple selection mode by selecting the appropriate option of the Selection menu or by clicking on the
priority chain / priority template
button of the tool bar. When the multiple selection mode is
activated, the chains stored in the multiple selection clipboard are drawn in yellow and the chain of the clip-booard
on which the multiple-selection pointer points at is drawn in green. To add a chain to the multiple selection clipboard,
select it and press the space bar. The multiple selection pointer will automatically point at it and it will be drawn in
green. To remove a chain from the multiple selection clip-board, you need to select it. Selecting a chain belonging to
the multiple selection clip-board makes the multiple selection pointer pointing at it. When it is selected, press the
space bar. To reset the multiple selection clipboard, click on the
button on the tool bar.
The priority chain option gives a priority to the chains in the Graphic display. The priority template option
gives a priority to the templates in the Graphic display. The priority mode is set by clicking on the appropriate button
rotation block / translation block
on the tool bar. The priority mode also affects the operation of the
create/edit/delete
buttons of the tool bar.
Rotation blocks and translation blocks are used in the Model Tree Editor
with the animation nodes. Please look at the dedicated application note.
show selected sub-assy / show all sub-assies
Clicking on the show sel button on the tool bar conceals any
sub-assy which is not selected. Clicking on the show all buttons displays all the sub-assies. You can also select
the sub-assies to be displayed by activating the View/View options menu option.
sub-assy
The sub-assy is the basic component of an AD2K2 3D model. A sub-assy is a set of chains (triangles and hidden polygons) which can be colored or textured. A single color and a single texture is assigned to each sub-assy.
When you start a new session, AD2K2 automatically creates a desk sub-assy and a
Lines sub-assy. The desk sub-assy is a working sub-assy. You can store into it any chain that you use during
the design and that are not to be displayed by Flight Simulator (as the texture supports, for instance). The Lines
sub-assy is the container of all the lines of the 3D model (antenna wires, for instance). A third sub-assy can be created
automatically by AD2K2: this is the Import sub-assy (see the export chains section).
Each sub-assy is associated with a sub-panel in the sub-assy panel.
template
The Template concept is one of the most powerful tools provided by the Graphic Editor. A template is a polygon with some invariant features :
Please look at the dedicated section of this tutorial for more details on the
templates.
texture supports
A texture support is a polygon which is used to define the limits of application of a texture on a sub-assy :
tool bar (Graphic Editor)
tool bar (Project Editor)
tool bar (Sub-assy panel)
tool bar (Sub-assy code page)
transparency and shadow
Please look at the dedicated application note.
tree
See model tree.
vectors
Vectors are used by AD2K2 in several occasions :
You can define a vector by its coordinates (direct mode) or by selecting two existing points on the Graphic display window (2-point mode). When the show vectors option is selected, the vectors are displayed and can be edited.