Changing the configurations

The grid is used by ppModeler to snap vertices on the grid points. The x, y and z steps between 2 grid points can be set here. the grid can be disabled on an axis basis by setting value 0.
The default spline resolution is used for some basic meshes (like sphere) and meshes based on 2D curves.
The drawing mode (software or OpenGL) can be changed here.
The user can set the default setting when ppModeler is started. The default values are:
  • The number of views (1 or 4);
  • The drawing mode for the view (1 view) or the perspective view (4 views);
  • The window size and position with the button 'save window size';
  • The snapping grid size and the defaut spline resolution;
  • The number of actions between Autosave

The colors of the different elements inside a view can be set here.
The first radio button defines if ppModeler is using icons or text, 2D or 3D buttons for the tools and toolboxes:

The next parameters defines the color of the selected tool and toolbox button, and the unselected buttons color. These colors are used with text buttons only.
ppModeler displays two types of grids: 2D grid and 3D grid. The 2D grid is displayed only when the view is pointing along one of the world axes (x, y, z), and the spacing between grid lines is defined by the snapping grid. The 3D grid is defined here, with a x and y size, and a step between the grid lines.
ppModeler displays cameras and lights with 3D meshes always in wire mode. The size of the meshes can be set here. The size is given in world unit.
The 3D/2D manipulator can have the following layout:
  • the full 3D manipulator:
  • without the rotation circles:
  • without the axes (but with or without the rotation circles):
  • Dashed axes (only in software rendering mode).
It is also possible to disable the view manipulator axes.
The last three parameters are:
  • the rotation mode: 'Trackball' or 'Turn table'.
    In the trackball mode, horizontal move of the mouse move the view along the vertical axis of the view. Vertical moves of the mouse move the view along the horizontal axis of the view.
    In turn table mode, horizontal move of the mouse move the view along the z axis of the world. Vertical moves of the mouse move the view along the horizontal axis of the view;
  • Multipass rendering: When enable, if the scene is drawn with scene lights, the scene is rendered multiple times to take care of all the scene lights. OpenGl ussually support 8 lights. If the scene contains more than 8 lights, only the first 8 will be used to render the scene. Multipass rendering render the scene as many times as there is group of 8 lights to lights the scene with all lights. This is slower to render, but more accurate.
  • Selection box size: This defines the siz, in pixel, of the selection box (for vertices and edges for example).

This is where the rendering commands can be set. The number of commands can vary, depending on the rendering scripts installed with ppModeler. When ppModeler uses one of these renderers (from the 'Rendering' menu), it generates a data file and then uses the appropriate commands. '%s' is placed in the command at the place where the data file should be put. If the path to the rendering program contains spaces, the path should be put between double quotes, for example:
"c:\C:\Program Files\POV-3.6\bin\pvengine.exe" \RENDER %s
Windows only.
The windows version of ppModeler can use the procedural Darktree textures. ppModeler comes with a sample of 10 procedural textures, but more can be downloaded on the Darkling Simulation web site. The setting here defines where the procedural texture definitions are installed, and if ppModeler should scan the directory at startup. If the directory is not scaned, then no darktree texture will be available (but ppModeler starts quicker).
BeOS, Linux:
The configuartion will be saved only if the PPMODELER_DIR system variable is set properly.
You can check that this variable points to a valid directory in the 'help->about...' window: