3D Replay requirements and FAQ What you need on your PC to use these visualizations

Software Requirements

With Netscape 4.7x (preferred):

• http://www.netscape.com (Note: CosmoPlayer will not work in Netscape 6.  Netscape 4.7 and Netscape 6 will peacefully co-exist on the same PC. Install Netscape 4.7 base you will be able to use the rest of this software and view the 3D Replays.)
• CosmoPlayer 2.2.1 http://www.cosmosoftware.com
• GeoVRML 1.1 runtime http://www.geovrml.org (As of 28 July 2003 the GeoVRML1.1 Windows installer includes the 1.1 versions of the GeoProximitySensor and GeoTransform nodes.)

With Internet Explorer 4 and higher:

• Cortona VRML plugin http://www.parallelgraphics.com (Note: chose the manual install. Navigation in Cortona is difficult, CosmoPlayer is the preferred VRML browser.)
• GeoVRML 1.1 http://www.geovrml.org
• Additional classes and protos available at http://mww.mbari.org/3Dreplay/newGeoVRML/ (Note: rsn these will be incorporated into the GeoVRML installer)

There are known bugs in this implementation. In testing of MBARI 3D replays on several systems these bugs usually result in the browser becoming unresponsive, requiring you to close all of its windows and end the task. This occurs more frequently as new worlds are loaded without restarting the browser. The solution is to close all windows of your web browser, restart it and then view the next world. If you are using this 3D data visualization tool and doing other web surfing please use another browser for the other surfing as the browser used for 3D Replay may freeze and lock up its other windows.

Unless you enjoy exploring new VRML worlds on your own I highly recommend asking me to help configure your computer and to walk you through how best to use the navigation controls. Please call me at (831) 775-1769 or email me mccann@mbari.org. If you wish to continue on your own please read the information below on how to configure your browser and navigate the worlds.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What are the keyboard keys I press in Netscape/CosmoPlayer to move around the world?
• Which renderer should I use in CosmoPlayer?
• How do I navigate in Cortona?
• What are the controls on the left?
• The 3D Replay worlds no longer load in my browser. How can I fix this?
• What is the color lookup for the ROVCTD data mappings?

What are the keyboard keys I press in Netscape/CosmoPlayer to move around the world?

For reference here are the keyboard accelerators for use in navigating these 3D worlds:

• Shift - Click #1 mouse button once: Executes a seek to the object you point at, also resets the point of rotation.
• Shift - Click-hold #1 mouse button and drag the mouse: Rotates view around rotation point (use above method to reset the rotation point).
• With Ctrl key held down Shift - Click-hold #1 mouse button and drag the mouse: Zooms in and out of the scene. Use this to back up after you have seeked too close to an object.
• With Alt key held down Shift - Click-hold #1 mouse button and drag the mouse: Pans up, down, left, right in the scene.

In order for these keyboard accelerators to work you must have "Turbo Mode and Continuous Seek" selected in your CosmoPlayer Preferences:

Here is a paragraph from the 2002 Web3D Symposium paper describing the navigation features of this system:

Navigating a 3D world with a mouse that moves in 2D is always a challenge. For viewing 3D Dive Replays, the CosmoPlayer VRML browser is preferred because of the utility of its Examine functions. The user can position the ROV to an area of interest along the dive track and "Seek" on it. This action resets the center of rotation to the seek point and moves the viewpoint closer. He or she can then rotate about this point to visualize nearby features. To facilitate this mode of operation, the default behavior of the Shift key should be changed. In CosmoPlayer's preferences, Keyboard tab, select the "Turbo Mode and Continuous Seek" option. With this setting the Shift key now modifies the action of the mouse. The user holds the Shift key down and clicks once to Seek to a point. To rotate about this point the user holds the Shift key down, clicks and holds the mouse button down while moving the mouse. With the Shift key held down, the Alt and Ctrl keys can be used to switch to the Pan and Zoom controls. The Shift key also disables TouchSensors within the world. A little experimenting and practice will give the user confidence in navigating the 3D world to provide whatever view of the data is desired. If the user gets lost in the world then one of the set viewpoints can be selected to reset the view.

Which renderer should I use in CosmoPlayer?

I have had better experience with the Direct3D Renderer in CosmoPlayer; it does a better job of showing the dive profiles above the terrain.  

How do I navigate in Cortona?

I recommend using the CAD-skin as this provides similar navigation functions to CosmoPlayer's Examine mode.

Right click to bring up Preferences and select the CAD-like Skin:

What are the controls on the left?

Each dive has it's own individual set of controls that can be used to load in additional data for the dive, color the dive track with the ROVCTD data, adjust the height of the dive track relative to the terrain, and control the playback of the dive.

The letters (which are also buttons) have roll-over text to help you remember what they do. The large slider controls the ROV and ship position/orientations according to their time history. The GMT time is displayed on the left of the blue ball and updates only when you let go of the slider. The smaller slider in the upper left controls the vertical offset of the dive track relative to the terrain. You can adjust this plus or minus 25 m. The dive name in green is the one whose controls are active. To activate controls for another dive click on the green dive name to turn that one off (the controls are unloaded) and then click on another dive name (those controls are loaded).

Here is an image showing these functions and other elements of the 3D Replay:


(Click image for larger version)

The 3D Replay worlds no longer load in my browser. How can I fix this?

CosmoPlayer caches many of the files that are downloaded into the browser. This includes texture maps, geometry for the terrain, the external prototypes that make up the 3D Replay application, and external prototypes that support the GeoVRML operations. Occaisonally, one of these cached files may become corrupt - at least that is my suspicion. A corrupt cached file may lock up CosmoPlayer such that it cannot successfully load a 3D Replay. A remedy for this is to remove the cached files. To do this on Windows open a command window, cd to %TEMP%, and remove all cp* files:

• Go to Start -> Run..., enter cmd in the Open: text area and press enter or click OK
• In the window that pops up enter the following at the c:\> prompt:

     cd %TEMP%
     del cp*
  

Open Netscape and try reloading a 3D Replay.

What is the color lookup for the ROVCTD data mappings?

See:

Additional screen shots

Last updated: 17 September 2003, Mike McCann