the K-3D user interface

in the following discussion, we define and describe each of the elements of K-3D's user interface - take a good look, since we'll be using these terms extensively throughout the online help!

Main Titlebar

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the K-3d main titlebar, located at the top of the K-3D screen, displays the name of whichever document is active, and contains the standard Windows controls for minimizing, maximizing, and exiting the program.

 

Menubar

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the K-3D menubar, located immediately beneath the main titlebar, contains groups of commands, or menu items, organized into menus, that you use to control the program.  click on the menu to open it and see which menu items it contains.   throughout these pages we refer to menu commands by placing the menu and command next to each other, separated by a "/"; so a sentence such as "use the Edit / Point Mode command" means open the "Edit" menu by clicking on it, then click on the "Point Mode" command in the list that appears. wpe21.jpg (7752 bytes)

 

 

Toolbars

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the K-3D toolbars contain small buttons, each one of which is a shortcut to a command located on the K-3D menubar.  clicking on a toolbar button is the same as selecting its' menu item.  if you place the mouse pointer over a toolbar button and pause for a moment, a small tooltip will appear, describing the function that that button performs.  in addition, if you open a menu from the K-3D menubar, you will see each toolbar button displayed next to its' command, to help you learn which buttons and which commands go together.

 

you can move and rearrange K-3D's toolbars by dragging them by their grippers to anywhere on screen you'd like:

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Using the Tools / Customize Toolbars command, you can also move individual buttons between toolbars, hide unwanted buttons, and create entirely new toolbars all your own ... K-3D will save your preferences for the next time you run the program!

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Vertical Toolshelf

the vertical toolshelf, which appears by default on the right side of the K-3D screen, contains many of the most commonly used elements of the K-3D interface.  from the vertical toolshelf you open and close K-3D tools, create and delete K-3D objects, and interact with the interfaces to most of them.  you can move the vertical toolshelf around the K-3D screen by using its' gripper, and you can use its' close button to temporarily hide it:

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when the vertical toolshelf is hidden, you can use the Tools / Vertical Toolshelf command to make it visible again.  the vertical toolshelf is divided into four tabs:

Shelf

wpe12.jpg (9780 bytes) when you open a tool or an object, its' interface usually appears on the shelf tab.  from there, you interact with the tool or object until you're done with it, then hit its' Close button, usually located at the bottom of the tool.  also note that most tools and objects have a Help button at the bottom of their interface, which will take you directly to their documentation.  for an explanation of the individual controls for each tool and object, take a look at the K-3D Help Index.
note how the title of the open tool or object, "Rotate" in this example, appears in the tool's titlebar.  when you have more than one tool or object out on the shelf at a time, each one has its' own titlebar.   to select which tool or object is active, click on its' titlebar: wpe22.jpg (5587 bytes)
for a reminder of which tool or object is active, glance down at the K-3D statusbar

Hierarchy

wpe13.jpg (8696 bytes) the hierarchy tab contains a hierarchical (parent / child) view of all the K-3D objects in your document.  if you want to see the controls for a particular object, double-click the left mouse button on it, and the interface for that object will appear, usually on the shelf tab.
 

you can also click the right mouse button on an object to open a menu containing items that pertain to that object:

using the menu, you can edit, delete, rename, duplicate, select, deselect, hide, or unhide an object.

you also use the hierarchy tab to alter the parent / child relationships of the K-3D objects in your document.  to do so, you click on an object and drag it up or down within the hierarchy while holding down the left mouse button.   when you release the left mouse button, the object will become a "child" of the object you released it over.

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Toolbox

wpe14.jpg (11297 bytes) the tools tab contains a list of all the K-3D Tools installed on your system.  to open a tool, simple double-click the left mouse button on the tool's name.  The tool's interface will appear, usually (but not limited to) the shelf tab.

Objectbox

wpe15.jpg (11653 bytes) the objects tab contains a list of all the K-3D Objects installed on your system.  to create a new instance of an object within your document, double-click the left mouse button on the object's name.  a new instance of the object will be created, you will immediately have an opportunity to give the object a descriptive name:

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you should give your object a name that will help you remember its' purpose.  once you've done so, hit the OK button and the new object's interface will appear, usually on the shelf tab.   the new object has become a part of your document, so you can use the hierarchy tab to rename it, reopen its' interface, copy it, etc.

 

Horizontal Toolshelf

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the horizontal toolshelf, which appears by default on the bottom of the K-3D screen, is used to display the interfaces of those K-3D Tools and K-3D Objects whose design doesn't lend itself to a vertical layout.  Channels, in particular, always appear in the horizontal toolshelf.   you can move the horizontal toolshelf around the K-3D screen by using its' gripper, and you can use its' close button to temporarily hide it:

wpe7.jpg (1923 bytes)  when the horizontal toolshelf is hidden, you can use the Tools / Horizontal Toolshelf command to make it visible again.

 

Camera View

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Status Bar

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the K-3D status bar is used to indicate which tool or object is active.  the tool that is active will display a message in the status bar, along with a short reminder of how it can be used interactively, if at all.  as an example, the message "Scale - LMB Drag to scale, Shift-LMB Drag to scale all axes, Ctrl-LMB Drag to scale along the active axis" would tell you that the Scale tool is active, and that various keyboard - mouse combinations will scale objects within your document in different ways.

on the right hand side of the status bar, the Framerate Display is constantly updated to indicate how quickly your computer hardware is refreshing the display.  you can use the Framerate Display to evaluate how well your cpu / 3D accelerator hardware work for you.

 

on to second step - modelling ...

 

 

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