Common Object Controls

There are a number of controls that are shared across multiple different object types. These common controls will be explained in the following sections, before getting into the object specific controls.

Colormap

The Colormap tab can be used to display both the current color map and a histogram of depth values.

Data Range: The original full range of the data set.

User Range: The currently applied range of data.

Reset Button: Resets the range to the original data range.

Apply Button: Applies the current user range to the surface.

Change Colormap... Button: Allows the user to select an alternative colormap with the use of the Colormap Editor. Once selected, the surface will be re-shaded using the new colormap.

For more information, please see Object Attributes - Color Map.

Tools Menu

Edit CMap: This will launch the color map editing and manipulation dialog.

Save as Image: This will save the current color map display area as an image file.

Import: This command can be used to import color maps from other packages for use in Fledermaus.

Export to ASCII: Any colormap can be exported to an ASCII text file using this command.

Shading

There are six parameters of the illumination model that can be adjusted to customize your shaded image as shown in the figure below. These parameters are: the light position and direction, the amount of ambient light, the specular component, the shadow softness, and the vertical exaggeration of the heights. Pressing the "…" button located to the right of each of the light parameters displays a dialog box where the parameter values can be entered directly.

Shadow Direction: The arrow in this box represents the sun direction, which can be rotated to any azimuth from 0 to 360 degrees by clicking and dragging the left mouse button inside the box. The actual angle is displayed in red text near the center of the box. The sphere in the middle of the diagram displays the current direction and length of the cast shadows. Dragging the slider located on the right side of the Shadow Direction box adjusts the length of the shadows (thus sets the height of the sun). In the example shown in the figure the light is coming from the North West (upper left). At the bottom of the area the Effective Sun Angle is listed. This value lists the approximate sun elevation in degrees, where 0 degrees indicates the sun would be at the horizon and 90 degrees would indicate the sun would be directly overhead.

The rest of the parameters are controlled via the following slider controls.

Ambient: This slider controls the amount of ambient or background light in the lighting model. It primarily affects the amount of light that appears in cast shadows. High ambient light makes the entire image brighter and the shadows less distinct.

Specular: This slider controls the amount of glossy highlight that appears. High specular makes the surface appear to be very glossy. Low specular will provide a matte finish.
Soft Shadows: This slider controls how sharp or soft the shadow edges are.

Vertical Scale: The height of the surface can be artificially increased or decreased to change the shadow length. Occasionally this is useful to enhance a low relief surface or reduce a very high relief surface. It is usually better to use the Shadow Direction/Length box to configure and adjust the shadow length. It should be noted that changing the Vertical Scale will affect the Sun Angle since the Sun Angle is not just based on the horizon but also the Vertical Scale. This is why the Sun Angle should be thought of as Effective Sun Angle. Changing the Sun Angle will not change the Vertical Scale.
All of the sliders work in a standard way. To change the position of the slider select and drag it using the left mouse button. To go directly to a specific part of the slider bar click the middle mouse button.

For more information, please see Object Attributes - Shading.

Bounds

Every object displayed in Fledermaus has a set of X,Y and Z bounds that locate the object is geo-spatial space. The bounds for each object are displayed and modified using the Bounds tab, as shown in figures below.

For more information, please see Object Attributes - Bounds.

Geo-Referencing

In addition to the bounds tab, every object also has a Geo-Referencing tab that defines the coordinate system for that object. The coordinate system can be changed by using the combo box when selecting 'common' coordinate systems or the Select button can be used to launch the advanced coordinate systems dialog.

Some object types (such as SonarDTM) can be reprojected to the coordinate system of the scene by using the Reproject Now button. If the data object type does not support reprojecting, this option will not be available.

For more information, please see Object Attributes - Geo-referencing.

DTM

For more information, please see Object Attributes - DTM.

Time

The Time tab is the central location for viewing and editing the keyframes for each Fledermaus data object.

There are five groups of keyframes:

• Position/Orientation
• Scale
• Transparency
• Visible
• Frame

Add Key: Add a new keyframe at the current time and attribute state.

Delete Key: Delete the currently selected keyframe.

Previous Key: Move back to the previous keyframe.

Next Key: Advance to the next keyframe.

Clear Keyframes for Current Group: This option will clear any recorded keyframes that are part of the currently selected group.

Clear Keyframes for All Groups: Instead of just clearing keyframes for one group, this option will clear all recorded key frames.

Import Keyframes: This command allows keyframes stored in the FAN format to be imported into the current object.

Export Keyframes: Keyframes can be exported from the current object using the FAN format. The exported file can be loaded into any other Fledermaus object.

Show Path Toggle: This toggle with turn on a graphical path in the 3D visualization window for the current object.

Range: This command is used to specify what range of the path data will be displayed.

Shape: Theses options will affect how the path is displayed in the visualization window.

Width: The width parameter is used to adjust the size of the data objects path.

Info

The Info tab is used to display key/value pairs of information relevant to the object.

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