Working with 3-D images is more challenging than working with 2-D images. To make things easier, Strata 3D provides several window and viewing options.
These windows give you access to models, renderings in progress, still images, and animations:
· Modeling - Much of your work will be done here, where you create and modify objects. Controls let you change your viewing options and display methods.
· Project window - lets you control the timelines and attributes of all of your objects. In Strata 3D, almost everything can change over time: objects, lights, cameras, textures, etc.
· Camera Window - used to "take a picture" of your model. You can set the type, angle, view and movement of the camera as it records your model and/or animation. (Models and animations can also be rendered without using a camera.)
· Spotlight window - shows you the area that your spotlight illuminates. The controls are similar to a camera window.
· Shape window - lets you create shapes, store them, and then insert them into your models by reference. It looks like a modeling window, except that the name of your model will appear in parentheses before the name of your shape in the window's title bar.
· Group window - lets you edit the individual members of a grouped set of objects, and change their position relative to each other. The controls are the same as a modeling window.
· Image/Snapshot - displays a finished rendering or snapshot.
· Rendering window - lets you watch the rendering as it progresses. It appears when you start a rendering of a scene or animation.
Only one window can be active at a time. You activate a window by clicking anywhere on it with your mouse. The initial view, display method, and other options can be changed in the Windows tab of the Preferences dialog.