zspace Studio Users Guide Version 1.0-2014 Beta, pre-release zspace.com zspace Studio Users Guide
zspace is a registered trademark of zspace, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. zspace, Inc. 2014
Contents zspace Studio Account Setup...1 Sandbox Mode...5 Stylus Modes... 5 Move... 5 Zoom... 5 Dissect... 6 Trashcan... 7 Inventory Objects Tab... 7 Inventory Tools Tab... 8 Straight Ruler... 9 Surface Ruler... 9 Cutting Plane... 10 Control Bar... 11 Login... 11 Settings... 11 Home... 11 Save/Save As/Publish... 11 Reset Activity... 12 Object Library... 12 Import Model... 13 Show/Hide Scale... 14 Reset Parts... 14 Add Note... 14 Screenshots... 15 Viewpoints... 16 Hide/Show... 16 visit us online at zspace.com
Tour Builder... 16 To play back your tour, use the arrows at the top of the tour builder window. You can also jump to a specific slide by clicking on it.... 16 Activity Builder... 17 zview... 17 Teacher Features Activity Builder... 18 Overview... 18 Steps to Follow... 19 1) Setting up the Scene... 19 2) Adding Questions... 19 3) Changing Global Settings... 20 4) Changing Object Settings... 21 5) Testing and Publishing... 21 4
zspace Studio Account Setup 1. Launch the zspace Studio application and wait for the login screen to appear. 2. Create a login by entering a name into the Username field. You do not need to enter a password on this screen. Click Log In. a. The following dialog box appears. 1
b. Press Ctr+Alt+t to turn your login account into an Administrator/Teacher account. This grants you access to all of zspace Studio s features. c. You can leave the fields for first and last name blank. You can leave the password fields blank. Click Create and wait to be logged in. (This may take a few seconds.) 3. If prompted to select a server, select Offline. 2
a. zspace Studio may not prompt you to choose a server. If you do not see the Server List window, Studio has automatically selected Offline. After clicking Create in Step 2c above, the main menu appears (shown in Step 4) and you can proceed from that point. Any type of user can access the server list window at a later time by clicking on the words Offline connection. in the bottom right of the main menu. 4. Select Sandbox from the right-hand panel in the main menu. a. You will see a loading screen. It may last 30 seconds or more. b. Click the Object Library icon in the top control bar to view models included with Studio. Select a model. 3
c. Explore Studio s Sandbox models. 4
Sandbox Mode Stylus Modes When a stylus mode is selected, its icon turns blue. You can only use one stylus mode at a time. Move This is the default stylus mode. Grab hold of a model using the center button on the stylus, then drag the model around the scene. Zoom Select this stylus mode to zoom in and around a model. Click the center button on the stylus to zoom into a point on the model. Click the right stylus button to reset the model to its original position. 5
Dissect This stylus mode lets you take apart models that are composed of multiple pieces. When you hover the stylus over a dissectible piece, the piece shows a yellow outline and is highlighted in purple. Click and hold the center stylus button to move the piece around independently of the model. If there is a label is attached to a model piece, the label moves with the piece. 6
Trashcan Drag a model to the trashcan icon in the lower right of the Sandbox to remove it from the scene. You can also remove rulers or cutting planes by dropping them into the trashcan. Drop the object into the trashcan when the lid is lifted (see screenshot above). Inventory Objects Tab This tab displays any models that you have used before. Select them with the stylus and drag them into the scene as you would from the Object Library. New models appear under older ones. The models in the Objects tab are unique for each user because each user may load different models in the Sandbox. 7
Inventory Tools Tab Click on the icon and the tool appears in the scene. Drag the white arrows on the sides of the ruler to change the length. Click the gray circle to the right of the measurement number to change the units of measurement for either ruler. Measurements are taken as the straight-line distance between the points at the ends of the tendrils. When measuring a curved surface, utilize both the vertical and horizontal rectangles to make shorter distances to measure between, giving a more accurate measurement overall. Tendrils ending with vertical rectangles attempt to snap to the model automatically. If desired, grab the rectangle with the center stylus button to move it yourself. Tendrils ending with horizontal rectangles are ones you have to position manually. Grab the rectangle with the center stylus button to move it. When you move a model, the ruler moves with it. Both rulers appear orange when highlighted with the stylus and black when they are not. 8
Straight Ruler A simple ruler that measures the distance between two points. Drag the tendrils down to pick a section of the model to measure. The two tendrils move together. The tendrils stay in place when you let them go. Surface Ruler A more complicated ruler for measuring between multiple points. It is suited for straight or curved surfaces. The tendrils ending with vertical rectangles snap to a model and try to automatically measure a surface. Drag any of the tendrils at an angle to position them. The rectangle turns from vertical to horizontal when grabbed with the stylus. Pressing Freeze (the button with a padlock on it) on the ruler freezes the position of all the tendrils. When you move the measuring tool, the tendrils will not try to snap themselves to the model. Pressing Reset (the button with the circular arrow) on the ruler turns the horizontal tendrils on the ruler back into vertical tendrils. 9
Cutting Plane This tool allows you to view a model s internal geometry. The cutting plane is grey when it is not highlighted, but becomes a bright orange when you hover the stylus over it. If a cutting plane is left inside a model, when you move the model around with the stylus, the cutting plane stays with the model. You can add multiple cutting planes to the scene. 10
Control Bar Login The name of the current user is displayed in this field. When in the main menu, click here to login, logout, or create a new user account. Settings When clicked you can: change the units of measurement (metric or US) set the location where media files are saved view your current version of Studio check what server you are connected to Home Returns to the main menu. You will be asked to save or exit without saving. Save/Save As/Publish Save your Sandbox project or update the status of your activity. Save As will save your work under My Saved Projects. If you have teacher-level access, you are able to select Publish to make an activity available to students. The default name for a saved activity is the date and time when saving. 11
Reset Activity Return to the last saved settings. If you are in an activity and have not saved, the activity goes back to its original settings when it was opened. If you are freely exploring Sandbox mode, the scene will clear all models. Object Library Select models from the Object Library using the stylus and add them to your sandbox or activity. Search for models by selecting a category from the list on the left of the window or by entering search terms into the box. Use the Previous and Next buttons to scroll through pages of models. Check the box in the corner of a model s thumbnail to select it as a favorite. Find your marked models in the Favorites category. To load a model from the Library, select it with the stylus. A cube with a picture of the model on it appears. Drag that cube into the scene, let go of the center stylus button, and the model will load. 12
Import Model Click this icon to load your own 3D model files from your computer into Studio. Use the Open file window shown below to navigate through your computer and find your 3D model file. 13
Show/Hide Scale Selecting Show Scale creates a box around the model in the scene. It displays the model s dimensions in meters. If you drag the blue cube in the corner of the box, you can scale the model larger or smaller. The Show Scale button becomes Hide Scale once it has been selected. Hide Scale removes the box from around the models. Relative Size scales all the models in the scene to their real life sizes relative to each other. Automatic Size makes all the models in a scene a manageable size for the user. Reset Parts Click this to return dissected parts to their original position. Add Note Add text or pictures to a scene by selecting Attach media. Drag and attach the note to something in an activity. Remove a note from the scene by selecting the trashcan icon in the note s window. 14
Screenshots Click on the icon to bring up the camera window. Zoom in and out using the right and left stylus buttons. Click the center stylus button to take a picture. Click on the icon again to turn off the camera. Screenshots are displayed in the screenshot window. Delete unwanted screenshots by selecting the trashcan icon in the lower right of the picture s thumbnail. 15
Viewpoints This was a preliminary feature that is not currently functional. Hide/Show Hide or show: annotations & notes labels & part names Tour Builder Use this feature to create a slideshow. Save scenes as you dissect and examine your model. Select the box with the + sign in it to take a screencap of the current scene. Continue to add screencaps to the list in the tour builder window. These are waypoints on your tour. Waypoints can be deleted by clicking the trashcan icon in the lower right of each waypoint s thumbnail. Slides can be rearranged by dragging them into a new order. To play back your tour, use the arrows at the top of the tour builder window. You can also jump to a specific slide by clicking on it. 16
Activity Builder This icon lets a user with teacher-level access create an activity for students. Set up a scene and ask questions for students to answer. See an expanded section on using Activity Builder below. zview Click this icon to launch zview. zview must be installed to utilize this feature. 17
Teacher Features Activity Builder Overview 1. Set up the scene with the models you wish to use. 2. Add questions for the student to answer. You can also add hints. 3. Change the global settings for the object inventory, assorted controls, objects, and more. 4. Change the settings for individual objects in the scene. 5. Test and publish your activity. 18
Steps to Follow 1) Setting up the Scene Place the objects that you want to appear in the scene when the student opens up the activity. You can control which objects students can add in the Global Settings. In addition to placing objects in the scene, you can also: Set values for individual objects in the scene (options vary based on applications). Add notes and attach them to objects in the scene. The notes can include text and images. If you want to remove objects from the scene, drag the objects to the trash can. 2) Adding Questions You can add questions for each activity, and optionally add hints for each question. 1. Open Activity Builder by clicking on the icon. 2. Click on Add a question, and a dialog opens. 3. Type your question in the text field. 4. Check the type of answer type you want: text, screen capture, both, or none. 5. Optionally, click on Add a hint. The students can choose whether to see the hint or not. Each hint is displayed separately. 6. Optionally, use the question field to provide instructions/prompts to students by leaving both checkboxes empty. 7. Click on Save. 19
3) Changing Global Settings You can set limits on features, controls, and objects. The global object controls set default behavior that you can override for individual objects in the scene. Model Loading Choose whether to allow files to be imported into a scene from the Object Library and/or the user s local computer. Change the limit on the number of models that can be present in a scene. Tour Builder Choose whether to allow the use of tour builder. Change the limit on the number of waypoints in a tour. 20
Stylus Tools Choose whether to allow the use of the cutting plane and/or rulers. Change the limit on the number of cutting planes in the scene. Stylus Modes Choose whether to enable zoom and/or dissect mode. Labels Choose to always hide or show labels. Annotations Choose to always hide or show annotations. Choose whether to allow users to create new annotations. Scene Choose whether to allow the scene to be reset by the user. Choose whether to allow screenshots to be taken. 4) Changing Object Settings The object settings apply to an individual object you select in the scene. 1. Click an object in the scene. Its name appears in the Object Settings pane in the Activity Builder. 2. Be sure to click on any subheadings for the object so you can review all your options. 3. Check the desired settings or enter numeric values into the text fields. Remember that leaving a field empty allows for unlimited materials of that type. 5) Testing and Publishing To test your activity, click on the OK button which closes Activity Builder. If you have added any questions, the Questions dialog opens. 21
When you are ready to publish your activity, be sure that all objects are as you would want them to appear when the student opens the activity. Click on the Save icon and choose Publish. Give your activity a name and category. Then select Publish. This activity is now visible to your students. It is listed in the left panel of the main menu. 22