3D Replay Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know where I am?
Can I view these worlds from home, and will it work well?
The terrain looks poor and objects pop in and out of view, what can I
do?
Why don't images show up, they appear in the image index?
How are the "top 10 images" determined?
When I go to an image in the viewpoints list I see the image, but
the timeline slider does not move to that event, why not?
- How do I know where I am?
- Underneath the timline slider is the Altitude in meters of where you are in the
virtual world. The Aqua-colored ship track line is at the surface of the ocean, you can
use this to help with orientation. A north arrow is on the to do list. The best way to
know where you are is to have a system with 3D accelerated graphics and always include
terrain in your visualizations.
-
- Can I view these worlds from home,
and will it work well?
- Yes. Everything is stored on an MBARI internal web server, so if you dial into MBARI's
network you can access them. As of 12/8/99 we are working on enabling password access so
that you can access them from outside MBARI's network. The files describing the 3D world
are downloaded to your computer (these sizes are shown next to the options on the 3D
Replay window). Once the files are downloaded, a typical dive with terrain selected is
about 700 KB - just a few minute download, everything operates locally on your system.
-
- The terrain looks poor and objects pop
in and out of view, what can I do?
- OpenGL is recommended for best quality rendering. On the PC DirectX is a renderer
choice, but OpenGL gives better results on the terrain image; for best results choose
OpenGL. On the Macintosh you may need to install OpenGL from http://www.apple.com/opengl. Your renderer choice
is made from the CosmoPlayer Preferences dialog (the checkmark on the dashboard) under the
Graphics tab.
-
- Why don't images show up, they
appear in the image index?
- Frame grabbed images must have been captured with the Vicki system and the file names
must be valid tape timecodes and not 99:99:99:99 or 00:00:00:00. An example expedition
where the images don't show in the world is ptlo1999021 where all the images have named
like 99:99:99:99-01.jpg.
-
- How are the "top 10 images"
determined?
- A job is run each night that examines the CanyonHead server access stats for hits on the
frameGrabs from each expedition. This job writes an accesses.txt file to the directory
where the images reside. The Post Dive VRML Creator program then reads this file to
determine which images to include in the "top 10". If you want a particular
image included in the 3Dreplay, be sure to click on it in the JPG image index and bring it
up in your browser. You'll have to wait until the next day or call Mike to have him
manually run the scripts before seeing it in the replay.
-
- When I go to an image in the
viewpoints list I see the image, but the timeline slider does not move to that event, why
not?
- Your navigation in the 3D world is independent of of the timeline slider. In other
words, where you go and what you decide to view is independent of the timeline for the
expedition. This gives the most flexibility in allowing you to explore the data the way
you want to. There is a slight excpetion to this rule: if you are in any of the viewpoints
"Watch ROV from Dive Center", "Watch Ship from Dive Center",
"Watch ROV from Ship", "Follow R/V Point Lobos", or "Follow
Ventana" then your viewpoint or location is tied to the objects that are moving under
control of the timeline.
If you want to colocate the ROV with an event on the timeline then move the blue ball to
that event (Frame Grab, Sample, VIMS annotation) then seek on the ROV and explore the
neighborhood around the ROV to see the objects that are associated with the events.
Last updated: 08 December 1999, Mike McCann