VR Toolbox - QTVR Object FAQs

How do I set up the initial view?

2008-06-16T14:08:18.652-04:00

The Initial view represents the frame that is first displayed when the viewer opens the object movie. To assign an initial view, the operator must manipulate the object movie in the interaction group until the desired initial view is displayed.

Clicking the Set button will define the displayed view as the initial view.

Set - Assigns the currently displayed view to be the initial view when the object movie file is opened by the viewer.
Go - Causes the assigned initial view to be displayed.

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How do I animate an object movie?

2008-06-16T14:07:26.740-04:00

This controls the two types of animation available for object movies, frame animation and view animation. This dialog (Figure 6.18) contains a Frame Animation group and a View Animation group to control each of these animation types respectively.

The Frame Animation settings function as follows:

Enabled - Checking this box will enable frame animation. Frame animation also applies to sound track playback, if sound tracks have been added to this object.
Restart for each view - Causes the object movie, after being moved and stopped, to return to the initial frame of the animation.
Play backwards - Causes animation to play in the opposite direction.
Loop when finished - Causes the movie to repeat the animation, when complete.
Back-and-forth - Causes the movie to continue repeating the animation, alternating from the normal direction to the opposite direction.
Speed - Use this slider bar to select the playback speed of the animation.

When view animation is enabled, QuickTime VR will cycle through all views of the object, within the current row. This is the equivalent of a viewer perpetually rotating the object. The difference is that the view animation will continue indefinitely, until the viewer begins interacting with the object, at which time interaction is handled as it is normally.

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Why is there is a distracting flicker effect or varying brightness when scrolling through my object movie?

2008-06-16T14:06:58.302-04:00

The trouble may be with the camera's auto-exposure feature, whether digital or film. Throughout its rotation the object may present varying amounts of its total surface to the camera. If the subject is particularly bright or dark, these variations in how much the camera sees will influence the exposure of the scene. To avoid this, override the camera's auto-exposure control or select manual exposure mode. If this is not an option, be prepared to live with mild variations or spend time in an image editor to raise or lower the brightness of individual frames.

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What is a 'Composition Preset' and how do I create one?

2008-06-16T14:06:29.153-04:00

Composition Preset is available only in the VR Worx 2.5. It allows you to create preset compression settings to use under specific circumstances which can be used over and over. For example, you could create a preset to use for movies you intend for CD use by setting the CODEC to Photo JPEG, Quality to Maximum. You may want to create a preset for movies you intended to use for the web or email to a friend or client. Adjust the quality for whichever CODEC you decide to use, like Photo JPEG, Sorenson, MPEG-4 or Cinepak. Higher quality settings on the slider results in a sharper movie and larger file size. Lower quality settings on the slider results in a lower resolution movie and smaller file size.

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Can I add sounds or music to my object movies?

2008-06-16T14:05:56.540-04:00

Yes, The VR Worx can synchronize one or more sound tracks with specific views of an object, globally or a specific frame or frames. This is useful for incorporating audible annotations, sound effects or music to an object movie. This capability is limited, though, in that sound tracks must be synchronized with specific views, and thus cannot play seamlessly and indefinitely, while the viewer is manipulating the object movie. By selecting Sound from the Effects menu, the operator will be able to incorporate sound into the object movie. They will be able to add one or more sound tracks into the Sound Tracks list, or add an existing sound track from a QuickTime movie, a digitized sound file, or record a new sound with a microphone, by clicking the Add button. The sound tracks’ properties can then be modified, if necessary, and finally assigned to playback, in specific views.

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How do I use the 'Matte' effect?

2008-06-16T14:05:33.089-04:00

The Matte effect allows for the masking out of a region, of each source image frame, based on its color, and for the replacing of it, with a background picture or pattern. The way this works, is that a specific color is chosen to be keyed. Each pixel in the source image is compared against the keyed color. If a pixel’s color is sufficiently close to the keyed color, the corresponding pixel in a specified picture or pattern is used, to replace the original pixel in the output image. An object will typically be photographed against a blue, red or green background so that an entirely different scene may be masked in as a background. This is commonly referred to as a chroma-key or blue- screen effect.

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How do I use the 'Dewobble' effect?

2008-06-16T14:05:03.714-04:00

The Dewobble effect allows each view of the object to be shifted slightly to compensate for any “wobbling” phenomenon that may appear in the final QTVR movie. This effect is useful when an object has not been perfectly centered on a turntable. Three different axes are available, which the Dewobble effect can adjust, X, X’ and Y. The Y-axis is only available for multi-row objects. Also, the X and X’-axis are only available fore multi-column objects, which have a 360° horizontal sweep. The Y-axis refers to the object’s position, relative to the center of the arc of movement, that the camera follows when shooting a multi-row object. In such cases, if the object is not centered on the Y-axis, the object may appear shifted towards the top or bottom, at the vertical extremes of the object movie. To apply the Dewobble effect, the first step is to enable it by checking it and highlighting the word “Dewobble”. When enabled, two views of the object appear. Each view is offset horizontally 180° from each other. A marquee selection appears overlaid on top of the two views of the object. The objective is to adjust the marquee selection rectangle so it perfectly encompasses the object in each view. The handles may be used to adjust the width and height of the rectangle. Clicking in the center of the rectangle allows its position to be relocated. A different selection rectangle is maintained for each axis. Initially, the X-axis rectangle is displayed. The X’ or Y-axis rectangle can be defined by first clicking the proper Axis icon, then repositioning the rectangle. If a given axis does not need to be adjusted, its marquee selection rectangle should be left alone. Once the selection rectangles have been drawn around the object, for each axis that needs an adjustment, the software then calculates the amount that the object “drifts” during its 180° rotation, and thus, offsets the image, to keep the object centered.

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How do I use the 'Crop' effect?

2008-06-16T14:04:32.639-04:00

The Crop effect allows each view of the object to be cropped to any dimension smaller than the source image’s dimension. This effect is useful when the aspect ratio of the object does not match that of the captured images. In such cases, the resultant object movie may have a significant amount of “dead space” at the top or side edges. For example, if an object movie were taken of a tall vase with a video camera in standard orientation, the aspect ratio of the images would be the standard 3:2 while the aspect ratio of the vase may be 2:5. To apply the Crop effect, the first step is to enable it by checking the Crop check box and highlighting the word “Crop”. When enabled, a marquee appears, overlaid atop the view image.

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How do I use the 'Center' effect?

2008-06-16T14:04:07.239-04:00

The Center effect allows a new image center to be defined for all views of the object. This effect is useful when an object was perfectly centered atop a turntable, but was not framed perfectly in the field-of-view of the camera. To apply the Center effect, the first step is to enable it by checking the box next to it and highlighting the word “Center”. When enabled, a “cross hair” appears, overlaid atop the view image. Clicking and dragging the center of the cross hair allows its position to be moved. Feedback is provided in the Center Point field, showing the current center point of the image in pixels. Each frame in the final movie is offset horizontally and vertically in order to make the newly specified center point the true center point of the image. For example, if the source imagery is 320 x 240, and the new center is specified at 165, 114, each image will be shifted 5 pixels to the left and 6 pixels down in the final movie.

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How do I add the same hot spot to all my frames?

2008-06-16T14:03:32.852-04:00

All hot spots defined for the object appear in this list regardless of whether or not hot spots exist in the current view. If a listed hot spot does not exist in the current view, click on its name and drag it to the view frame. Upon releasing the mouse, a clone of the chosen hot spot is created in the new view. A cloned hot spot retains all the same properties as the original hot spot, including name, ID, kind, etc. It may be repositioned without affecting its sibling clones that exist in other views of the object.

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The application will not let me go on to the next tab after I import my images?

2008-06-16T14:02:56.739-04:00

This usually indicates a discrepancy between the number of columns selected in the setup panel and the number of images actually acquired. Check the both the Setup Panel settings and amount of images you are acquiring to make sure they match in number.

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What are frame layers?

2008-06-16T14:02:42.664-04:00

Frame layers add a third dimension to the view array in the Acquire panel of the object movie module. They allow for more than one view for a given row and column of the array. When frame animation is employed, the operator must select a number of frame layers to match the number of frame states in the animation. An object may be captured in different states, from each given view of the object. Each of these different states will be captured into a separate frame layer. In the final object movie, playback will "cycle" through each frame layer to give the appearance of animation.

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