3DModel

Overview

3DModel lets you create models of the structures in your image data. Objects can be rotated around interactively, and object attributes such as color, radius, display, solid/wire, etc can be changed at any time. Five dimensions are actually handled in that you can create a 3DModel model for each wave and time set. If you have live data, you can model each time set and then watch the model move through time. The model program interacts with multiple image windows allowing the user to build the model and view it on the image from different angles and on rotation projections. Models are stored in real space coordinates and are written out to an ascii file. The models created here are the input for the Straight program which creates a straitened 3D data volume of the tubular data. Straight can connect directly to the model if 3DModel is running and is attached to the input window or run alone using the saved model file. Several different types of objects can be created in 3DModel and several more are created using other programs and then are displayed in 3DModel.

Types of models that may be created within 3DModel are

a connected string of points, possibly branched
This type of object can have sphere or cube markers at any or all points on the model. This type of model can be given a radius so that it appears as a cylinder or branched cylinder. When creating this type of object, points can be added, deleted and inserted as needed.
a set of points
This type of object is displayed as pixel-sized dots without connections between the points.

Another type of object supported in the program is made by creating a set of 2D polygons with EditPolygon or 2DObjFinder and putting them together into a 3D object in Volume Builder. The model can then be viewed in wire frame or as a solid object here.

Topics

Overview | Selecting windows | File | Movie | Object menu | Markers menu | Rotation/position | Scale bar | Animation | Clipping | Display options | Lighting | Automatic modeling | Wire frame/solid | Measurements | Color | Stereo | Picking | Current object | Global model | WT display options

Related Priism Topics

Modeling strategies | Tracer | Straight | Volume Builder | Pick to Model | SurfHarmMod | Volume Viewer | Priism

Selecting windows

When you first start 3DModel, it will automatically attach to all the image windows that are currently displayed. Any window that was iconified when 3DModel was started or was opened after 3DModel was started can be attached to the model at any time by selecting the "select windows" entry from 3DModel's "options" menu. This causes a dialog to be displayed with toggles for each window number (up to window 19). When a toggle is on that window will be considered by 3D Model. Otherwise it will not be used. You can use any of the attached windows to create your model by clicking on the image at the point where you want to add a point. All of the image windows will update to the section that contains the current focus point of the model, and the model will be clipped to show the part of the model that falls in the currently displayed section. The reason for using multiple windows is that by rotating your image data into several orientations you can see where the model falls in each orientation making it much easier to tell that you've modeled your structure correctly in 3 dimensions. In addition, 3DModel will work with the output of Volume Viewer's interactive or movie options.

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File

The functions available from the File menu are:

save
Presents a file selection dialog to choose where to save the current model as a file.
load
Presents a file selection dialog to select a model file.
new model
Clears all objects.
autosave
By default, the current model is periodically saved so that if the program crashes most of your work can be retrieved. Selecting autosave causes a dialog to be displayed in which you can choose whether or not the periodic saves should be performed and how often they should be performed. In the case of a crash, the model from the last periodic save will be in the directory /var/tmp under the name user name_SAVE.MOD.
movie
Animates the model display and saves each frame shown. For more information see the Movie topic.

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Movie

To animate the model and save the result as a movie or sequence of image files, use the "movie" option in 3DModel's "file" menu. That option will open a dialog with the following controls:

File format
Use this menu to select the format used to store the captured images. To view and edit the parameters specific to the currently selected format, press the "options..." button. Supported file formats include: Images from 3D Model are not well suited to JPEG compression so the JFIF format and JPEG compression schemes for QuickTime and SGI movies are not particularly useful.
Spin axis
Use this menu to control which axis is used as the axis of rotation.
Time order
If the animation follows the model through time points in the data, this menu controls what happens when the animation reaches the last time point. With the "Loop" option the animation will start over again at the first time point. With the "Back and forth" option, the animation will proceed to go through the time points in reverse order.
Angle increment
Use this slider or the field immediately to its left to set the amount of rotation about the spin axis between frames. The value shown in the field has units of degrees.
Time increment
Use this slider or the field immediately adjacent to it to set the amount by which the time point coordinate changes between frames.
Frame count
Enter the number of frames to generate in this field.
File prefix
Use this field to enter the name (including directories if desired) that you want to use for the output file or files. If the file format you selected stores each frame in a separate file, 3D Model will generate the actual file names by append the frame number and default file format extension to what you have entered in the "File prefix" field. If the file format you selected stores the frames in a single files, 3D Model will generate the output file name by appending the default file format extension to what you have entered in the "File prefix" field.
Create
Press this button to start generating the movie.
Interrupt
Press this button to stop recording a movie that is still in progress.
Close
Closes the movie dialog. If 3D Model is currently recording a movie, closing the dialog will stop the recording.

The images saved are read back from the computer's video system; for best results the 3D Model display window should be fully on the screen and not obscured by any other window.

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Object menu

The functions in this menu apply only to the current object or to all the objects. There are different types of objects so some functions may only apply to certain types. Unless specific types are stated below you can assume it applies to all types of objects. Please see the WT display options topic for detailed information on the different object types.

create new
Starts a new object. Every time you want to start a separate object you will need to use this menu entry.
delete obj
Deletes the current object.
del pt list
Deletes the list of points from the object but does not delete the object itself. Only applies to objects of types 1 and 2.
delete dots
Deletes the list of dots from the object but does not delete the object itself. A dot list is a special extra list of points that can be added onto any object type.
undisplay all
Turns off the drawing of all objects. Once this is done, any of the objects can be independently turned back on for drawing. If there are a large number of objects, drawing all the objects could be slow, so when picking new objects, turning all other objects off could increase speed.
redisplay all
Turns on the drawing of all objects.
undisplay cur
Turns off the drawing of the current object.
redisplay cur
Turns on the drawing of the current object.
connect two
Opens a dialog to allow you to select two objects to paste together. You will need to enter the object numbers and have the current point of each object set to the points that you want to connect.
cut in two
Cuts the current object into two objects. The cut will be made at the current point. Only applies to objects of types 1 and 2.
reverse pts
Reverses the order of the points in the object so that the last point becomes the first point and vice versa. Only applies to objects of types 1 and 2.
radius
Display a dialog in which you select the radius of tubular objects. You can choose to set the radius of the current object or all objects; the radius may be entered directly or adjusted using the slider. Only applies to objects of types 1 and 2.
wire-solid
If the current object is displayed as a wire frame causes it to be displayed with sold surfaces; if it is displayed with solid surfaces, causes it to be displayed as a wire frame. This applies to model types 1 and 2 if they have a nonzero radius (i.e. they are shown as tubes) or have spherical or cubic markers for the points. It also applies to objects of types 3 and 4 imported from Volume Builder.
name object
Displays a dialog to allow you to enter a name for the current object. This name will be shown next to the first point on the object in the 3DModel display if "object labels" are turned on from the options->display options menu. Also, the WT display options dialog will display the name of each object.

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Markers menu

All of these functions affect the current point or all the points in the current object.

label point
Displays a dialog to allow you to enter a label for the current point. Press ok to cause the new label to be displayed next to the point.
remove label
Removes the label, if any, for the current point.
sphere curr. pt.
Causes a spherically-shaped marker to be used for the position of the current point.
sphere curr. obj.
Causes spherically-shaped markers to be used for the positions of all points in the current object.
sphere marker all
Causes spherically-shaped markers to be used for the positions of all points in all the objects.
cube curr. pt.
Causes a cube-shaped marker to be used for the position of the current point.
cube curr. obj.
Causes a cube-shaped marker to be used for the positions of all points in the current object.
cube marker all
Causes cube-shaped markers to be used for the positions of all points in all the objects.
remove marker
Removes the marker, if any, used for the current point.
rm mkrs curr. obj.
Removes all markers in the current object.
rm mkrs all obj.
Removes all markers from all objects.
resize markers
Opens a dialog to allow you to choose the size of the marker for the current point, the size of all markers in the current object, or the size of all markers. The radius is shown in the "current radius" field and may be entered directly or adjusted with the slider.

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Rotation/position

The positioning of the model in the "3DModel: display" window can be adjusted with the mouse. Exactly how the mouse buttons are used is set from the "mouse control" entry in the "options" menu. The default is: pressing the left mouse button picks a point from one of the models, pressing the middle mouse button and dragging the mouse rotates the model display, and pressing the right mouse button and dragging the mouse zooms in and out. The available functions that a mouse button could perform are:

pick
Causes the nearest object to the point selected to become the current object. The last point in that object is the new current point.
rotate
Dragging the mouse while the button is down rotates the model display.
zoom
Dragging the mouse upward while the button is pressed zooms in on the model; dragging it downward zooms out.
translate
Dragging the mouse while the button is pressed translates the model relative to the axes.
time
Dragging the mouse vertically while the button is pressed moves the model through time.

The rotation applied to the model display can be adjusted directly by selected "specify rotation" from the "options" menu and entering the angles in the dialog that appears.

To restore the model to its default orientation and zoom, select "reset 3D-model" from the "options" menu.

The point used as the center of rotation when rotating and the size of the bounding box shown can be selected using the dialog opened by the "rotation center" entry in the "options" menu. The available options are:

From window x
Use the size of the data volume in the window x to set the size of the bounding box. The geometric center of that box is used as the center of rotation.
From model file
Use the center information stored in the model file.
From all points
Use the mean position of all points in the model as the center of rotation. The bounding box is chosen to be the smallest such box that contains all the points.
Pick center
Select a position in an image window with the mouse to set the center of rotation. The size of the data volume in that window sets the dimensions of the bounding box.

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Scale bar

To display a scale bar with the model or to alter the positioning of the currently displayed scale bar, select "scale bar" from the "options" menu. In the dialog that appears, there is a menu at the top that controls whether no scale bar is show, a scale bar is shown but without a label indicating its length, or if the scale bar is shown with a label. The remaining controls are:

x y pos
The entries in this field are the position of the bottom left of the scale bar relative to the bottom left corner of the display window. (0, 0) is the lower left corner, (100, 0) is the lower right corner, (0, 100) is the upper left corner, and (100, 100) is the upper right.
size
Specifies the length of the scale bar in the units used for the pixel spacing (typically microns for data from optical microscopes and Angstroms from electron microscopes).
thickness
Specifies the thickness of the scale bar in pixels.
vertical
If this toggle is off, the scale bar is horizontal; if it is on the scale bar is shown vertical.

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Animation

To create an animation of the model display select "animation" from the "options" menu. During the animation, the model display will automatically spin about the x, y, or z axis and / or follow the model through the time points in the data. While the animation is in progress, you can still use the mouse to reposition your model so you can have it spinning in any orientation.

The controls in the animation dialog are:

Spin axis
Use this menu to control which axis is used as the axis of rotation.
Time order
If the animation follows the model through time points in the data, this menu controls what happens when the animation reaches the last time point. With the "Loop" option the animation will start over again at the first time point. With the "Back and forth" option, the animation will proceed to go through the time points in reverse order.
Angle increment
Use the top slider or the field immediately to its left to set the amount of rotation about the spin axis between frames. The value shown in the field has units of degrees.
Time increment
Use the middle slider or the field immediately adjacent to its left to set the amount by which the time point coordinate changes between frames.
Redraw delay
Use the bottom slider or the field immediately adjacent to its left to set the amount of time the animation waits before drawing the next frame. The value shown in the field has units of milliseconds.
Pause
While this toggle is off and the animation menu is open, the animation will proceed; when this toggle is on the animation will not run.
Close
Closes the animation dialog and stops the animation.

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Clipping

Select "clipping" from the options menu to display a dialog that lets you cut off a portion of the image. Moving a slider farther to the left cuts out more of the image from one of the sides. You can cut off from the top, bottom, left, right, far, and most useful, near. Each slider ranges from showing the whole volume to cutting to the middle of the model.

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Display options

There are various attributes that apply to the whole model in the model display window. These attributes can be modified by selecting "display options" from the "options" menu. Doing so opens a dialog. At the top are toggles for the 5 possible waves that a data set can have. Use these toggles to turn on and off display of the objects made in the individual waves. The other controls are:

obj labels
If this toggle is on, the name of the object (or just its number if it has no name) is shown next to its first point.
cur pt mkr
If this toggle is on, a red dot is shown where the current point is.
display all
If this toggle is on, all objects are displayed regardless of whether or not they are individually marked to not be displayed.
mirror
Since the data may be collected in two different directions, there is a question of whether to place the zero point in z at the front or back of the volume. If this toggle is off (the default), the zero point is in front; if it is on, the zero point is in back.
show box
If this toggle is on, the bounding box is shown in the model display.
show ticks
If this toggle is on, the tick marks on the sides of the bounding box are shown when the bounding box is shown.
antialiasing
If this toggle is on, an effect is applied to reduce pixelation artifacts ("jaggies") in lines. Doing so generally increases the time needed to redraw the model.
flat shading
When lighting is on and this toggle is off, smooth shading is used (this is the default). When lighting is on and this toggle is on, flat shading is used.

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Lighting

Lighting enhances the three-dimensional feel of the model when the objects are wire or solid cylinders or objects from Volume Builder. To set the lighting parameters, select the "lighting" entry from the "options" menu. This opens a dialog that has a toggle to turn lighting on and off, sliders to vary the components of the light, and sliders to adjust the position of the light. In the display options dialog there is a control to set what type of shading is done when lighting is on.

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Automatic modeling

A semiautomatic searching tool to trace the axis of a tubular structure is available. To use it, select the "automodel" entry from the "options" menu. That will open a dialog to control the search. For more information about the search parameters consult Tracer.html.

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Wire_Frame/Solid

Some types of objects can either be viewed as wire frames (only the lines defining the edges of surfaces are drawn) or with the surfaces filled in. In the "options" menu, you can select "all obj wire" to change all objects to be displayed as wire frames or "all obj solid" to change all objects to be displayed with the surfaces filled in. To modify whether a wire frame or solid shading is used for an individual object use the wire-solid entry in the "object" menu or change the object type in the WT display options dialog.

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Measurements

3DModel can make some simple measurements from the objects in the model. The measurements that can be performed are all available from the "measurements" menu in the main dialog and are:

2D angle at cur pt
If a point has both a point previous to it (one step along the axis of the object towards the first point in an object) and one after it (one step towards the end of the branch containing the current point), reports the angle (possible range is 0 to 180 degrees) between the vector from the current point to the previous point and the vector from the current point to the next point. The calculation ignores the z coordinates for the three points.
3D angle at cur pt
Is the same as "2D angle at cur pt", but the z coordinates of the points involved are included.
printout lengths
Displays a dialog to select an output file. The total lengths for each object will be computed and saved to this file in a text format. The objects from the same wavelength and time point are grouped together; each such grouping begins with a line of the form
wave wavelength index time time point index
For each object one line is printed with the object index followed by the total length measurement. The total length measurements are in the units used for the pixel spacing (typically microns for optical microscope data and Angstroms for electron microscope data) and do not include the lengths of branches.

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Color

Colors for model features can be chosen from a palette of twelve colors where the twelfth color renders the feature invisible. By default, as objects are created, they are assigned one of the 11 visible colors. To change the color of an object, marker, or other model feature first change the menu below the "Set Color for" button to be the type of feature you want to modify; then select the new color from the "colors" menu. The aspects of the model whose color can be changed are:

current object
All lines in the object are affected but associated markers and point labels are not. You can make an object current by clicking on it with the left mouse in the model window, or by entering the wavelength index, time point number, and object number in the 3DModel main dialog.
all objects
Has the same affect as "current object" but is applied to all objects in the model.
new markers
Affects the initial color for new markers added to the model.
current marker
Affects the color for the marker at the current point in the current object.
all markers
Affects the colors for all markers.
markers curr obj
Affects the colors for all markers in the current object.
xyz display
Affects the color of the bounding box, tick marks, and axes labels. If you want to hide these, rather than changing their color to be invisible, you can turn them off completely from the display options dialog.
scale bar
Affects the color of the scale bar displayed along side of the model. To control other aspects of the scale bar, use the scale bar entry in the "options" menu.
background
Affects the background against which the model is drawn. Selecting "invisible" as the color causes a black background to be used.

Initially, the colors in the palette are the same as the colors used for graphics in the image windows. If you change the image window colors with ChangeColors in the Priism menu and want the colors used within 3DModel to be the same, select "priism colors" from the "options" menu to cause 3DModel to adjust its colors.

If you want to change the model colors without changing the image window colors, select "change colors" from 3DModel's "options" menu. That opens up two dialogs. One, the palette dialog, displays the red, blue, green color values for each of the eleven visible colors and the name given to each of those colors. You can directly modify these values, and the changes will instantly take effect. The toggle button next to each color indicates which color is modified when the "apply color" button is pressed in the color wheel dialog. That palette dialog also has buttons to save or restore the set of colors from file. The other dialog contains a color wheel. Clicking in the color wheel selects a color and the band below the color wheel is filled with that color. The "shade" slider may be used to adjust the brightness of the colors. When the "apply color" button is pressed, the RGB color values for the selected color are copied to the palette element selected in the palette dialog.

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Stereo

A stereoscopic view of the model will be displayed if the menu below the "Stereo" button in 3DModel main dialog is set to something other than "off". The available options are:

cross eyed
A side-by-side stereo mode in which the view on the left is rotated by 6 degrees about the y axis relative to the view on the right.
wall eyed
A side-by-side stereo mode in which the view on the left is rotated by -6 degrees about the y axis relative to the view on the right.
per-window
This option is only available if the graphics hardware claims to support quad-buffered OpenGL stereo. When you select this option, 3D Model draws left- and right-eye views of the model and relies on the hardware to generate the stereoscopic effect.
fullscreen
This option is only available on SGI IRIX systems. When you select this option, 3D Model draws left- and right-eye views of the model and relies on the hardware to generate the stereoscopic effect. Because of the limitations of this hardware stereo mode, the model view takes up the full screen; to restore the system to its normal display mode, press the space bar while the model view has input focus.

To have a stereoscopic view of the image data with the model superimposed upon it, you can use Volume Viewer's interactive mode to generate a stereo projection of the image data which can be updated on the fly. You can also use Volume Viewer's movie mode to generate a sequence of projections where the rotation is solely about the y axis; load the generated movie into an image window and use the image window's "2 x 1" montage option (or, additionally, the hardware stereo option on SGIs) to get a stereoscopic view. In either case, add the window(s) with the Volume Viewer results to 3DModel's list of selected windows. 3DModel will display the model on top of the projection data. Picking from the projections is also handled via a "3D cursor" which is displayed while the mouse cursor is over a window with projection data. In normal mode, moving the mouse simply moves the position of the 3D cursor in a plane perpendicular to line of sight; to move the cursor along the line of sight press and release the z key on the keyboard, move the mouse vertically to move the cursor along the line of sight, and then press and release the z key again to restore normal operation (it you have dial box, knob 1 (bottom right) will move the cursor along the line of sight regardless of whether or not the z key has been pressed).

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Picking

Whenever you click with the left mouse button in one of the image windows that 3DModel monitors, something will be done with the point selected. That behavior can be changed by selecting one of the following from the menu below the "Picking" button in the 3DModel main dialog:

normal
The picked point is appended after the current point of the current object. If the current point is not the last point in the object, the new point will start a branch off of the current point.
obj + spheres
Picking functions the same as in the "normal" mode, but each new point automatically has a spherical marker drawn with it. This is useful for grouping a set of markers together.
obj + cubes
Picking functions the same as in the "normal" mode, but each new point automatically has a cube-shaped marker drawn with it.
just dots
The picked point is added as a pixel-sized dot in the model window. These dots are not connected and do not affect the traversal and branching of the regular points in the model. Many of these together can give the effect of density without substantially obscuring parts of the model.
add to top
The picked point is added to the front of the point list for the current object.
preview
The picked point is shown as a yellow dot or sphere (depending on the current marker size), but is not added to the current object as a point.
insert pt
The picked point is inserted after the current point in the current object. Unlike the "normal" mode, no new branch will created. If the current point has one or more branches off of it, the inserted point is added on the main trunk.
move pt
If the left button is pressed and held down in the image window, the point in the current object which is closest to the selected point becomes the current point and will be dragged as the mouse is moved. Releasing the mouse button causes the final mouse position to be used as the new position of the point.

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Current object

Information about the current object is displayed in the center of 3DModel's main dialog. The wavelength and time point which contain the object are shown. These may be changed to perform modeling in a different wavelength and time point. The number of the current object is also shown This value may be changed to treat another object as the current object (the current object can also be changed by picking in the model display window; consult the Rotation/position topic for details). For models which are strings of points, the length of the main trunk (in the same units as the pixel spacing) is shown as well as the total number of points in the main trunk and any branches (these values are also shown for surface models but are not likely to be useful). The width of lines, in pixels, used for drawing the current object is shown in the "Line width" field. Changing this value will change the width of the lines used; and if the "set width all objects" toggle is on, this change will affect all other objects as well.

For the current object, 3DModel has the notion of a current point which is important when adding points to a model, performing measurements, altering markers, or connecting or splitting objects. The current point is usually shown with a red marker in the model display window and image windows, though this can be turned off from the display options dialog. The index of the current point is shown in the "Current point" field in the main dialog. It can also be changed from that field. Other methods for changing the current point are by picking in the image windows and using the following buttons from the 3DModel's main dialog:

first
Makes the first point in the current object the current point.
last
Makes the last point in the current object the current point.
previous
The new current point is the point one step backward along the axis of the object where backward is towards the first point in the model if the current point is in the main trunk or towards the origin of the branch if the current point is in a branch.
next
The new current point is the point one step forward along the axis of the object where forward is towards the end point of the main trunk if the current point is in the main trunk or toward the end point of the branch if the point is in a branch. This implies that the "next" button can not be used to step into a branch or between branches. Use "previous branch" and "next branch" for that.
previous branch
Changes the current point to be the first point in a sister branch, if available. A sister branch is one that starts at the point previous to the current point.
next branch
Functions the same as "previous branch", but cycles through the sister branches in the opposite order.
delete current point
Deletes the current point. Deleting a point which is the origin of one or more branches will cause those branches, except the main trunk, to be deleted. If the current point lies between two points, the object will remain linked with a line directly between those points. The new current point is the previous point, if current point was not the first point in the object, or the second point, if the current point was the first point and there is a second point.

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Global model

There is a toggle on the main dialog labeled "global model". By default, a separate object list is kept for each wavelength and time set, where the first object in each set is object 1. This lets you view any of the wavelength objects separately or all at once. It also means that you can watch your model move through time, as the same object appears on each list in a different orientation at each time.

When the "global model" toggle is on, all the objects from every wave are stored in one list so that they will all be displayed at once and will all be numbered uniquely. This makes the most sense to use with multiple wavelength (not time) data in that you may have all unique objects throughout all the waves and do not want any two objects to have the same number.

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WT display options

To directly view and the display attributes of individual objects, press the "wt display options" button to open a dialog which will present the attributes of the objects in the current wave and time (or all objects if the global model toggle is on) in a tabular format. The attributes that are shown are:

on
If this toggle is on, the object will be displayed; if it is not, the object is not displayed. This attribute may be overridden by the "display all" toggle in the display options dialog.
obj
Shows the object number.
color
Displays the color used for lines in the object and the object's name; choose a new selection from the menu to change the color. This color does not affect the color of markers or their labels associated with points in the object.
thick
Is the thickness, in pixels, of the lines used to display the object.
opac
If this toggle is off, the object is opaque and completely obscures the objects behind it. If the toggle is on, the object is somewhat transparent.
type
The object types are:
type 1
The axis of the structure is string of points which may be branched or unbranched. The object is drawn as a solidly shaded cylinder of a fixed radius; if the radius is zero, it is simply drawn as a line along the object's axis. This type is freely interchangeable with types 2 and 7.
type 2
Is the same as type 1, but surfaces are drawn as wire frames. type 2 is freely interchangeable with types 1 and 7.
type 3
Is a surface mesh imported from Volume Builder. The surfaces are solidly shaded. This type is freely interchangeable with type 4.
type 4
Is the same as type 3 but rendered as a wire frame. It is freely interchangeable with type 3.
type 5
Is a connected string of points tracing a surface from Volume Builder (the "string no cross" model). If drawn with a nonzero radius, the surfaces are shaded solidly. This type is freely interchangeable with type 6.
type 6
Is the same as type 5 but surfaces are rendered as a wire frame. It is freely interchangeable with type 5.
type 7
Is a string of points like types 1 and 2 but lines are only shown between the first and second point, third and fourth point, and so on. Branches are not shown. This type may be used to depict the motion of points through time. It is freely interchangeable with types 1 and 2.
type 9
Is a surface mesh imported from SurfHarmMod. Surfaces are solidly shaded. This type if freely interchangeable with type 10.
type 10
Is the same as type 9 but is rendered as a wire frame. This type is freely interchangeable with type 9.

The "update scene" and "update image windows" toggle buttons near the bottom of the dialog control what happens when you change an object's attributes in the dialog. The intended use for those buttons is when you want to make a number of changes to the objects. Normally each change causes the displayed objects to be redrawn. For complicated object displays or many image windows, that may take too long. To have just one redraw for a set of changes, you would turn off the "update image windows" toggle button and perhaps the "update scene" toggle button as well, make your changes, and then press the "Update all" button next to the "update image windows" toggle button. When the "update scene" toggle button is on, any change to an object's attributes in the dialog immediately cause a redraw of the 3D object view. When that toggle button is off, changes do not cause the view to be redrawn and the view will only be redrawn if something else causes a redraw or you press the "Update all" button. When the "update image windows" toggle button is on, any change to an object's attributes in the dialog immediately causes a redraw of all image windows attached to the model. When that toggle button is off, changes do not cause the image windows to be redrawn; to force a redraw, press the "Update all" button.

Use the controls in the lower right or the dialog to change which objects' attributes are shown. The leftmost arrow causes the start of the object list to be displayed; the rightmost arrow causes the end of the object list to be displayed. The inner left-pointing arrow causes the 15 objects before the current set to be displayed; the inner right-pointing arrow causes the 15 objects after the current set to be displayed. To jump to a particular object, enter its number in the text field between the arrows.

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