Navigating the Viewport
- David Avgikos
The viewport is the main area of the screen. The default aspect ratio for DART courses is 16:9 but they can be easily changed to a 4:3 aspect ratio. If the screen resolution of the computer running DART has a different aspect ratio, or if the screen size is reduced, the program adds semi-transparent black bars to the viewport to let you know the area that will be seen on the screen when a course is run.
The view in the viewport can be changed by switching viewpoints. Viewpoints are scene cameras that represent the position and orientation of the shooter in the virtual world and directly affect the view the shooter sees during a course. Multiple viewpoints can be added and moved around a scene using the same motion controls as other object types.
Selecting the Navigation Guide option from the Help menu in MAX Studio or MAX Editor will open a window showing the mouse and keyboard shortcuts used for moving around the viewport.
Left Mouse Button - orbit (the view circles around what is in front of you)
Left Mouse Button - look around (spinning around while standing in place)
Mouse Wheel (hold wheel and drag) - pan
Mouse Wheel (scroll) - move forward and backward
W - move forward
A - move left
D - move right
S - move backward
Q - move down
E - move up
Number Keys 1-6 - change the speed of movement with 1 being the slowest and 5 being the fastest