Preferences Dialog

From ShadeCamp

The Preferences dialog is displayed by choosing the item from the Edit menu (Win) or from the Shade menu (Mac OS X). This is where you can specify various settings for Shade.

Contents 1 General Tab 1.1 Backwards Compatible File Checkbox 1.2 Shade R4 Compatible File Checkbox 1.3 Add Preview Image Checkbox 1.4 Encoding Pull-down Menu (Mac OS X version only) 1.5 Text File Encoding Pull-down Menu 1.6 Auto Encoding (Reading Text File) Checkbox 1.7 Cross-up Context Menu Access Checkbox 1.8 Sticky Mouse Checkbox 1.9 Lazy Message Checkbox 1.10 Menu Notes Checkbox (Mac OS X Version Only) 1.11 Rendering Finished Beep Checkbox 2 Colors Tab 2.1 Settings Pull-down Menu 2.2 Default Button 2.3 Shade 7 Button 2.4 Load… Button 2.5 Save… Button 2.6 Background Color Box 2.7 Ruler Color Box 2.8 Major Grid Color Box 2.9 Minor Grid Color Box 2.10 X Axis Color Box 2.11 Y Axis Color Box 2.12 Z Axis Color Box 2.13 Cursor Pull-down Menu 2.14 Active Wireframe Color Box 2.15 Inactive Wireframe Color Box 2.16 Modify-mode Wireframe Color Box 2.17 Colored Wireframe Pull-down Menu 2.18 Active Control Points Color Box 2.19 Inactive Control Points Color Box 2.20 Normals Color Box 3 Open GL Tab 3.1 Accelerator Checkbox 3.2 Diamond Shaped Handles Checkbox 3.3 Invalidate Context on Resize Checkbox 3.4 Vertex Buffer Object Checkbox 3.5 Overlay Checkbox 3.6 Always Redraw When Scroll Checkbox 3.7 Window Shadows / Transparency Checkbox (Mac OS X Version Only) 3.8 Threaded Update Checkbox

General Tab

This tab enables you to specify general settings for Shade.

Backwards Compatible File Checkbox

When checked, object data are stored so as to maintain compatibility between the current and previous versions of Shade for both Windows and Mac OS X. This checkbox does not have to be switched on for compatibility between Windows and Mac OS X versions, if the same version of Shade is used on both platforms.

Shade R4 Compatible File Checkbox

Object data are stored by so as to maintain compatibility with the Shade R4 series.

Add Preview Image Checkbox

When checked, a preview is added to the saved image file.

Encoding Pull-down Menu (Mac OS X version only)

When “Japanese” is selected, items such as object names are displayed using Japanese encoding. If you open a file using a certain language for object names,selecting that language from the pull-down menu will cause the object names to be displayed correctly.

Text File Encoding Pull-down Menu

Text encoding can be set with this pull-down menu.

Auto Encoding (Reading Text File) Checkbox

When checked, this sets the encoding used for text files loaded in Shade. This affects the reading of files such as xmlshd.

Cross-up Context Menu Access Checkbox

The Cross-up Menu is enabled when this is checked.

Sticky Mouse Checkbox

Sticky Mouse is enabled when this is checked.

Lazy Message Checkbox

When checked, message windows are automatically suppressed unless Message is chosen from the View menu.

Menu Notes Checkbox (Mac OS X Version Only)

Menu Notes are displayed when checked. Place the mouse cursor on top of the item to confirm the details of the menu items.

Rendering Finished Beep Checkbox

If you wish to be notified of the completion of rendering by a beep sound, select this checkbox.

Colors Tab

This tab enables you to change the colors of items in the Figure window. You can also save these settings to the Registry (Win) or a Preferences file (Mac) or to a Shade Preferences file, and load a previously saved Shade Preferences file.

Settings Pull-down Menu

This menu gives you the option of renaming the current settings, saving the current settings as a new Preferences file (Mac) or new entry in the Registry (Win), or removing (deleting) one of these settings from the menu list. New settings saved by the user are listed in this pull-down menu after the Add, Rename, and Remove menu options. These items will be saved to the Settings pull-down menu until the corresponding file is deleted from the Library (Mac) or Registry (Win) or Shade is uninstalled.

Default Button

Clicking this button will load the default color settings.

Shade 7 Button

Clicking this button will load the default Shade 7 color settings.

Load… Button

Click this button to bring up the Open dialog, allowing you to load a previously-saved Shade Preferences file (*.shdpre).

Save… Button

Click this button to bring up the Save As dialog, allowing you to save the current color settings as a Shade Preferences file (*.shdpre).

Background Color Box

This sets the background color of the Figure window.

Ruler Color Box

This sets the color of the ruler.

Major Grid Color Box

This sets the color of the major grid.

Minor Grid Color Box

This sets the color of the minor grid. The minor grid divisions are 1/5 of the major grid.

X Axis Color Box

This sets the color of the origin of the X-axis in the Figure window.

Y Axis Color Box

This sets the color of the origin of the Y-axis in the Figure window.

Z Axis Color Box

This sets the color of the origin of the Z-axis in the Figure window.

Cursor Pull-down Menu

The color of the 3D cursor can be changed from black to white. The color is chosen according to the background color.

Active Wireframe Color Box

This sets the color of the selected wireframe.

Inactive Wireframe Color Box

This sets the color of the unselected wireframe.

Modify-mode Wireframe Color Box

This sets the color of the wireframe in Modify mode.

Colored Wireframe Pull-down Menu

This sets the color of the wireframe.

When this is Off, the color of the wireframe specified in this Preferences dialog is used. When this is On, then each wireframe is displayed with the respective Diffuse color setting.

When Off (MODIFY) is chosen, each wireframe is displayed with its Diffuse color if it is selected; otherwise, they are displayed with the colors specified in this dialog.

Active Control Points Color Box

This sets the color of selected control points.

Inactive Control Points Color Box

This sets the color of unselected control points.

Normals Color Box

This sets the color of the normal lines.

Open GL Tab

Click this tab to display the settings for Open GL. Items related to the Figure window may take too long to display, depending on your video card and driver. These settings can be used to avoid that problem.

Accelerator Checkbox

Drawing is carried out using the Open GL acceleration of the video card when this checkbox is switched on. When it is switched off, software is used for drawing operations, instead of the Open GL accelerator.

Diamond Shaped Handles Checkbox

This checkbox controls the display of the handles. When checked, handles are diamond shaped, in order to distinguish them from anchor points. When this checkbox is switched off, then both handles and anchor points are square. With some video cards, display speed may slow down in the MODIFY mode. Should that be the case, switching this checkbox off might improve the speed. This is especially useful if residual images remain when modifying the control points of handles. This checkbox is switched on by default.

Invalidate Context on Resize Checkbox

If the Figure window is incorrectly displayed when its size is changed, switching this checkbox on may solve the problem. This checkbox is switched on by default.

Vertex Buffer Object Checkbox

Use of the vertex buffer is the usual method used to speed up the Open GL display. However, using it with some video cards and drivers may slow down the display of the Figure window. This checkbox is switched on by default. Switching this checkbox off may improve the display speed when no other means can help.

Overlay Checkbox

This checkbox is switched on if the environment under which the application is used complies with this function. This feature is mainly related to drawing with the 3D cursor. If drawing with the 3D cursor is not smooth, switching this checkbox off may solve the problem.

Always Redraw When Scroll Checkbox

When this checkbox is switched on, parts that are hidden when scrolling are also shown. When this checkbox is switched off, objects are redrawn if the redraw time is less than 0.1 second. If redraw takes more time than that, then objects from outside the window are not displayed until is finished, so that scrolling can be sped up.

Turning this option on will redraw the objects regardless of the time they take to be redrawn during scrolling. Some high-performance video cards that are compatible with the SwapCopy function can handle this with ease.

Window Shadows / Transparency Checkbox (Mac OS X Version Only)

Shadows and transparency for the windows in Mac OS X can be switched on or off. Turning the checkbox off to disable this may speed up the redraw operation.

Threaded Update Checkbox

When this checkbox is switched on, drawing is threaded for high-speed processing. Try switching this checkbox off if problems are encountered in the drawing operation when a large object data is opened. |