You can see a realistic display of objects with their materials by clicking Options on the Tools menu and changing your Acceleration type. Use Direct3D or OpenGL, with the Texture Map option turned on.
To cycle among multiple project windows, press CTRL+F6 repeatedly.
Simply3D can show a thumbnail image of each resource in the Scene Explorer when you pause the mouse pointer over the resource. Open the Tools menu, click Options, and click "Show Scene Explorer Thumbnails" to select the option.
If you cannot see the camera in any of the Top, Side, or Front views, click the Smart Zoom button on the Point of View toolbar.
To use a bitmap file as a background, drag the file directly from the Windows Explorer and drop it on the Background icon in the Scene Explorer.
To drop a catalog material or animation on a target object that is surrounded by other objects, drop the resource on the object's name in the Scene Explorer.
You can stack several animations on an object. Just add a parent for each animation that you want to add.
If you rotate multiple selected objects, each object rotates around its own axis. If you group them and then rotate their parent object, all the objects rotate around the axis of the parent.
You can select Wireframe as the default preview setting by clicking Options on the Tools menu.
To quickly open a project that you have used recently, select it from the list at the bottom of the File menu.
After you have saved a scene, you can save changes to it quickly during a session by using the Save command on the File menu, or by pressing CTRL+S.
You can close all open projects by quitting Simply3D. You are prompted to save any unsaved changes.
Objects moved in the Camera view are moved within the camera's coordinate system. If you want to move within the scene's coordinate system, drag in the Top, Side, or Front view.
Before saving any scene in an animation file-format, save it as a Simply3D (S3D) file. If you encounter a problem while saving the animation file, you can recover the scene.
You can open any Simply3D project (S3D file) by double-clicking it in the Windows Explorer.
When giving similar names to several items in the Scene Explorer, copy the common portion of the names to the Clipboard. You can then paste the common portion into each new name instead of typing it.
To stop rendering a scene, you can either press the ESC key or click the Stop Rendering button on the Standard toolbar.
To add a catalog object as a child of another object, drop the new object on its parent object in the Scene Explorer.
If you manipulate the camera frequently, add a floor shape to serve as a visual reference. You can remove the floor before final rendering.
You can group multiple objects under a parent object and then manipulate them all by selecting the parent.
You can locate objects that are outside the viewing area by selecting Four Up view and then clicking the Smart Zoom button on the Point of View toolbar.
For descriptions of the items displayed on a dialog box, click the Help button on the dialog box.
You can copy a material from one Simply3D project to another by copying and pasting.
You can replace a material's image map with a bitmap file's image. Drag the file directly from the Windows Explorer and drop it on the material in the Scene Explorer.
For fine control of a material's shininess, click Shine on the material's shortcut menu, and then drag the sliders for Material Shininess and Highlight Size.
To adjust the zoom automatically as you move the camera and objects in the scene, click the Autozoom button on the Point of View toolbar.
The Background does not receive shadows. If you want the objects in your scene to cast shadows on a flat surface, add a wall or floor to receive the shadows.
Object and animation-path scaling are always along the item's X, Y, and Z axes--regardless of the item's current orientation, the camera's viewing angle, and the view in which you drag.
Dragging the camera in the Camera view is a special case that moves both the camera and its aiming point.
In solid shaded preview, selected objects in the project window are not highlighted. However, their names are highlighted in the Scene Explorer.
To copy, move, scale, rotate, or animate all of the objects in a group, select their parent object--not the individual objects.
The mapping options for an object affect all materials applied to the object.
