Getting Started
with WCS 6 Part 1B.
Getting Started
28. Saving often, especially
before renders, is a good habit to get into, so let's get started
early. You can use the File > Save menu item
or Ctrl+S keyboard shortcut (Command+S on Mac).
The Status window will update with a message telling you
the project was saved.
29. You can also save the project
as a Component, which allows you to add useful project
information and make it available in the Component Gallery. So what is a Component? It's a building block
in your project that can be saved, shared, and loaded into other
projects. In its current freeform mode, the Scene-At-A-Glance shows all Component categories.
30. If you expand the Atmospheres
category by clicking the + in front of it, you'll see
the Atmosphere Component. Ones that WCS created start
with the project name.
31. Let's save this project as
a Component. We're going to need a thumbnail image to
identify it, so click anywhere in the Island Camera view to activate
it and key F9 to make a preview render. You can also start
a render with the Preview Render 
button in the last group on the Icon Toolbar. Our render won't
look like much yet because we only have the default gray Ground
Effect covering it, but it will do for a start.
32. Close out the Render Complete
box and Diagnostic Data window.
33. WCS saves each render as
WCSLastRender.iff in the WCSFrames
folder. Go up to the File menu and select Sign &
Save.
34. This will open the Component Signature window. To the right of the Image
for Thumbnail field, click the disk icon  .
35. Navigate to the WCSFrames folder and open WCSLastRender.iff. The extra
pane I have attached to the right side of my file requester is
ImageFox, part of the ACDSee Suite by ACD Systems. It comes in handy for previewing
images without interrupting your workflow.
36. WCS will update the Component
thumbnail. Add a complete description in the Comments
box, keeping in mind that this will help you and others, if you
share it, understand what's in the Component and how to use it.
Click Save to Disk & Close to save the Component.
37. The Save Project box will warn you that a project of that name
already exists, which we know, so Overwrite.
38. Open the Component Gallery
 from the Windows
section of the Icon Toolbar and you'll see our Island project
on the Project General page.
39. To see the imported DEM,
open the Database
Editor  from the upper toolbar or use the Alt+D
keyboard shortcut. It's the best place to access all the DEMs
and vectors in your project. If your Editor does not open docked
in an open Matrix cell, it's in floating mode and can be dragged
around the screen.
40. To dock it, right-click its
title bar and select Dock to snap it to an open cell.
41. We'll need it in a moment,
so click your Island Camera view to activate it and key
F8 to switch back to a realtime view. Enter past
the View box and we're back in realtime mode.
42. How do we know the island
object in the Database Editor is our DEM? Click on it in the
Database Editor to activate it. It turns yellow in views
and shows up as island (DEM) in the Active Item window.
43. Up to now we've left the
Scene-At-A-Glance in freeform mode , but let's break it
down now into Task Modes. That's where the first 8 buttons
on the Icon Toolbar come in.
44. They filter the upper pane
and show only task-specific Component categories. Let's start
with the last one first, the Render Task Mode
 . For now,
we're only interested in the Cameras category, so expand
the listing. You'll recognize these 3 Cameras from the popup
menu; they're the ones that WCS created with the project.
45. The first 4 buttons directly
above the Scene-At-A-Glance allow you to Enable  ,
Disable  , Add or
Clone  ,
and Delete  categories
and Components. The next 3 buttons control item visibility in
the upper pane.
46. The last one 
expands the Scene-At-A-Glance.
47. Component operations can
also be accessed from a right-click on the Component itself.
48. Double-click the Island
Camera to open its Editor. The first thing we're going to do
is rename the Camera. Highlight the name on the General
page, type Main, and Enter.
By default, new perspective cameras are of the Targeted
type, with the target in the center of the terrain.
49. Activate the Isalnd Planimetric
view, and use the minus (-) key to zoom back a notch. You can
see our Main camera icon highlighted in yellow.
50. Activate the Main view and
hold down the space bar to enter the Manipulate Camera
mode. When the space bar is depressed, you'll notice that the
Manipulate View's Camera 
button is depressed on the Icon Toolbar.
51. Click the Move  button or press the M key to enter the Move Mode. Left-click
and drag left and right to move along the x axis and drag up
and down to move along the y axis, toward and away from the target.
You'll also see the camera move in the plan view. Right-click
and drag up and down to move along the z, or elevation, axis.
For a targeted camera, all movement is relative to the target
line of sight.
52. To see the target, release
the space bar to exit Manipulate Camera mode, and deselect the
island DEM's Enabled box in the Database Editor.
53. The target will be visible
in the Main camera view. Activate the Main camera view, depress
the spacebar again to Manipulate Camera, and WCS remembers the
Move mode we were in last time we manipulated the camera.
As we move the camera, the view remains centered on the target.
54. Release the spacebar and
enable the DEM again.
55. Depress the spacebar, and
click the Rotate  button
or press the R key. We can now rotate the camera: left
click drag left and right to change the heading and up and down
to vary the pitch.
56. You can see the values change
in the Main Camera Editor
Position & Orientation page. Right-click drag left
and right to change the bank angle.
57. The Default Camera Position
 button on the
toolbar returns the active camera to its default location.
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