Instructions on how to use OMEdit animation features missing in the User Guide

[Francesco Casella]

Please add some basic instructions on how to use the OMEdit animation feature. In particular, explain how to change the point of view, zoom&pan, etc.

[Volker Waurich]

How detailed should this be done? I considered the visualization as kind of self-explanatory. Have a look at this ​(PR29)

[Francesco Casella]

First, as the 3D visualization is a feature of OMEdit, I would suggest to move the section "3D visualization" under "OMEdit – OpenModelica Connection Editor", possibly after "Re-simulating a model". I would have expected to find it there when looking for info.

As to the commands, they are indeed intuitive once you know about them, but it is very confusing when you first try this feature out and you find yourself staring at a window and trying to figure out what do to change the view :)

The additions in PR 29 are a good starting point. However, there are many unclear points.

For users without a three-button mouse, you may add "or Left and Right hold" for the Move operation.

The phrase "Predefined views (Isometric, Side, Front, Top) can be selected and the scene can be tilted by 90° either clock or anticlockwise with the rotation buttons." is quite confusing to me. I only see three predefined views in the drop-down menu on the top right of the visualization window, not four, and they are marked as "normal to the *-* plane", not as "Side, Front, Top". Is this what you are referring to?. Also, if I visualize a cube shape, what I see seems to me a perspective view, not an isometric one. Why do you mention "Isometric" in that phrase?

Last, but not least, if the view is a true perspective and not an isometric view, the actions of moving closer to an object and of zooming in obviously do not have the same effect. The action that you describe as "Zoom In/Out" seems to me more as a "Move Forward/Backward". I would rename this action as such, and add one more true "Zoom In/Out" action that only changes the magnification without changing the angles of the lines in the view as it is now.

Thanks!

[Volker Waurich]

Thanks for the feedback. It seems that input from an inexperienced user is really necessary in here, since I dont see these unclear points.

The widget has changed a bit since beta release and it might change in near future as well. The current OMEdit-master has new perspectives and additional rotation buttons which I was refering to in the doc update.

I will integrate your remarks and I would be glad to receive further feedback for the next iteration.

[Francesco Casella]

Replying to vwaurich:

Thanks for the feedback. It seems that input from an inexperienced user is really necessary in here, since I dont see these unclear points.

Indeed. IMHO, we need a lot more of this feedback to improve the overall quality of OpenModelica. A very good developer is not able to judge on these issues in the same way a very good psycologist or psychiatrist cannot diagnose himself :)

The widget has changed a bit since beta release and it might change in near future as well. The current OMEdit-master has new perspectives and additional rotation buttons which I was refering to in the doc update.

OK. I'll leave it to you how much of this stuff you want to port to the final 1.11 release, as long as the released version and its documentation are consistent (!). However, since the 1.11 release is the first one with 3D visualization, I would try to make it as user-friendly as possible, so maybe it's best to port all these changes to the code and to the documentation to the 1.11/maintenance branch as well, unless you are unsure about their stability.

I will integrate your remarks and I would be glad to receive further feedback for the next iteration.

Will do. I'm experimenting with OMC and multibody for a Modelica Conference paper, so I'll use this quite a bit in the next two weeks :)

[Volker Waurich]

We have 2 branches for the documentation now: the master for 1.12 and a maintenance for 1.11. Both are consistent for the correpsonding omc verion.

[Volker Waurich]

I would suggest to downgrade the priority and keep this ticket as discussion for further documentation updates.

[Francesco Casella]

I think we can actually close the ticket. My primary concern was that the 1.11 release

• came with some documentation
• consistent with the actual status

That has been taken care of. If needed, we could open another ticket in the future to improve the 3D visualization function (and the documentation thereof).