Getting started

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Installation and online software activation

If Unifeye Design is not yet installed on your PC, please conduct the installation and license activation as described here. If you have not yet purchased Unifeye Design, please read here for details on the system requirements and purchasing process.

Updates and version history

Have a look at the version history of Unifeye Design including update instructions for new versions of Unifeye Design.

Feature overview and general consideration

Consult the feature overview for an extensive list of features provided with Unifeye Design.

Please also take a look at these general considerations when working with Unifeye Design to achive the best AR-result possible.

First steps in Unifeye Design

In order to get familiar with the different GUI elements it's best to start out with modifying an existing scene from the examples folder.

Each of the example scenes is a preconfigured scene file or project, which includes all necessary parts of a running AR- Scene. So when one of these scene files is running, it automatically loads the according 3D content and tracking data with a preconfigured and integrated 2D pattern into the system. When the life camera is activated, the user just has to hold the corresponding tracking pattern (2D print-out) in front of the camera and the first AR- scene is running. The example scenes are described in detail here.

Please make sure, that your webcam is connected to the computer.

Note: In order to preserve the initial examples, please copy the complete \examples folder from C:\Program Files\metaio\Unifeye Design to your "My documents" folder before you continue.

Unifeye Design GUI: Load and edit a scene

Loading and saving the scene

First print out the according tracking pattern or tracking reference image in color for the scene you selected. They are provided in form of a PDF in the Start Menu entry of Unifeye Design within the sub-menu Tracking Patterns ( PlanarMarkerlessPattern.pdf ).

Start Unifeye Design and select "Open" from the File menu. In the explorer menu, select the scene file (.scef)* from any sub-folder of ..\My Documents\examples\scenes. For this demonstration, we'll use the Fantasy scene.

A loading scale is displayed while the scene file is loaded into the interface.

Watching the scene

1. If no camera icon is visible in the "Load and manage image sources" field below the main window, load your camera into the Unifeye Design via Tools/Imagesource/Choose Camera.
2. Double-click onto the camera icon representing your camera now shown in the "Load and manage image sources" field to start the live camera picture.
3. Capture the marker with your camera and watch the loaded 3D content appears on the print-out (in your screen). Now you're first AR scene is already running.

Modifing the scene

In the toolbox category "objects" on the right hand side, you'll see all models associated to the scene in the "Geometries/Planes" tab. Below this tab, you always find the “Load geometry” box (blue cube) which displays all loaded 3D geometries/models.

When a geometry is loaded, 4 further tabs, “General”, ”Translation”, ”Rotation” and “Scaling”, appear below. These tabs always refer to the 3D geometry which is currently selected in the "Geometries/Planes" tab (highlighted in blue). Inside these tabs, you can modify the 3D geometry.

In the "General" section, the general attributes of the chosen 3D geometry, such as name, graphic rendition (e.g. visible / invisible) and the binding coordinate system are set. The binding coordinate system is described by the COS-ID and determines the reference pattern that the 3D geometry is linked to (when the tracking data contains more than just one pattern).

Now select the model "snitch" from "Geometries/Planes". You'll see that the "View" on the model "snitch" is set to "visible" in the "General" section. You can choose now if the snitch should be invisible, an occlusion geometry (invisible, but obliterating other 3D geometries) or if it should be displayed as a wireframe.

Select the model "sword" next and re-assign it to the coordinate system of the tracking reference image 1 (the wizard image) instead of reference image 2. The sword then becomes visible next to the snitch and the hat.

Go ahead and change the translation, rotation, and scaling of the models and watch the scene change in the life view.

Translation refers to the displacement of the 3D geometry according to the center of its binding coordinate system, means the reference pattern. In the Rotation section you can set a rotation of the model against the coordinate axes. Accordingly, you can change the scale of the geometry in the Scaling section along all axes. A value < 1 reduces the size of the model.

Please refer to the detailed documentation and the tool description for details on the different setting options.

Once you're done, you can save the modified scene via "Save" or "Save as..." from the File menu. Then you can open a new scene or exit Unifeye Design via the File menu.

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Workflow Engine: Load and edit the example WFE

Loading and saving the scene

First print out the tracking pattern for the scenario. They are provided in form of a PDF in the Start Menu entry of Unifeye Design within the sub-menu Example Scenarios -> Architecture Tracking Pattern ( architecture_marker.pdf).

Start the Workflow Authoring Tool from Start Menu > metaio > Unifeye Design > Workflow Authoring. To open a workflow, click the "Open" button in the menu bar (or use short cut Strg + O) and select a workflow file ( Workflow_ ScenarioName.xml) from any sub-folder of ..\My Documents\examples\scenarios. Press "No" in the following message box, if you do not wish to save the previous opened workflow.

For this demonstration, we'll use the Architecture scenario.

Watching the scene

To run the workflow in its initial state, either press the corresponding button in the menu bar or press F5. An Unifeye Window will appear. Please wait until your camera connected and the video stream image comes visible. Then capture the tracking pattern with the camera and watch the scene unfold.

Note: If you still have another window of Unifeye Design running which uses the camera, an error message will appear. The camera can only be used by one window at time. Please close the camera connection in the window you do not currently use to continue.

Make sure to have both the Unifeye Window and the Workflow Authoring Window visible. You'll notice a red-highlighted "Connection"-box in the Workflow window (see left image below). This indicates that the workflow is waiting for an user input. In this case, the user input is specified as "Keyboard - Down". Please press the "Down" button and you'll see the roof disappear.

At the same time, other "Connection"-boxes in the Workflow window becomes highlighted (see right image below). The awaited user input is either specified as "Keyboard - Up" or "Keyboard - Down". Press the "Up" or "Down" button to switch through the different floors of the building. You can always take a look into the workflow and see which fields become highlighted.

Once you're familiar with the scene, close the Unifeye Window and return to the Workflow Authoring GUI.

Modifing the scene

Now let's try to change the workflow in order to better understand the meaning of the different functions. For example, look at the "Set Geometry Visibility" box on the left hand with the Info title "Remove the Roof". In this step, the visibility of the roof is set to false once the user presses the down button (see above).

Go ahead and select a different resource model, e.g. "Step08-Garden" instead and rename the step to "Remove the Garden". Then press F5 to see the new workflow. The garden will now remain invisible after the user has pressed "Down" for the first time. The roof on the other hand, will remain visible.

Please refer to the detailed documentation and the workflow authoring tool description for details on the different setting options.

Once you're done, you can save the modified scene via "Save" or "Save as..." from the File menu. Then you can open a new scene or exit Unifeye Design via the File menu.

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-- SupportMetaio - 2010-02-24