Main Window

Main Window
Scene Browser
Properties Panel
Library
Assets Library
Material Library
Animation Time Line
Sequence Library
Scene States Library
Common Toolbar
Quick Access Toolbar
Active Camera
Message Area
Orientation Cube

Main Window

SimLab Composer interface is organized into workbenches. Upon selecting a workbench the allocated tools in that workbench will appear, and the interface will be changed to display the defaults of that selected workbench.

There are several elements that provide structure to how the commands are presented in the user interface. In addition to the 3D Area, Main Window includes the following components:

These components are shown in the following image

Scene Browser

Scene Browser lists all elements in the scene and shows a clear tree structure of the models, where the user can view parent/child relationships.

When a parent in the Scene Browser is selected and hidden/deleted, the effect is automatically applied to all its children so they are automatically hidden/deleted.

Scene Browser allows using Shift or Ctrl to select as many items.

Changing parent/child relationships in Scene Browser can be done easily by dragging an object or group of objects and dropping them onto a new parent.

+/- buttons on top of the Scene Browser allows expanding all level in the tree (+ button), or closing all and keeping just the top level (- button)

The environment at the top of the Scene Browser always exists and can not be deleted. When you click on Environment in the Scene browser, Properties Panel is updated to show the properties of the environment, which allows you to make changes.

Selecting object(s), then right-clicking, shows a helping menu allowing quick actions like Hide/Show object(s), Change parent, Add parent, or perform a geometry operation.

Scene Browser uses icons to identify the object types, but even with icons for large scenes, it may not be easy to find the object(s) you are looking for. For help in this task Scene Browser provides two options:

Scene Browser Filters: select a filter to show the only object(s) of a specific type, for example, select Lights filter to view all Lights in the scene.

Searching Scene Browser: by clicking the search button the user can search for objects in the Scene Browser based on names or object attributes

The size and location of the Scene Browser can be changed easily, as well as choosing whether to hide it or not. Its appearance can be changed from File -> Preferences, Appearance tab, where Tree Transparency can be changed.

Attributes Manager

From the top bar of Scene Browser, Attribute Manager can be started. Attribute Manager allows viewing attributes attached to objects in the scene, and updating them.

The following tutorial shows how to use Attribute Manager.

Properties Panel

When selecting an object or entity in the scene the Properties Panel appears on the right side of the application showing its properties.

Objects are shown in the Scene Browser, they are part of the model tree in the Scene Browser. An object can be selected by clicking on it in the 3D Area or by selecting it from the Scene Browser.

The properties Panel may have two tabs or more depending on the object type.

When selecting a part of an assembly object (not the end leaf in the tree) Properties Panel usually shows two tabs as shown in the following image

those tabs are Object Tab and Transform Tab

Object Tab

Object Tab includes functionality that can be applied to any object in the scene. This includes: Copy Object, Create Instance, Isolate, Hide/Show, Freeze/Unfreeze, in addition to changing the name of an object.

The described functionality is available in the top of the Object Tab

Object Actions

Object Tab also includes Object Actions, which is a simple way of defining what to do if the user clicks on the object in the VR experience.

Object Actions can be one of the following

1- Open URL
2- Play/Stop Animation
3- Multi-Action (you can ask multiple actions to be executed when an object is clicked)
4- Apply Scene State
5- Play Sound (thought it is better to use SimLab Composer object)
6- Play Sequence
7- Show Message Box
8- Video Action
9- Load Scene
10- Import Model

Attributes Panel

Attributes Panel shows attributes applied to the object. Attributes can be imported when importing the 3D model, or created using Attribute Panel or the Attribute Manager (which is accessible in the Scene Browser)

The following tutorial shows how the user can utilize attributes in VR experiences

Transform Tab

Allows the user to view/modify the local and global location, orientation, and scale of the object and its pivot.

Extra Tabs

Based on the object type, an additional tab may be added to the Properties Panel, for example, if user selected a leaf object (3D object) the Material Tab is added, as shown in the following image

The following tutorial borrowed from SimLab Composer shows how to use the Material Properties

Effects like VR Fire, VR Smoke, VR Shows, VR Video, VR Sound, and others will add an additional VR or VR properties Tab, allowing the user to set specific properties of the selected object, the following image shows the new VR Video property tab added when selecting a VR Video

Entity Panel

When the user clicks ESC (to make sure no object is selected) the user can go to the library and click on a Sequence, a Scene Start, or a Key in the animation timeline to view its properties in the Properties Panel

Sequence Properties

Scene State Properties

Key Frame Properties

Environment Properties

By clicking on Environment (always the top element in Object Browser), the Properties Panel will display the Environment Properties, which include the following tabs;

HDR Tab

This tab allows the user to select the environment image used to light the scene, also it allows the user to control its power, orientation, and brightness.

Sun Tab

The Sun tab allows the user to enable/disable the sun effect, and to control sun/sky power in the scene

It also allows the user to set the initial sun location in the scene

Ground Tab

In this tab, the user can set ground effects like reflection and shadow.

Background Tab

This tab allows the user to select a background to be used for the VR scene, it can be from the environment (HDR, or Sun), or the user can select a background image or Color to be used as a background

VR Tab

VR Tab allows the user to control the created VR experience, the user can control Environment, Navigation mode, and Scene Settings, and decide to make VR Catalog(s) available in the VR experience

Library

This library grants the user access to a rich source of elements available in SimLab Composer. Elements, such as 3D models, background images, and render settings. The user can add to the different element in this library through the Manage Library button.

The libraries Panel at the lower part of the application interface provides access to the following elements:

Assets Library
Material Library
Animation Time Line
Sequences Library
Scene States Library

Both Asset Libraries and Material Library are mainly used to access assets and materials provided from SimLab Soft. The user can still add her/his own assets to the asset libraries.

Animation, Sequences, and Scene States tabs provide access to user-created elements in the scene and add more elements to the current scene.

Signing up is required only once, and login is needed every time you attempt to download a 3D model in a session.

The user can download items from different libraries by double-clicking on any of them, where the Download Item box appears. Click download then a progress bar will appear. , and after that, the 3D model will be added to the data content of your SimLab application so you don't have to download that 3D model again.

The user can download all content available in the active 3D models' library at once by clicking the Download content button as shown in the image below.

After the download process is successfully completed, the new item(s) will be directly available in the corresponding library without the need to download again or restart the Composer application. The user can add models to the 3D library through the Add New Item '+' button, on the top right of the material library.

Assets Library

The libraries tab has assets categorized into groups: 3D Models, 3D Scenes, Sketchfab, VR Warehouse, Backgrounds, Scripts, HDR, Lighting Settings, Sounds, and SimLab Academy.

3D Models

The 3D Models category provides the user with stock 3D models to compose scenes out of them.

3D Scenes

The 3D Scenes category contains complete environments to be used for desktop and VR experiences.

Sketchfab

The Sketchfab library allows users to display 3D, VR, and AR content from the Sketchfab platform website right in-app without the need for an Internet browser. The user is allowed to browse, review, and instantly download public models into an open scene.

VR Warehouse

The VR Warehouse is the market where to publish, sell, and buy VR experiences. Go to the VR Warehouse section for more information.

Backgrounds

The Backgrounds category consists of image and spherical backgrounds.

Scripts

The Scripts category is where the user finds ready-to-run Python scripts that automate certain tasks in SimLab Composer.

HDR

The HDR (High Dynamic Range) category has various options to select from.

Lighting Settings

The Lighting Settings category provides lighting presets for rendering, VR, sun, and IES.

Sounds

The Sounds category has a collection of sample sound effects for ambiance, electricity, industry, and notifications.

Adding an element from Asset Libraries to a scene can be done in one of two ways: (1) Dragging an element from the library and dropping it in the 3D area. (2) Double-click the element on the Asset Library.

SimLab Academy

SimLab Academy includes free step-by-step tutorials with all models needed to follow along with the available tutorials.

For example: to start learning VR creation, the user clicks on SimLab Academy, then selects VR.

Then the user selects what he/she wants to learn such as Basics.

The following video shows SimLab Academy in action

Material Library

Default Material Library can be downloaded by selecting the Material tab in the Library, and clicking Download Materials Library.

After installing the library the user can select the material group

To assign a material to an object in the scene just drag the material and drop it onto that object in the 3D Area or in the Scene Browser.

The following tutorial from SimLab Composer shows the material management capabilities.

Using +/- at the top right side of the Materials Library the user can add new materials, and delete unused ones.

For managing Material Library the user can click on Manage Library, For sharing part of the library the contents (Materials or 3D models), the user can use Share Library Content

The following image shows the Manage Library dialog

With this feature, sharing different resources is simplified significantly. The rule is clear; if a resource exists in a library, then it can be shared.

Resources can be:
Materials
HDRs
Models
Background Images
And even more...

To share a resource, just drag and drop it from the Library Panel to the area with the title Drop to Share, surrounded by an orange dotted border. Sharing dialog includes the following control elements, as shown in the following image:

Animation Time Line

SimLab Composer is able to Import Rigid and flexible (Joints-based rigged) bodies animations as well as create animation for objects in the animation timeline through several tools.

To access the Animation timeline, open the Animation Tab in the library panel at the bottom of SimLab Composer.

Animation Timeline User Interface

1. Animation Keyframes Creation tools

	Auto Key	When toggled, any change in transformation for objects is recorded as a keyframe automatically when the current key frame is other than 0.
	Capture object keyframe	Captures a keyframe with the selected object's transformation at its current state.
	Capture camera keyframe	Captures a keyframe for the active camera's transformation and view.
	Show Object	Toggles on the visibility of the selected object during animation.
	Hide Object	Toggles off the visibility of the selected object during animation.
	Director Record	Captures the camera's live movement in the scene as a sequence of keyframes along the animation range.

2. Keyframes Management tools

	Go to the previous keyframe	Moves the current time slider to the previous keyframe.
	Go to the next keyframe	Moves the current time slider to the next keyframe.
	Select all keyframes	Selects all keyframes and generated animations in the timeline.
	Group keyframes	Group selected keyframes into a single group element.
	Break Group	Breaks a group into keyframes.
	Move keyframe	Moves the selected keyframes to a specific frame.
	Copy keyframe	Copies and moves the selected keyframe to a specific frame.
	Delete selected keyframe	Deletes the selected keyframes from the timeline.
	Delete all	Deletes all keyframes from the timeline.

3. Animation Sequences tools

	Create Animation Sequence	Converts the selected keyframes in the timeline to an Animation Sequence.
	Show Animation Sequences list	Displays a list of all Animation Sequences where you can edit, modify their group or delete them.

4. Generate Animation tools

	Round Table	Creates an animation where an Object revolves up to 360 degrees around its center.
	Follow Path	Animates an object along a path.
	Wheel Animation	Creates a wheel animation of an object around a center point while determining the number of revolutions.

	Round Table	Creates an animation where a Camera revolves up to 360 degrees around its center point of view.
	Helical	Creates an animation where a Camera revolves up to 360 degrees around its center point of view while descending downwards.

5. Capture Video

	Render View in VR	Renders an animated camera as a sequence of images using the SimLab VR Viewer.
	Open Movie Maker	Opens the Movie Maker, where you can compile a sequence of images into a single video file.

	Go to first frame	Moves the current time slider to the first frame in the animation range.
	Backward Play	Plays the animation in the timeline in reverse.
	Play	Plays the animation in the timeline.
	Go to last frame	Moves the current time slider to the last frame in the animation range.
	Scale timeline	Scales up and translates all the keyframes in the timeline.

	Start of Animation Range	Sets the start of the animation range by being dragged to a specific frame or by double-clicking and entering the value numerically.
	Current Time Slider	Sets the current time in the animation timeline by being dragged to a specific frame or by double-clicking and entering the value numerically.
	End of Animation Range	Sets the end of the animation range by being dragged to a specific frame or by double-clicking and entering the value numerically.

Animation Creation

To create Animation in Simlab Composer there are two methods that can be followed depending on the type of animation you want to create. You can either manually create the animation by transforming objects and capturing keyframes, or you can use object and camera tools to generate procedural animation such as wheel and path animation.

^{Watch this tutorial to learn more about animation in SimLab Composer}

1. Animation through Capturing keyframes

If the auto key button is toggled, all you need to do to animate an object is to move the current time indicator/slider to a frame other than 0, then move, rotate or scale the object (change its transformation) and 2 keyframes will be created, a keyframe at frame 0 to store its initial transformation, and the second key at the current time to store the new transformation.

^{In this example, the car object was selected, and the current time slider was moved to frame 30, then the car was moved 2 meters, so 2 keyframes were created at frame 0 and frame 30 to denote the animation of the car}

In addition to the standard transformation animation, there are other attributes or elements you can animate, each with a different keyframe type representing it in the timeline.

	Transformation Keyframe	Created when an object has a change of transformation ( rotation, location, scale) along the timeline.
	Visibility Keyframe	Created when an object has a change of visibility along the timeline using the "show and hide an object in animation" buttons
	Light Keyframe	Created when light has one or more attributes (Color, power, Cone angle, etc) and changes a long timeline.
	Material Keyframe	Created when a material attribute (texture, color, reflection, etc) changes along the timeline.
	Camera Keyframe	Created when a camera has a change of transformation ( position, target) along the timeline, either through capturing or using the director record tool.

2. Automatic Camera and Object Animation

SimLab Composer has several tools that enable you to automatically create a procedural animation for an object or a camera without manually adjusting the time slider and changing the object's transformation.

These tools can be accessed from the Object animation and the Camera animations menu at the top of the timeline panel.

When an object or a camera is selected and one of those tools is clicked, a dialogue will appear to set the parameters for the automatic animation that is to be generated.

This is an example of an animation dialogue that appears when the user selects the round table animation. In this dialogue, the user has to specify the start frame and the end frame, as well as the angle of rotation for the object or the camera.

^{The Round table animation will be represented as a single block instead of multiple keyframes, since it cannot be modified manually but rather through its attributes that appear in the panel to the right.}

Keyframes interpolation (Ease in and Ease out)

Animation in SimLab Composer has a linear interpolation by default, which means that objects or attributes are animated at a constant speed throughout the animation range, however, there is a way to change the interpolation of animation by setting the keyframes interpolation to ease-in or ease-out interpolation.

To change a keyframe interpolation, Select the keyframe, and from the Properties panel to the right, open the interpolation drop-down menu and select ease in, ease out, or auto ease.

To change the interpolation for an object or a camera's automatic animation, Select animation block, and from the Properties panel to the right, open the interpolation drop-down menu for the start frame and select ease in, ease out, or auto ease, and the menu for end for to change the interpolation at the end of the animation

When choosing the Ease out interpolation, which should be applied at a frame at the beginning of the animation, the speed of the animation starts at 0 and then accelerates gradually to get to a constant speed.

With the Ease in interpolation, which should be applied at the frame at the end of an animation, the speed decelerates towards 0 instead of abruptly changing to 0.

The Auto Ease interpolation combines both the Ease in and Ease out and is usually used for keyframes in the middle of an animation where the speed goes down as the current time slider approaches that keyframe, and it picks up again as it leaves it.

^{Notice the constant speed in the default linear interpolation(top) and the acceleration in the Ease out interpolation(bottom).}

Utilizing Animation in VR

To utilize Imported or created animation in VR you need to first store it as a component named "Animation Sequence", and then you can either attach it to a Play Sequence Response in the Training Builder or use it as a Grabbable Sequence.

Animation Sequence Creation

To create an Animation Sequence you need to select all the animation keyframes regardless of their type for all the objects you want to include in the animation sequences, then click on the "Create Animation Sequence" button in the animation panel.

In the creation Dialogue, type a name for the Sequence. and choose whether you want to create a reversed version of the animation, and whether you want to delete the animation from the timeline or not.

Created Animation Sequences can be found in the Sequences tab next to the Animation tab in the bottom panel of SimLab Composer.

from the Sequences tab you can :

Preview Animation Sequences.
Attach Animation Sequences to responses in the Training Builder.
Send Animation Sequences to the timeline.
Find the objects that are affected by the animation sequence.
Attach Sequence to object (in case if importing a flexible body animation and you want to attach it to a joints-rigged object).
Make the flex object stationary ( in case of having a walk cycle for example, and you need to keep the walking animation but dispose of the object's translation).

Attaching Animation Sequence to Responses

In the Training Builder, create a Play Sequence Response, then select the Animation Sequence from the Sequences tab and then click the attach button on the Play Sequence Response.

^{The Animation in VR will play once the Event attaches to the response occurs.}

Grabbable Sequences

Grabbable Sequences are a type of object grabbing that constricts the movement of the grabbable object through an Animation Sequence.

A practical example would be to create a Lever's animation of it going up and down, then set it as a Grabbable Sequences where the user can grab the Lever's arm but can only move it up and down in accordance with its created animation, unlike regular grabbing where the user can move and rotate the object in any direction.

To create a Grabbable Sequence from an animation Sequence follow these steps :

from the interactions menu select "Make Grabbable Sequence".
Select the 3D object that you need to make grabbable and click the check mark.
Select the Animation Sequence you want to attach to the object and click the check mark again.
Specify the grabbing visual helper's size then click the check mark again to finish the process.

Sequence Library

Sequence Library shows a list of all sequences in the scene.

Sequence Preview

To preview a sequence without converting it into animation, the user can highlight the animation icon part of the sequence, which will be converted into a play icon, clicking the play icon will preview the sequence, as shown in the following image

On the left side of the Sequence library the user can do the following:

Find affected Objects: zooms the view in the 3D area to the objects affected by this sequence, which makes it easy to find what objects the sequence affects in the scene.
Apply Sequence to Animation Time Line: adds the contents of the sequence to the animation timeline, this can also be achieved by dragging the animation and dropping it on the 3D Area

When applying Sequence to Animation Time Line the following dialog appears allowing the user to repeat the sequence multiple times. or to use it in a follow-path animation.

Sequences will be added starting from the current frame in the Animation Timeline

Attach Sequence with Object: This option attaches the selected unattached sequence to the selected object to affect it, better explained in the following tutorial
Make Flex Object Stationary: in case you have a sequence moving VR Guide legs, and at the same time moving it from the place, you can use this option to remove the move from place part from the sequence and make the VR Guide move in place, this is very useful to apply user desired motion on the VR Guide
Delete Selected Sequence: Deletes the currently selected sequence
Delete All Sequences: Deletes all sequences in the Sequence Library

The following tutorial shows how to use Sequence Library to add VR Guide to the VR experience

Sequence Groups

Sequences in Sequence Library can be organized in groups, a new group can be added by clicking on the + button next to group tabs, to rename Sequence Group the user needs to double-click on its tab label as shown below

When deleting a sequence group the user will get the option to delete sequences in the group or to move them to the Default sequence group, as shown in the following image.

Scene States Library

Scene States enable the user to capture different configurations for the selected 3D model(s), or for the whole scene.

To view what is selected in the scene state, make sure nothing is selected in the scene, then click on a scene state in the Scene State Library

Properties Panel update will allow the user to change what to effect in the Scene State, it also allows the user to change the group of the Scene State

Scene State Library includes small tool buttons on the left side, allowing the user to:

1- Open the Capture Scene State Dialog
2- Regenerate Scene State Images
3- Delete Active Scene State
4- Delete all Scene Sates

Scene State Groups

Scene State Groups are very similar to Sequence Groups Library, they can be used to organize Scene States, a new group can be added by clicking on the + button next to group tabs, to rename Scene State Group the user needs to double-click on its tab label as shown below

When deleting a Scene State Group the user will get the option to delete Scene States in the group or to move them to the Default group

Common Toolbar

Select Object

The Default Pick mode in SimLab Composer returns the location and the normal direction at the selection point. The geometry at the picked location will be selected in the Object Tree, and its bounding box will be displayed in the 3D area.

To get more precious picking the user can change the selection to
Center of Curvature: To select the center of a circle or arc
Edge Loop: To select the center of a closed loop, like the center of one of the faces of a cube
Edge End Point: To select the closest end of an edge

Window Configuration

By default the user views 1 view in the 3D Area, which covers all available space, this configuration allows the user to switch to 2 or 4 views. Different views can help the user better arrange elements in the scene

The following image shows switching Window Configuration to 4 views

View Mode

The default view mode in SimLab Composer is Solid View, which displays solid models with edges hidden. The user can change the view mode to any of the available modes from this menu.

1. X-ray View; gives an x-ray effect to the models in the scene.
2. Edges Only View; displays only the edges of the models, in the scene.
3. Solid Illustration; displays models in solid view, with their edges illustrated.
4. Solid View; displays models in shaded solid view.

The following image shows a scene in XRay View

Light On/Off

This option allows the user to turn off the default camera light in the SimLab Composer to get a view better matching what the user will see in VR Viewer.

View Behavior

Default view behavior
The mouse behavior will be as shown in the table below:

Camera Pan
Changes the behavior of the left mouse button, to Pan.

Camera Zoom
Changes the behavior of the left mouse button, to Zoom.

Rubber band
This function changes the selection mode in the 3D area and it has three options:

Rubber Band Selection: Changes the selection icon to a square band, allowing the user to window select more than one geometry in the 3D area.
Append To Current Selection: The selection icon will show a ‘+’ sign inside the square band. The user can window select more geometry in a different section of the 3D scene, without losing the previous selection.
Remove from Current Selection: With a ‘-‘ sign added to the band, the user can remove the geometry form selection, without losing previous selections.

Fit all

Updates camera to fit all geometry in the scene within the active view area.

Zoom to Object

Updates the camera in the active viewport, to zoom into the selected object. In case the user presses the button without selecting an object, a message will be displayed on top of the Setup Toolbar asking him to do so.

Switch Between Parallel and Perspective View

Switches the camera between perspective and parallel modes, in the active viewport. For engineers who are used to parallel mode, this option would be helpful.

Capture View image

Captures an image for the current view from the scene, and opens a dialog to save it.

Quick Access Toolbar

When 3D geometry is selected in the 3D area, the Quick Access Toolbar will appear, with a set of handy functions, Quick Access Toolbar will appear close to the selected geometry.

These options include
Translate: to show draggers needed to move the object
Snap to Object: to allow the user to snap a selected object to another.
Copy: to create a new copy of the selected geometry
Value Input: allows the user to enter exact values for translation or rotation
Material: opens Material Finish options

Move selection Up/Down: it allows moving up or down in the Scene Browser based on selection, going up means selecting the Parent, and moving down means selecting a child, this makes it very easy to select and move a specific part or assembly

Material Finish options: it makes it easy to change the material finish to another type, for example, you can set it to Plastic, Metal, or Glass

Note: From preferences, the user can select to turn on/off the appearance of the Quick Access Toolbar

Active Camera

Select Active Camera: Selects the currently active camera in the scene, and show its properties, to make it easy to adjust those properties.

Capture Camera Snapshot: Saves the current camera view, and generates a new image below this button. Clicking the snapshot-generated image, the camera is updated to look at the same view as when the snapshot was created.

Message Area

Some functions in SimLab Composer require the user to make some kind of action/selection. In this area of the application interface, messages will be displayed to inform the user of the required action.

Orientation Cube

This cube can be used to orbit the 3D model or view the scene from different positions. Click on the faces of the cube to access standard orthographic views.

Navigation	Mouse Button
Pan	Middle mouse button
Rotate	Left mouse button
Zoom	Right mouse button

Main Window

Main Window

Scene Browser

Properties Panel

Object Tab

Object Actions

Attributes Panel

Transform Tab

Extra Tabs

Entity Panel

Sequence Properties

Scene State Properties

Key Frame Properties

Environment Properties

HDR Tab

Sun Tab

Ground Tab

Background Tab

VR Tab

Library

Assets Library

3D Models

3D Scenes

Sketchfab

VR Warehouse

Backgrounds

Scripts

HDR

Lighting Settings

Sounds

SimLab Academy

Material Library

Share Contents

Animation Time Line

Animation Timeline User Interface

Animation Creation

1. Animation through Capturing keyframes

2. Automatic Camera and Object Animation

Keyframes interpolation (Ease in and Ease out)

Utilizing Animation in VR

Animation Sequence Creation

Attaching Animation Sequence to Responses

Grabbable Sequences

Sequence Library

Scene States Library

Common Toolbar

Select Object

Window Configuration

View Mode

Light On/Off

View Behavior

Fit all

Zoom to Object

Switch Between Parallel and Perspective View

Capture View image

Quick Access Toolbar

Active Camera

Message Area

Orientation Cube