Main Window
- Main Window
- Scene Browser
- Properties Panel
- Library
- Assets Library
- Material Library
- Animation
- Sequence Library
- Scene States Library
- Common Toolbar
- Quick Access Toolbar
- Active Camera
Main Window
SimLab VR Studio's Main Window is where all the work is done. The largest part of the Main Window is the 3D Area, where the user views and interacts with 3D models.
The following is a sample view of SimLab VR Studio Main Window in action
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 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 relationship in Scene Browser can be done easily by dragging an object or group off objects and dropping them onto a new parent.
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 helping in this task Scene Browser provides two options:
Scene Browser Filters: select filter to show only object(s) of 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
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.
Selection Sets
Makes selecting multiple objects more convenient. Usually, users select objects using the tree structure in SimLab VR Studio. This works well for single selections but can be tricky for multiple selections. Sometimes users want to select multiple objects repeatedly without changing the tree structure. For example, selecting all car wheels or the tops of multiple desks while keeping their original organization.
Properties Panel
When selecting an object or entity in the scene the Properties Panel appears in the right side of the application showing its properties.
Objects are shown in the Scene Browser, they are part of the model tree is the Scene Browser. An object can be selected by clicking on it in the 3D Area or by selecting it from the Scene Browser.
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 object is clicked)
4- Apply Scene State
5- Play Sound (thought it is better to use SimLab Composer Sound object)
6- Play Sequence
7- Show Message Box
8- Video Action
9- Load Scene
10- Import Model
Attributes Panel
Attributes Panel shows attributes applied on 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 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 Properties 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 time line 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 the Environment Properties
Environment properties include the following tabs
HDR
Sun
Background
VR
HDR Tab
This tab allows the user to select the environment image used to light the scene, also it allows user to control its power, orientation and brightness.
Sun Tab
Sun tab allows the user to enable/disable sun effect, and to control sun/sky power in the scene
It also allows the user to set initial sun location in the scene
Background Tab
This tabs allows the user to select background to be used for the VR scene, it can be from 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 user to control the created VR experience, the user can control Environment, Navigation mode, Scene Settings, and to decide to make VR Catalog(s) available in the VR experience
Library
Libraries Panel at the lower part of the application interface, provides access to following elements in SimLab Composer
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 to add more elements to the current scene.
Assets Library
Assets Library gives user access to 3D models to be added to the scene 
The user can add also scene Backgrounds and HDR (Environment images)
Lighting settings gives user access to some predefined Lighting Settings, and to add IES lights to the scenes
Predefined VR Lighting settings are shown in the following image
The following image shows some of the IES lights included in SimLab Composer
Adding an element from Asset Libraries to current scene can be done in one of two ways
1- Dragging and element from the library and dropping it on the 3D area
2- Double clicking the element in the Asset Library
SimLab Academy
SimLab Academy the last element in the Asset Libraries in SimLab Academy, SimLab Academy includes free step by step tutorials with all models needed to follow the tutorial.
For example to start learning VR creation, the use starts by clicking on SimLab Academy, then selecting VR
Then select what do you want to learn like 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 contents library (Materials or 3D models), the user can use Share Library Content
The following image shows the Manage Library dialog
Share Contents
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 orange dotted border. Sharing dialog includes the following control elements, as shown in the following image:
Animation
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 timline, open the Animation Tab in the library panel at the bottom of SimLab Composer.
Animation Timeline User Interface
1. Animation Keyframes Creation tools
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Auto Key | When toggled, any change in transformation for objects is recorded as a keyfram automatically when the current key frame is other than 0. |
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Capture object keyframe | Captures a keyframe with the selected object's transformation at it's current state. |
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Capture camera keyframe | Captures a keyframe for the active camera's transformation and view. |
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Show Object | Toggles on the visibility of the selected object during animation. |
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Hide Object | Toggles off the visibility of the selected object during animation. |
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Director Record | Captures the camera's live movement in the scene as a sequence of keyframes along the animation range. |
2. Keyframes Management tools
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Go to previous keyframe | Moves the current time slider to the previous keyframe. |
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Go to next keyframe | Moves the current time slider to the next keyframe. |
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Select all keyframes | Selects all keyframes and generated animations in the timeline. |
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Group keyframes | Group selected keyframes into a single group element. |
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Break Group | Breaks a group into keyframes. |
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Move keyframe | Moves the selected keyframes to a specific frame. |
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Copy keyframe | Copies and moves the selected keyframe to a specific frame. |
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Delete selected keyframe | Deletes the selected keyframes from the timeline. |
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Delete all | Deletes all keyframes from the timeline. |
3. Animation Sequences tools
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Create Animation Sequence | Converts the selected keyframes in the timeline to an Animation Sequence. |
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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
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Round Table | Creates an animation where an Object revolves up to 360 degrees around its center. |
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Follow Path | Animates an object a long a path. |
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Wheel Animation | Creates a wheel animation of an object around a center point while determining the number of revolutions. |
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Round Table | Creates an animation where a Camera revolves up to 360 degrees around it's center point of view. |
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Helical | Creates an animation where a Camera revolves up to 360 degrees around it's center point of view while decending downwards. |
5. Capture Video
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Render View in VR | Renders an animated camera as a sequence of images using the SimLab VR Viewer. |
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Open Movie Maker | Opens the Movie Maker, where you can compile a sequences of images into a single video file. |
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Go to first frame | Moves the current time slider to the first frame in the animation range. |
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Backward Play | Plays the animation in the timeline in reverse. |
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Play | Plays the animation in the timeline. |
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Go to last frame | Moves the current time slider to the last frame in the animation range. |
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Scale timeline | Scales up and translates all they keyframes in the timeline. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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 key frames will be created, a key frame at frame 0 to store its initial transformation, and the second key at the current time to store the new transfromation.
when playing the animation, an ainterpolation between the 2 keyframes will be automatically created and the object will transform from its initial state to the new state.
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.
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Transformation Keyframe | Created when an object has a change of transformation ( rotation, location, scale) along the timline. |
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Visibility Keyframe | Created when an object has a change of visibility along the timeline using the "show and hide object in animation" buttons |
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Light Keyframe | Created when a light has one or more attributes ( Color, power, Cone angle, etc) changes a long the time line. |
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Material Keyframe | Created when a material attribute (texture, color, reflection, etc) changes along the timeline. |
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Camera Keyframe | Created when a camera has a change of transformation ( position, target) along the timline, 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 objects transformation.
These tools can be accessed from the Object animation and the Camera animations menu at the top of the timline 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 througout the animation range, however, there is a way to change the interpolation of animation by srtting he keyframes interpolation to to an ease in or ease out interpolation.
To change a keyframe interpolation, Select the key frame, 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 aniation
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 gruadually to get to a constant speed.
With the Ease in interpolation, which should be applied at frame at the end of an animation, the speed deccelerates 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 timeslider appraches 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 Sequences 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 timline or not.
Created Animation Sequences can be found in the Sequences tab next to the Animation tab in the bottom panel in 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 timline.
- Find the objects that are affected by the animation sequence.
- Attach Sequence to object (in case if impoting a flexible body animation and you want to attach it to a joints-rigged object).
- Make 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 attach to the response occurs.
Grabbable Sequences
Grabbable Sequences are a type of objects 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 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 affect in the scene.
Apply Sequence to Animation Time Line: adds the contents of sequence to the animation time line, 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 Time Line
Attach Sequence with Object : This option attaches 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 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
Common Toolbar is located in the lower part of the 3D Area on top of the Library, it is always accessible to the user and it includes the following
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 selection to
Center of Curvature: To select center of a circle or arc
Edge Loop: To select center of a closed loop, like 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 the 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. XRay View; gives 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 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:
| Navigation | Mouse Button |
| Pan | Middle mouse button |
| Rotate | Left mouse button |
| Zoom | Right mouse button |
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 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 to 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.
This options include
Translate : to show draggers needed to move the object
Snap to Object : to allowing 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, 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 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 appearance of Quick Access Toolbar
Active Camera
Select Active Camera : Selects the current active camera in the scene, and shows 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 when the snapshot was created.