When you start Autodesk VIZ, you see a default user interface, whose settings are stored in the file vizstart.cui. When you start Autodesk VIZ for the first time, this user interface consists of a single viewport showing a perspective view, surrounded by tools and controls. The viewports, which can number up to four, are your windows onto the world of 3D graphics.
You can easily configure the layout of these viewports, tools, and controls by loading other user-interface layouts or by creating your own. You can change the color and appearance of the user interface yourself, or load in other custom UI files. Here's an example of a customized interface:
Viewports can display geometry in wireframe mode or several different shaded modes. Edged-face mode lets you see the wireframe structure and shading at the same time.
A viewport can display the scene from the front or back, left or right, top or bottom views. It can also display different angled views such as perspective, user, light source, or camera. You can change the viewport by right-clicking the viewport label in the top-left corner of the viewport, or with keyboard shortcuts. For instance, P sets the active viewport to Perspective view, and F sets it to Front view.
You can resize viewports by moving the splitter bars that separate them.
Right-clicking the viewport label brings up other options as well. Here, you will find the Configure command, which leads you to dozens of options for viewport configuration. On the Layout panel, you’ll find choices for different layouts for the viewports.
Viewport clipping lets you display only a slice of your scene in the viewport. When you have a complex scene, viewport clipping lets you isolate a section for closer scrutiny.
Safe frames show you the proportions of your output file in the viewport to help you compose your shot. This is handy if your output uses a different proportion than your viewport.
You can set up viewport backgrounds using bitmap images. The viewport background image is the environment map that you set up using the Rendering menu > Environment command, and which will render behind the geometry in your scene.
Tip: You can quickly create a viewport background by simply dragging an image file from Windows Explorer or your Web browser over an empty section of the viewport.
The Viewport Navigation controls are found in the lower-right corner of the Autodesk VIZ window. The particular tools available to you change depending on which type of viewport is active. For example, a Camera viewport displays different navigation buttons than a Perspective viewport.
These are the controls to pan and zoom or orbit the viewport. Note that some of the tools have flyout options that allow you to customize the tool for specific viewport navigation tasks. You change the button in a flyout by holding the left mouse key down on it until the options appear, then drag to the option you want to set, and release the mouse.
