With Net View, you can browse Web pages on the Internet or your intranet from within SOFTIMAGE|XSI. The drag-and-drop feature makes Net View a powerful teaching or collaboration tool, allowing you to share resources within a workgroup that might be spread throughout several buildings or several countries.
Before using Net View, you may need to configure some options, for example, if you intend to use a proxy server. The procedure depends on whether you are using XSI on Windows or Linux.
To configure Net View on Windows
On Windows, Net View uses the same configuration settings as Internet Explorer. You can set these options from within Internet Explorer (Tools > Internet Options) or from the Windows Control Panel (Internet Options). These settings affect all programs on your computer that access the Internet.
To set a proxy server for Net View on Linux
You can set the proxy server for Net View on Linux using the PROXY environment variable. For details, see Environment Variables in the Setup & Licensing guide.
To configure other options for Net View on Linux
On Linux, you must use the MainWin Control Panel to configure other options for Net View.
1. Open a terminal or shell window.
2. Source the XSI environment script by typing:
source ~/.xsi_6.01
3. Launch the MainWin Control Panel by typing:
mwcontrol
4. Double-click on the Internet Options icon. The Internet Properties dialog box opens.
5. Make any settings you require. For information about a specific option, click ? and then click on the option.
You can use Net View like any other HTML viewer, by clicking links to open HTML pages. Additionally you can:
• Drag and drop various recognized file types into XSI.
• Run scripts.
Dragging and Dropping from Net View
You can drag images, as well as links to images and other file types, from HTML pages in Net View and drop them into XSI. The drag-and-drop rules are summarized in the following table:
File Type |
Action |
Image |
- Drop onto an object to create a image source and clip. You are prompted for a texture projection. - Drop into the Texture Editor or Image Clip Viewer to create a source and clip, and display the clip. - Drop into the Render Tree to create a source and clip. - Drop into the scene to create a source. |
Preset (Any type) |
Drop onto a custom toolbar to create a button. |
Preset (Shader) |
Drop onto an object to apply the shader. |
Preset (Property) |
Drop onto an object to apply the property. |
Preset (Action) |
- Drop onto an action track in the animation mixer to import the source and instantiate a clip. - Drop onto an object to import the source in the corresponding model. |
Preset (Shape) |
Drop onto a shape track in the animation mixer to import the source and create a clip. |
Audio |
Drop onto an audio track in the animation mixer to create a source and clip. |
Scene |
Drop onto the background of a 3D view to open, or Ctrl+drop to merge with the current scene. |
Exported Model |
Drop onto the background of a 3D view to import into the current scene, or Ctrl+drop to create a referenced model (model source and clip). |
Script |
Drop into the editing pane of the script editor to open the file for editing. |
Add-on |
Drop onto the background of a 3D view to install. This also works with the older DSPrefs preferences format. |
Running Scripts
You can run a script by clicking on a link to a script file on an HTML page.
|
• You may find that links to scripts stop working when you refresh the page. If this happens, simply navigate to another page and back — for example, click the Back and Forward buttons. • See Setting Security of the Customization guide for information about setting security levels for scripts running in Net View. |
When you display a Net View, the default start page
is XSI Web. This is a collection of HTML pages that let you browse through
a variety of gifts included with the XSI installation: presets, sample
scenes, scripts, and others. You can find more goodies on the Internet
at XSI Net:
http://www.softimage.com/xsinet/
Changing the XSI Web Start Page
You can change the start page that is displayed when
you first open Net View. This is also the page that is displayed when
you click the XSI logo
on the Net View command bar.
To change the XSI Web start page
1. Open the Preferences window by choosing File > Preferences.
2. Expand the Editors node and click NetView.
3. Enter a new address for Default Home Page.
For more information about preferences in general, see User Preferences in the Data Management guide.
Creating Your Own Intranet
You can create your own intranet to share scripts, presets, textures, and other data with your workgroup. For more information, see Intranets for Net View in the Customization guide.
SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.6.01