Warning

This tool is experimental and suffers from many limitations. This is mainly connected to the use of the LibGDX library for 3D models, which we have not managed yet to integrate seamlessly into the rest of our application. The main limitation is that the editor can only be opened once; thereafter the application needs to be closed and restarted in order to edit another model (or even to edit the same model a second time). On Kubuntu 16.04 we have also experienced occasional freezing of the window manager, and spontaneous crashing of the application if the editor is left open for a long time.

Manual of Text/3D Editor

Hieroglyphs from a text are connected to polygons in a 3D model, with the help of this editor. It is assumed that an encoding of a hieroglyphic text already exists, although one can make changes to the list of hieroglyphs within this editor.

The hieroglyphs are normally given in the top panel. One can (left) click on these hieroglyphs to focus on them. A right click allows the choice of hieroglyph to be changed. Hieroglyphs that have not yet been linked to a polygon in an image have a white background. The background is gray if there is at least one point in an associated polygon.

The top panel may also contain the name of a named area (not associated with any glyph).

The model will appear in the bottom panel, together with an index of the files that make the model.

A model can be manipulated in one of four modes:

In the navigate mode one can view the image from different angles, without added artifacts.
In the calibrate mode one can fix the rotation of the model. A transparent green box slightly smaller than the bounding box helps decide whether the model is straight. The blue structure should be below the model, with the red strip facing the front.
In the signs mode one can draw polygons to be linked to glyphs, by left-clicking on a number of points on the model. Already drawn points can be adjusted by dragging the mouse, with the left mouse button pressed. A right click can be used to remove an existing point. Pressing the space bar moves attention to the next sign.
In the polygons mode one can select an area, and tag it with a name. As before points are added by left mouse clicks and removed by right mouse clicks. The name should be entered in the top panel. By clicking on an existing point, the relevant polygon is highlighted in red, and becomes the current polygon.

Navigation in an image is in one of the following ways:

In the navigate mode by dragging the mouse with the left button, which orbits around the model. A right mouse drag moves the camera straight, without orbiting around the model; the arrow keys do the same in discrete steps. By r and R one rotates the camera (anti-)clockwise. By 0 one resets the camera rotation and the camera position relative to the orbit.
In the calibrate mode, the left mouse drag can be used as before, but the right mouse drags adjust rotation around the X and Y axes if the model is viewed from the side, and around the Z axis if the model is viewed from above. Also x, X, y, Y, z, Z can be use to rotate around the relevant axes clockwise or anti-clockwise.
In the signs and polygons mode, arrow keys can be used to move the camera (without orbiting around the object). As before, the camera can be rotated by r and R, and the rotation can be reset by 0.
In all modes, zooming in/out is done using the mouse wheel, or by pressing + or -.

Buttons in file menu

Close

Closes the editor.

Import

Allows an Egyptian resource with hieroglyphs to be imported.

Buttons in resource menu

Append model file

Appends new file belonging to model (to be selected in file system). Allowable file extensions are obj, mtl, png or jpg, and g3db. The g3db file should be added last.

Left/Right glyph

Navigates in the top panel of glyphs.

New (initial) glyph

Adds a new (dummy) hieroglyph, and opens menu for choosing the actual hieroglyph.

Other glyph

Allows a different hieroglyph to be chosen for the current one.

Delete glyph

Allows the current hieroglyph to be removed.

Swap glyphs

Swaps current and next glyph.

Buttons in model menu

The first few are used for switching between the four modes.

New polygon

Creates new named area. Or returns focus to existing area that was not yet given a (non-empty) name. Areas must be given (non-empty) names to persist.

Excise polygon

Removes current named area.

Settings

One can set the distance of the camera from the origin, the initial position of the camera in terms of altitude and azimuth, the minimum and maximum altitude, the initial, minimum and maximum field of view, and the maximum the object may be tilted in either direction.

Help

Opens this window.