Making Matter

Help with Exploring these Pages

Index © M. Hewat 1998 Help
  • The Size of WWW Browser Windows
    If your WWW window occupies the whole screen, reduce it now by clicking in the top right box. We will use a second WWW window to show the 3D objects, and this will be hidden if your main window is full screen.

  • Suitable WWW Browsers
    You can read these pages with any kind of computer using any WWW browser such as a recent version of Netscape or Internet Explorer. A faster download may be obtained from ZDNet

  • The 3D Structure Window
    Click here to display the 3D object window. If this second window does not display a 3D object, you must first download a 3D VRML viewer such as CosmoPlayer. This will allow you to see the structures in 3D, turn them around and explore inside them. A faster download may be obtained from ZDNet or from our own server for Win-95 or Macintosh. Although we recommend CosmoPlayer, you can find other VRML viewers at the VRML Repository.

  • The CosmoPlayer VRML Controls
    Hold down the mouse button over the 3D object and drag the mouse: the left button is used to rotate, the right button to translate, and the "middle button" to zoom. (If you don't have a middle button or it is not defined as "middle button" in the mouse properties, hold down the Ctrl key while dragging with the left button). If the image skates off the page, you may need to choose "Examine" mode. Locate the small Change Controls stick at the bottom left-center of the Cosmo console. Click on this stick to shift it up. Since you can then examine the structure with the mouse alone, you might want to minimise this dashboard console by clicking on the left tab.

  • The Speed of the 3D Display
    The speed with which you can rotate 3D objects depends on how complex they are and how powerful your computer is. You will need at least a 75 Mhz Pentium class PC, a Macintosh PowerPC, or a Unix workstation such as a Silicon Graphics O2. The display will also be faster if you reduce the size of the window.

    You don't need to know what VRML is, but if you are curious, it stands for the Virtual Reality Modelling Language. You can learn how easy it is to use from the ILL's WWW pages.

    Now return to the Index .

    Please report any problems to hewat@ill.fr.