VE-Suite's physics functionality makes representations of interactions in VE-Suite more realistic.

To use VE-Suite's physics functionality, start VE-Suite as described in Chapter 3, Creating Content in VE-Suite. In VE-Conductor, go to the File menu and click Open ...

Navigate to the directory where your file is located and, in Files of Type, select *.ves. Select the appropriate file (to demonstrate the physics functionality, we use simple_physics_boxes.ves, which is located in the share/vesuite/examples/simple directory) and click Open.

The visualization will open in the VE-Xplorer window. Use the Frame All and other keyboard and mouse commands to change the view (see Chapter 3.3 for navigation instructions).

For each new file that is loaded in VE-Suite, the physics must be enabled. To do this, right-click on the plugin and click on Enable Physics.

The physics functionality must also be turned on in VE-Conductor. To do this, click on the Physics On/Off button in the VE-Conductor toolbar.

In addition to the Physics On/Off button, there are five more buttons in the Conductor toolbar that can be used to manipulate a visualization. The Start Simulation button starts the simulation.

The toolbar also allows you to view the simulation step by step rather than all at once. To view one step of the simulation at a time, click the Step Simulation button.

To reset the simulation to its original position, click the Reset Simulation button.

When running longer simulations, you might want to pause the simulation while it is running. To do so, click the Pause Simulation button.

The physics capability in VE-Suite also includes a Character Controller. To demonstrate the Character Controller, we will use the character_demo.ves file (also located in the share/vesuite/examples/simple directory).

After loading the character_demo.ves file, click on the Character Controller button in Conductor.

Use the Frame All and other keyboard and mouse commands to change the view (see Chapter 3.3 for navigation instructions).

The tables below provide keyboard and mouse commands for interacting with the visualization in character mode.