ObjView
Overview
ObjView is a 3-d viewer for X-Plane object files (version 2 and version
7). X-Plane has three major revisions of the ".obj" format, none of
which are related to other public .obj formats, all of which are text:
- Obj format 1 files were supported in X-Plane 5.0 and early versions
of X-Plane 6.0. Obj format 1 files use multiple bitmap files, with bitmaps
applied entirely to each primitive.
- Obj format 2 files are supported in X-Plane version 6.0 and 7.0. Obj
format 2 files use one bitmap file, with parts of the bitmap applied to each
primitive.
- Obj format 7 files are supported in X-Plane version 7.0. Obj
format 7 files are extensible, use one bitmap file per object, and contain
all features of format 2 files as well as new ones.
Within each major type of object file, soem features were added to the format
later; users of the latest version X-Plane 6 (6.70) or 7 should not have any
problems with this. ObjView does not support original Obj version
1 files.
Using ObjView
To use ObjView, simply double click the application and drag an .obj file
into the window to view it. The mouse wheel or +/- keys zoom in and
out. Drag the mouse over the object with the left button moves it;
with the right button (or control + the left button) rotates it. On
the Macintosh you can also open additional ObjView windows by dragging .obj
files onto the application icon in the dock. The mouse wheel zooms
like the + and - keys.
One note: ObjView zooms in and out around the mouse, so you must point to
the part of the object you want to see closer. This can take some getting
used to, but once you work this way you will find it to be a rapid way to
move around the object, particularly if you have a scroll wheel mouse.
The 'c' key toggles back-face culling (the removal of hidden surfaces).
X-Plane always culls objects; if you turn culling off, you will see
normally hidden faces tinted red.
The 'l' key toggles day vs. night lighting. The 's' key toggles a
solid or wire-frame view of the object.
Viewing Objects with Textures
To view textures in ObjView, drag a .bmp or .png file for the object's textures
into the window that you want to view the object with. ObjView does
not pay attention to the relative paths of the bitmap file and object file;
simply drag any properly named object and texture file into the same window
to view the object with textures.
Note: on the Macintosh, textures are shared between all open ObjView
windows. This allows you to view multiple objects with a common texture
easily, but you will not be able to view two objects with different textures
of the same name. For example, if a building from Boston uses the texture
boston:wall.bmp and a building in Chicago uses the texture chicago:wall.bmp,
you will not be able to view both objects at once because ObjView ignores
the boston: or chicago: prefix and loads only the most recently specified
wall.bmp image for both files.