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OpenSpace Bootcamp

A practical, searchable handbook for operating OpenSpace, customizing show profiles, building custom 3D solar system assets, and streaming high-resolution planetary imagery.

Documentation Sections

  • Getting Started

    Configure discrete GPU settings, understand the separation between ${BASE} and ${USER} directories, and set up safe workspace syncing.

    Setup & Architecture

  • Piloting & Shows

    Master camera navigation modes, friction controls, custom profiles, keybindings, ScriptLog.txt extraction, and session recording.

    Operations & Shows

  • Scene Assets

    Author Lua .asset files, structure SceneGraphNode hierarchies, configure positioning transforms, and build visual renderables.

    Asset Authoring

  • Trajectories & SPICE

    Work with NAIF SPICE kernels (.bsp, .tls, .tf) and generate custom spacecraft trajectories from JPL Horizons using mkspk.

    Ephemeris & Kernels

  • Planetary Surfaces

    Stream remote WMS/WMTS planetary map layers and process local GeoTIFF imagery and DEM heightmaps for RenderableGlobe.

    GlobeBrowsing & Terrain

  • Reference & Troubleshooting

    Quick-lookup hotkeys, copy-paste boilerplate templates, and fixes for common path, rate-limit, and SPICE time-window errors.

    Reference Guide

Quick Jump by Task

Goal Relevant Guide Key Files & Tools
Keep custom assets safe across updates Workspace Architecture openspace.cfg, ${USER}/data, robocopy
Turn UI clicks into reusable Lua scripts Scripting, Recording & WebPanels logs/ScriptLog.txt, ~ Console
Override default hotkeys without breaking updates Profiles & Keybindings Profile Editor, base_keybindings.asset
Add an Earth-orbiting satellite (TLE/OMM) Positioning & Coordinate Systems GPTranslation, Celestrak API
Build a custom spacecraft trajectory Custom .bsp Pipeline (mkspk) JPL Horizons, mkspk, spacit, SpiceTranslation
Overlay custom planetary maps or elevation Local GeoTIFFs & DEM Terrain RenderableGlobe, globebrowsing.asset, GDAL

Prerequisites & Environment

Before starting the hands-on modules, verify your workstation meets the baseline runtime environment:

  • OpenSpace Installation: Binary release or source build extracted to a non-system path (e.g., C:/OpenSpace/ rather than C:/Program Files/ to avoid write-permission blocks).
  • Dedicated GPU: NVIDIA or AMD discrete graphics configured as the preferred processor for OpenSpace.exe (integrated graphics will cause severe frame drops or shader failures).
  • Text Editor: An editor with Lua and JSON syntax highlighting (such as VS Code) for editing .asset and .profile files.
  • NAIF SPICE Utilities (Trajectories & SPICE): mkspk and spacit command-line tools along with the current leapseconds kernel (naif0012.tls).

Using This Guide

Every code block includes a copy button in the top-right corner, and complex configuration files feature interactive + annotations explaining individual parameters. Use the search bar (/ or Ctrl+K) at the top of the page to jump directly to specific asset types, Lua functions, or error fixes.