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Navigation & UI Controls

Smooth, intentional camera movement is the foundation of live OpenSpace piloting. Understanding how OpenSpace anchors the camera, applies movement friction, and exposes scene properties prevents disorienting spins during live presentations.

Camera Navigation Modes

OpenSpace moves relative to a Focus Node (selected in the bottom-left Focus menu or via the Scene Tree). Mouse buttons map directly to orbital mechanics around that target:

Input Action Behavior
Left-Click + Drag Orbit (Rotate) Rotates the camera around the current Focus Node.
Right-Click + Drag (or Scroll) Zoom (Dolly) Moves exponentially closer to or farther from the Focus Node surface.
Middle-Click + Drag Roll / Pan Tilts the camera horizon (Ctrl + Left-Drag also pans off-center).
F Key Toggle Friction Enables or disables rotational, zoom, and roll inertia.

Mastering Camera Friction

By default, OpenSpace applies smooth deceleration (friction) so camera movements glide to a stop rather than snapping abruptly. Open Navigation / Camera Friction in the UI to tune Rotational, Zoom, and Roll friction sliders independently when transitioning between planetary close-ups and deep-space scales.

The Scene Tree & Property Visibility

Every planet, spacecraft, label, and trail in OpenSpace is a SceneGraphNode organized inside the Scene menu (~ or bottom toolbar).

Screenshot Placeholder: scene-tree-selected-node.png

  • Crop: Capture the Scene panel with a planet expanded (e.g., Solar System Planets Earth) showing the Renderable properties and the top-right Property Visibility filter dropdown.
  • Callouts: (1) Node visibility eye toggle, (2) Focus target icon, (3) Opacity/Scale sliders, (4) Property Visibility level (User vs. Advanced vs. Developer).

Property Visibility Tiers

If a property mentioned in a guide (such as shader parameters, bounding spheres, or debug render modes) is missing from a node's UI panel:

  1. Open Settings Property Visibility (or click the filter icon at the top of the Scene panel).
  2. Switch from Novice / User to Advanced or Developer.

Simulation Time Controls

OpenSpace runs on an astronomical simulation clock independent of real-world wall time:

  • Spacebar: Pause or resume simulation time.
  • Time Panel (Bottom Bar): Set exact UTC dates, jump forward/backward by fixed intervals (seconds, hours, days, years), or adjust Delta Time (1s / second for real-time up to days / second for orbital motion).
  • Sync to Current Time: Click Now inside the Time panel to snap the simulation clock to your system's current UTC timestamp.

SPICE Kernel Time Bounds

Most spacecraft trajectories are only valid for a specific mission window. Jumping the simulation clock decades outside a spacecraft's .bsp kernel coverage will cause the model and trail to disappear until the clock returns within valid bounds.