Overview of the blaze Viewer

This topic will give you an overview of the user interface of the blaze Viewer. Below is a screenshot of the blaze Viewer showing the different elements of the tool.

 

blaze Viewer Main Window

 

1 = Menu bar

2 = Camera selector

3 = Toolbar

4 = Features pane

5 = Pixel Information pane

6 = Documentation pane

7 = Message Log pane

8 = Image window area

Menus

File menu.

 

Camera menu.

 

View menu. Use the View menu to select or deselect which panes you want to display.

 

Window menu. Use the Window menu to open and close image windows and to arrange them in the image window area.

 

Panes

Features. The Features pane displays all features that are available on the camera that is selected in the camera selector. It also contains the User Level drop-down list where you can select your level of expertise. The available options are Beginner, Expert, and Guru. At the beginner level, the Features pane will only display the most basic camera settings. At the expert level, the Features pane will display the most commonly used camera settings. At the guru level, the Features pane will display all camera features, including the most advanced ones.

 

Using the Favorites node, you can gain quick access to the features you use most often. By creating a list of your favorite features you can avoid having to navigate the feature tree. Adding a feature to the favorites doesn't remove it from its original category in the feature tree. Instead, a copy of it is added to the favorites. Closing the blaze Viewer doesn't remove the favorites.

 

In the Features pane, you can also select whether to automatically poll the camera in regular intervals for updated parameter values. Alternatively, you can click the Refresh icon icon to refresh the features list manually.

 

Pixel Information. Information regarding the pixel that you have selected in one of the image windows is displayed here. For more information about the Pixel Information pane, click here.

 

Documentation. Information about the feature currently selected in the Features pane is displayed here. In the example above, the Processing Mode parameter is selected. The pane also contains code snippets that can be useful when writing your own application code.

 

Message Log. The Message Log pane displays information about actions carried out with the blaze Viewer, e.g., opening and closing a camera or starting image acquisition. There are different message levels: Information, Warning, and Critical.

 

Image window area. This pane contains four windows that show the different 2D and 3D views of the target scene.

 

All panes have buttons for closing the pane and for undocking it from the blaze Viewer window. If a pane is undocked, you can move it around freely on your desktop. If you want to dock it again, follow these steps:

 

  1. In the blaze Viewer window, drag the pane to the desired position in the window until a dotted rectangle appears.

  2. Drop the pane.