Customizing the background

Tool(s): Surroundings

You can choose to apply a color, physical sky or bitmap to the background. The program also uses this background when rendering images.

To set the background of viewports

1. Click Surroundings (How).
   

   Activate Surroundings in one of the following ways

   • Menu bar: Change Presentation Animation

   • Toolbar: Change
   • Palette: Tools Change area in the following module(s):

   Animation

   • Shortcut menu: Navigation Mode selected - Right mouse button

   The Surroundings palette opens.

2. If you want to set a background color, do the following:
   • In the Background area, set the Type to Color.
   • Select the new background color in the Color palette and click OK to confirm your settings.

   Or:

   If you want to use the physical sky for the background, do the following:

   • In the Background area, set the Type to Physical sky.
     The program also takes into account the settings for Position of sun, Position of north and Location.

   Or:

   If you want to display a bitmap in the background, do the following:

   • In the Background area, set the Type to Custom.
   • Select a bitmap for the Texture.
   • Specify the Mapping type:
     The Plane option is well suited for background photos; the Sphere option is ideally suited for sky textures.

     Tip: If you use a background photo, you can define the settings in the Position of sun / north area in such a way that the sun matches the shadows in the bitmap.

     You can immediately see the effects of the settings in the Surroundings palette.

3. Close the Surroundings palette by pressing ESC or clicking Close.