INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING
VIRTUAL GALLERIE / VG CURATOR
NOTE: We only got the program in December. I’ve been trying to get this tutorial finished for February 3. I’ve got most of the basics down, but some of the more advanced features I don’t have quite figured out yet. Those are highlighted in yellow. If you want to play around with the program and let me know what you discover, that would be great!
PART ONE: GETTING STARTED
1) Open Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. (There should be an Apple version ready by February.)
2) Go to this site:
https://virtualgallerie.ipower.com/WS/Main/Users/mspmsu/VirtualGallerieWSLogin.php
(Probably a good idea to bookmark it.)
3) You will get a log-in screen.
Students: your Username is your MSU ID (your e-mail address to the left of the “@” sign). Your Password is your PID number (A letter followed by eight numbers, such as “Z12345678”.)
We may end up creating an additional Team account for each exhibit team, so all members can view and use the same gallery.
Staff: your Username is your MSU ID (your e-mail address to the left of the “@” sign). Your Password is “December7” (capital D, no space before the number).
You cannot change your username or password yourself. Only an Administrator can do that.
4) From there, you reach the Launch page.
You can download the users’ manual, a handy reference.
Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click “Launch Virtual Gallerie Curator.”
NOTE: The first time you log on, or any time you log on from a computer lab, you may be requested to download Pulse Player. This program, which comes from the Virtual Gallerie server, enables the computer to display the gallery.
5) You should now be on the main Work Screen.
If this is your first visit, it will prompt you to start a new gallery. If you’ve used the program before, it will prompt you with a list of your saved galleries (if any).
Click “New Gallerie from scratch.” If that button is not visible on your screen, click the “File” button and select “New Gallerie from Scratch” from the drop-down menu.
ADDENDUM 2/12/09: To get a template with the MSU temporary gallery already laid out, click the “New” button, type in a file name, then click “Save.” Alternately, you can click File > New Gallerie.
6) The program will prompt you for a name for your gallery. Enter a name and press “Save.”
NOTE: It is not possible at this time to delete old galleries. ADDENDUM 2/12/09: You can overwrite an old gallery by saving a new gallery with the same name.
PART TWO: CREATING A SPACE
7) The program will prompt you for the dimensions of your gallery.
Enter the appropriate dimensions. NOTE: There is no way to change this once the gallery has been created, nor to add an adjoining room. Set your dimension to cover the largest dimensions of your real space, whether that’s a single room or an entire museum. Best to make it bigger than necessary, especially if you are dealing with an oddly-shaped room. You can add, delete and move walls later.
Be sure the box labeled “Draw Boundary Walls” is CHECKED.
Click “Create.”
8) You will now see a screen that looks something like this:
The upper-left is your Gallery Window.
Below that is your Icon Tray.
The upper-right is your Info Pane.
In the lower-right is your Navigation.
HELPFUL HINT: Save your work often. All files are saved remotely on the Virtual Gallerie server. You never know when you might lose power, or your web connection, or some other gremlin will strike. There is no automatic back-up – it’s up to you to save your work.
“Save your work often” is just good, common sense, anyway.
THE ICON TRAY: VIEWS
The first three icons control your view into the gallery. The far-left button, the Main View, is the default. It gives a visitor’s-eye view of the gallery. (See image above.)
The second button is the bird’s-eye, or Top-Down view. It shows the entire gallery from overhead.
(The red arrow indicates your position and the direction you are facing.)
The third button is the Doll House view, looking at the gallery from above, but at an angle.
(The light “pole” in the middle of the room is your position. It is also the axis which the room turns around as you navigate.)
To move through the galleries, use your arrow keys.
Main View (visitors-eye view)
Up arrow: you walk forward
Down arrow: you step backwards
Right arrow: turn to the right
Left arrow: turn to the left
Shift + Up arrow: your head tilts up
Shift + Down arrow: your head tilts down
Shift + Right arrow: move to the right (sideways)
Shift + Left arrow: move to the left (sideways)
Top-Down View (bird’s eye view)
Up arrow: you (arrow) walk forward
Down arrow: you (arrow) step backwards
Right arrow: gallery rotates clockwise on your axis
Left arrow: gallery rotates counter-clockwise on your axis
Shift + Up arrow: zoom in
Shift + Down arrow: zoom out
Shift + Right arrow: you (arrow) move to the right (sideways)
Shift + Left arrow: you (arrow) move to the left (sideways)
Doll’s House View (3-D view)
Up arrow: you (pole) move forward
Down arrow: you (pole) step backwards
Right arrow: gallery rotates clockwise on your axis
Left arrow: gallery rotates counter-clockwise on your axis
Shift + Up arrow: zoom in
Shift + Down arrow: zoom out
Shift + Right arrow: you (pole) move to the right (sideways)
Shift + Left arrow: you (pole) move to the left (sideways)
Ctrl + Up arrow: gallery tilts forward (closer to bird’s eye view)
Ctrl + Down arrow: gallery tilts backwards (closer to visitor’s eye view)
Also, there’s a drop-down menu. My guess is that when you create walkthroughs, you indicate positions, and you can jump to specific positions. Haven’t played around with it enough to know, though.
PART THREE: MODIFYING YOUR SPACE
THE ICON TRAY: PARTITIONS
Walls which you place inside the empty gallery are called “partitions.” The exterior walls defining the gallery space, which we do not change, are called “walls.”
To add a partition:
Click on the first partition icon (“Standard 4-Surface Wall”), hold down your mouse button and drag the partition into the gallery. A partition will appear in your window. Move it to the desired location and release your mouse button. The partition is now placed.
To move a partition:
You can fine-tune the location of a partition in three ways:
Click the partition. In the info pane (upper right), enter the exact location in the W-E box and N-S box and press Enter. Use the abbreviations “f” and “i” for feet and inches. You may enter fractions or decimals if necessary. If you enter measurements in metrics, use the appropriate abbreviation. The program will convert to feet and inches.
(You can measure location from the center of the partition, or from either edge. Change which spot you wish to measure from by clicking that spot on the partition.)
Or: Use the purple “Move” button below the lower-right corner of the window.
§ Click the Move button.
§ Then, click the partition you wish to move.
§ Four colored arrows will appear below the partition:
· Click and drag one of those arrows, and you can move the partition along that axis.
· Click and drag on the partition itself, and you can move it along both axes at once.
Or: Nudge it into place:
· Click the Move button
· Click on the partition
· Make sure NumLock is ON on your keyboard
· Use the 4, 8, 6 and 2 buttons to move the partition one inch at a time in one of the four cardinal directions.
To rotate a partition:
Similarly, you can rotate the partition so that it is not at right angles to the gallery’s outer walls. Again, there are three ways to do this.
Click the partition. (Click in the center if you wish to rotate about the center. Click to the left or the right if you wish to “swing” the partition as if on a hinge.)
In the info pane, enter the number of degrees in the “Rot” box and press Enter.
Or:
· Click the purple box labeled “Rot.”
· Click on the partition. A rotation circle will appear on the floor.
· Again, can click the left or right ends of the partition to make it swing as if on a hinge.
· Click anywhere on the circle and drag the partition to the desired angle. (You can also click and drag on the partition itself, but be careful you don’t change your axis.)
Or:
· Click the purple box for Rotate.
· Click the partition
· Make sure NumLock is On
· Use the 4 and 6 keys on your keypad to nudge the rotation, one degree at a time.
To raise a partition:
You can also suspend partitions in the air. Again, three ways:
Click the partition, and enter the height you wish it to hang off the floor in the “Up” box. Press Enter.
Or: Click the purple “Up” button.
Click the partition. Again, arrows will appear.
Click and drag said arrows to move partition up off the floor.
Or: Click the purple “up” button.
Click the partition.
Make sure NumLock on your keyboard is ON
Use the 8 and 2 keys to raise and lower the partition one inch at a time
NOTE: When you add a partition, it is by default the same height as your ceiling. You cannot lift a full-sized partition up – it would crash through your roof! You must first adjust the height of the partition so it is less than the height of your gallery ceilings. Then you can lift it up off the floor.
To change the dimensions of a partition:
Finally, you can change the dimensions (height, width and depth) of a partition, again in the same three ways:
Click on the partition. In the info pane, enter the desired dimensions and press Enter.
Or: Click on the desired button (H, W or D).
Click on the partition. Arrows will appear.
Width:
Click and drag to increase or decrease the size of the partition in that direction. (If you want to change the size in the other direction – for example, make the wall longer to the right rather than to the left – click the other end of the partition, and the arrows will move.)
Height
To change height, click the H button. Arrows will appear at the top, allowing you to increase the height of the partition.
If you click the bottom of the partition, arrows will appear at the bottom. This allows you to raise the partition off the floor while leaving the top of the partition at the same height. Good for hanging signage and such:
Depth
Adjusting depth using the purple buttons is a little bit different. If the partition is resting on the ground, then no arrows appear. Click on the partition and hold. Drag your mouse down, and the partition gets thicker. Drag it up, and the partition gets thinner.
If the partition is not resting on the floor, then arrows do appear:
With arrows, it’s the same deal as above – click and drag to make the partition thicker or thinner. Note: you cannot make a Standard 4-Sided partition thinner than one inch.
Nudging
Same deal as before:
Click on the appropriate purple button.
Click on the partition.
Make sure NumLock is on
Use the keypad to change the selected dimension, one inch at a time.
Delete
To delete a partition (or anything), just click on the object, then press the Delete key on your keyboard. This removes it from the gallery, but not from the museum – the object remains available for you to reinstall.
If you click on an exterior wall, it will disappear, opening up the gallery to the great outdoors. A beautiful view, but perhaps not the best thing for conservation.
If you delete something by mistake, click on the Edit button, then select Undo.
Doorway: insert
To insert a doorway, click on the “Part” button in the upper right, then click on “Insert New Doorway.” The program will prompt you to click on a partition. Then drag your mouse to open up a doorway:
To adjust the height of the doorway, the same rules apply. Click on the partition above the doorway. Then, either enter dimensions in the info pane; or click on the desired purple button, get the arrows, and then click-and-drag them; or use your keypad to nudge them. ADDENDUM 2/13: When entering numbers into the info pane, “H” defines the height of the transom, and “Up” defines how high off the floor the bottom of the transom rests.
You can cut doors into the exterior walls as well.
Doorway: delete
Deleting a doorway is a little bit trickier. Basically, when you create a doorway, you are splitting the partition into three separate but joined partitions. To delete a doorway, you have to recombine them into one partition. On the Part menu, click Remove Part and Combine, then click on the partition above the door opening. This will leave the wall or partition in place, but close up the hole.
Window: insert
This is a little cumbersome, but it can be done:
Create a door as above.
Create another partition, making it shorter than the doorway is tall.
In the Part menu, select Joint Two Partitions Together.
Click on one edge of the new partition, and then one edge of the door jamb, and the partitions will join.
Repeat for the other edge. (You may have to move around a bit to get a good angle for clicking.)
Window: sizing
Once the window exists, you can change its size the same as a door or partition. Click on the part of the partition you wish to adjust, and enter the dimensions in the Info Pane. Or, click on the appropriate purple button, click on the part of the partition you wish to change, and drag the arrows. Or, click on the purple button, click on the partition, and use your keypad to nudge it.