Tutorial: Getting Started

Learn about the ribbon, opening and importing files, view controls, showing or hiding objects, and setting up assets.

In this lesson you will learn about:
  • The ribbon
  • Opening and importing files
  • View controls
  • Showing and hiding objects
  • Setting up assets


Explore the Ribbon

  1. Start Inspire Render.
  2. The ribbon across the top of the application displays all of the tools available in Inspire Render. Click on the tabs at the top of the ribbon to switch between the various menus and ribbons. The name of the active ribbon has a blue underline.
  3. Some icons in ribbons such as Sketching provide access to one or more tools. As you mouse over an icon, the individual tools glow with a blue border.

Open the Hair Dryer Model

  1. Click Open Model on the Files icon.
  2. In the Open File window, browse to your personal assets folder.
    Note: During installation, you are prompted to choose a location for your personal assets folder. The default location of this folder on Windows is here:

    C:\Users\yourname\Documents\Altair\Inspire Render\Assets\Scenes

  3. Select the Hair dryer.iStudiopack file from the Scenes directory.
  4. Click Open and follow the prompts to extract the pack files.

Use the View Controls

  1. Pan the model using the right mouse button while dragging the mouse.
  2. Zoom in or out using the scroll wheel or Ctrl + Shift + right mouse button while dragging the mouse.
  3. To rotate the model, use the middle mouse button while dragging the mouse. This will rotate the model around the mouse pointer.
  4. To do a turntable rotation, use Shift + right mouse button while dragging the mouse. This is useful when your model's vertical direction is aligned with the z-axis.
  5. Press F to fit all visible objects in the scene.

Show and Hide Objects

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

To hide an object, select the part in the modeling view and press H on the keyboard. The selected object when hidden is drawn in transparent mode. With the object still selected, the H key works as a toggle.

Using the Model Browser

To hide an object, select the part in the modeling views and press H on the keyboard. The selected object when hidden is drawn in transparent mode. With the object still selected, the H key works as a toggle.

Using the Show/Hide Tool

  1. Click the Show/Hide icon in the lower left corner of the modeling window. The objects turn transparent as you select them and are grayed out in the Model Browser.
  2. Right-click to exit.
  3. To see all hidden objects, select the Show/Hide icon, hold Shift and click the transparent objects. Right-click to exit.

Setting Up Assets

Set the Assets Folder From the Prompt

If the path to the assets is not set or is set incorrectly, you may see the following prompt on first launch of Inspire Render.

You should select Use default. If you would like to use assets from older versions of Inspire Render, follow the steps below.

  1. Click Browse.
  2. Browse to an older installation of the application under C:\Program Files\Altair\.
  3. Select an installation that contains the assets folder.
    For example: C:\Users\yourusername\Documents\Altair\Inspire Render\Assets
  4. Select the Assets folder.
  5. Click Select Folder.

Set the Assets Folder from the Preferences

  1. On the File menu, click the Preferences button.
  2. Click Common Folders.
  3. Click the Value of the Assets folder.
  4. Browse to the correct location and select the folder.
  5. Click Apply.
  6. Restart Inspire Render.