Settings

Open the Settings window by clicking on the Leapfrog Geo menu and selecting Settings:

The settings available in this window are described below:

To close the Settings window and leave settings unchanged, click the Revert button, then click Close.

Display and Navigation Settings

In the Settings window, click on Scene to change scene display and navigation settings.

3D Acceleration Mode

Leapfrog Geo can run in one of three acceleration modes. Click the Acceleration mode button in the Settings > Scene window to use a different mode. The modes available are:

  • Software Rendering uses software only, for maximum compatibility with any hardware. This option can be very slow displaying all but the simplest scenes, and is provided as a fall-back if display issues cannot be resolved with either of the other two options.
  • Partial Acceleration uses hardware acceleration that has been provided on graphics cards for many generations of graphics cards. In this mode, Leapfrog Geo renders scenes using “fixed function pipeline” hardware acceleration features that have been superseded in modern graphics cards by programmable shaders, but this legacy capability is widely supported and offers performance advantages over software rendering. Using Partial Acceleration can sometimes fix anomalies or problems encountered in Full Acceleration mode that may be due to bugs in old drivers, and it should work with even old or lower-featured hardware.
  • Full Acceleration is the best option, assuming you have good hardware and up-to-date drivers. Because it makes use of programmable shaders provided by modern graphics cards, it is the fastest of the three modes and uses your available graphics memory more efficiently. It is the mode you should use, if your system supports it.

First, try using Full Acceleration and see how it renders scenes. If you seem to be having issues with how data is displayed in the scene, see The Graphics Test for information on testing your computer’s graphics capabilities. Note that especially when graphics cards are new on the market, there may be a number of driver versions released to address anomalies, so the use of a recent driver version is important. If using a laptop with dual graphics cards, use it with the power supply connected, and select the Performance Graphics option over the Power Saving option.

If that doesn’t resolve the graphics problems, then try Partial Acceleration mode. If possible, avoid using Software Rendering as it can be very slow.

If your current hardware is unable to support Full Acceleration mode, it may be worth considering upgrading your graphics card. Medium- to high-end home PC and gaming graphics cards are sufficient. High-end workstation grade cards also work very well, but you will also be paying for further capabilities that are not utilised by Leapfrog Geo.

The acceleration mode can also be changed by clicking the button at the bottom of the Leapfrog Geo main window:

Font Size

This setting is the size of text used to display information on the grid and axes.

Z Axis Scale

The Z-axis scale setting lets you set a value greater than 1.0 for the z-axis relative to the x- and y-axes. This is useful when the area under study is very planar and extends over a wide area. In such cases, scaling the z-axis can accentuate the distribution of data along the z-axis. If you have a project open when you change this setting, the change will be reflected in the scene so you can experiment with different values before choosing the one that best accentuates the distribution of data.

The z-axis setting can also be changed by clicking the Z-Scale button at the bottom of the Leapfrog Geo main window:

The Scale Z Axis window will appear:

Note that each project saves the z-axis scaling setting when the project is closed. In addition, when saving scenes (see Saved Scenes), the z-axis scale is saved as part of the scene.

Rotation Settings

The Geographic rotation and Free rotation settings determine whether or not the model displayed in the scene window can be “rolled”. With the Geographic rotation option, the azimuth and elevation can be varied, but the Z axis is constrained to be vertical. With the Free rotation option, however, the rotation of the model is not fixed to any axis and the model can be freely rolled around any axis. Select the option you prefer. When Leapfrog Geo is installed, Geographic rotation is set as the default option as it is the most commonly used.

The Rotate with left button and Rotate with right button settings determine how the mouse is used to rotate the scene:

  • When Rotate with left button is selected, you can rotate the scene by holding down the left mouse button and dragging in the scene. Clicking and holding the right mouse button zooms in and out of the scene.
  • When Rotate with right button is selected, holding down the right mouse button and dragging rotates the scene. However, zooming and rotating functions are not swapped. Instead, the left mouse button can only be used for clicking on different objects in the scene. Select this option if you tend to accidentally move the scene when you intend to click.
Camera Settings

The Orthographic projection and Perspective projection settings determine the view of the model in the scene window.

If Perspective projection is selected, you can change the Perspective angle using the slider. This is similar to adjusting the zoom setting on a camera. Higher angles make nearby objects larger and more distant objects smaller. Lower angles will compress the scene. Experiment with the settings to see the effect on objects in the scene.

Select the option you prefer.

Overlay Settings

In the Settings window, click on Scene > Overlays to change what objects are included in the scene.

Changes you make to these settings are automatically updated in the scene so you can easily experiment to see what overlays you prefer.

Select Revert to return to the settings in place when the Settings window was first opened.

Screen Grid Settings

The Show screen grid setting determines whether or not the screen grid is displayed. Select the option you prefer. The Loose Spacing, Normal Spacing and Fine Spacing options determine the spacing of the grid.

Axis Lines Settings

The Axis Lines settings determine how X-Y-Z coordinates are displayed in the scene. When axis lines are enabled, the axes indicate the extent of data currently displayed in the scene.

  • Enable Show axis lines to display the east (red), north (green) and elevation (blue) axis lines.
  • Enable Put numbers on axes to display scale ticks along the grid. These are automatically adjusted to fit the extent of the data and the current zoom setting.
  • Enable Show whole box to display the axis lines as a box that encloses the current data set.
Other Overlay Settings

The scale bar, compass ball and viewing angle text are the navigation aids in the lower righthand corner of the scene window.

When the slicer is in the scene, text describing its position will be displayed in the lower lefthand corner if the Slicer position text option is enabled.

When drawing polylines, tooltips are displayed. If you do not wish to view these tooltips, untick the box for Polyline help text.

Colour Scheme

In the Settings window, click on Scene > Colour Scheme to change the colour scheme used in the scene.

Leapfrog Geo is installed with three colours schemes: Default, Black Background and White Background. The scheme selected in the Schemes list will be used for all new Leapfrog Geo projects and for existing projects when they are next opened.

  • Experiment with the settings to see how they affect the scene window. The scene will be updated as you make changes.
  • Select Revert to return to the settings in place when the Settings window was first opened.
  • To create a new scheme, click on an existing scheme. This is the scheme that will be used as a basis for defining the new scheme. Next, click the New Scheme button and change its settings.
  • Click Factory Reset to revert to the colour schemes defined when Leapfrog Geo was first installed.

Clicking on Factory Reset to revert to the original colour schemes deletes any custom colour schemes.

Lighting Settings

In the Settings window, click on Scene > Lighting to change how visual effects are displayed in the scene window. You may be able to use these settings to emphasise significance in the data displayed in the scene.

  • The Ambient level setting determines the overall brightness of the scene.
  • The Specular brightness and Specular shininess settings determine how light appears to fall on the surfaces in the scene. The Specular brightness setting has a stronger effect when Specular shininess is soft.

You can have up to four light sources defined for a project. By default, two light sources are defined.

Changes made to these settings are automatically applied to the scene.

  • Click Revert to return to the settings in place when the Settings window was first opened.
  • Click Factory Reset to revert to the lighting sources and settings defined when Leapfrog Geo was first installed.

Processing Settings

In the Settings window, click on Scene > Processing to change how background processing is used to run changes to data and models.

  • For the Automatic option, the number of background processes will be set based on your computer’s CPU and RAM.
  • For the Disabled option, tasks will be run in the main process and no background processes will be used.

Select Revert to return to the settings in place when the Settings window was first opened.

User Interface Settings

In the Settings window, click on User Interface to change project tree and scene toolbar options.

Show Tree Lines

Ticking the box for Show Tree Lines displays objects in the project tree with lines:

Enable this option if you find it useful for displaying relationships between objects in the project tree.

Show Save Scene Button

Ticking the box for Show Save Scene toolbar adds an extra button to the scene toolbar:

Click this button to save the current scene.

You can also change the scene toolbar by right-clicking on it and selecting Customise.

Tab Position

Some Leapfrog Geo windows open in separate tabs that can be used either docked or detached. The position in which tabs open is determined by the New tab position setting:

  • Open all tabs in the main window.
  • Open all tabs in separate windows.
  • Tabs can open where the last tab was moved to. This setting can be used for creating a window in which all tables and dockable windows open, with the scene window, project tree and shape list in another window.

Leapfrog Central Settings

See Enabling Leapfrog Central for more information on the settings in this window.

Help Settings

If you are working on a slow connection, you can download a copy of the help that can be saved to your hard drive. To do this:

  • Visit Leapfrog Geo Downloads.
  • Once you have downloaded a copy of the help and installed it, select Settings from the Leapfrog Geo menu.
  • Click on the Help tab and then select Local folder.

Leapfrog Geo help is updated at each release. If you are using a downloaded copy, you will need to download a new copy each time you update Leapfrog Geo.