Getting Started

 

You can start up Gravitation3D by clicking on the program shortcut or by double clicking any of the sample systems (also reachable by a shortcut in the G3D folder on your desktop).  When first opening a new system, you can see the universe you will be working with.  A reference plane and axes are visible to help orient you as you begin creating systems.

 

 

        

 

 

The fastest way to get cool looking, stable systems on the screen is to open some of the sample systems that are provided.  See the descriptions of these systems here.

 

Here are a few necessary bits of information to help get you started looking at the sample systems.

 

 

Drag Left Mouse  Rotates the view
Drag Right Mouse Zooms the view
‘A’  Toggles the animation on and off
‘R’  Resets the animation
‘T’  Toggles the controls on and off

 

 

Practice getting an intuitive feel for the mouse controls.  It is also fun to zoom way way out and see the entire virtual universe you are working in.


 

Prerequisites

 

This program was written with the hopes of staying simple, elegant, and intuitive.  Given the subject matter, at least a basic understanding of physics and mathematics will help you enjoy creating and running simulations more.  Specifically, it helps understanding Newton’s formula for the gravitational force between 2 bodies.

 

But having said that, there are no knowledge prerequisites to be able to run the included sample systems (or the additional downloadable ones on the web).  Since Gravitation3D aims to provide a way to understand gravity intuitively, playing with values to find cool systems can be rewarding without needing a full understanding of the calculations behind them.