Quickstart¶
This page walks through the smallest possible end-to-end GlyphViz workflow: a node CSV in, a rendered 3D scene out. It assumes you've already completed Installation.
1. Launch GlyphViz¶
Run GlyphViz.exe from the folder you extracted. You'll see the 3D Viewer filling the window, with two docks alongside it: the Node Table (one row per node, sortable by any column) and the Properties panel (scene-wide display settings on top, the selected node's fields below).
Full tours of both: Node Panel and Properties Panel.
2. Load a scene¶
Use the File → Open menu to load a node CSV — the file ending in _gv_node.csv. Companion tag and channel files sitting next to it load automatically.
Or just drag it onto the window. Drag and drop takes a node CSV, a whole example folder, or a zip of one — GlyphViz finds the node CSV inside and brings the tag file, Channels animation, and media/ textures with it, so you can drop the example zip straight from your downloads without extracting it first. Hold Shift while dropping to merge into the current scene instead of replacing it. Details: Drag and Drop.
If you don't have a scene yet, grab the example set: GlyphViz_Examples.zip (see Installation → Example scenes). Extract it, then open any example's node CSV. Topology_Example and Palette_Example are good first ones — small, fast, and they show the node model clearly.
3. Navigate the Viewer¶
| Action | Binding |
|---|---|
| Orbit | Left-drag (or right-drag) |
| Pan | Middle-drag |
| Zoom | Scroll wheel |
| Frame a node | Double-click it |
| Reframe everything | View → Reset Camera |
The full binding list — including selection, the Move/Rotate/Size gizmos, and the single-key shortcuts — is in Viewer Navigation.
4. Inspect and edit a node¶
Click any node in the Viewer to select it (Ctrl+click to add to the selection, Shift+drag for a rubber-band box). Its fields appear in the Properties panel's Selected Node group, where you can edit position, rotation, scale, color, geometry, and topology live — the Viewer repaints as you change them.
The Node Table is the same selection, seen as data: a flat, sortable row per node with a Parent column carrying the hierarchy. Selecting in one highlights in the other; double-clicking a row frames that node in the Viewer.
5. What's next¶
- Reference — full guide to the interface: menus, panels, geometries, and topologies
- A Guided Tour — a longer, hands-on walkthrough of the fundamentals
- Tutorials — a guided path from your first scene through hyperdimensional projection and XR
1. Launch GlyphViz¶
Open GlyphViz.app — from Applications if you dragged it there, or straight from the extracted folder. First launch needs the quarantine flag cleared once; see Installation → macOS if you haven't done that yet. You'll see the same 3D Viewer and two docks as the Windows build — GlyphViz for macOS is the same app, not a stripped port: the Node Table (one row per node, sortable by any column) and the Properties panel (scene-wide display settings on top, the selected node's fields below).
Full tours of both: Node Panel and Properties Panel.
2. Load a scene¶
Use the File → Open menu to load a node CSV — the file ending in _gv_node.csv. Companion tag and channel files sitting next to it load automatically.
Or just drag it onto the window, or drop it on the Dock icon. Drag and drop takes a node CSV, a whole example folder, or a zip of one — GlyphViz finds the node CSV inside and brings the tag file, Channels animation, and media/ textures with it, so you can drop the example zip straight from your downloads without extracting it first. Hold Shift while dropping to merge into the current scene instead of replacing it. Details: Drag and Drop.
If you don't have a scene yet, grab the example set: GlyphViz_Examples.zip (see Installation → Example scenes). Extract it, then open any example's node CSV. Topology_Example and Palette_Example are good first ones — small, fast, and they show the node model clearly.
3. Navigate the Viewer¶
| Action | Binding |
|---|---|
| Orbit | Left-drag (or right-drag) |
| Pan | Middle-drag |
| Zoom | Scroll wheel |
| Frame a node | Double-click it |
| Reframe everything | View → Reset Camera |
The full binding list — including selection, the Move/Rotate/Size gizmos, and the single-key shortcuts — is in Viewer Navigation.
4. Inspect and edit a node¶
Click any node in the Viewer to select it (Ctrl+click to add to the selection, Shift+drag for a rubber-band box). Its fields appear in the Properties panel's Selected Node group, where you can edit position, rotation, scale, color, geometry, and topology live — the Viewer repaints as you change them.
The Node Table is the same selection, seen as data: a flat, sortable row per node with a Parent column carrying the hierarchy. Selecting in one highlights in the other; double-clicking a row frames that node in the Viewer.
5. What's next¶
- Reference — full guide to the interface: menus, panels, geometries, and topologies
- A Guided Tour — a longer, hands-on walkthrough of the fundamentals
- Tutorials — a guided path from your first scene through hyperdimensional projection and XR
1. A minimal node CSV¶
GlyphViz scenes are described by node CSV files following the ANTz node format. Here's a minimal three-node example — a parent with two children:
id,parent_id,pos_x,pos_y,pos_z,topology,geometry,label
1,0,0.0,0.0,0.0,sphere,pin,Root
2,1,1.0,0.5,0.0,sphere,pin,Child A
3,1,-1.0,0.5,0.0,sphere,pin,Child B
Placeholder column set
The columns above are illustrative, not the verified GlyphViz/ANTz schema. Once the full ANTz Node CSV Format Spec is finalized, this example will be updated to match it exactly.
Save this as quickstart.csv.
2. Render it¶
glyphviz render quickstart.csv
This opens the same interactive Viewer as the GUI workflow. You should see a root node with two children positioned around it. Try:
- Left-click + drag to orbit the camera
- Scroll to zoom
- Click a node to select it and see its properties
3. Export a static image¶
Rather than the interactive viewer, you can render directly to a PNG — useful for documentation, regression baselines, or quick sharing:
glyphviz render quickstart.csv --export-frame output.png
4. What's next¶
- Reference — full interface and format reference
- A Guided Tour — a longer, hands-on walkthrough of the fundamentals
- Tutorials — a guided path from your first scene through hyperdimensional projection and XR