Program Settings
The settings window of the program: interface language and theme, camera, the 3D scene, start-up, the graphics card and point-cloud limits, and clearing of the data the program keeps for you.
Program settings
Opens the Program settings window with two tabs, Settings and Reset tab. Each change in the Settings tab is saved at once. If the window is already open, the command brings it forward.
Where to find it
Settings tab → Application group → Program settings (Program settings).
How to
- Click Program settings.
- Change the options on the Settings tab (described below). There is no Apply button.
- If the program offers a restart, restart it when convenient: the language, theme and graphics card are applied only when Crosscut starts again.
- Click Close window (or Esc) when done.
Settings tab: Interface
| Option | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Language | The interface language. The list shows each language by its own name. A language other than the running one offers a restart ("The interface language will change after Crosscut restarts."). |
| Camera | Perspective or Orthographic. Applied to the 3D view at once. |
| Interface theme | Two choices: Dark theme and Light theme. The choice is saved; a theme other than the running one offers a restart ("The interface theme will change after Crosscut restarts."). |
Settings tab: Scene
| Option | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Show the zero plane with axes | Shows or hides the ground plane with axes in the 3D view. Applied at once. |
| Show the view cube | Shows or hides the view cube. Applied at once. |
| Background colour | A colour swatch. Click it to open the colour dialog and pick the colour the 3D view is cleared to. |
| Default colour | Puts the program's own background back. Enabled only while another colour is set. |
Each theme keeps its own background. The window shows and edits the background of the theme chosen above. It is painted at once only if that theme is the one running; otherwise it shows after the restart.
Settings tab: Startup
| Option | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Open the last file on start | When on, Crosscut opens the file you worked on last when it starts. |
Settings tab: Graphics
One block per graphics card of your PC, side by side. A card shows its name and, where known, Integrated GPU or Discrete GPU. The card the 3D view runs on now has a green dot, running now and its OpenGL version. The chosen card is framed.
- Only cards known as integrated or discrete can be chosen (on laptops with switchable graphics). Other cards are shown but cannot be clicked: Crosscut runs on the GPU of the display and Windows' choice does not move it.
- If Windows lists no card, the running adapter is shown alone.
- Choosing a card is saved and recorded with Windows; it takes effect when Crosscut next starts, and a restart is offered ("The graphics adapter will change after Crosscut restarts.").
The note under the cards says how the choice stands:
| Note | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Windows applies the choice when Crosscut starts. | Normal state: Crosscut runs on the chosen card, or the card cannot be told. |
| The graphics adapter will change after Crosscut restarts. | You changed the choice during this run. |
| Windows did not apply the choice: when Crosscut started, the display was connected to the discrete GPU, and OpenGL runs on the GPU of the display. Restart Crosscut while the display is on the integrated GPU (the laptop's hybrid graphics mode). | The integrated GPU is chosen but this run started on the discrete one. The dot turns to the warning colour. |
| Windows did not apply the choice: Crosscut runs on another GPU. Check the GPU settings in the video driver's control panel (NVIDIA or AMD). | The choice was in place at the start and was not followed. |
Two more fields set the point-cloud limits; they are applied at once:
| Field | Choices | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud points per frame | 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 40 million | How many points a frame draws |
| Kept on the graphics card | 5, 15, 30, 60, 120 million, each with the video memory it takes (24 bytes per point) | How many points stay in video memory |
More points show point clouds denser; fewer keep the view smooth on a weaker graphics card. A value edited into the settings file that is not in the list is kept and shown.
Reset tab
Clears what the program keeps for you. The clearing is carried out the next time Crosscut starts, because the program writes much of this data again when it closes.
- Open the Reset tab. Each choice shows how many files and how much it holds ("N files, size"), or "Nothing to clear" (then the box is disabled).
- Tick what to clear.
- Click Clear selected (enabled once something is ticked) and confirm "The selected data will be deleted for good. Clear it?".
- Restart the program when offered ("The selected data will be cleared after Crosscut restarts.").
| Choice | What it clears |
|---|---|
| Plug-in data | The plug-ins' own settings and the position and fields of their windows |
| Program data | The program settings, the panel layout, the ribbon, hotkeys and aliases, the recent files. The logs are kept. |
If something goes wrong
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| The request could not be saved: the settings folder is not writable. | Make the settings folder writable and try again. |
| The language or theme jumps back to the old one | The choice could not be saved because the settings folder is not writable. |
What next
Hotkeys · Aliases