3D View
Use the Globe button immediately after Map in the Player toolbar to open or close the detached 3D View window. The tooltip is 3D View, the button is highlighted while the window is open. Map and 3D View can stay open together.
Create a Cesium ion account (free) to get an access token for terrain, imagery, and Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles. Sign up at ion.cesium.com.
The view follows the Player's KLV PID and LS selections. It uses the metadata attached to the displayed video frame, including the selected amended local set. Stepping and seeking update the scene when the new frame is displayed. While the Player stays on one frame, the scene settles at that frame's reported position. Changing the PID, local set, or source removes the previous selection's geometry and detections. Leaving the Player closes the window.
Navigating
- Fit all frames the available platform, sensor rays, ground footprint, and targets.
- Free orbit lets you navigate independently by dragging and scrolling over the globe.
- Follow platform keeps the platform in view. With one available platform, selecting this mode also selects that platform.
- Sensor view looks from the sensor using its orientation and field of view. It requires position and complete platform/sensor orientation and FOV metadata, or the supported fixed-camera fallbacks. It does not project the video onto terrain.
- In Sensor view, use the mouse wheel or + / − to adjust zoom. Reset zoom restores the reported field of view. Zoom affects only the 3D camera.
- Platforms shows or hides the side panel. Its collapsed state is remembered. The panel shows the current PID, model preset, visibility, and metadata status. Clear selection returns the camera to Free orbit.
Platform motion, attitude, sensor camera, and ground geometry ease toward the latest sample without predicting future movement. Discontinuous seeks reset the scene so the aircraft does not fly between unrelated playback positions.
Presentation and models
Choose the Config gear at the bottom-right of a platform card to open Presentation with that platform's KLV PID selected, without changing scene selection or the camera. Click the same gear again to close the editor; clicking another platform's gear switches to that platform. The editor's selector also offers Global fallback and the current file's source defaults. PID settings take precedence over file settings. Use source settings removes a PID override across all three tabs.
The tabs below the source/PID selector are Model, VMTI, and Frustum. Model contains the existing model controls and preview. Switching tabs preserves the draft; Save applies all tabs together. The preview appears only in Model. VMTI and frustum settings follow global fallback, file defaults, and PID overrides, so one platform can hide targets or change its style independently.
Save the display name, visibility, preset, model, scale, and heading/pitch/roll alignment. An empty name uses Platform Tail Number (KLV tag 4), then the file and PID label. The interactive preview supports rotation, zoom, and Reset view. Closing the editor without saving discards the draft. Imported assets remain in the model library.
These settings belong to 3D View only. The existing Player Platform Config dialog continues to control the 2D Map. When a file first opens in 3D, its existing platform type supplies the initial 3D preset. Later 2D edits do not change saved 3D settings. Reopening the file restores its 3D presentation.
The library supplies UAV/fixed-wing, helicopter, quadcopter, and stationary-camera presets. The bundled model catalog also includes the aircraft and quadcopters shipped with STView. Bundled models work offline.
Use Upload to choose a self-contained GLB, or choose a glTF folder containing one model and its local buffers/textures. Imports are copied into the application's scene asset directory. The maximum upload is 256 MB and 1,024 files. External model dependencies and paths outside the imported folder are rejected.
Models use nose +X, up +Y, and right +Z in glTF coordinates. Use alignment offsets for models authored with different axes. Alignment changes the model, not sensor pointing. Heading is clockwise from north. Positive pitch raises the nose and positive roll lowers the right wing. Minimum on-screen sizing keeps distant models visible, their displayed size is not a physical measurement.
For stationary cameras, fixed position and mounting attitude can supply fallbacks when the corresponding metadata is absent. Fixed height is metres above the WGS84 ellipsoid. Explicitly invalid telemetry is not replaced by a fallback.
Configure
The toolbar gear button opens Configure. Save applies and remembers the draft. Cancel discards it. Presentation has its own Save button.
The configuration panel contains map content and Advanced: terrain and imagery. Platform-specific settings are available through Presentation.
Frustum appearance
Open Presentation > Frustum. The independently collapsible Footprint and Aircraft-to-ground lines sections start expanded. Each controls color, thickness (0.5–10 pixels), and opacity for the selected source or PID. Reset frustum appearance restores the library defaults in the current draft; choose Save to retain them. Existing global styles remain the fallback.
VMTI targets
Presentation > VMTI > Show VMTI targets is enabled by default. Save it for the selected source or PID. Targets also follow platform visibility.
- Solid green outlines show reported geographic contours or bounding envelopes.
- Dashed amber outlines show estimates projected from image-pixel bounding boxes.
- Small markers show known target locations when an extent cannot be determined.
Hover over a target for its ID and placement method. Pixel-only placement requires image dimensions and a complete valid footprint. It approximates the ground as a plane. Hills, buildings, and elevated targets can introduce displacement.
Targets come from the current packet. Missing VMTI, an empty target list, or a metadata error clears old detections. Changing the PID or local set and seeking replaces the target frame rather than accumulating previous detections.
Terrain and imagery
The toolbar's Satellite / Map selector switches between Esri World Imagery (the default) and OpenStreetMap. The background choice is saved. The default surface is the WGS84 ellipsoid.
Expand Advanced: terrain and imagery to configure a terrain server, custom
imagery, or local folders. Terrain folders must contain layer.json and their
quantized-mesh or heightmap tiles. Remote parent layers are not supported.
Custom imagery accepts an HTTP(S) tile template such as
http://localhost:8000/{z}/{x}/{y}.png, or a registered tile folder. Choose XYZ or
TMS layout, Web Mercator or geographic projection, image format, maximum level,
and attribution. Registered terrain/imagery folders remain in place, so keep
them available. Raw elevation files and GeoTIFFs must first be converted to tiles.
Offline mode uses selected local folders or explicitly configured local
servers (localhost, private IP addresses, or .local names). It never falls back
to public imagery. Without local imagery, the globe has a plain surface. Renderer
code, workers, presets, bundled models, and the altitude grid ship with STInspector.
Cesium online content
In Configure > Map content, enter your Cesium ion access token to enable Cesium World Terrain, OSM Buildings, Bing Aerial imagery, or Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles. These layers are optional and off by default. Click the Map content heading to expand or collapse the section.
The trash icon beside the token label has a Remove Cesium ion token tooltip. Click it and confirm to clear the token and disable the layers that require it. Removing or manually clearing the token hides Bing Aerial from both imagery selectors and switches a Bing selection to Satellite. Cancel restores the saved token and selection; Save applies the removal. Save persists removal in STInspector's local configuration; Cancel discards the edits. Removal is available in offline mode too.
Metadata accuracy and unavailable data
Aircraft position requires sensor latitude/longitude and altitude. Frame-center coordinates are never substituted for aircraft position. Ellipsoid altitude is preferred. MSL altitude is converted with the bundled EGM96 15-minute geoid grid. This is an approximate vertical-datum conversion.
Missing position or altitude prevents placement and produces a status message. Missing attitude uses a position marker. Complete platform and relative sensor angles orient the sensor. Frame-center-only geometry cannot supply sensor roll or enable Sensor view. Metadata errors and unavailable WebGL, models, or terrain are reported in the window. Player navigation continues independently.
Reported frame-center and corner coordinates take precedence for the ground footprint. They are projected onto the displayed surface. On the flat globe, Sensor view accounts for reported target elevation or slant range to avoid looking beyond an elevated target. The status identifies this approximation. Loaded terrain uses actual ground elevations.
An Off earth endpoint hides only the rays and edges touching that endpoint. Valid adjacent corners remain visible. Offset corners require a valid frame center. Full corner coordinates can stand alone. Footprint fill requires all four corners. Explicit off-earth endpoints are never replaced with estimates.
Without reported corners, FOV intersections use loaded terrain, or an approximate target plane/ellipsoid. Negative altitudes are supported. Below-surface display on the flat globe may use an approximate offset above target ground. These views provide spatial context rather than surveyed targeting measurements.
Optional Cesium online content
In 3D View > Configure > Map content, paste your own Cesium ion access token and select Cesium World Terrain, Cesium OSM Buildings, or Bing Maps Aerial imagery, or Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles. All four are optional and off by default. Map content can be expanded or collapsed by clicking its heading. To remove a token, click the trash icon beside Cesium ion access token and confirm removal. This clears the token and disables its online layers; click Save to remove it from the local configuration, or Cancel to discard edits. Save applies the layers and stores the token in STView's local configuration; Cancel discards edits. The token field is masked. Use a token limited to the required Cesium assets. Existing users keep their current map sources.
Bing becomes the selected base layer and can be switched from the toolbar. Custom terrain URLs or folders take precedence over World Terrain. Clear the custom terrain source to use World Terrain. Offline mode suppresses all Cesium online content. A missing token prevents saving enabled online layers; invalid tokens or unavailable assets produce a map loading message.
Terrain and imagery resolution varies by location. OSM Buildings is a visual layer; sensor footprints and targets are projected onto terrain, not roofs.
Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles uses the same ion token. Enable Google's asset in your Cesium ion account and grant this token access. Once loaded, Google's ground and buildings replace the visible globe and OSM buildings. Turn Google off to restore the configured base layer; the base-layer toolbar is disabled while Google is selected. Offline mode disables Google too. If initialization fails, the configured map remains visible and an error is shown.
Google is a visual layer. Sensor and target calculations still use terrain or the ellipsoid, not Google's mesh, so overlays can be obscured by its surface.
Accounts, tokens, and billing
For the Bing Maps Aerial imagery and Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles options in STView, you only need a Cesium ion account and access token. You do not need a separate Microsoft/Bing Maps account, Google Cloud account, or provider API key. Add the desired content to your Cesium ion account and allow your token to access it. The same ion token can authorize both providers.
Cesium ion provides access to this third-party content through its service. Usage from STView counts against the Cesium ion account associated with your token. Any Cesium subscription payment is made to Cesium; these options do not create a separate Google or Microsoft bill for you. The commercial arrangements between Cesium and the content providers are managed by those companies.
A token is required even on a free plan. Cesium offers a free Community plan for eligible personal, educational, and evaluation use, subject to usage limits. Production commercial or government use may require a paid plan under Cesium's eligibility rules. Plans include quotas: Bing imagery counts toward the Global Imagery session quota, while Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles has a separate root-tile quota. Check your ion account's usage and current plan terms when deciding which layers to enable.
See Cesium ion pricing, quotas, and eligibility, Google 3D Tiles access through Cesium ion, and the content usage and attribution guide for the current requirements. This account and billing explanation applies to STView's Cesium ion options; custom map services use their own provider terms.