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0001 # Getting Started with Firebird Event Display
0002
0003 This tutorial will walk you through the basics of the user interface.
0004 Let's start with a quick tour of the main features.
0005
0006 ## 1. First Look at the Display
0007
0008 When you first open Firebird, you'll see the main display page.
0009 This is where the 3D visualization happens.
0010 Take a moment to look around - you should see:
0011
0012 <img src="./01_01_basic_view.png" width="900" alt="Basic Firebird View" title="Firebird display window view"/>
0013
0014 > If you don't see a detector and trajectories, it might not be a problem,
0015 > especially if you used Firebird before. Proceed with the tutorials
0016 > to a configuration section. If you still don't see anything, after configuring
0017 > Firebird, proceed to [the Trobleshooting](../troubleshoot) section.
0018
0019 We will go in details of how to control everything, for now press
0020 **"Configure"** button to go into Firebird configuration.
0021
0022 <img src="./01_03_configure_menu.drawio.png" width="1000" alt="Basic Firebird View" title="Firebird display window view"/>
0023
0024
0025 ## 2. Select geoemetry and data
0026
0027
0028 ... navigate to Configure page, explain that for event display to work it needs geometry and events file.
0029 For this tutorial we will use ready presets in the upper most menu ...
0030
0031
0032
0033 The easiest way to start is with a preset configuration:
0034
0035 1. Look for the **"Select example configuration preset"** dropdown
0036 2. Choose one of the options like:
0037 - "Full ePIC detector geometry (no events)" - for exploring just the detector
0038 - "DIS CC in ePIC" options - for viewing collision events
0039 - "DIRC optical photons" - for specialized detector studies
0040
0041 When you select a preset, it automatically fills in the geometry and event sources below.
0042
0043 ## 3. Overview the interface
0044
0045 ... By this moment geometry should be loaded ...
0046
0047 - A 3D view in the center showing the detector geometry
0048 - Control buttons in the header toolbar
0049 - Time controls at the bottom
0050 - A view tool panel on the right side
0051
0052 Try these basic interactions:
0053 - **🖱️ Left-click and drag** to rotate the view
0054 - **🖱️ Right-click and drag** to pan
0055 - **🖱️ Scroll** to zoom in and out
0056
0057 ### View Controls
0058
0059 The floating panel on the right provides quick access to view controls:
0060 - **Zoom buttons** (+/-) for precise zoom control
0061 - **View options** (eye icon) for grids and visual aids
0062 - **Camera mode** button to switch between perspective and orthographic views
0063
0064 ### Scene Organization
0065
0066 Click the **tree icon** in the header to open the scene tree panel. This shows:
0067 - All loaded geometry components
0068 - Event data (tracks, hits, etc.)
0069 - Visual helpers
0070
0071 You can:
0072 - Click the eye icons to show/hide components
0073 - Expand groups to see sub-components
0074 - Hover over items to highlight them in the 3D view (when highlighting is enabled)
0075
0076 ### Event Navigation
0077
0078 If you loaded multiple events:
0079 1. Use the **event selector dropdown** in the header to switch between events
0080 2. Each event is labeled with its ID for easy reference
0081
0082 ### Time-Based Animation
0083
0084 The bottom toolbar controls time-based visualization:
0085
0086 - **Time slider** - Drag to see particles at different times
0087 - **Play/Pause** - Animate particle trajectories
0088 - **Step buttons** - Move forward/backward one time step
0089 - **Rewind** - Return to the beginning
0090 - **Stop** - Show all particles at once
0091
0092 Try playing an animation to see particles emerge from the collision point and travel through the detector!
0093
0094 ### Geometry Clipping
0095
0096 The **crop icon** in the header opens clipping controls:
0097 1. Enable clipping with the checkbox
0098 2. Use the preset buttons for common views (half, quarter cuts)
0099 3. Adjust angles manually with the sliders
0100 4. This helps see inside the detector layers
0101
0102 ### Measurement Tools
0103
0104 Click the **crosshair icon** to access measurement tools:
0105 - **Show 3D Coordinates** - Display cursor position in detector coordinates
0106 - **Show 3D Distance** - Measure distances between two points (click twice)
0107
0108 ### Visual Helpers
0109
0110 Click the **eye icon** on the right panel to access:
0111 - **Cartesian Grid** - Reference grid in X, Y, Z
0112 - **Eta-Phi Grid** - Cylindrical coordinate system used in particle physics
0113 - **Axis indicators** - Show coordinate axes
0114 - **Labels** - Component names in 3D space
0115
0116
0117 ## 4. More configuration
0118
0119 ### Manual Configuration (Optional)
0120
0121 We may select
0122
0123 **Geometry:** Use the geometry dropdown to select a detector configuration. The URLs ending in `.root` contain different detector subsystems.
0124
0125 **Event Data:** You have two options:
0126 - **JSON files** - Pre-converted event data that loads quickly
0127 - **EDM4EIC ROOT files** - Raw simulation output (requires backend server)
0128
0129 For EDM4EIC files, you can specify which events to load using the range field (e.g., "0-5" for the first 6 events).
0130
0131 ... here we have changes from that ...
0132
0133 Click the **DISPLAY** button to return to the main view with your selected data loaded.
0134
0135
0136
0137
0138
0139 ### Performance Considerations
0140
0141 ... here we have a lot of updates, check firebird-ng/src/app/pages/input-config for details ...
0142
0143 In the bottom-left corner, you'll see performance statistics (FPS, triangles, etc.). If performance is slow:
0144
0145 1. Hide unnecessary geometry using the scene tree
0146 2. Go to Configure and enable "Performance over quality"
0147 3. Reduce the number of loaded events
0148
0149 ## 5. EIC simulation campaigns
0150
0151 ... How to selct and navigate simulation campaign files
0152
0153 ## Next Steps
0154
0155 ... The next tutorial on how to install on local machine and use with your data via pyrobird....
0156