Installation and running
System requirements
Download
Installation procedure
Linux
Flatpak
AppImage
Unix installer
DEB package
RPM package
AUR package
Windows
macOS
TAR.GZ
Run from source
Requirements
Getting the catalog data
Compiling and running
CLI arguments
Packaging the software
System Directories
Datasets location
Logs and crash reports
Quick start guide
Before starting…
Welcome window
Dataset manager
Basic controls
Movement
Selection
The user interface
Control panes
Camera info panel
Quick info bar
System info panel
Time controls
Camera modes
Special render modes
Type visibility
Velocity vectors
Visual settings
External datasets
Working with datasets
External information
Scripting
A basic script
Gaia Sky API
Showcase scripts
Hands-on session
Camera paths
Keyframe system
Frame output mode
Create a video with
ffmpeg
Conclusion
User manual
Dataset manager
Welcome screen
Dataset manager
Data location
Available datasets
Installed datasets
Controls
Keyboard controls
Keyboard mappings
Free/focus mode controls
Spacecraft mode controls
Mouse controls
Focus mode
Free mode
Game mode
Gamepad controls
Default camera mappings
Spacecraft camera mappings
Gamepad UI
GUI navigation
User interface
Control panes
Time pane
Camera pane
Visibility pane
Per-object visibility
Velocity vectors
Visual settings pane
Datasets pane
Location log pane
Bookmarks pane
Camera info panel
Quick info bar
Action buttons
Minimap
Load dataset
Preferences window
System log
About/help
Exit
System info panel
Camera settings
Camera modes
Focus mode
Object tracking
Free mode
Game mode
Spacecraft mode
Camera behaviors
Cinematic behavior
Non-cinematic behavior
Search objects
Camera info panel
Focus pane
Mouse pointer
Camera
Object visiblity
Datasets
Preparing datasets
Loading datasets
Star catalogs
Particle datasets
Star cluster catalogs
Variable star catalogs
Datasets pane
Dataset highlighting
Dataset visual settings
Dataset filters
Dataset transformations
Dataset inforamtion
Bookmarks
Creating bookmarks
Location log
System information
System information panel
Debug mode
Camera paths
Camera path file format
Camcorder
Recording camera paths
Frame rate
Keyframes editor
Keyframes file format
Creating and editing keyframes
Adding keyframes
Keyframes list
Playback controls
Export keyframes to camera paths
Keyframes preferences
Export keyframes with OptFlowCam
Playing camera paths
Settings and configuration
Graphics settings
Graphics presets
Resolution and mode
Visual settings
Scene settings
Interface settings
Performance
Controls
Screenshots
Frame output
Camcorder
Panorama mode
Planetarium mode
Data
Gaia
System
Scripting
Quick start
Requirements
Running a test script
The Gaia Sky API
Using the API remotely
API documentation
Writing scripts for Gaia Sky
Backing up and restoring settings
Logging to Gaia Sky and Python
Method and attribute access
Strict parameter types
Loading datasets from scripts
Camera transitions
Synchronizing with the main loop
Camera and scene runnables
Overriding object coordinates provider
More examples
Running and debugging scripts
Frames and screenshots
Frame ouptut
Frame ouptut modes
Screenshots
Screenshot modes
Stereoscopic (3D) mode
Planetarium mode
Single-projector setup
Spherical mirror projection
File format
Multi-projector setup
MPCDI
Gaia Sky configuration file
Re-projection shaders
Panorama mode
Configuration
Creating panorama images
Injecting panorama metadata to 360 images
Creating spherical (360) videos
Orthosphere view mode
Eclipse representation
Console
Bounding shapes
Adding bounding shapes
Removing shape objects
External views
Connecting Gaia Sky instances
Configuration
Configuration: replica instance(s)
Configuration: primary instance
Caveats
REST API
Using the REST API
Debug
Capturing videos
Frame output system +
ffmpeg
OpenGL/Screen recorders
Linux
Windows
SAMP integration
Implemented features
Unimplemented features
Procedural planetary surfaces
Using procedural generation
Surface tab
Clouds tab
Atmosphere tab
Surface generation process
Seamless (tilable) noise
Noise parametrization
Cloud generation process
Descriptor files
Randomize all
Surface description
Color look-up table
Noise parameters
Cloud description
Atmospheric parameters description
System logs
Session log
Crash reports
Advanced topics
The configuration file
Program settings
Controls settings
Graphics settings
Data settings
Scene settings
Post-processing settings
Proxy settings
Proxy configuration
Use system proxy
Direct configuration
HTTP
HTTPS
SOCKS
FTP
Performance
Maximum heap memory
Heap memory on Linux
Heap memory on Windows
Heap memory on macOS
Heap memory when running from source
Graphics performance
CPU performance
Multithreading
Limiting FPS
Draw distance (levels of detail)
Smooth transitions
Graphics performance
Graphics quality setting
Dynamic resolution
Star brightness
Star groups
Billboards
Labels
Velocity vectors
Model detail
Bloom, lens flare and light glow
Antialiasing
Internal reference system
Description
Internal units
Data format
Where are the data files defined?
$data/[dataset-name]/dataset.json example
default-data/dataset.json example file
Data loaders
Catalog formats
Star catalogs
Regular star catalogs
Level-of-detail star catalogs
Particle catalogs
JSON data format
Data morphology
Objects vs Updates
Basic attributes
Proper motions
Magnitudes
Labels
Locations
Coordinates and ephemerides
Orbit coordinates
Static coordinates
VSOP87
VSOP2000
Chebyshev polynomials
Heliotropic orbits
Moon AA coordinates
Pluto coordinates
Python scripting coordinates
Model objects
Orientation
Model
Clouds
Atmospheric scattering parameters
Mesh objects
Orbits
Grids and other special objects
Affine transformations
Reference system transformations
Creating your own catalog loaders
Loading data using scripts
STIL data loader
Object IDs
Object names
Positions
Proper motions and radial velocities
Magnitudes
Colors
Variability
Other columns
Star catalog formats
Binary format specification
Metadata file
Version 0
Version 1
Star particle files
Version 0
Version 1
Version 2
LOD catalog processing
Catalogs
Distances
Magnitude/color corrections
Particle catalog formats
Archetypes
Components
Base
Body
GraphNode
Coordinates
Orientation
Celestial
Magnitude
ProperMotion
SolidAngle
Shape
Trajectory
ModelScaffolding
Model
Atmosphere
Cloud
RenderFlags
MotorEngine
RefSysTransform
AffineTransformations
Fade
DatasetDescription
Label
RenderType
BillboardSet
Title
Axis
LocationMark
Constel
Boundaries
ParticleSet
StarSet
ParticleExtra
Mesh
Focus
Raymarching
Highlight
Star rendering
Pseudo-size determination
Star shader and rendering
Defining an extrasolar system
Initial set up
Defining the objects
Stars
Planets
Cubemaps
Virtual Textures
Overview
Creating Virtual Texture Datasets
Preparing the tiles
Tools
Limitations
Mesh warping
Gaia Sky VR
System requirements
Set-up
Windows
Linux
Downloading datasets
Controls
Caveats
Common problems
Additional resources
Video tutorials
Presentations
Workshop notes
MWGaiaDN outreach 2024
Before starting…
Welcome window
Dataset manager
Basic controls
Movement
Selection
The User Interface
Control panes
Quick info bar
Debug panel
Time controls
Camera modes
Special render modes
Component visibility
Velocity vectors
Visual settings
External datasets
Working with datasets
External information
Scripting
Camera paths
Keyframe system
Frame output mode
Conclusion
DPAC scripting 2023
DPAC general 2021
DPAC video 2020
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the base-data package?
Q: Why do you have two different download pages?
Q: Why so many Gaia-DR catalogs?
Q: Gaia Sky crashes at start-up, what to do?
Q: I’m running out of memory, what to do?
Q: I can’t see the elevation data on Earth or other planets!
Q: What is the internal reference system used in Gaia Sky?
Q: Can I contribute?
Q: I like Gaia Sky so much, can I donate to contribute to the project?
API reference
Changelog
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Acknowledgements
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