Controls

This section describes the controls of Gaia Sky.

Keyboard controls

To check the most up-to-date controls go to the Controls tab in the preferences window. Here are the default keyboard controls depending on the current camera mode. Learn more about camera modes in the Camera modes section.

Free/focus mode controls

These are the default keyboard controls that apply to the focus, free and game camera modes.

Key(s)

Action

↑

camera forward

↓

camera backward

→

rotate/yaw right

←

rotate/yaw left

F1

Show help

H

Show help

ESC

Exit application

Ctrl + Q

Exit application

HOME

Instantly move to home object

P

Show preferences

Alt + L

Show log

:

Open console

~

Toggle console

Ctrl + O

Load new dataset

Alt + C

Play camera path file

Shift + O

Toggle visibility of orbits

Shift + P

Toggle visibility of planets

Shift + M

Toggle visibility of moons

Shift + S

Toggle visibility of stars

Shift + T

Toggle visibility of satellites

Shift + A

Toggle visibility of asteroids

Shift + L

Toggle visibility of labels

Shift + C

Toggle visibility of constellations

Shift + B

Toggle visibility of boundaries

Shift + Q

Toggle visibility of equatorial grid

Shift + E

Toggle visibility of ecliptic grid

Shift + G

Toggle visibility of galactic grid

Shift + R

Toggle visibility of recursive grid

Shift + H

Toggle visibility of meshes

Shift + V

Toggle visibility of clusters

Shift + K

Toggle visibility of keyframes

,

Halve time warp (hold for smooth decrease)

.

Double time warp (hold for smooth increase)

SPACE

Start/stop time

Ctrl + .

Reset time warp to 1

Ctrl + ]

Increase FOV angle

Ctrl + [

Decrease FOV angle

F11

Toggle fullscreen

F5

Capture screenshot

F7

Save cubemap faces as images

F6

Toggle frame output mode

U

Expand/collapse UI window (old UI)

Ctrl + K

Toggle panorama mode

Ctrl + Shift + K

Change panorama projection

Ctrl + J

Toggle orthosphere mode

Ctrl + Shift + J

Change orthosphere profile

Ctrl + S

Toggle stereoscopic mode

Ctrl + Shift + S

Change stereoscopic profile

Ctrl + P

Toggle planetarium mode

Ctrl + Shift + P

Change planetarium projection

Ctrl + U

Toggle UI on/off

Ctrl + Shift + L

Toggle mouse capture

Ctrl + W

Add new keyframe

NUM_0

Free camera mode

NUMPAD_0

Free camera mode

NUM_1

Focus camera mode

NUMPAD_1

Focus camera mode

NUM_2

Game camera mode

NUMPAD_2

Game camera mode

NUM_3

Spacecraft mode

NUMPAD_3

Spacecraft mode

Ctrl + M

Cycle camera modes

Ctrl + C

Toggle cinematic camera

Z

Speed up camera movement (hold)

Ctrl + D

Toggle debug pane

Ctrl + F

Show search dialog

F

Show search dialog

/

Show search dialog

Ctrl + Shift + O

Toggle smooth transitions in LOD datasets

Ctrl + Shift + R

Reset star point size

Ctrl + G

Go to focus object

Ctrl + R

Reset time

TAB

Toggle minimap

T

Time pane

C

Camera pane

V

Visibility pane

L

Visual effects pane

D

Datasets pane

B

Bookmarks pane

S + L + V

Show replica configuration dialog

Ctrl + Shift + U + I

Reload user interface

Ctrl + Shift + Y

Recompile and reload shaders

Spacecraft mode controls

These controls apply only to the spacecraft mode.

Key(s)

Action

w

apply forward thrust

s

apply backward thrust

a

roll left

d

roll right

k

stop spaceship automatically

l

stabilize spaceship automatically

↑

pitch up

↓

pitch down

←

yaw left

→

yaw right

PgUp

increase engine power (x10)

PgDown

decrease engine power (x0.1)

Mouse controls

Here are the default mouse controls for the focus and free Camera modes. The other modes do not have mouse controls.

Focus mode

Mouse + keys

Action

L-MOUSE DOUBLE-CLICK

select focus object

L-MOUSE CLICK

stop all rotation and translation movement

L-MOUSE + DRAG

apply rotation around focus

L-MOUSE + Shift + DRAG

camera roll

R-MOUSE + DRAG

pan view freely from focus

M-MOUSE + DRAG or WHEEL

move towards/away from focus

Free mode

Mouse + keys

Action

L-MOUSE DOUBLE-CLICK

select object as focus (changes to focus mode)

L-MOUSE CLICK

stop all rotation and translation movement

L-MOUSE + DRAG

pan view

L-MOUSE + Shift + DRAG

camera roll

M-MOUSE + DRAG or WHEEL

forward/backward movement

Game mode

Use the mouse to look around and wasd to move.

Gamepad controls

Since 2.3.0

Gaia Sky supports Game controllers through SDL. This means that most controllers should just work out-of-the-box. The default controller mappings file, SDL_Controller.controller, should always be used initially. Should this file not work for your controller, you can create your custom mappings easily and interactively by going to the preferences window > controls and clicking on the “Configure” button next to your controller. Then, follow screen instructions.

_images/controls-gamepad.jpg

Configuring gamepad controls in Gaia Sky

User mappings files (see here) can be added manually to $GS_CONFIG/mappings (see folders) folder, or set up automatically from within Gaia Sky. The controller mappings file contains the axis or button numbers for each input type. Below is an example of one such file.

#Controller mappings definition file for Wireless Steam Controller
axis.dpad.h=-1
axis.dpad.v=1
axis.lstick.h=0
axis.lstick.h.sensitivity=1.0
axis.lstick.v=1
axis.lstick.v.sensitivity=1.0
axis.lt=-1
axis.lt.sensitivity=1.0
axis.rstick.h=2
axis.rstick.h.sensitivity=1.0
axis.rstick.v=3
axis.rstick.v.sensitivity=1.0
axis.rt=-1
axis.rt.sensitivity=-1.0
axis.value.pow=4.0
button.a=2
button.b=3
button.dpad.d=18
button.dpad.l=19
button.dpad.r=20
button.dpad.u=17
button.lb=6
button.lstick=13
button.lt=-1
button.rb=7
button.rstick=-1
button.rt=-1
button.select=10
button.start=11
button.x=4
button.y=5

Default camera mappings

Gampead axes and buttons

Gamepad annotated with axes and buttons

The following table lists the actions assigned to each of the gamepad axes and buttons.

Button/axis

Action

rs-left/rs-right

rotate around horizontally (focus mode), yaw (free mode)

rs-up/rs-down

rotate around vertycally (focus mode), pitch (free mode)

ls-left/ls-right

roll

ls-up/ls-down

forward/backward

rt (right trigger)

roll right

lt (left trigger)

roll left

start

preferences

a

toggle labels

b

toggle asteroids

x

toggle minimap

y

toggle orbits

dpad-up

hold to speed up time

dpad-down

hold to slow down time

dpad-right

start time

dpad-left

stop time

rs (click)

stop time

Spacecraft camera mappings

In spacecraft mode, the actions mapped to the different gamepad axes and buttons are different. They are listed in the table below.

Button/axis

Action

rs-left/rs-right

spacecraft yaw

rs-up/rs-down

spacecraft pitch

ls-left/ls-right

spacecraft roll

ls-up/ls-down

thrust forward/backward

rb (right bumper)

spacecraft roll right

lb (left bumper)

spacecraft roll left

rt (right trigger)

thrust forward

lt (left trigger)

thrust backward

a

toggle labels

b

toggle orbits

x

stop spacecraft

y

level spacecraft

dpad-up

increase engine power (x10)

dpad-down

decrease engine power (x0.1)
Since 3.0.0

Gamepad UI

The gamepad UI allows access to some basic actions and settings directly using a gamepad. To open it, press start.

_images/controller-ui.jpg

The gamepad UI

There are seven tabs at the top that can be navigated with lb and rb. The tabs are the following:

  • Search – provides a virtual keyboard to search for objects.

  • Bookmarks – access the system bookmarks (limited to 4 nested folder levels).

  • Camera – camera parameters like the mode or the field of view.

  • Time – controls to start and stop time, as well as to set the time warp factor.

  • Types – visibility of elements in Gaia Sky.

  • Controls – gamepad settings and mappings.

  • Graphics – graphics options like post-processing effect parameters.

  • System – system-wide settings. Also a button to quit Gaia Sky.

Close the gamepad UI with b or start.

Since 3.3.1

GUI navigation

Gaia Sky supports the navigation of its GUI windows using the gamepad and keyboard mappings, additionally to the usual mouse clicks. Below are the most common actions and how to achieve them in a keyboard- or gamepad- centric workflow.

Action

Keyboard

Gamepad

Action (click focused button)

Enter

a

Move focus up

↑

dpad-up/ls-up

Move focus down

↓

dpad-down/ls-down

Move focus right

→

dpad-right/ls-right

Move focus left

←

dpad-left/ls-left

Move slider (when focused)

←/→/home/end

rs-left/rs-right

Move select box selection (when focused)

←/→/home/end

rs-left/rs-right

Check check box (when focused)

Enter

a

Cycle dialog bottom buttons

Alt

select

Close current dialog (with accept action)

/

start

Close current dialog (with cancel action)

Esc

/

Tab right

Tab

rb

Tab left

Shift + Tab

lb

Keyboard mappings file

The keyboard mappings are stored in an internal file called keyboard.mappings (link). If you want to edit the keyboard mappings, copy the file it into $GS_CONFIG/mappings/ (if it is not yet there) and edit it. This overrides the default internal mappings file. The file consists of a series of <ACTION>=<KEYS> entries. For example:

# Help
action.help                                 = F1
action.help                                 = H

# Exit
action.exit                                 = ESC

# Home
action.home                                 = HOME

# Preferences
action.preferences                          = P

#action.playcamera                          = C

The available actions are the following:

  • action.help – Show help

  • action.exit – Exit application

  • action.home – Instantly move to home object

  • action.preferences – Show preferences

  • action.log – Show log

  • action.console – Open console

  • action.toggle/gui.console.title – Toggle console

  • action.loadcatalog – Load new dataset

  • action.playcamera – Play camera path file

  • action.toggle/element.orbits – Toggle visibility of orbits

  • action.toggle/element.planets – Toggle visibility of planets

  • action.toggle/element.moons – Toggle visibility of moons

  • action.toggle/element.stars – Toggle visibility of stars

  • action.toggle/element.satellites – Toggle visibility of satellites

  • action.toggle/element.asteroids – Toggle visibility of asteroids

  • action.toggle/element.labels – Toggle visibility of labels

  • action.toggle/element.constellations – Toggle visibility of constellations

  • action.toggle/element.boundaries – Toggle visibility of boundaries

  • action.toggle/element.equatorial – Toggle visibility of equatorial grid

  • action.toggle/element.ecliptic – Toggle visibility of ecliptic grid

  • action.toggle/element.galactic – Toggle visibility of galactic grid

  • action.toggle/element.recursivegrid – Toggle visibility of recursive grid

  • action.toggle/element.meshes – Toggle visibility of meshes

  • action.toggle/element.clusters – Toggle visibility of clusters

  • action.toggle/element.keyframes – Toggle visibility of keyframes

  • action.dividetime – Halve time warp (hold for smooth decrease)

  • action.doubletime – Double time warp (hold for smooth increase)

  • action.pauseresume – Start/stop time

  • action.time.warp.reset – Reset time warp to 1

  • action.incfov – Increase FOV angle

  • action.decfov – Decrease FOV angle

  • action.togglefs – Toggle fullscreen

  • action.screenshot – Capture screenshot

  • action.screenshot.cubemap – Save cubemap faces as images

  • action.toggle/element.frameoutput – Toggle frame output mode

  • action.toggle/element.controls – Expand/collapse UI window (old UI)

  • action.toggle/element.360 – Toggle panorama mode

  • action.toggle/element.projection – Change panorama projection

  • action.toggle/element.orthosphere – Toggle orthosphere mode

  • action.toggle/element.orthosphere.profile – Change orthosphere profile

  • action.toggle/element.stereomode – Toggle stereoscopic mode

  • action.switchstereoprofile – Change stereoscopic profile

  • action.toggle/element.planetarium – Toggle planetarium mode

  • action.toggle/element.planetarium.projection – Change planetarium projection

  • action.toggle/element.cleanmode – Toggle UI on/off

  • action.toggle/gui.mousecapture – Toggle mouse capture

  • action.keyframe – Add new keyframe

  • camera.full/camera.FREE_MODE – Free camera mode

  • camera.full/camera.FOCUS_MODE – Focus camera mode

  • camera.full/camera.GAME_MODE – Game camera mode

  • camera.full/camera.SPACECRAFT_MODE – Spacecraft mode

  • action.toggle/camera.mode – Cycle camera modes

  • action.toggle/camera.cinematic – Toggle cinematic camera

  • action.camera.speedup – Speed up camera movement (hold)

  • action.toggle/element.debugmode – Toggle debug pane

  • action.search – Show search dialog

  • action.toggle/element.octreeparticlefade – Toggle smooth transitions in LOD datasets

  • action.starpointsize.reset – Reset star point size

  • action.gotoobject – Go to focus object

  • action.resettime – Reset time

  • action.toggle/gui.minimap.title – Toggle minimap

  • action.expandcollapse.pane/gui.time – Time pane

  • action.expandcollapse.pane/gui.camera – Camera pane

  • action.expandcollapse.pane/gui.visibility – Visibility pane

  • action.expandcollapse.pane/gui.lighting – Visual effects pane

  • action.expandcollapse.pane/gui.dataset.title – Datasets pane

  • action.expandcollapse.pane/gui.bookmarks – Bookmarks pane

  • action.slave.configure – Show replica configuration dialog

  • action.ui.reload – Reload user interface

  • action.shaders.reload – Recompile and reload shaders

Find the current keyboard mappings associations in the controls tab of the preferences window within Gaia Sky.

_images/controls.jpg

The controls settings in Gaia Sky