1. A method for providing a computer generated view indicating joint positions and range of motion limitations for one or more articulatable instruments, the method comprising: receiving information of states of the one or more articulatable instruments; generating the view by including graphical representations of joints of the one or more articulatable instruments and indications of range of motion limitations for one or more of the joints, which were generated by using the received information and forward kinematics of the one or more articulatable instruments; and displaying the generated view on a display screen.