What is in this Article?

1. Introduction

2. Details of Drag Action

3. Details of Fit – Align – Clip Plan

4. Details of 3D Orientation Indicator

1. Introduction

Orienting the model is one of the basic functions of any simulation software. Akselos Modeler provides several tools to quickly and easily manipulate model orientation. This article shows you how to move and rotate the view in the Graphic Window to make it easier to build, configure your model and analyze its solution visualization.

Figure 1.1. User Journey

Terminologies

These tool groups and a 3D orientation indicator in the Graphic Window will assist you in doing this.

Figure 1.2. Tools support model orientation

Drag Action

The Drag Action group contains tools that change the functionality of the left mouse cursor to allow users to orient components or the model view. There are three tools that support orienting the view: Zoom - Rotate - Pan.

Figure 1.2. Orientation tools in Drag Action

Fit - Align - Clip Plan Tools

These tools help users quickly change the view of the model on the Graphic Window for easy manipulation of the model.

Figure 1.3. Fit - Align - Clip Plan tools

3D Orientation Indicator

The 3D Orientation Indicator is a small widget that appears in the corner of the Graphic Window. It reflects the current view direction and allows users to adjust the view as they reorient the scene using other tools.

Figure 1.4. 3D Orientation Indicator

2. Details of Drag Action

2.1. Zoom

To use this tool, follow the steps below:

STEP 1: Click on Drag Action icon.

STEP 2: Select Zoom.

Figure 2.1. Zoom tool in Drag Action

STEP 3: Click on the Graphic Window and drag the cursor. Up to zoom in & down to zoom out.

Figure 2.2. Using the Zoom tool

2.2. Rotate

To use this tool, follow the steps below:

STEP 1: Click on Drag Action icon.

STEP 2: Select Rotate.

Figure 2.3. Rotate tool in Drag Action

STEP 3: Click on the Graphic Window and drag the cursor. Up/right to rotate clockwise & down/left to rotate counterclockwise.

Figure 2.4 Using the Rotate tool

2.3. Pan

To use this tool, follow the steps below:

STEP 1: Click on Drag Action icon.

STEP 2: Select Pan.

Figure 2.5. Pan tool in Drag Action

STEP 3: Click on the Graphic Window and drag the cursor. Up/right to rotate clockwise & down/left to rotate counterclockwise.

Figure 2.4 Using the Pan tool

3. Details of Fit – Align – Clip Plan

3.1. Fit

This tool helps users quickly re-define the model view fit the working screen after zooming in/out excessively.

The Fit tool is simple to use, when the model is too large or small compared to the working window, just click on the Fit icon to fit the model to the screen with a reasonable scale.

Figure 3.1. The Fit tool

3.2. Align

This tool helps users easily view the model to the specific axis, create the plan or elevation view,... by one clicking.

Figure 3.2. The Align tool

Figure 3.3. Isometric View 

Figure 3.4. Plane +x/-x

• Plane +y/-y:

Figure 3.5. Plane +y/-y

• Plane +z/-z:

Figure 3.6. Plane +z/-z

3.3. Clip Plan

This tool is used to create the planes that cut through the model to partially show inside the model.

The coordinates and direction of generated planes can be freely customized by modifying the value of the corresponding axis. To use this tool, follow the steps below:

STEP 1: Click on Clip Plan icon.

STEP 2: In the tool window, enter the value to the direction and coordinates boxes.

STEP 3: Turn on the Enabled check box.

STEP 4 (optional): Users can directly adjust the plan by selecting and dragging it on the Graphic Window.

Figure 3.7. Steps to use the Clip Plan tool

Delete the plan: Turn off the Enabled check box or Select the plan on the Graphic Window ▶ Press Delete button.

4. Details of 3D Orientation Indicator

An appearance of the 3D orientation indicator widget is shown in Figure below.

Figure 4.1. The appearance of 3D orientation indicator

Detailed descriptions of each item in the appearance are shown below.

• Triad: It is a set of three colored axes in red, green, and blue extending from a center cube. These colored axes are aligned with the x, y, and z axes of the model world coordinate system. Three axes and sides of the center cube are clickable. Users can orient the scene view by clicking on them. When the cursor hovers over any of them, its color will darken to indicate that interaction is possible.
• Axis Label: Axis labels (X, Y, and Z) are always ahead of the axis tips. Besides rotating about the Triad origin (when users re-orient the scene view or drag the rotation wheel), the labels can also rotate about their centroid to always keep them vertical.
• Home View -: A clickable icon to quickly get back to the HOME view. The isometric view is the default Home view. Users can define the current scene view as the Home view by using the Set As Home Viewpoint option in the Menu.
• Lock/Unlock Current View -/: A clickable icon, to lock the current view, is useful for presenting and taking screenshots. This icon changes its appearance to denote whether the scene view is currently locked or not.
• Menu -: A contextual menu to quickly set up the 3D orientation Indicator appearance; to switch between standard views, isometric view, Home view, and save views; and to do other common tasks.
• Rotation Wheel -: A ring-shaped item to rotate the scene view.

Want to know more about related Articles:

• Model Moving - Move/Connect tool