3D Part management

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3D Part management

3D Part management Pro version only

Using this dialog you can modify and preview a 3D Part.

See 'not Tapered parts and Tapered parts' to better undertstand what Tapered parts are.

You can have access to this dialog by the 'Modify the selected 3D Part' button of the 'Browse Tapered Parts' dialog, or by creating a new 3D Part by the 'Tapered Parts - Create a new 3D Part' menu of a Cad drawing. Se also How to create a new 3D Part to understand how to proceed to create new Tapered Parts.

Here is an example of the dialog box, if you go to modify an existent 3D part :

A 3D part is defined by 2 sides (Left and Right), placed at a defined distance along the Z axe.
On the Left of the dialog you can see 2 panels, one for the Left side and one for the Right side.
You can Move, Rotate and Scale each Side using the buttons and parameters there included.

Once you have sized and placed the two sides (Faces), you must take care of Island orders (if you have 2 or more Islands) and of Syncro Points.
You can use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to move the selected Island order. Of course the number of the islands must be the same for each side.

Synchro Points are a list of coupled points on the contour (one for each side) that will be used to keep the hot wire movement synchronized . Each couple will be touched by the hot wire at the same time. They can be defined by the user or automatically generated by DevFoam Pro.
A special Synchro Point is the Main Synchro Point, displayed as Green and flagged with the M letter in the graphic view. The main Syncro Point is the first one to be adjusted. You cannot delete it, bust just move it using the 'Move the Main Synchro Point' option of the 'Mouse Action on active Side' panel. After you selected this option just click the new placement of the Main Synchro Point for the active side. You must take care of the Main Syncro Point also for each island contour.
When the Main Synchro Points are at the right position, you must take care of the other Synchro Points. You can try to use the 'Try to Autocreate Synchro Points' button to create them. Is you are lucky the geometries of the 2 sides are compatible each other, and the application will do all the work for you.
You can use the '3D Preview' button to check if all is OK.
If the application cannot complete the creation of Synchro Points, you must create them by hand.
Select the 'Add a New Synchro Point' option of the 'Mouse Action on active Side' panel and click the contours of each side where you want to place the Synchro Points. Of course the number Synchro Points must be the same for each contour in both Sides!
You can also delete them using the 'Remove All Synchro points' button or the 'Delete the clicked Synchro Point' option of the 'Mouse Action on active Side' panel.
The Syncro Points must be placed at strategic positions like matching corners or matching rounding start/end points (see the picture).
They will be rendered in Yellow and flagged with the listing number. The listing number is calculated automatically using the distance on the contour from the green Main Synchro Point. The island's Synchro Points will be enumerated using the island list index at the beginning.
A Blue Or Red Label will advise you about the right or wrong setting of islands number and Synchro Points.

When you finished you must use the 'Save' or 'Save As' button to save your work.

Let's not take a deeper look at each control included in the dialog window

Left/Right side panels

The upper parts of these panel includes the functions to arrange the islands order. If you have 2 or more islands (the same number on each side, of course!), you must set the right matching order to cut them. The islands are labeled with auto-created letters, and you must use the supplied buttons to move them in the list, or to erase some of them if the numbers are not the same.
In the middle you can see the buttons to Move, Rotate and Scale each Side, setting the right values.
The 'Remove All Synchro points' button just remove all regular Synchro Points from the side. The Main Synchro Point will not be deleted, but you can move it, see below.
In the bottom side is included a Radio button, used to specify the Active side. The active side is enanched with Green or Cyan color (Left/Right) and is the one you can modify with the mouse clicking, using the option selected in the next 'Mouse Action on active Side' panel.

Mouse Action on active Side panel

You can specify here the type of action you will perform on the Active side when you click the mouse:

Move the Main Synchro Point - you can click a point on a contour of the Active side to move the Main Synchro Point there. The Main Synchro Point is displayed as Green and flagged with the M letter in the graphic picture. The main Syncro Point is the first one to be adjusted. You cannot delete it, bust just move it
Add a New Synchro Point - you can click a point on a contour of the Active side to Add a new Synchro Point there. The Syncro Points must be placed at a strategic positions like matching corners or matching rounding start/end points (see the picture). They will be rendered in Yellow and flagged with the listing number. The listing number is calculated automatically using the distance on the contour from the green Main Synchro Point. The island's Synchro Points will be enumerated using the island list index at the beginning. Of course the number Synchro Points must be the same for each contour in both Sides!
Delete the clicked Synchro Point - you can click an existing Synchro Point on a contour of the Active side to delete it
Just take a measurement - you can click two points and the distance will be displayed

General settings panel

You can specify here the Z distance between Sides (Faces) and swap them Left <-> Right

Graphic view customization panel

This panel includes some option to customize the rendering of the Graphic view:

Show Both Sides - enabling it Both sides will be rendered in the Graphic view, not only the Active one
Show Vertices - enabling it the vertices of lines and arcs building the contours will be displayed
Show Islands Name - enabling it the name of the islands will be displayed, the same used in the island lists
Show Arrows - enabling it some green arrows will be displayed on the contours, to show the cutting direction and synchro points enumeration
Show Labels of Synchro Points - enabling it a label will be rendered near each Synchro Point. A 'M' char for the Main Synchro Points, and the listing number calculated automatically using the distance on the contour from the green Main Synchro Point. The island's Synchro Points will be enumerated using the island list index at the beginning.
Show Lines joining matching Synchro Points - enabling it you will see Blue lines joining matching Syncro Points

Other buttons

Try to Autocreate Synchro Points - pressing this all the standard Synchro Points will be deleted, and (if possible) will be created couples of matching Synchro points for the external contour and islands
3D Preview - it will start the application dev3DView to show you the real 3D shape of the selected 3D Part
Undo - it will Undo the last action
Redo - it will Redo the last undone action
Save - Save the actual setting, for a new 3D part the name will be prompted
Save as - Save the actual setting, the name will be prompted
Cut - go directly to cut the 3D part, the Cutting Tapered Parts wizard will start
Exit - close this dialog box, prompting to save unsaved settings

Pro version only