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These settings affect the way SpinFire Ultimate displays your 3D images. You can specify how graphics behave, a color palette, special effects, how the model is rendered, animation speed, view and viewport features, measurement units and precision, and fonts and font colors. Simply select desired default 3D Viewer settings, then click the Apply Settings button. If you change your mind, click the Discard Changes or Reset to Default button.

Click on a link below to learn more about selecting 3D Viewer default settings:

 Graphics

Zoom-fit on Each Import - When a file is opened, SpinFire Ultimate automatically pans and zooms to provide a close-up view of the document contents while still fitting the contents entirely within the Viewport. If the checkbox is cleared, the view will reflect the camera position of the original CAD file.

Points Visible on Picking - Makes vertex points visible as red dots during any command that requires a vertex to be selected.

Automatic 2D Detection - Loads 2D CAD designs in 2D mode.

Enable 3D Auto-Spinning - Causes a 3D model to spin continuously when rotated quickly.

Enable Gradient Background - The screen background is specified as a gradient.

SpinFire Ultimate .3D files contain background information; default background settings do not apply to these files.

 Colors

Background, Highlight, Highlighted Edge, Selected Edge, Edge, Markup Line, Markup Arrow, Selectable Point, Profile Edge, and Profile Face colors - Click the respective Color... button to choose a default color for scene elements.

Selected Color Palette - From the drop-down menu, select a color palette for your scene. Also, you can create a new palette — or modify an existing one — by clicking the Define Color Palettes... button.

 Bloom

Also know as glow or light bloom. Bloom is used to reproduce the illusion of extremely bright light overwhelming the eye — the light in the bright background bleeds into the darker areas, such as a figure in a doorway.

Strength -The brightness of the bloom.

Values are 1 to 10.

Blur - The degree to which the bloom bleeds into darker areas (i.e., edges are softened).

Values are 1 to 8.

Shape - Specifies the shape of the bloom.

Values are Star or Radial.

 Simple Shadow

Creates a shadow cast by the model.

Resolution - Determines the sharpness and density of the shadow image.

Values are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024 ppi.

Blurring - The degree to which the shadow edges are blurred.

Values are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256.

Ignore Transparency - If selected, any transparent parts of the object will cast a shadow.

Default Simple Shadow Simple Shadow Maximum Resolution

 Shadow Map

Depending on the light source, SpinFire Ultimate will determine whether or not a pixel is in shadow and store this information as a numerical value in a shadow map. The resulting shadows have jagged edges. In order to smooth the edges, random samples of values stored in the shadow map are averaged, which produces a shadow factor that can be used to smooth the border between light and shadow.

Resolution - The accuracy of the shadow map is limited by its resolution. Greater resolution uses more memory and can take longer to generate.

Values are 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384, 32768, 65536, 131072, 262144, 524288.

Samples - The greater the number of samples, the smoother the shadow edges, but the scene will take longer to render.

Values are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256.

Dynamic - By default, the shadow map is recalculated every time the point of view changes. This improves the quality of the shadows, but adds recalculation time. Clear the checkbox to disable for performance improvement.

Jitter - When jitter is enabled, a randomizing function is applied to the process of determining where to take shadow map samples. Jitter may improve a scene visually by softening jagged shadow edges.

 Ambient Occlusion

Ambient occlusion is a shading method which produces a diffuse, non-directional lighting effect in a scene.

Strength - Overall darkening effect.

Values are 1 to 32.

Quality - A higher-quality image will take more time to render.

 Values are Fastest, Nicest.

 Simple Reflection

Creates a reflection of the model.

Opacity - The degree of nontransparency.

Blurring - The degree to which the reflection edges are blurred.

Attenuation - The effect of the distance between the light source and the model.

Fading - An gradient effect causing the reflection to appear as though it fades into the background.

 Rendering

Graphics Driver - Select a graphics driver from the drop-down list. SpinFire Ultimate supports OpenGL, OpenGL 2, DirectX 9, and DirectX 11.

Frame Rate - The number of frames of an animation displayed every second. The higher the frame rate, the smoother the animation will appear, but processing power and system bandwidth requirements increase as well.

Values are 0 to 30.

Anti-Aliasing - By default, SpinFire Ultimate will smooth out any jagged diagonal or curved lines. Also known as dithering. Clear the checkbox to disable.

Rendering Mode - Wireframe, Hidden Lines Removed, Triangle Mesh, Flat Shaded, Smooth Shaded, Smooth with Edges, Reflective, Metallic, Surface Analysis.

 Animations

Determines the speed of animated transitions between views.

 Views and Viewports

Camera Projection - Determines how objects are viewed. In perspective mode, grid lines converge to a vanishing point. This provides the illusion of depth in the viewport; objects farther away look smaller. In parallel mode, all the grid lines are parallel to each other, and identical objects look the same size, regardless of where they are in the view.

Values are Perspective Mode, Parallel Mode.

Projection - Determines the orthogonal projection method used when the model is displayed in 4 Viewport and 3+1 viewport modes.

Values are 1st Angle (4 Viewport: Left , Top, front, isometric; 3+1 Viewport: Bottom, Front, Top, lg isometric) 3rd Angle (4 Viewport: Right, Bottom, Front, isometric; 3+1 Viewport: Top, Front, Bottom, lg isometric).

Orientation Axis Type - Specifies the orientation axis style.

Values are None, Triad, Navigation Cube.

Orientation Axis Location - Determines the where the orientation axis is located in the scene.

Values are Bottom Left, Bottom Right, Top Left, Top Right.

 Orientation

Axis Triad Enabled - Specifies whether or not the coordinate system triad (frame) is displayed in the scene.

Axis Triad Location - Specifies where in the scene the coordinated system triad is located.

Values are Top Right, Top Left, Bottom Right, Bottom Left.

Navigation Cube Enabled - Specifies whether or not the navigation cube (point-of-view quick reference) is displayed in the scene.

Navigation Cube Location - Specifies where in the scene the navigation cube is located.

Values are Top Right, Top Left, Bottom Right, Bottom Left.

 Measurements

Decimal Places - Determines the default number of decimal places that are displayed in measurement labels.

Values are 0 to 10.

Length Units - Determines the default unit of measurement for Dimension markups. Units of measurement for individual Dimension markups can be changed from the right-click menu. See Measuring and Annotating 2D Documents and Measuring and Annotating a 3D Model for details.

Values are Kilometers, Meters, Centimeters, Millimeters, Micrometers, Nanometers, Miles, Feet, Inches, Mils, Micro-Inches.

Angular Unit - Specifies the default unit of measurement for angles.

Values are Deg-Min-Sec, Radians, Degrees, Grads.

Volume Precision - Determines the resolution at which the volume is computed. Higher precision gives greater accuracy but may slow down operations with the model.

Values are Very High (Slowest), High, Medium, Low (Fastest).

Weight Unit - Specifies the default unit of measurement for weight.

Values are Ounces, Megatonnes, Kilotonnes, Tonnes, Kilograms, Hectograms, Decagrams, Grams, Decigrams, Centigrams, Milligrams, Nanograms, Short Tons, Pounds, Long Tons.

Selected Material - Click to choose a construction material from the drop-down list. If you add a material to the materials list (see Define Materials...), it will also appear on the list.

Default materials are ABS, Acrylic, Aluminum, Beryllium, Brass, Bronze, Bronze, Cast Iron, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Gray Iron, Indium, Iron, Lead, Magnesium, Molybdenum, Nickel, Nylon, Platinum, Polycarbonate, Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polystyrene, Polyvinyl Chloride, Stainless Steel 304, Stainless Steel 316, Stainless Steel 321, Steel, Tin, Titanium, Zinc.

Define Materials... - Click to add a definition to the materials list.

 Label Fonts and Colors

Font - Click the Font name (default is Microsoft Sans Serif 12 pt) to select font, font style, size, effects, and color for markup and measurement labels.

Background - Click the Color... button to select the background color for markup and measurement labels.

Fonts and and background color for individual markups and measurements can be changed from the toolbar.

 Save A3D

Specifies SpinFire Ultimate A3D file export characteristics.

B-Rep Compression - Set the level of boundary representation (B-Rep) data compression.

Values are: None, Low, Medium, High.

Remove B-Rep - Enable/disable preserving B-Rep information.

Tessellation Compression - Enable/disable tessellation compression when file is saved.

3D Preview - Enable/disable preview data in the file.

You can save your current Application3D Viewer, and 2D Viewer settings to an XML file. Another user can then load this XML file to use the same Application, 2D, and 3D Viewer settings in his/her SpinFire Ultimate environment. This can be useful if a file requires specific settings in order to be viewed properly or if an organization needs to ensure that all users are using the same settings.

 Import, export, and reset SpinFire Ultimate settings
 Save a viewers settings file
  1. From the menu bar, select Tools > Export Settings... 
  2. On the Export Settings dialog box, select/clear checkboxes corresponding to the settings you would like to save.
  3. Click OK to open the Windows Save As dialog box. The settings file name extension is .config.

 Open a viewers settings file
  1. From the menu bar, select Tools > Import Settings....
  2. Navigate to and select the file, then click the Open button (or simply double-click the file name). The settings file name extension is .config.
  3. The Import Settings dialog box appears, which lists existing and new setting values side by side. If the new settings are acceptable, click the OK button. (Note the Filter radio buttons: You can choose to view only the differences between the existing and new settings to more easily compare the values.)

 Restore settings to original defaults
  1. From the Menu toolbar, select Tools > Reset Settings....
  2. The Reset Settings dialog box appears, which lists existing and original default setting values side by side. Click the OK button to restore the original defaults. (Note the Filter radio buttons: You can choose to view only the differences between the existing and new settings to more easily compare values.

Related Topics

Options

2D Viewer Settings

Controlling the View

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