The 3D models viewed in SpinFire Ultimate can be made up of several parts. A model composed of several parts is called an assembly. An assembly can contain parts and subassemblies.
SpinFire's easy-to-use user interface makes it simple to view, measure, and manipulate your 3D models and associated components.
The Assembly Tree
The assembly tree (located in the Assembly browser pane in the Workspace) details the assemblies, subassemblies, parts, and surfaces found in a 3D scene. You can change the appearance and position of a surface, part, subassembly, or assembly using the assembly tree.
The hierarchy found in the assembly tree is as shown below.
Assembly Tree Icon Definitions
| Icon | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Scene |
| Assembly with unloaded parts |
| Assembly |
| Assembly with missing child |
| Part |
| Missing Part |
| Unloaded Part |
| Solid (BRep) |
| Solid (Poly BRep) | |
| Surface (BRep) |
| Surface (Tessellation) |
| Shell (BRep) |
| Shell (Poly BRep) | |
| PointSet |
| Set |
| Polywire |
| Construction Plane |
| Feature Tree |
| Feature Name |
| Feature Excursion |
Note
If you selected to load only the assembly tree (see File Menu Commands), the color of the component icon will reflect whether or not there are missing files.
You can select an object simply by clicking the name of that object in the assembly tree. The object is highlighted in the viewport when selected.
Right-click the name of an object in the assembly tree to access a context menu. The context menu will vary from part to surface or even part to part, depending on the content of the object. Use the context menu to alter the appearance and position of the object. You can pick multiple objects in the assembly tree and make changes to all the picked objects simultaneously .
Parts and subassemblies can be moved from one assembly node on the tree to another simply by dragging picked objects to the desired node.
The 3D Scene
You can also select an individual part or surface on a model shown in the viewport. Right-click to select the object and access the context menu. Whether it is a part or a surface that is selected when you click on the model depends on the picking mode, as indicated by the Part/Surface Selection Mode icon on the 3D Document Toolbar.
Positioning
The Transform function enables you to precisely position an object: Move and Rotate let you position an object by entering an angle or distance; From/To moves the object from its current position with respect one coordinate system and place it in the same position with respect to another coordinate system; Mirror lets you mirror the object along a specified plane; Handles allows you to manually position the model or part in the scene.
Note
The rotation performed from the Transform dialog box is different from the rotation done with your mouse pointer. When you rotate with your mouse pointer, only your view of the model is repositioned, not the model itself. The rotation done from the Transform dialog box rotates the actual model or object.
See also Exploded Assembly.
Appearance
An object's right-click context menu offers several commands for controlling appearance.
You can determine the color for any part, subassembly, or assembly. You can choose a predefined color or define your own color, and apply the color to the Front (exterior), Back (interior), or both.
You can hide or show an object in the scene by clearing or selecting the check box in the assembly tree, or by choosing Hide/Show object name on the right-click context menu. You can choose to view only a selected object in the scene and hide all other parts with the Show Only command. The context menu also offers commands to determine the precise color and transparency for a picked object.
Render determines how an object will be drawn on screen. You can select from the following render modes:
- Wire Frame - Transparent outline of each segment.
- Triangle Mesh - Outline of the triangles used to establish the shading.
- Flat Shading - The triangles are colored but the edges of the triangles are visible.
- Smooth Shading - Smooths the edges of the triangles. This is the default render mode.
- Smooth Shading with Edges - Smooth Shading with highlighted edges.
- Hidden Lines - Similar to wire frame but the segments are not transparent.
- Reflective - Shiny metallic rendering.
- Metallic - Dull metallic rendering.
- Surface Analysis - Reflective rendering for analyzing surface irregularities.