I really struggle to get the view I want in SimScale, if I view in say the x+ view I might not be viewing in the orientation I want. A more 3D cad approach would not only make my life easier but it would make the experience of switching between CAD and SimScale more intuitive. This is a screen grab of what I have in mind from OnShape:
I’m not suggesting that I need all the features but it would make selecting a view and orientation easier. I think I mentioned this in an older post but couldn’t find it so I’m documenting it here for voting. I think this would be good if it worked across Meshing, Simulation design and post processing as I have experienced the same difficulties in all (particularly post-processing and simulation design).
It would also be good if zoom was done to the cursor instead of the middle point. this would make zooming in on a particular area of interest (image an aerofoil in a large bounding box) easier.
Hi @dheiny, I think it is my favourite. And particularly suited to SimScale, I say this because it works well for both 2D and 3D and I feel in SimScale users tend to view at planes occasionally overviewing an iso. With OnShape cube you ca select a plane and then rotate to a different plane, some more simplistic cubes don’t allow me to select the side plane when viewing the front plane say. or at least not as easily.
I haven’t had much contact with the latest offerings from 3DS but I found the 3D navigation on CATIA very restrictive. I think the main features of the OnShape that will play the biggest part for SimScale is the rotate clockwise/anticlockwise along with being able to view every iso and planar view. I also reckon having a view opposite feature would be good. So to go from Front to back in one click would be great.
I agree, Simscale deserves better interaction between the graphics screen and the user. I think Onshape & Inventor have the most easily navigable graphics areas. Ansys is nice to, where you can just click the arrow of each cardinal direction.
Along the same thought…
In every CAD package I have used, left click is reserved for operations (usually selecting). Designating the left click to rotate the part feels very odd. I keep trying to window - select objects, and keep rotating the view. In OnShape (and some other CAD programs), if you Window - Select from the top left corner, you only select objects that are completely contained in the window. If you Window - Select from the bottom right corner, anything that crosses or is contained within the window is selected.
Holding down the middle mouse button will rotate the model. A Shift - Middle Mouse Button Pans the view (some CAD programs use CTRL + MMB). And Right clicking shows a menu of common commands (SimScale provides selection commands).
I’m just suggesting that if you clean up the interface with a view cube, you should also be consistent with mouse operations.
I also agree that all viewing tools should be consistent throughout all interfaces. Right now, even the icons are different.
Well designed software allows the users to focus on the task, and not be distracted by the interface.
nice and detailed feedback! The easiest way in my opinion would be to do it like ABAQUS. Let the user decide if he/she wants the same settings as in Pro/E, Catia etc. That approach guarentees that almost every user can personalize his/her navigation style. What do you think about that?
Not a bad idea. Onshape has a similar setting. It only effects the rotate / pan / zoom view. I would keep the view cube consistent, regardless of the CAD package chosen.
Another thought:
Please include other view related operations: View Mode (Shaded, Shaded with visible lines, Shaded with hidden lines, Hidden Lines Removed, translucent / transparent, & Wireframe), Section Views, and Isometric Views. These should be consistent throughout all interfaces as well.
@oscarcorripio, @1318980 - not too complex but it hasn’t made it to the top priority yet. The feature request is over here: Support for 3D Mice as input device Give it your votes. That helps to understand demand for certain features.
By the way when you turn on the Bounding box preview and you rotate it then the corners seem to be cut. I hope it is clear what I mean. So that is also something that could be fixed although it is not prio 1.
@jhorv_th - the clipping issue your describing is filed as a bug (rather than an improvement) and a fix is underway! But the improvements are also in progress! Keep up the voting!
good point!
I can imagine an additional geometry operation besides scaling and surface splitting to align the model in the direction of your preferences.
