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Real Time Rendering

Preface Using This Guide More Information What's New? Getting Started Applying Materials Modifying Mapped Material Basic Tasks Materials Applying a Material Modifying Material Lighting Properties Modifying Material Texture Properties Defining Reflection Settings Copying Material Rendering Parameters Finding Materials Using Paste Special... for Materials Using Knowledge Advisor Cameras Light Sources Defining a Light Source Creating Real Time Shadows Stickers Applying Stickers Modifying Stickers Animations Creating a Turntable Creating a Simulation

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Animating Scene Elements in a Simulation Using the Player Generating a Video Environments Creating an Environment Managing Environment Walls Defining the Wallpaper Generating an Environment Image From an Environment Displaying Environment Reflections Importing an Environment Scene Catalog Advanced Tasks Before You Start Opening the Workbench Creating a Material Library Interoperability with V4 Textures Sorting Materials Sending Material Texture Images Using Virtual Reality Workbench Description Real Time Rendering 1 Menu Bar Material Library Quick Reference Card Real Time Rendering 2 Menu Bar Scene Editor Toolbar Animation Toolbar Apply Material Toolbar Quick Reference Card Viewpoint Toolbar Customizing Material General Settings Setting Priority Between a Part and a Product

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Rendering Display Stickers Glossary Index

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Preface
Welcome to Real Time Rendering products! Real Time Rendering 1 (RT1) is a next generation product that allows Version 5 you to define material specifications that will be shared across your entire product development process as well as map materials onto parts and products to produce realistic renderings. Material specifications define the characteristics of materials: Physical and mechanical properties (Youngs modulus, density, thermal expansion, and so forth.) 3D representation: textures on geometry 2D representation: patterns for drafting purposes. Other Version 5 products such as Analysis, Generative Drafting and Knowledge Advisor share the material specifications defined using Real Time Rendering 1. Materials are organized and managed in libraries. A default material library is provided with Real Time Rendering.

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Version 5 Real Time Rendering 2 (RTR) is a product allowing designers to interactively create realistic and dynamic renderings and animations in real-time, by extensively using all the hardware features available. Users can dynamically create and manipulate materials, lights and environments and immediately view the result of any modification. RTR provides some specific key functionalities like: advanced reflection settings like non-linear reflections and the ability to define one environment image per material embedded environment image generator new manual adaptative mapping operator ability to copy material parameters from an existing material simple and powerful animation capabilities. When mapping materials, Real Time Rendering products are available in conjunction with .CATPart and .CATProduct document types. Users can apply materials in Part Design, Shape Design, Assembly Design, FreeStyle Shaper, FreeStyle Optimizer, and FreeStyle Profiler workbenches as well as in all DMU products.

Using This Guide More Information

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Using This Guide

This guide is intended for administrators who need to create and manage families of materials, as well as to any users wishing to apply materials to parts. All users should be familiar with basic Infrastructure concepts such as document windows, standard and view toolbars as well as the 3D compass. To get the most out of Real Time Rendering products, check in the table below where to find information for your selected profile. Go to: I am a first time user The Getting Started tutorial. Once you have finished, you should move on to the user task section of this guide. This steps you through basic procedures. If you need some help in understanding tools and commands, use the on-line help. You can also take a look at the Basic Tasks section of this guide to locate information with which you are not already familiar. The Advanced Tasks section of this guide. This steps you through how to organize and manage your own collections of materials.

I have used Real Time Rendering before

I am an administrator

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Where to Find More Information

Prior to reading this book, we recommend that you read the Version 5 Infrastructure User's Guide. Certain conventions are used in the documentation to help you recognize and understand important concepts and specifications.

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What's New?
Basic Tasks New: importing an environment (RTR) New: real time shadows (RTR) New: locking texture fit (RTR) Enhanced: ergonomic enhancements to the material catalog (RT1) Enhanced: material texture properties (RT1-RTR) Enhanced: cameras (RTR)

Advanced Tasks New: using Virtual Reality (RTR)

Workbench Description Enhanced: Scene Editor toolbar (RTR)

Customizing Enhanced: material general settings (RT1)

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Getting Started
This section will guide you step-by-step through your first rendering session. You are going to apply pre-defined materials (pink marble then blue onyx) to a part and then edit the last material mapped.

You should be familiar with basic concepts such as document windows, standard and view toolbars as well as the 3D compass.

You should be able to complete this task in about 10 minutes. The result will look like this:

Applying Materials Modifying Mapped Material

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Applying Materials
This task shows you how to apply pre-defined materials. In this example, you will map pink marble and then blue onyx onto a part. Open the GettingStarted.CATProduct document. 1. Select any element of the part on which the material should be applied. 2. Click the Apply Material icon .

The Library dialog box opens, containing sample materials from which to choose:

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3. Click the Stone tab. 4. Select Pink Marble. 5. Click Apply Material to map the material onto the part. Select the View ->Render Style->Apply Customized View command to make sure that the "Shading" and "Materials" options are on.

6. Click OK.

The material is mapped onto the selected part and is identified in the specification tree.

7. Repeat steps 1 and 2 then click the Stone tab and change the material to Alabaster. 8. Click OK in the Library dialog box.

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9. Click in the free space. Alabaster is now mapped and the specification tree is updated to include the material you just applied.

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Modifying the Mapped Material

This task shows you how to edit materials. You will change the color and density as well as re-position the material mapped onto the part. Open the GettingStarted.CATProduct document. 1. Right-click the mapped material (Alabaster) in the specification tree and select the Properties item from the contextual menu. The Properties dialog box is displayed:

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Note: The mapping support (in this case a box support) appears in the geometry area. This will assist you later when you interactively position the material.

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2. Click the Lighting tab if not already active. 3. Change the color of the material to green: Click [...] opposite Color besides the Ambient, Diffuse, and Specular parameters. The Color dialog box is displayed:

Click in the preview area to select the color you want Click OK in the Color dialog box. The selected color is displayed in the Color field.

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4. Change the material density:

Click the Analysis tab in the Properties dialog box Key in a new density, 2000 kg/m3 for example Click Apply.

Note: appropriate licenses are required to use these products. 5. Click OK in the Properties dialog box. 6. Change the mapped material to "Alabaster" using the Apply Material icon . 7. Right-click the mapped material in the specification tree and select the Properties item from the contextual menu.

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8. Change the material size (in the Rendering tab of the Properties dialog box) so that the texture shrinks in size relative to the part. In our example, a material size of 300mm was used:

Now that you have finished, let`s go to taking a closer look at the Real Time Rendering application!

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Basic Tasks
The Basic Tasks section shows how to use Real Time Rendering products and is intended for the end-user. Materials Cameras Light Sources Stickers Animations Environments Scene Catalog

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Materials
Applying a Material Modifying Material Lighting Properties Modifying Material Texture Properties Defining Reflection Settings Copying Material Rendering Parameters Finding Materials Using Paste Special... for Materials Using Knowledge Advisor

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Applying a Material
This tasks explains how to apply a pre-defined material as well as to interactively re-position the mapped material. A material can be applied to: a PartBody, Surface, Body or OpenBody (in a .CATPart document). Note: you can apply different materials to different instances of a same CATPart. a Product (in a .CATProduct document) instances of a .model, .cgr, .CATPart (in a .CATProduct document).

Within a CATProduct, you should not apply different materials to different instances of a same Part because a material is part of the specific physical characteristics of a Part. Therefore, this could lead to inconsistencies.

Open the ApplyMaterial.CATProduct document. Select the View ->Render Style->Apply Customized View command to make sure that the "Shading" and "Materials" options are on. The Custom View Modes dialog box is not displayed if it has been previously activated during the session.

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1. Select the element on which the material should be applied. Note: you can also apply a material simultaneously to several elements. To do so, simply select the desired elements (using either the pointer or the traps) before applying the material. 2. Click the Apply Material icon .

The Library dialog box opens. It contains several pages of sample materials from which to choose. Each page is identified by a material family name on its tab (each material being identified by an icon) if you select the Display icons mode...

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...or each page is identified by a material family name in a pulldown list if you select the Display list mode:

In Display icons mode, the Open a material library icon opens the File Selection dialog box to let you navigate through the file tree to your own material libraries. Clicking the black arrow to the left displays a drop-down list of the previously opened material libraries.

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3. Select a material from any family, by a simple click. Once a material is selected, you can drag and drop or copy/paste it onto the desired element directly from the material library. You can also double-click a material or click it once then select the Properties contextual menu to display its properties for analysis purposes. 4. Click the Link to file checkbox if you want to map the selected material as a linked object and have it automatically updated to reflect any changes to the original material in the library. and one without Two different icons (one with a white arrow identify linked and non-linked materials respectively in the specification tree. Note: You can edit linked materials. Doing so will modify the original material in the library. If you want to save changes made to the original material, use the File->Save All command. When no object is selected in the specification tree, you can select the Edit->Links... command to identify the library containing the original material. You can then open this library in the Material Library workbench if desired. )

You can also use the Paste Special... command to paste material as a linked object. You can copy both unlinked and linked materials. You can, for example, paste a linked material on a different element in the same document as well as on an element in a different document. For more information, see Copying & Pasting Using Paste Special... in this guide.

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5. Click Apply Material to map the material onto the element. The selected material is mapped onto the element and the specification tree is updated. In our example, the material was not mapped as a linked object.

A yellow symbol may be displayed to indicate the material inheritance mode. For more information, refer to Setting Priority between Part and Product in this guide. Material specifications are managed in the specification tree: all mapped materials are identified. To edit materials (for more information, see Modifying Materials), simply right-click the material and select Properties from the contextual menu or double-click the material. You can also run searches to find a specific material in a large assembly (for more information, see Finding Materials in this guide) as well as use copy & paste or drag & drop capabilities.

Unless you select in the specification tree the desired location onto which the material should be mapped, dragging & dropping a material applies it onto the lowest hierarchical level (for instance, dragging and dropping onto a part will apply the material onto the body and not onto the part itself). However, note that a material applied onto a body has no impact on the calculation of the part physical properties (mass, density, etc.) since only the physical properties of the part, and not those of the body, will be taken into account.

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6. Click OK in the Library dialog box. The object looks the following way:

Note: applying materials to elements affect the physical and mechanical properties, for example the density, of elements. 7. Right-click the material just mapped in the specification tree and choose the Properties item. The Properties dialog box is displayed:

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8. Choose the Rendering tab to edit the rendering properties you applied on the element. 9. If necessary; change the material size to adjust the scale of the material relative to the element. 10. Click OK in the Properties dialog box, when you are satisfied with the material mapping on the element. Note: Appropriate licenses are required to use the Analysis and Drafting tabs.

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If you are working in "Materials" visualization mode (i.e. Materials option is checked in the Custom View Modes panel) with no material applied to your object, this object will be visualized using default parameters which only take into account the color defined in the object graphic properties. As a consequence, an object with no mapped material will appear as if made of matte plastic, non-transparent and without any relief.

11. Use the 3D compass to interactively position the material: Select the material in the specification tree:

The compass is automatically snapped and the mapping support (in this case, a cylinder) appears, showing the texture in transparency. If necessary, zoom in and out to visualize the mapping support which reflects the material size.

Pan and rotate the material until satisfied with the result. You can: Pan along the direction of any axis (x, y or z) of the compass (drag any compass axis) Rotate in a plane (drag an arc on the compass) Pan in a plane (drag a plane on the compass) Rotate freely about a point on the compass (drag the free rotation handle at the top of the compass):

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Use the mapping support handles to stretch the material texture along u- and v- axes (as you can do it with the slider in the Scale U, V fields displayed in the Texture tab):

For more information on manipulating objects using the 3D compass, refer to the Version 5 Infrastructure User's Guide.

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Modifying Material Lighting Properties

You can change the material size and mapping type as well as edit material specifications (lighting and texture parameters) of both linked and unlinked materials.

Notes: Editing materials linked to libraries will modify the original material in the library. If you want to save changes made to the original material, use the File ->Save All command. Editing linked materials on parts in the same document or on parts in different documents will change all linked materials.

This tasks explains how to edit the material lighting parameters.

Open the Chess.CATProduct document. 1. Select the Chessboard material in the specification tree 2. Click the Edit Properties icon , select the Edit -> Properties command or right-click and select Properties from the contextual menu The Properties dialog box is displayed:

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You can also double-click a material to edit its properties.

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3. Make sure the Rendering tab is active. Using this dialog box, you can edit the lighting and texture parameters of the material you are currently editing. Material specifications defined using Real Time Rendering are shared with other CATIA V5 products. For information on Drafting and Analysis tabs, see CATIA - Generative Drafting Version 5 and CATIA Generative Part Stress Analysis Version 5 guides respectively. Appropriate licenses are required to use these products. 4. Modify the Lighting parameters: ambient, diffuse, specular, roughness, transparency, reflectivity and refraction. You can either use the slider or enter the desired value directly in the field. 5. By default, the Ambient, Diffuse, Specular and Transparency colors are set to the basic color. You can, however, click [...] opposite Color and choose the color to be used for the material texture. The Transparency color is relevant for software rendering only (i.e. Photo Studio product). The Color dialog box is displayed allowing you to choose the exact color you wish to define as a material texture:

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You can click in the preview area to choose the color, or even key in the exact value of the desired color. You can enter a value comprised between 0 and 255 for any of these fields. As you can see it in the above picture, two color system models are used: HLS (Hue, Saturation, Luminance) model is an intuitive, easy to use tool for describing or modifying a color. Hue is the "color" of the color. It is the name by which the color is designated and is used to define the desired color. Saturation is the intensity of the color. The higher the number, the more intense the color. It is used to tune the purity of the color. Luminance is the brightness of the color, i.e. the degree to which the pure color is diluted by white or black. The larger the number, the lighter the color. It is used to adjust intensity. RGB (Red, Green, Blue) model is a more physical model. It is based on the tri-stimulus theory of the human perception system. This model is usually used to define, with a high precision, the three primary components of the color. When satisfied, simply click OK, and the color is applied to the shape in the Properties preview.

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6. Set the other material parameters: Ambient: the intensity of light diffused in any direction by the object, even if not lit by any light source. This parameter affects the whole object, including the shadowed area. The intensity is defined by a coefficient (with a value between 0 and 1). Diffuse: the intensity of light diffused by the object when lit by light sources. Typically, a shiny metal surface would have a diffuse reflectance value close to 0, while a piece of cardboard would have a value probably above 0.9. The intensity is defined by a coefficient (with a value between 0 and 1).

Parameter set to 0 (or 1 for Refraction)

Parameter set to 1 (or 2 for Refraction)

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Specular: intensity and color of light reflected in one particular direction (highlights) Set the value to a minimum to generate very sharp highlights on very shiny surfaces. Set the shininess to a higher value to generate large specular spots creating a duller effect. Typically, a polished object would have a high value for the specular reflectance coefficient, while a more mat surface would have a lower one. Roughness: dullness of an object (size of the reflecting zone) Set the value to a minimum to generate very sharp highlights on very shiny surfaces. Set the shininess to a higher value to generate large specular spots creating a duller effect. Transparency: degree of transparency of an object. The higher the value, the more transparent the object (in the example the value is 0.75), the lower the value, the more opaque the object.

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Refraction: degree of light refraction passing through an object. The refraction is defined by a coefficient (value between 1 and 2). Set to 1, the transparent object will show no light distortion. As an example, water has a 1.2 coefficient. This parameter is relevant for software rendering only. Reflectivity: degree of reflectivity of an object. Set to a high value, the object reflects its environment. Set the Reflectivity parameter to 0.2 in order to see the reflections when a texture is applied. Otherwise, set this parameter to a value greater than 0 to see the texture. When setting the Reflectivity parameter, you can also set advanced reflection settings if you wish to use a customized environment image for environment reflections. For more information, refer to Defining Reflection Settings in this guide.

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A reflecting material lets you visualize the environment image it reflects. As you can use images of various origins for your environment, here is the priority order in which they are seen: 1. material reflectivity image defined in the Advanced Reflection Settings dialog box (for Real Time Rendering 2 users only) 2. environment image defined in the Tools->Options->Material tab 3. default environment image provided with Version 5.

All values can be defined either using the scroll bar, the arrows or directly in the value field. If several values are to be modified, better skip from each value field to another using the tabulation key: in this case, the preview icon will be updated only once.

7. Click Apply to validate the material lighting definition. The material icon reflects the material as defined. All lighting parameter values range from 0 to 2 Any amount of reflectivity, however small, means that you will no longer visualize the mapped texture simultaneously with the reflected scene. If you want to see the texture, make sure you set the Reflectivity parameter to 0 in the Lighting tab.

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Modifying Material Texture Properties

This tasks explains how to edit the material texture parameters of both linked and unlinked materials. Open the Chess.CATProduct document. 1. Select the Chessboard material in the specification tree 2. Click the Edit Properties icon , select the Edit -> Properties command or right-click and select Properties from the contextual menu to open the Properties dialog box. 3. Click the Texture tab in the Properties dialog box:

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4. In the Image Name field, navigate to locate the desired image, and click OK to map it onto the preview element as the texture. In the example, we choose the sky.tif image available with the default catalog. The following image formats can be used:

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tif TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) rgb Silicon Graphics 24-bit RGB color bmp Microsoft Windows Bitmap Format jpg JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) pic Apple Macintosh Format psd Photoshop Format png Portable Network Graphics tga Truevision Targa file format

The Type field indicates the type of texture you applied: Image: identifies materials with a texture. In that case, the corresponding image name is displayed in the Image Name field None: identifies materials with no texture such as metals. A preview area, in which different mapping types can be visualized, is also available:

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Different mapping types are proposed to let you select the most appropriate mapping for the shape of the geometry: Planar Mapping is similar to a slide projector (a picture on a wall, for instance). You can use it for textures with two privileged directions such as Chessboard or Wall of Bricks Spherical Mapping is similar to a painted light bulb. You can use it for textures that do not have a privileged direction such as stone or raw metal Cylindrical Mapping is similar to placing a label on a can of food. You can use it for textures having a privileged direction such a shiny metal or marble Cubical Mapping is similar to wrapping a box Adaptive Mapping lets you choose between two mapping types: Automatic or Manual.

The "Automatic" adaptive mapping automatically creates a planar mapping on each object face. The "Manual" adaptive gathers together faces which have close normal vectors. For each group of faces, a unique planar mapping is applied. The precision value defined using the slider modifies the tolerance used during the grouping process: the lower the precision is, the more faces with greatly different normal vectors will be gathered together. This "Manual" mapping enables textures to cross slightly sharpen edges, thus providing higher visual quality. This mapping type is especially relevant for materials with no specific orientation such as leather or wood for example. Note: as "Manual" adaptive mapping is available for Real Time Rendering 2 users only, it will automatically change to "Automatic" adaptive mapping for Real Time Rendering 1 and Photo Studio users.

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Manipulations are available within the preview area: zooming in and out, rotating the support, translating it. Use the the support within the preview area. icon to reframe

You can also manipulate the object (i.e. zooming in/out, etc.) directly in the geometry area while displaying the Properties dialog box either by double-clicking the material in the specification tree or by selecting Object->Definition... from the contextual menu. 5. If necessary, change the Material size to adjust the scale of the material relative to the part. 6. Define the image repetition along U and V, as well as its scale, its position and its orientation: U and V correspond to parameters of the local parametric surface. Repeat U, V: lets you specify whether or not you want the texture repeated ad infinitum along u- and v-axes Scale U, V: determines how the texture is stretched along uand v-axes Position U, V: determines the position of the texture along uand v-axes. By default, the image is centered Orientation: defines the rotation of the texture on surfaces. 7. Use the Flip U, V checkboxes to invert the material texture along U and V axes. Note: this functionality is available for Real Time Rendering 2 users only. to resize U and V You can click the Link U and V scales icon proportionally. This is especially useful for square shapes, the Floor material for instance. Note that when this option is on, the Scale V field is grayed and the icon changes to .

The checkbox contained under the Inheritance tab is displayed for information and will be grayed until a material is applied.

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8. Click the Analysis tab if you wish to edit the material physical properties, such as the density and so on. These data will be used for calculation purposes in CATIA.Generative Structural Analysis.

Note: appropriate licenses are required to use this tab. 9. Click the Drafting tab if you wish to set the pattern used for creating section views or section cuts:

When a material is applied onto a product, the pattern information will be used only for the part(s) contained in the product.

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For more information, refer to the CATIA Version 5 - Generative Drafting User`s Guide. Note: appropriate licenses are required to use this tab.

10. Click OK (or Apply then OK) to validate the material texture definition. The material icon reflects the material as defined.

There is no specific order when defining parameters.

11. Position the material interactively using the 3D compass: Select the material in the specification tree:

The compass is automatically snapped and the box support appears in the geometry area, showing the applied texture in transparency.

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Rotate the 3D compass and see how the material is rotated around one of the compass axes:

Use the support handles to stretch the material texture along u- and v-axes (as you can do it with the slider in the above-mentioned Scale U, V fields):

For more information on manipulating objects using the compass, see the CATIA - Infrastructure User's Guide.

Material positioning with the 3D compass is only possible in the Rendering, Product Structure, Part Design and DMU Navigator workbenches.

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Defining Reflection Settings

This tasks explains how to define advanced reflection settings for a material in case you do not intend to use the default environment reflections. Open the ApplyMaterial.CATProduct document. 1. Access the Aluminium material properties. The Properties dialog box is displayed:

2. Click the ... button beside the Reflectivity field to open the Advanced Reflection Settings dialog box:

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This displays the default environment provided which can be seen on the teapot you opened a few steps before. However, as this image will be used for reflection purposes only, you will not be able to visualize the environment reflections on the object unless you set the Reflectivity parameter to the a non-zero value (provided that the object itself is reflecting). 3. Use the Environment Image field to define another texture image. You can either enter a file name directly in the field or click the ... button to navigate to the desired file. Note: the button lets you reset the environment image to the default image. icon to open the

4. If you wish to create your own environment image, click the Environment Image Generator dialog box:

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5. In the upper part of the dialog box, just click each environment wall (i.e. "Up", "Back", etc.) then navigate to the desired image using the File Selection panel. The resulting environment will be displayed on the environment map as shown below:

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6. The Image Size pulldown list lets you choose a Small, Medium or Large size for your environment image. 7. Enter the name and path of the generated image in the "Save as" field or click the icon to open the File Selection dialog box which lets you browse your folders to the desired location. 8. Click OK to validate and go back to the Advanced Reflection Settings dialog box. 9. Choose the environment Reflection Type: Chroma, Paint, Matte Metal, Bright Plastic or Custom.

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Chroma

Paint

Matte Metal

Bright Plastic

Selecting "Custom" grays out the Transparency Width and Transparency Height fields to let you specify the desired ratios (values comprised between 0 and 1) for the transparency filter. 10. Click OK. The environment image is defined.

This image supersedes the environment image you may have chosen in the Environment Image File field in the Material General Settings settings.

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Copying Material Rendering Parameters

This tasks explains how to copy the rendering parameters from one material to another. Open the GettingStarted.CATProduct document. The document looks like this:

1. Select the material in the specification tree 2. Right-click then select the Copy Rendering Data contextual command. The Copy Parameters dialog box opens:

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3. Select a material from the list. By default, all materials are displayed. However, you can use the pulldown list to sort the materials by family before selecting the desired material. 4. Click OK to validate. The rendering parameters (i.e. lighting and texture parameters) have been replaced on the selected material. The model now looks like this:

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The material name remains the same as well as the other material parameters such as Analysis, Drafting and so on.

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Finding Materials
This task explains how to use the search for materials in documents. This is useful in large assemblies where you will be able to rapidly identify materials of interest. You can then, if desired, individually edit selected materials. For more information on the Search command, see the Using the Search... command (General Mode) task in the Version 5 Infrastructure User's Guide.

You can also perform advanced queries and save your favorite queries using the Advanced and Favorites tab. For more information, refer to the Using the Search... command (Advanced and Favorites Mode) task in the Version 5 Infrastructure User`s Guide.

Open the SaltnPepper.CATProduct document.

1. Select the Edit -> Search... command to open the Search dialog box. 2. Click the General tab. 3. Set the Workbench field to "Rendering". 4. Set the .Type field to "Material". 5. Ensure the Look box is set to "Everywhere" to search the whole product structure.

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6. Click Search to start the search The search results are listed in the area in the lower half of the Search dialog box.

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7. Click Select to select found items and then OK to exit the dialog box. 8. Expand all entries in the specification tree to see that all mapped materials have been selected:

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9. Select the Edit -> Properties command: The Properties dialog box appears letting you edit the properties of selected materials. Click the Current selection drop-down list box and select the materials in turn to edit them. For more information on editing materials, see Modifying Material Lighting and Texture Properties.

To edit other materials in your document, de-select the first material in the specification tree then select the Edit -> Properties command again.

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Copying & Pasting Materials Using Paste Special...

When you use the Paste Special... command, material is pasted as a linked object. You can copy a: Material from a library: The part will be automatically updated to reflect any changes to the original material in the library. This is also useful in large assemblies if you have material specifications that may change and that you use in more than one place. Materials can also be mapped as linked objects from libraries using the Link to file checkbox in the Library dialog box. Paste the material on a different part in the same document: The link is made from the second part to the first part. Editing the material on either part will automatically update the material on the other part Paste the material on parts in different documents: Editing the material on any part will automatically update all linked materials on all parts in all documents. You can in this way change the material specifications in all places where they appear without having to edit each individual occurrence.

This tasks explains how to copy and paste materials using the Paste Special... command.

Open the EditMaterial1.CATMaterial and Part3.CATPart documents. 1. Select the material you want to copy 2. To copy, you can either: Click the Copy icon Select the Edit -> Copy command or Select the Copy command in the contextual menu 3. Select the part onto which you want to map the material 4. To paste, you can either: Select the Edit -> Paste Special... command or Select the Paste Special... command in the contextual menu

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The Paste Special dialog box appears:

5. Click Material Link in the dialog box, then click OK. The material is mapped onto the selected part and the specification tree updated. A linked material icon identifies the material in the specification tree.

Note: You cannot change the material name in the Feature Properties tab of the Properties dialog box.

Simple copy and paste as well as drag and drop operations can also be performed. In both cases, the mapped material is not linked.

Managing Broken Links

Mapping a material as a linked object sometimes leads to a broken link when the mapped material is not found. This task details in which cases this may occur.

Open the EditMaterial1.CATMaterial and Pad.CATPart documents and check that the Shading and Materials options are on by selecting the View->Render Style->Customize View command.

1. Select the Edit->Links command from the main menu to open the Links... dialog box:

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2. Move the document EditMaterial1.CATMaterial to another folder. 3. Restart your session, then reopen the document Pad.CATPart. The Open dialog box appears, explaining that the document EditMaterial1.CATMaterial could not be found:

A different icon identifies the broken link in the specification tree and will appear in any document referencing this material.

There are several reasons why a link with a material may no longer work: the material has been deleted. In that case, the link cannot be restored since the material has been definitely lost the material has been moved or renamed which means that it exists but it is different from the file pointed to. In that case, the pointed document will be searched in: the current session the directory of the loaded document the default material library. This library is defined in the CATStartupPath variable or in the Material Libray subcategory (under the Tools->Options...->Infrastructure category). in the If the material is found then the broken link icon is replaced with the linked material icon specification tree. Otherwise, the broken link icon is still displayed in the specification tree and you can try to restore the link manually using the following method: 4. Click the Close button then select the Edit -> Links... command:

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5. Click the Pointed documents tab. This activates the Find button and provides you with the path and name of the document pointed to in the session. 6. Click the Find button to open the File Selection dialog box, explore your file system to find the corresponding missing file, select it, then click Open.

The File Selection dialog box can be directly accessed from the Open dialog box (introduced in Step 3) either by double-clicking the file path inside the field or by clicking the Desk button. In both cases, the Desk opens and you just have to select the .CATMaterial before choosing the Find... contextual which opens the File Selection dialog box.

7. In the Links... dialog box, click the Open button. The dialog box disappears and the EditMaterial1.CATMaterial is displayed. 8. If you now select the Edit->Links... command with the EditMaterial1.CATMaterial document active, the Links... dialog box will indicate that the right material library has been found and loaded. For more information on managing document links, refer to the Version 5 Infrastructure User`s Guide.

Use the Send To->MailDirectory command from the File menu when you want to send a document to another person. This command enables you to check the various links existing between your documents and thus, to avoid broken links.

Using Knowledge Advisor Capabilities

Material specifications defined using Real Time Rendering are shared with Knowledge Advisor. This is illustrated in the two tasks below. In our examples, you will change the material mapped onto a part or a product directly in the knowledgeware Formulas dialog box as well as write a rule using material as a parameter to, for example, change the mapped material as a function of hole diameter. For more information on Knowledge Advisor, see the CATIA - Knowledge Advisor User's Guide. Note that to use this product you need the appropriate license.

Changing the Material Mapped onto a Part or a Product Directly in the Formulas Dialog Box
This tasks explains how to change the material mapped onto a part or a product directly in the knowledgeware Formulas dialog box.

Open the ChangeMaterial1.CATPart document. 1. Click the Formula icon in the Standard toolbar.

The Formulas dialog box appears listing all the part parameters. 2. Select the Material parameter. The Edit name, value or formula fields are updated.

3. Enter another material, Gold for example, directly in the value field The dialog box, part itself and specification tree are all updated. You have changed the material mapped onto the part directly in the dialog box.

You can only change materials mapped in the Formulas dialog box to those available in the default material library. Any material changed in this way will be mapped as linked objects and will be automatically updated to reflect any changes to the original material in the library.

Note: The material icon in the specification tree appears with a link to indicate that the material gold is mapped as a linked object.

Writing a Rule
This task explains how to write a rule using material as a parameter to, for example, change the mapped material as a function of hole diameter. Open the WriteARule1.CATPart document. Make sure that the Shading and Materials options are checked in the Custom View Modes dialog box by selecting the View->Render Style->Apply Customized View commands. 1. Select Tools -> Options... . In the Mechanical Design category, select the Part Design subcategory then click the Relations checkbox in the Display tab to display relations in the specification tree 2. Select the part 3. Select Knowledge Advisor from the Start -> Knowledgeware menu 4. Click the Rule icon:

The Rule Editor dialog box appears.

5. Click OK to identify your rule in the Rule Editor dialog box. The Rule Editor : Rule 1 dialog box is displayed. You can now write your rule. 6. Write the following rule: if (PartBody\Hole.1\Diameter > 60mm) Material = "Gold" else Material = "Aluminium"

7. Click OK when done: The system checks that your syntax is valid. If it is not, you are prompted to correct it.

You cannot edit or apply materials that have been incorporated as parameters into rules.

You can now check your rule. 8. Select Part Design from the Start -> Mechanical Design menu

9. Right-click the hole and select Hole1.Object -> Edit Parameters from the contextual menu

10. Double-click the hole diameter and enter a new value in the Constraint Edition dialog box, for example 70, then press Enter The material changes from aluminium to gold. Before: After:

Note: Materials incorporated as parameters into rules are mapped as linked objects. Linked materials are identified in the specification tree by a material icon with a white arrow symbolizing the link.

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Creating a Camera
The camera enables you to specify a viewpoint from which a photorealistic image will be computed. This task will show you how to create a camera and manage its specifications. Open the Lamp.CATProduct document.

1. Click the Create Camera icon

. The camera is created at the current viewpoint.

2. Click the Camera item in the specification tree and rotate the model to see the camera symbol:

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This standard visualization is not affected by any change of scale ("zoom"). In case you wish to hide the camera representation, click the camera in the specification tree then select the Camera object->Hide/Show Representation contextual command. Inversely, this command lets you show a hidden representation.

You can create several cameras at different locations to have different viewpoints. The camera which is taken into account to render a given image is said to be active. Any other camera is inactive.

3. Use the two spheres and the two squares displayed in green on the 3D representation to interactively manipulate and position the camera. This visualization is affected by changes of view scale (zoom) and is activated when selecting a camera in the scene or in the specification tree. Otherwise, all elements are set to the standard visualization.

Conical camera Pyramid height = focal length and Pyramid base = film dimensions

Cylindrical camera Plane = film dimensions

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the source point (1) rotates the camera around its target point the target point (2) rotates the camera around its source point the source green square translates and rotates the camera around its target point the target green square translates and rotates the camera around its source point. Cameras are needed to render and view a scene. "An image is worth a thousand words": the better the camera is positioned, the more accurate the saying is. 4. Select the camera in the specification tree then right-click and select the Edit->Properties commands. The Properties panel is displayed:

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5. In the Lens tab, select the lens Type: Perspective or Parallel, i.e. to obtain a conical or a cylindrical projection. The Preview area shows the result of your selection accordingly. A conical camera is equivalent to a standard camera, with a non-zero focal length. Parallel lines in the camera line of view appear to intersect at the same point. Perspective cameras are used in most cases since they are close to the human vision. In the case of a cylindrical camera, parallel lines never appear as intersecting. These cameras are mainly used to define architectural viewpoints. 6. Specify the Focal Length, which determines the field of view, in millimeters. In a cylindrical projection, the focal length is replaced by a zoom factor which determines the scale of view (i.e. "Scale" appears instead of "Focal Length" in the dialog box).

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You can also specifies the camera view directly inside the preview window by zooming, rotating or panning the view.

7. Click the Position tab to define the target and origin position.

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You can define the Origin and the Target position in millimeters along the X, Y and Z axes. The Feature Properties tab provides general information on the currently selected camera, e.g. its name, its creation date, etc. Snapping the compass to the camera lets you modify the camera position and orientation very easily simply by dragging the arcs of the compass as shown below:

For detailed information about compass manipulation, refer to Moving Objects Using the 3D Compass in the Infrastructure User`s Guide.

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8. Check the Update camera from View option if you wish to update automatically the camera when the viewpoint is modified:

This avoids to select the Update From View contextual command each time a viewpoint modification is done. 9. Click OK when finished.

10. In case you want to position yourself behind the camera and observe the captured image, select the Window -> Camera Window command: a new window displaying the camera viewpoint is opened. When you manipulate the handler in this window, the camera is simultaneously positioned in the main window. Note: You can choose three arrangements for the opened windows, i.e. horizontal, vertical and cascading by selecting the following commands from the menu bar: Window -> Tile Horizontally Window -> Tile Vertically Window -> Cascade

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Example of vertical tiling

You can double-click the Camera item in the specification tree to position the camera from the current point of view. You can also select the camera in the specification tree then the Update From View contextual menu to update the camera when the viewpoint is modified.

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Light Sources
Light Sources Creating Real Time Shadows

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Defining a Light Source

This task shows you how to create a light source and define its parameters. Lights let you illuminate the objects to be rendered as you wish for example, by highlighting a specific element in your scene, thus focusing the viewer`s attention. Open the Lamp.CATProduct document. You can choose between three different types of light sources: spot, point and directional. 1. Click the Create Spot Light icon shape: to create a source with a conical

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This light source is located at a given place, emitting the light isotropically inside a cone of influence determined by the privileged direction of illumination (forming the axis of revolution) and the angle that the edge of the cone forms with this axis. Spot light sources are mainly used to simulate spot light (the most frequently used lights) and are useful for tuning the lighting of each object individually.

You can also click the Create Point Light

icon:

this creates a source situated at a given point, emitting light isotropically, i.e. in all directions. This light source type is mainly used to simulate light bulb, for instance.

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or click the Create Directional Light

icon :

this creates a light source coming from a given direction, generating constant intensity parallel lighting. This light source type is mainly used to simulate a global lighting as the sun does.

Note: you can click anywhere in the geometry area to see the light symbol:

Spot light

Punctual light

Directional light

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Direction vector represents the privileged direction of illumination of the source for spot and directional light sources. It is visualized by an arrow whose origin is the anchoring point of the source. Anchoring point is the position of the light source and is represented by a small star. When the source is characterized by a direction, the anchoring point coincides with the origin of the arrow. In the case of a spot or punctual light source, the anchoring point physically localizes the source. In the case of a directional light source, it can be used (with the target point) to define the illumination direction.

2. As for cameras, you can interactively manipulate a light source:

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the source point (1) rotates the spot around its target point the target point (2) rotates the spot around its source point the upper green manipulator translates and rotates the spot around its target point the lower green manipulator translates and rotates the spot around its source point. It also lets you modify the attenuation end. Note: manipulators only apply to spot light sources. 3. Select the light then the Edit->Properties command to access the Lighting tab in order to edit the lighting parameters. You can also select the light in the specification tree then the Properties or the Light object-> Definition... command from the contextual menu also opens the Properties panel:

The Type field lets you modify the source type by selecting a new type from the pulldown list: Spot, Point or Directional.

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4. Use the slider to modify the color intensity, then click the want to choose another color (the default color is white):

button if you

You can enter a value comprised between 0 and 255 for any of these fields. As you can see it in the above picture, two color system models are used: HLS (Hue, Saturation, Luminance) model is an intuitive, easy to use tool for describing or modifying a color. Hue is the "color" of the color. It is the name by which the color is designated and is used to define the desired color. Saturation is the intensity of the color. The higher the number, the more intense the color. It is used to tune the purity of the color. Luminance is the brightness of the color, i.e. the degree to which the pure color is diluted by white or black. The larger the number, the lighter the color. It is used to adjust intensity.

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RGB (Red, Green, Blue) model is a more physical model. It is based on the tri-stimulus theory of the human perception system. This model is usually used to define, with a high precision, the three primary components of the color. 5. Click OK to confirm and close the Color dialog box.

6. The Lighting tab also lets you define: Source Angle

Enables you to define the half-angle of the cone, that is the angle between the axis of revolution and the cone edge (for spot light sources only). The angle is a value between 0 and 90 degrees. This means that a value of 90 degrees would generate a light source equivalent to a punctual light source. Attenuation End

Defines in millimeters the maximum distance for light attenuation (i.e. the distance to the center from which the light source does not illuminate).

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Attenuation Start Ratio

Defines as a ratio the minimum distance for light attenuation. For example: 0 corresponds to an attenuation starting from the center 0.5 corresponds to an attenuation starting from the middle 1 corresponds to an attenuation starting from the end, i.e. a null attenuation. Attenuation Angle Ratio

Defines as a fraction of the light angle the angle to the light axis from which the light starts to attenuate. For example: 0 corresponds to an attenuation starting from the axis 0.5 corresponds to an attenuation starting from the half-angle 1 corresponds to an attenuation starting from the end, i.e. a null attenuation. Note that you also position your pointer over the one of the side lines then click and drag the segment to modify the attenuation angle ratio.

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The Ray Traced option is relevant for software rendering only (i.e. Photo Studio products).

7. Click the Position tab to define the light source anchoring point and the point to which the source is directed, respectively in the Origin and Target areas. You can define this position in millimeters along the X, Y and Z axes.

The Feature Properties tab provides general information on the currently selected light source, e.g. its name, its creation date, etc. 8. If you want to display the light source viewpoint (to visualize the object as if you were positioned behind the light source), right-click the light item in the specification tree then select the Light View contextual command:

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To go back to the original view, select the View->Modify->Previous View commands or click the Previous view icon from the Viewpoint toolbar. Then, you can switch to the light view by clicking the Next View icon.

Right-clicking the light item in the specification tree also lets you select the Update From View contextual command to adjust (i.e. center) the light source when the viewpoint is modified as shown below:

Update From View ->

9. Click OK to apply the defined parameters to the light source.

Light sources which are taken into account for rendering are said to be active (On). Otherwise, they are inactive (Off). To activate or deactivate a light source, simply select it in the specification tree then check or uncheck the Light On option from the contextual menu. Due to OpenGL limitations, some active lights may not be seen in the 3D window though they are defined as being "active". In that case, a warning sign identifies the light in the specification tree. On most platforms, up to 8 lights can be seen at the same time, however this number may be higher depending on the graphics card.

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Creating Real Time Shadows

In this task, you will learn how to create real time ground shadows to simulate in a very realistic way the reflections of an object on its environment walls. Open the Lamp.CATProduct document.

1. Create a directional light by selecting the Create Directional Light Only directional light sources can create real time ground shadows.

icon

2. Create an environment (you can also apply textures on the walls). The model should look something like this:

Note: in case no environment exists, a default environment (very big and with transparent walls) will be created.

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3. In the specification tree, select the Bottom wall and display its lighting properties by selecting the Properties... contextual command then the Lighting tab to make sure that the Shadows option is "On". 4. Access the lighting Properties dialog box then activate the Real Time option:

5. Set the following parameters using the corresponding slider or enter directly a value in the corresponding field: Smoothing: defines the shadow attenuation, i.e. the limit between light and shadow. The higher the value, the more attenuated the limit. For instance, "0" means a clear break with no attenuation at all Color: lets you define the color of the shadow by clicking the button to select the desired color. The slider sets the color intensity Transparency: sets the opacity of the shadow. The higher the value, the less opaque the shadow. 6. Click OK to validate when satisfied with your parameters. The shadow of the lamp now appears on the bottom wall as shown below:

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You can move the created shadow simply by dragging and dropping the compass onto it.

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Stickers
Applying Stickers Modifying Stickers

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Applying Stickers
This task explains how to apply a sticker. Open the SaltnPepper.CATProduct document. Select the Tools->Options->General->Display->Navigation commands then check the Highlight faces and edges option in the Visualization tab. This option enables to highlight the sticked face. from the View->Render Style Select also the Apply Customized View icon menu in order to check that the Shading and Materials options are on. 1. Double-click the root product to apply the sticker since stickers can only be applied on contextually edited products. 2. Click the Apply Sticker icon The Sticker dialog box opens: .

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3. Select the 3D geometry location where you want to apply the sticker: for a V5 model, you can either select one or multiple elements using the multi-selection in the 3D window or select the desired element(s) in the specification tree for a V4 model, you can select a face or the entire product as well either in the 3D window or in the specification tree. However, note that applying a sticker onto the entire product will result in a longer response time when manipulating geometry. The number of selected elements is displayed in the Selection field and the sticker is applied (with a visualization in transparency and a default image) onto the element(s) you selected. By default, the manipulator is centered and its size is proportional to the size of the selected element:

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You can assign a new default image to the sticker using the Tools->Options->Rendering->Sticker tab.

4. Use the manipulator handles to adjust the texture scale as shown below:

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You can also use the Texture tab`s sliders in the Sticker dialog box: Size: defines the sticker size in millimeters Scale U, V: determines how the sticker is stretched along uand v-axes Position U, V: determines the gizmo position along u- and v-axes. By default, the sticker image is centered Use Normal: lets you apply the sticker according to the plane projection. The Reverse Normal option lets you invert the normal. When "Use Normal" is not checked, the sticker is applied on both sides of the selected element Flip U, V: inverts the sticker texture along u- and v-axes Orientation: defines the gizmo rotation on U, V and W axes. The W axis represents the normal to the surface. You can click the icon to resize U and V proportionally. This is especially useful for square shapes such as the Floor material. When this option is on, the Scale V field is grayed and the icon changes to .

The Use Normal option lets you apply the sticker according to the normal. The Reverse Normal option lets you invert the normal.

When the lock is green, clicking an highlighted element automatically removes the sticker applied onto it. Just click the green lock so that it turns orange in order to lock the selection and prevent any removal.

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5. Click the Lighting tab:

6. Use the Color slider to set the sticker color or click [...] opposite Color then choose the color to be used for the material texture. The Color dialog box is displayed allowing you to select the exact color you wish to define as a texture:

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You can click in the preview area to choose the color, or even key in the exact value of the desired color. You can enter a value comprised between 0 and 255 for any of these fields. 7. Define the other lighting parameters: Luminosity: determines the intensity of light diffused in any direction by the object, even if not lit by any light source Contrast: the intensity of light diffused by the object when lit by light sources Shininess: intensity and color of light reflected in one particular direction (highlights) Transparency: determines the degree of transparency of an object. The higher the value, the more transparent the object. 8. Click OK to validate your parameters. The sticker is applied according to the parameter values you specified:

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You can create as many stickers as you wish on the same geometry and make them overlap each other, the last sticker created being placed on the top.

You are now ready to modify the sticker properties.

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Modifying Stickers
This task explains how to modify the sticker properties such as the lighting or the projected image, for instance. Open the SaltnPepper.CATProduct and apply a sticker as explained in Applying Stickers. 1. Select the sticker in the specification tree then choose Properties from the contextual menu. You can also double-click the Sticker icon or select the Sticker object->Definition... commands to open the Sticker dialog box which lets you modify the sticker properties as well. Note: the Properties dialog box does not allow you to perform geometry modifications on a sticker that is already sticked. To do so, access the Sticker dialog box using the Sticker object->Definition... command.

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The Feature Properties tab provides general information on the currently selected sticker, e.g. its name, its creation date, etc. The Rendering tab enables you to modify the Texture and Lighting parameters:

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The Texture and Lighting parameters displayed in this dialog box are identical to those contained in the Stick dialog box, except that you can not manipulate the viewpoint interactively.

2. If you want to apply an image to the sticker, click the ... button to open the File Selection dialog box. The supported image formats are .bmp, .rgb, .jpg and .tif (this format supports transparency so that you can see the underlying stickers and geometry in the transparent areas of your image). 3. Navigate to the image you wish to apply then click Open. In case you want to remove the image, just click the Reset Value button. The name, the path and the graphical representation of the chosen image are displayed in the Image field:

Whatever image format you choose, you can access the Lighting tab to check the "Use Transparent Color" option then click the to open the Pick Transparent Color dialog box: icon

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This dialog box lets you select the color on which the transparency will be applied after clicking OK: Note: the default transparent color is Black. 4. Click Apply to validate your new parameters. The new sticker properties are applied onto the object:

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Animations
Creating a Turntable Creating a Simulation Animating Scene Elements in a Simulation Using the Player Generating a Video

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Creating a Turntable
This task explains how to create a turntable which is the preliminary step before rendering an animation. A turntable lets you generate a movie of your model, permitting a better analysis of the design quality. It is a set of successive images. The movie generated consists in a rotation of the active camera around an axis. Open the LAMP.CATProduct document then hide the environment display by clicking the Environment 1 in the specification tree then selecting the Hide/Show contextual menu.

1. Click the Create Turntable icon

to open the Turntable dialog box.

The turntable symbol is displayed on the product:

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You can now define the model rotation axis. The entire product geometry will be able to rotate around that axis. 2. Position the turntable along the x, y, and z axes by dragging it to the desired location using the compass:

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3. Rotate the turntable along the u, v and w axes:

4. In the Turntable dialog box, indicate the rotation Start and End angles in degrees. By definition, the turntable is a simple rotation animation. The rotation can be limited to less than 360 degrees (for instance a half-turn, that is 180 degrees). The end angle is identified by an arrow.

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Note: you can change the rotation direction by clicking the Reverse Direction button. 5. Click OK. The turntable is created.

Select the turntable axis in the specification tree then Axis object -> Definition... from the contextual menu to edit the turntable rotation axis.

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Creating a Simulation
This task shows you how to animate a product in a simulation once you have created the turntable. 1. Select the turntable axis. 2. Click the Simulation icon. The Edit Simulation panel appears:

In case you have not previously selected the element to animate, the Select dialog box will open to let you select the desired element.

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3. Move the turntable as you wish using the compass. 4. Click the Insert button to record the desired shots in your animation. As soon as you insert your first keyframe, the dialog box buttons are grayed out and let you Modify, Delete or Skip the current shot by clicking the appropriate button. For more information on animating in a simulation and using the Manipulation toolbar, refer to Animating Scene Elements in a Simulation in this guide.

5. Keep on inserting keyframes then preview the animation by clicking the Play forward checked. button and with the "Animate viewpoint" option

When you run the simulation, the animated object rotates around the turntable axis. Just click the picture below to run the animation:

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The Edit simulation objects button lets you add objects (such as cameras, etc.) to your simulation. Note also that you can press the Edit analysis button at any time to open the Edit Analysis in Simulation dialog box which lets you edit the interferences you may have previously defined. In case no interference has been defined, the dialog box is empty. Whenever you wish to modify the simulation, just double-click it in the specification tree to re-open the Edit Simulation dialog box.

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Animating Scene Elements in a Simulation

This task shows you how to animate the various elements composing the scene, i.e. cameras, lights, environments and materials. The Light 1 object will be taken as a simulation example to illustrate this task but bear in mind that the method is identical whether you animate a camera, a light, an environment or a material. Open the Lamp.CATProduct document.

1. Click the Simulation

icon. The Select panel opens:

2. Select the object to be animated then click OK to validate. The Edit Simulation panel appears:

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If you first select the element to be animated in the specification tree, then click the Simulation icon afterwards, the Select dialog will not be displayed.

As you can see it below, running the Simulation command snaps the compass to the element to be animated, enabling you to manipulate it very easily:

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3. Click the Insert button to record the starting shot. 4. Modify the lighting orientation using the 3D compass. 5. Click the Insert button to record the desired keyframe and insert it into your simulation scenario. As you insert your first keyframe, the dialog box buttons are grayed out to let you Modify, Delete or Skip the recorded shots. The initial position is automatically recorded. If you need to reposition your object, just delete its first position or modify it.

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6. Select the interpolation which defines the number of steps between the shots you have recorded.

The lower the number, the slower the replay speed. Note: the interpolation is used for preview only and does not affect the rendered animation.

7. Use the other VCR buttons to play backward, step forward, modify the speed, etc.

8. Click the Play Forward button

to preview the animation.

You can also use one of the loop modes to: run the simulation once run the simulation in a continuous way run then reverse the simulation in a continuous way. Note that you can press the Edit analysis button at any time to open the Edit Analysis in Simulation dialog box which lets you edit the interferences you may have previously defined. In case no interference has been defined, the dialog box is empty.

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9. Click the Edit simulation objects button to objects to your simulation.

10. Select the simulation object to edit from the proposed list then click the Edit... button to open the Properties dialog box:

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11. Modify the object parameters as desired then click the OK button twice to close the Properties and Edit Simulation Objects dialog boxes. If you wish to animate more elements in your simulation, click the Add... button. This opens the Select dialog box and enables you to select additional objects:

12. Modify the parameters and the object position to change the viewpoint as often as necessary, clicking the Insert button to record each of the desired shot. 13. Replay your simulation with the "Animate viewpoint" option checked:

The simulation is replayed and shows the viewpoint changes you recorded. Click the picture below to run the simulation:

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Note: this option can be activated whenever you want, either before recording the simulation or after.

You can activate the "Automatic insert" at any time. This option records the shots automatically as you move the object as often as necessary.

14. Click OK to save your simulation. Your simulation is identified in the specification tree along with the simulation track displayed in the geometry area:

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Whenever you wish to modify the simulation, just double-click its track or its name in the specification tree to re-open the Edit Simulation dialog box.

Note: you can also record a fitting track using lights and environments. For detailed information on tracks, refer to Using Tracks in the Version 5 - DMU Fitting Simulation documentation.

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Using the Player

This task shows you how to use the Player which is available every time you create a simulation. Open the LampSimulation.CATProduct document.

1. Click the Play a Simulation

icon to display the Player toolbar.

2. In the specification tree, select the simulation to be replayed to gray out the toolbar which now looks like this:

Note: you can dock the Player toolbar at any time by clicking the cross in the upper right. 3. Select the desired loop mode among the three modes available: corresponds to the single loop mode corresponds to the one way loop mode corresponds to the return simulation mode. 4. Enter the precise time value in the time field . 5. Use either the VCR buttons or the slider to run the simulation: skip to beginning step backward play backward stop play forward step forward skip to end.

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6. Click the Parameters box:

icon to access the Player Parameters dialog

7. Enter the Time Step value. The time step corresponds to the sampling step value in seconds (the total duration is divided into intervals calculated in seconds). By default, six values are available in the pulldown list, but feel free to enter your own value whenever you need it.

When checked, the "Auto controlled Step" option lets you replay your track simulation with respect to another object specification, i.e. a path finder (created using the Version 5 - DMU Fitting Simulator product). The Time Step field is then grayed so that the value taken into account is the path finder one. The track defines automatically the sampling time step value. If no path finder has been defined, the value taken into account will be the default sampling step. The track defines the sampling time step value.

8. Use the Temporization field to insert a pause between sampling steps. Once all these parameters have been set, you can replay your simulation.

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Generating a Video
This task shows you how to generate a video file. Open the LampSimulation.CATProduct document.

1. Click the Generate Video

icon to display the Player toolbar.

2. In the specification tree, select the simulation to be recorded to display the Video Generation dialog box:

4. In the Video Generation dialog box, select the video format. The video formats supported vary according to your operating system: Microsoft AVI (Windows) Still Image Capture: available on all operating systems, this format is not generated by operating system-dependent libraries and provides still, compressed JPG captures SGI Movie (IRIX) Quicktime (IRIX) MPEG (IRIX). If you install the appropriate CODEC for the MPEG format, you will be able to generate MPEG format files on Windows (you can download video CODECs from the Microsoft Support Internet site).

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If you choose "Still Image Capture", each step of the track will be captured as a single image and saved in the folder you specified. Thus there will be as many captured images as recorded track steps. In our example, we choose Microsoft AVI. 5. Click the Setup button to set up your video compression/decompression parameters in the Choose Compressor dialog box:

This dialog box allows you to choose a CODEC from the list of CODECs installed on your computer, then configure it. The role of the CODEC is to compress your video files. Installing Version 5 does NOT install CODECs on your computer. The list of CODECs differs from one platform to another. For information about how to configure the CODEC, refer to the CODEC supplier's documentation. On Windows, the Compressor list contains the option: Full Frames (Uncompressed). Selecting this option prior to recording has the following effects: the resulting video file is larger (because it is not compressed) but performance during the recording is enhanced (because each frame is not compressed as soon as it is recorded). 6. Click OK to start recording. The video is replayed and recorded. A progress bar appears in the Video Generation dialog box:

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A .avi file is generated and saved in the folder you specified. Note: you can use the Player toolbar at any time to modify the simulation.

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Environments
Creating an Environment Managing Environment Walls Defining the Wallpaper Generating an Environment Image From an Environment Displaying Environment Reflections Importing an Environment

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Creating an Environment
This task will show you how to create an environment. Three environment types are available: box, sphere and cylinder. An environment is a simplified simulation of a landscape surrounding your model and directly reflected by your model. It is an efficient way to get a very quick feedback of the illumination behavior of your model and check its integration in its final environment. For example, placing neon lights as a 3D-texture on the ceiling will be used for car body design, while referring to a picture of a Norvegian forest for the walls will produce an impressive marketing image of a newly designed chainsaw. Open the Lamp.CATProduct document.

1. Click the Create Box Environment icon if you want to create an environment with a rectangular shape (to represent a room for example). 2. Zoom out then click anywhere in the geometry area to deselect the environment.

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You can also click the Create Sphere icon Environment if you want an environment being a non-dimensional sphere with two hemispheres: north and south (to simulate a sky for example). click the Create Cylinder Environment icon if you want an enviroment having a cylindrical shape:

Showroom environments (square or cylindrical shape) correspond to a square or cylinder room without windows, with a texture or an image on the walls, floor and ceiling. This type of environment is a very efficient tool for design study of very close reflection, for instance, reflection of rows of neon lights on a car body. Their size can be set and they can be positioned at a desired location. They are always visible and will appear as other geometrical elements of the model at their defined location. Sky-ground environments (spherical shape) will be used to simulate the reflections of a "real world" onto the geometry. Texture simulating grounds or skies will provide good results. They totally surround the model.

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As soon as you create an environment, it becomes the active one. Any previously created environment is deactivated in the specification tree, only one active environment being taken into account at rendering time.

In our example, Environment 2 has been created and Environment 1 is deactivated. To activate an environment, just select it in the specification tree then select the Environment Active command from the contextual menu.

3. Position your pointer over the edges then use the green segments displayed to resize the environment walls: click and drag a segment to resize the walls according to the edges shift-click and drag a segment to resize the walls according to the center. 4. Select the environment in the specification tree then right-click and choose the Edit -> Properties commands. The Properties panel is displayed. 5. The Dimensions tab enables you to define the environment size. In our example, specify the Length, Width and Height of the walls in millimeters.

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6. Click the Position tab to interactively define: the environment translation from the Origin along the X, Y or Z axis. the environment translation along the X, Y, or Z Axis.

The Feature Properties tab provides general information on the currently selected environment, e.g. its name, its creation date, etc.

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You can also interactively position your environment by dragging the compass and dropping it onto the environment.

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Managing Environment Walls

This task will introduce wall list management. Open the Lamp.CATProduct document and create an environment as explained in Creating an Environment. 1. In the specification tree, select an environment wall (or select it directly in the 3D window).

2. Right-click to display the contextual menu then uncheck the Wall Active option. The selected wall is grayed in the specification tree and is not taken into account at rendering time, as shown in the example below:

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Only the edges of the deactivated wall are displayed in the environment representation except if you have specified to display inactive environments (select the Tools->Options->Product commands then the Rendering tab).

The geometry shadows are projected onto environment flat walls.

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Defining the Wallpaper

This task will show you how to associate images to your environment walls. Open the Lamp.CATProduct document and create an environment as explained in Creating an Environment. 1. Select any wall of the environment on which the wallpaper should be defined. Note: As far as showroom environments are concerned, you can apply a different texture to each wall of the environment. 2. Click the Apply Material icon to display the Library window.

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The material must have a texture, otherwise an error panel will be displayed.

3. Click the Construction tab, for example.

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4. Select Marble Paving. 5. Click Apply Material to map the image texture of the material onto the selected wall. 6. Repeat these steps for the other walls if you want to.

Instead of clicking Apply, you can also use the contextual menu then copy the material before pasting it or drag and drop the material directly onto the wall.

7. Select the Apply Customized View icon in the View ->Render Style menu. The Custom View Mode dialog box is displayed.

8. Make sure that the Shading and Materials options are checked. 9. Click OK. The material texture is mapped onto the selected wall.

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In the above example, we have applied the following materials: Summer Sky and Wood Floor. 10. To modify the mapped texture properties, right-click the corresponding environment wall in the specification tree then select the Properties or the object->Definition... command from the contextual menu. The Properties dialog box is displayed:

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The Texture tab lets you modify the Image Name as well as the material Scale, Position and Orientation. 11. In the Image Name field, navigate to locate the desired image, and click OK to map it onto the preview element as the texture. 12. The Flip U,V checkboxes lets you invert the material texture along U and V axes. Use the Fit All in Wall option to automatically scale the texture in order to fit it in the wall.

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13. Define the image repetititon along U and V, as well as its scale, its position and its orientation: U and V correspond to parameters of the local parametric surface. Repeat U, V: lets you specify whether or not you want the texture repeated ad infinitum along u- and v-axes Scale U, V: determines how the texture is stretched along uand v-axes Position U, V: determines the position of the texture along uand v-axes. By default, the image is centered Orientation: defines the rotation of the texture on surfaces. to resize U and V You can click the Link U and V scales icon proportionally. This is especially useful for square shapes, the Floor material for instance. Note that when this option is on, the Scale V field is grayed and the icon changes to .

Check the Lock Texture Fit option if you want to prevent texture fit alteration when modifying the environment size.

14. Click the Lighting tab and check the "Shadows" option if you want to enable shadow casting on the wall.

When the option is off, the wall is visible even if not illuminated. Note: this option is used for rendering only.

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15. Click OK or Apply then OK to validate and close the Properties dialog box.

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Generating an Environment Image from an Environment

This task will show you how to generate automatically an environment image to be used for reflection purposes. Open the Lamp.CATProduct document then create an environment with wallpapers as explained in Defining the Wallpaper. 1. Select the environment in the specification tree. 2. Click the Save Reflection... contextual command. The Environment Image Generator dialog box appears:

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The map of the environment you created in the previous tasks is displayed in the previsualization window. This previsualization is automatically updated whenever you modify the point of view. 3. Use the Image Size pulldown list to choose a Small, Medium or Large size for your environment image. 4. Enter the name and path of the generated image in the "Save as" field or icon to open the File Selection dialog box which lets you click the browse your folders to the desired location. 5. Click OK to save your image. This image can be re-used as many times as you wish, for instance when defining advanced reflection settings. For detailed information, refer to Defining Reflection Settings.

As this image will be used for reflection purposes only, you will not be able to visualize the environment reflections on the objects unless you set the Reflectivity parameter to the a non-zero value (provided that the object itself is reflecting).

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Displaying Environment Reflections

This task will show you how to preview the environment reflections. Open the Lamp.CATProduct document then create an environment with wallpapers as explained in Defining the Wallpaper.

1. Select the Tools->Options... command. 2. Choose the Infrastructure category. 3. Click the Rendering subcategory. The Display tab opens:

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4. In the Environment Reflections area, check the "Enable" option. This option enables you to activate/deactivate the update of environment reflections on reflecting objects (i.e. those having a non null reflectivity). 5. Specify the reflection Quality: Low, Medium or High. 6. Check the "Update reflections when viewpoint is changed" option to update environment reflections on reflecting objects when the viewpoint is modified beyond a predefined threshold. Otherwise, the reflection update only occurs when you are working with a new or modified environment (i.e. new wall textures or colors).

In order to see environment reflections, an object must be reflecting and thus having a non-zero reflectivity coefficient.

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7. Indicate the texture Quality when the viewpoint is moved (e.g during a zoom, a translation, etc.). 8. Specify the texture update threshold in degrees when the viewpoint is rotated in the "Update threshold" field. 9. Indicate the number of texture Computation passes, that is to say in how many passes the computation should be split. 10. Click OK to validate your parameters.

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Importing an Environment
This task will show you how to generate an environment based on stitched images computed by Realviz Stitcher from a series of pictures. The generated files to be imported in Photo Studio are of type .cam.

1. Click the Import an Environment File Selection panel.

icon from the Scene Editor toolbar to open the

2. Navigate to the desired .cam file then click OK to validate.

The file is imported and directly mapped onto an environment (either cubical, cylindrical or spherical), the convenient shape being automatically detected:

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Browsing the Scene Catalog

In this task you will learn how to browse the Scene catalog and instantiate its components. Should you need further information about catalogs (creation, preview, query, and so on), please refer to Using Catalogs in the Infrastructure documentation.

This default catalog is located under: downloaddirectory/OS/startup/components/Rendering/Scene.catalog where OS is the operating system, for example intel_a (Windows NT).

Open the SaltnPepper.CATProduct document.

1. Open the Catalog browser dialog box by clicking the Catalog Browser icon. The Scene catalog opens:

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2. Double-click a family from the list to display its components. 3. Click the selected component to see its preview as shown below:

4. Click the Table>> button to show/hide the catalog descriptions and keywords. By default, the table is hidden.

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5. Instantiate the desired element by double-clicking it. Then you just have to adapt the instantiated element to your product:

Deskroom scene instantiation

You can also Copy->Paste or drag and drop the element directly onto the product in the specification tree.

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Advanced Tasks
The Advanced Tasks section shows you how to organize and manage materials in libraries. It is intended for the administrator. The Real Time Rendering product lets you define material specifications that will be shared across your entire development process. Material specifications define the characteristics of materials: Physical and mechanical properties (Youngs modulus, density, thermal expansion, and so forth.) 3D representation: textures on geometry 2D representation: patterns for drafting purposes. Before You Start Opening the Workbench Creating a Material Library Interoperability with V4 Textures Sorting Materials Sending Material Texture Images Using Virtual Reality

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What You Should Know Before You Start

A default material library file is provided with Real Time Rendering. By default, this file is located: under Windows NT: $CATStartupPath\startup\materials\Catalog.CATMaterial under UNIX: $CATStartupPath/startup/materials/Catalog.CATMaterial Note: For languages other than English, a folder identified by the appropriate language contains the Catalog.CATMaterial. Would you need to define and use a specific library, you can do so interactively using the Tools -> Options dialog box. See Material General Settings. Note, however, that the library must remain Catalog.CATMaterial. The environment variable CATStartupPath concatenates start-up directories. When applying a material, the library is looked for according to the user-defined path, and if no specific path has been indicated, the first occurrence of the Catalog.CATMaterial found in the directories listed in the variable is loaded.

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Opening the Material Workbench

This tasks explains how to load the Material Workbench and open a CATMaterial document. 1. Select the Start-> Infrastructure-> Material Library menu item. The Material Workbench is loaded, and a CATMaterial document is created.

By default a family and a material are in the document, ready to be renamed and edited.

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Creating a Material Library

This tasks shows you how to add materials to a family, and create more families for your material libraries. Open a .CATMaterial document as described in Opening the Material Workbench. 1. Click the Rename Family icon to give an explicit name to the default tab.

The New Name dialog box is displayed.

2. Key in the new name for the family, and click OK.

Here we called it Wood:

3. Click on the New Family

icon to create a new family.

A New Family tab is displayed in the document.

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4. Repeat step 2 and 3 to create more families such as Metal, Stone, Cloth and so forth.

Note: You can copy and paste families.

None of the new families contain any material yet.

5. Click the Wood tab to activate the wood family. There is only the default material in this family so far.

6. Select the material.

7. Click the Rename Material Let's call it Bark.

icon to rename the material via the New Name dialog box.

8. Click the New Material

icon to add material to this family.

You can add, and rename the Beech, Cork, Teak, Wild Cherry types of wood for example, and many more.

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Now that your library is defined, you will need to modify each material to give it specific material properties. For more information on how to do so, see Modifying a Material.

You can also remove a family or a material, simply by selecting the object or Remove Material(s) icon then clicking on the Remove Family respectively.

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Interoperability with V4 Textures

What You Should Know About V4 Textures:
Before you start converting V4 2D textures into a V5 material, you should be aware that you might not be able to see the V4 texture in the V4 template, even though it is present in the .model. This is the case when: the V4 texture is smaller than the face onto which it has originally been applied the V4 texture has been defined, but not applied to any face in the V4 model. In both cases, though not visible, the V4 texture exists and can be converted to a V5 material as described below. This functionality is also available for Real Time Rendering 1 users (P2 only) but a V4I licence is required to copy a V4 texture.

This tasks shows you how to convert a V4 2D texture to a V5 material. Open the texture2d_v4.model document.

1. Double-click on MASTER to display the tree

2. Click on the plus sign beside IMDE1

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3. Click on the name of the texture you want to copy

4. Copy the texture by selecting Edit -> Copy in the menu bar or by right-clicking and selecting Copy in the contextual menu 5. Open a material library, using the Start -> Infrastructure -> Material Library menu item for a new library, and paste the new texture in the family on which you want to create a material based on it A message warns you that no image is associated to the texture (identified by a broken link symbol) and that you have to edit the material properties in order to solve this. Note: you can paste the texture in a part.

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When you double-click on the applied texture, you can display properties: if you are working with UNIX, the right path is immediately displayed. The texture is displayed in the dialog box if you are working with Windows NT, a UNIX path is displayed and you must change it into a NT path.

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Sorting Materials Within a Family

This tasks explains how to arrange materials alphabetically within a family in ascending and descending order. Open the SortMaterial.CATMaterial document.

1. Click the Sort

Material (ASort Material (A->Z)Z)

icon

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The materials are automatically arranged in ascending alphabetical order, from left to right and top to bottom:

2. Click the Sort materials:

Material (ZSort Material (Z->A)A)

icon

to reverse the sort order of

You are not obliged to sort materials alphabetically. Simply click on one or more materials and drag them to their new location if you wish to set them in a specific order. You can do this material by material, or use the multi-selection capabilities (Shift and Ctrl keys).

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Sending Material Texture Images

This tasks explains how to send images used for material textures in the mail or to a directory or a diskette. Open the SortMaterial.CATMaterial document.

Sending in the mail

1. Select the File->Send To->Mail commands.

The Send To Mail dialog box opens:

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In the upper part of the dialog box you can see a list of all the different documents linked to the document you selected for the send operation. The four columns provide information about the file name, the file type, the location and whether or not the file was found. 2. Select the files in the upper list individually and transfer them to the lower list using the . icon If you want to select the files by type, place the cursor inside the list and right-click to display the list of file types and then select the appropriate type. (Selecting by type in this way operates of course in the lower list as well.) The OK button may be grayed out. This means that problems shown in the Problem column have not been resolved. 3. Click OK. You will now be prompted to give the name of your e-mail system.

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For detailed information on using the Send To Directory command, refer to the Version Infrastructure User`s Guide - Transferring Version 5 Data To Another Directory.

Copying to a directory or diskette

1. Select the File->Send To->Directory commands. The Send To Directory dialog box opens:

In the upper part of the dialog box you can see a list of all the different documents linked to the document you selected for the copy operation. The four columns provide information about the file name, the file type, the location and whether or not the file was found.

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2. Select the files in the upper list individually and use the icon lower list

to transfer them to the

If you want to select the files by type, place the cursor inside the list and right-click to display the list of file types and then select the appropriate type. (Selecting by type in this way operates of course in the lower list as well.).

It might be useful, especially if copying files to a diskette, to know the size of the documents to be copied. You will find this just above the Copy to: field.

The OK button may, as in the case shown above, be grayed out. This means that problems shown in the Problem column have not been resolved. 3. Enter the path of the target directory in the Copy to: field using the Browse button if necessary and click OK. This field is in fact a list and contains the nine destinations last used. 4. Click OK. A progress box appears as each file is copied and when the copy has been performed, the Files Copied dialog box appears telling you the number, size and type of the files copied. For detailed information on using the Send To Mail command, refer to the Version Infrastructure User`s Guide - Sending Version 5 Data in the Mail.

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Using Virtual Reality

About Virtual Reality Support in Version 5 Running a Multipiped Version 5 Session

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About Virtual Reality Support in Version 5

What is Virtual Reality? Clicking and dragging your way through a 3D graphics application may be interactive, but it's not virtual reality. It's not Virtual Reality because it's not immersive. "Immersion" (or "presence") is the goal of virtual reality. Immersion refers to your sense of engagement with the virtual model or environment. When you're immersed, you focus directly on your subject and disregard everything else. In virtual reality, an "immersive" application lets you focus on the task at hand, so you don't deal with a mouse, or the UNIX command line, or a GUI, or the fact that you're actually looking at something made from digital bits instead of physical atoms. Virtual reality essentially moves the computer out of your way, so you can interact directly with your data or information. Unlike interactive 3D graphics (which can consist of a series of still images coming off disk), virtual reality lets you intuitively manipulate and navigate through a real-time simulation of an object, or a process, or a place.

Where is Virtual Reality technology useful? Virtual reality adds value to virtually any application where it's vital to experience spatial relationships, and analyze, design, engineer and understand such relationships. Any project in which 3D information must be navigated or closely examined will benefit from virtual reality technology. If you are working in two dimensions (web design, word processing, ...), you don't need virtual reality.

What are the different types of Virtual Reality configurations?

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Virtual reality technology can be recognized by the presence of specific I/O devices which can be organized into five categories, each creating a different impression of immersion. These categories are not mutually exclusive: Simulators Simulators use a physical mockup of vehicle with real controls (steering, throttle, pedals, etc.), with which you can navigate through virtual environment, and are ideal for applications such as pilot training, driver training and games. Simulators can also involve multiple participants. Wearable devices Wearable devices provide direct, "body contact" input/output to virtual models or environments through such devices as head-mounted displays, boom-mounted displays, data gloves, data suits, haptic feedback systems, motion platforms. These are ideal for digital prototyping, and provide a highly immersive experience. However, they are limited to single users. Desktop devices The traditional monitor serves as a window into virtual world, with which you interact using shutter glasses and 3D input. This is a low-cost alternative to wearable devices, and are suitable for scientific data visualization. They are also flexible (easily switch from monoscopic to stereoscopic; easy keyboard access). This range of equipment includes stereoscopic workbenches, tables and desks. However, desktop devices suffer from the following drawbacks: they are based on the single user approach they do not provide a full immersion experience. External devices External devices are used to interact with your Version 5 session. Those devices consist of a hand held equipment in which a tracker and a set of buttons have been integrated. Hand tracking allows you to add a virtual hand in the model to perform interactive functions such as selection, command run or navigation. Display systems Large virtual models and environments are projected onto flat or curved screens, using such technologies as virtual reality walls (for example, in Silicon Graphics Reality Centers). They can also be projected onto vertical and/or horizontal surfaces in special chambers like "caves" (for example, the Fakespace CAVE) or "walk-in domes".

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These devices are the most sophisticated (and most expensive). They are ideal for digital prototyping, provide high resolution, and allow groups of participants to get involved and collaborate. They also require a lot of physical space.

Which Virtual Reality tools/technologies can be used in Version 5? In the myriad of tools and configurations available, we can already identify a short-list of hardware useful for navigating through or manipulating CAD data in real time, and capable of providing some level of immersive experience: Stereoscopic viewing Stereoscopic viewing of 3D images is built in Version 5. It can be achieved either in active or passive stereo mode, depending on the display system abilities. In an active stereo display system, left eye and right eye images are alternatively displayed on the screen at twice the refresh rate. An active pair of glasses with two shutters working in synchronization with the images is needed. Synchronization is often achieved using an infrared emitter: the left eye shutter is closed when the right eye image is displayed, and reciprocally. In a passive stereo display system, left eye and right eye images are displayed simultaneously on the screen. Image separation is performed by filtering glasses using polarized light, for instance. Stereoscopic viewing is extremely easy to implement. All hardware manufacturers provide now graphic boards supporting OpenGL quad-buffered stereo on Windows and UNIX based systems. Stereoscopic shutter glasses, such as the CrystalEyes manufactured by StereoGraphics, provide a partially immersive experience of digital mock-up visualization at lowest price investment. Another possibility is to use a StereoGraphics Z-Screen mounted on top of a standard monitor and viewed wearing non-expensive and lightweight passive stereo glasses. Head mounted display Head mounted display (HMD) afford a more immersive experience. Equipped with position-tracking capability, it displays output imagery based upon the position of your head. To use a head mounted display, you can have either:

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an image generator computing left eye and right eye image separately such as an SGI Onyx workstation. Those are high-end systems providing high performance and high quality 3D viewing or an active to passive stereo converter such as Cyviz XPO2 box. This solution allows you to use an head mounted display on any platform supporting active stereoscopy. In addition to head mounted display, a standard joystick can be added to the virtual reality configuration, providing a very easy way to navigate in the digital mock-up. Projector tables, projection walls, Immersive Rooms Digital prototyping is served well by using a large projection systems going from the single screen projection table, such as Fakespace Systems ImmersaDesk or Barco Baron, to the multi-projector and multi-sided projection room, such as the FakeSpace Systems CAVE or the Barco I-Space. Version 5 also supports reconfigurable immersive display systems such as the Fakespace RAVE or the Barco MoVE. Those systems are ideal for scale one digital mock-up review or designing large assemblies and facilities. Displaying the Version 5 on a single screen/single projector display system requires no specific Version 5 service. You just need to plug your machine graphic board video output to the display video input. When you have a multi-projector display system, for instance as in a TAN Holobench or in a SGI Reality Center, you need a specific hardware and specific Version 5 functionalities. Using a multipipe SGI Onyx workstation, Version 5 can support any kind of immersive environment, that is to say any number of screens and projectors, in passive or active stereo vision mode. In such environments a better immersion is achieved using head tracking, providing a 3D image depending on the exact user point of view, as well as hand tracking for immersive interaction. To do so, Version 5 supports: Trackers such as Polhemus Fastrak, Intersense IS-900 and any devices compliant with the Fastrak Protocol Hand held devices with integrated tracker and buttons such as Virtual Presence SpaceStick, Fakespace Neowand or Intersense Wand

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3D Connexion Spaceball and Space Mouse which could dramatically increase your work productivity by helping you manipulating the model with your second hand. Please note that those devices are not specific to virtual reality and can be used in any standard desktop configuration.

What does Version 5 support natively? The Version 5 infrastructure provides support for: stereoscopic viewing: refer to "Stereoscopic Viewing" for more information multipipe and multithread rendering: refer to "Running a Multipiped, Multithreaded Version 5 Session" for more information head and hand tracking: refer to "Using Head and Hand Tracking Devices in Version 5" for more information.

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Running a Multipiped Version 5 Session

In "About Virtual Reality Support in Version 5", we discussed the different types of virtual reality configurations available. However, intensive use of virtual reality technology leads to loss of performance if you are using only one graphics pipe.

What is a "pipe" and what is the difference between a single and multipipe system? A "pipe" in this context refers to the graphics board associated with each single window into an application. It also refers to the data that is placed by the application which owns the pipe. You can also have a single pipe feeding three display channels like this: Nothing prevents you from using virtual reality configurations with just one pipe, the problem is that the overhead of running multiple applications in a single piped system can result in very poor performance. In a "multipipe" system, you can have several graphics boards, and each graphics board feeds a different display channel. Each application in a " multipipe" system has its own distinct pipe to the graphics hardware. There is a price to pay in memory usage and a very slight price to pay in computer overhead to manage the multiple pipes, but the overall positive effect on system performance is dramatic. Performance can be enhanced even further if you are running workstations using multiple processors, which allow "multithreading" of applications. Note that: the Version 5 infrastructure for UNIX platforms provides support for 16 windows maximum one window/pipe can be assigned to two threads (2 CPUs). A typical configuration is an SGI Onyx2 or SGI Onyx 3000 workstation using four graphics pipes. You run a main Version 5 session using one pipe from a workstation, and create three secondary windows (each one using its own graphics pipe) for projection onto a Reality Center-type projection screen, or inside a virtual reality CAVE.

1. Log onto the Onyx workstation.

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2. Run the following command to display graphics subsystem information about your configuration: /usr/gfx/gfxinfo This command displays information (display name, resolution, etc.) about each graphics pipe like this: Graphics board 0 is "KONAL" graphics. Managed (":0.0") 1280x1024 ... Graphics board 1 is "KONAL" graphics. Managed (":0.1") 1280x1024 ... Graphics board 0 is "KONAL" graphics. Managed (":0.2") 1280x1024 ... Graphics board 1 is "KONAL" graphics. Managed (":0.3") 1280x1024 ...

3. Synchronize the graphics pipes with the video channels in your configuration by running the program: /usr/gfx/ircombine Refer to your IRIX documentation for more information about the ircombine program.

4. Export one of the following environment variables: export CATMPConfig=path/myconfigfile or export CATMPKConfig=path/myconfigfile where "path" is the path of a directory and "myconfigfile" is the name of a configuration file which you must create and edit to set up the secondary windows and assign them to different graphics pipes and displays.

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Version 5 supports OpenGL Multipipe SDK technology (MPK) as well as an older set of SGI multipipe services. The MPK library is developped by SGI to manage multi-channel display configurations. Version 5 mpconfig command switches on and off the Version 5 multichannel support. The prerequisite is that one of the environment variables, i.e. CATMPKConfig or CATMPConfig, is valuated to a configuration file path before running the application: if CATMPConfig is valuated, the command activated the old set of multipipe services if CATMPKConfig is valuated, the command activates the MPK support.

Using MPK Version 5 provides powerful support for many virtual reality configurations: active or passive stereo decompositions, such as Stereo (Eye), DPLEX, 2D all multi-screen/multi-projector configurations such as TAN Holobench, Fakespace CAVE, etc. viewpoint tracking on all screens. Note: in order to use MPK, you need to download the corresponding library. For detailed information, browse the following internet site: http://www.sgi.com/software/multipipe/sdk/

When turned on using the mpconfig command, the multipipe support displays an information panel (named "Multi Pipe started") in which you just have to click OK to proceed. Some additional windows will then appear on the managed piped and the Version 5 model will be displayed across all windows. These two variables are not compatible and if you export both of them, the CATMPConfig variable supersedes the CATMPKConfig variable.

5. Edit the configuration file. If the display ":0.0" is used for the main Version 5 session, the syntax of the following file shows how to project a session using three separate pipes and the CATMPConfig environment variable :

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pipe { name ":0.1" window { x 0 y 0 width 1280 height 1024 reference parameters wall_position [0,0] window is 0,0 } }

// First pipe declaration

// Display name // First window declaration

//Horizontal position (in pixels) //Vertical position (in pixels) //Window width (in pixels) //Window (in pixels) //Use width and height of this window to compute all size //Define the wall position (in pixels); the center of the main

pipe { name ":0.2" window { x 0 y 0 width 1280 height 1024

// Second pipe declaration

// Display name // Second window declaration

//Horizontal position (in pixels) //Vertical position (in pixels) //Window width (in pixels) //Window height (in pixels)

wall_position [1280, 0] } }

pipe { name ":0.3" window { x 0

// Third pipe declaration

// Display name // Third window declaration

//Horizontal position (in pixels)

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y 0 width 1280 height 1024

//Vertical position (in pixels) //Window width (in pixels) //Window height (in pixels)

wall_position [-1280, 0] } }

6. Save your changes to the configuration file, then start your main Version 5 session.

7. In your main session, run the command: c:MPConfig to start multipiping. This creates the three empty secondary windows whose display name, size and position you defined in the configuration file. If you are using a Reality Center-type projection screen, for example, the three windows will be displayed side-by-side.

8. In your main session, run the command, select the command View->Full Screen. The video output displayed inside your main session is now projected coherently across the three windows.

9. In your main session, run the command: c:MPConfig again to stop multipiping.

Note that you can use stereoscopic viewing from within a multipiped session.

Note also that in CAVE configuration, you can increase the specular lighting accuracy by checking the "Enable OpenGL local viewer lighting" option in Tools->Options->General->Display->Performances. Be aware that this may lead to a loss of performance.

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Calibrating the multi-channel support First of all, let`s remind us of the SGI pipe and channel architecture. An SGI machine as an Octane or an Onyx may host several graphic boards, named pipes. A same application can render images on all of these pipes. A pipe has a frame buffer in which the application write the images they compute. More precisely, each application writes images in windows that are sub-parts of the frame buffer. On the video output side, the system reads the pipes frame buffer and generate video signals. There is one video signal per active channel. Each pipe may host several channels. Each channel is positioned on a part of a pipe frame buffer, and a video signal generated display this particular part. The important caracteristic of the system is the number of pipes, their frame buffer size (called managed area), the number of channel per pipe, their corresponding frame buffer sub area and the video signal format they output. You get the system information by typing /usr/gfx/gfxinfo in a shell. You can modify your system configuration using the setmon or ircombine commands. They enable you to change the pipe-managed area size, the activated channels on each pipe, their frame buffer part as well as their video format. Report to the SGI documentation to use these commands. The pipes are usually named :0.0 , :0.1 , :0.2 etc , unless you have several X Servers, in which case they are named :0.0, :0.1 on X Server 0, :1.0, :1.1,, on X server 1 etc.

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On the scheme above, the system has two pipes and six channels per pipe. Only two are activated on each pipe. The pipe-managed areas are 2560x2000. The Pipe 0, channel 0 is associated to an area of size 1280x1024, and located at the coordinate (0,0). The Pipe 0, channel 1 is associated to an area of size 1280x1024, and located at the coordinate (0.5,0). The Pipe 1, channel 0 is associated to an area of size 1280x1024, and located at the coordinate (0,0). The Pipe 1, channel 1 is associated to an area of size 1280x1024, and located at the coordinate (0.5,0). The channel video format are 1280x1024 at 96Hz stereo for instance. Version 5 renders 3D images in four windows. Two of them are on pipe 0, and the other two on pipe 1. Among these windows, one is particular: this is the main document window which appears within the application frame. The other windows are called auxiliary windows. If the user goes to the FullScreen mode, a complete image of the model will appear on the screen. All the information Version 5 needs for such a configuation are in a configuration file (refer to SGI MPK support). However, the system should also be correctly set up using the ircombine or setmon commands. Also, since this system outputs active stereo, the pipes need to be genlocked. This means that their video refresh are synchronized. This is necessary for the stereo glasses to work corrrectly. You should refer to the SGI support for genlocking your system. For instance, to set up the system, you can run the following script in a shell. You need the administrator privileges. This script will log you out and may badly affect the system if there is an error in it. echo "Pipe 0 INTERNAL (master). Setting ..." /usr/gfx/ircombine \ -target :0.0 \ -destination eeprom \ -global syncsource=INTERNAL,size=2560x2000 \ -channel 0 format=1280x1024_96s,sync=RGB,sourceloc=0+0 \ -channel 1 format=1280x1024_96s,sync=RGB,sourceloc=1280+0 echo "done."

echo "Pipe 1 EXTERNAL (slave). Setting ..." /usr/gfx/ircombine \ -target :0.1 \ -destination eeprom \

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-global syncsource=EXTERNAL,syncformat=1280x1024_96s,size=2560x2000 \ -channel 0 format=1280x1024_96s,sync=RGB,sourceloc=0+0 \ -channel 1 format=1280x1024_96s,sync=RGB,sourceloc=1280+0 echo "done." echo

(/usr/gfx/stopgfx;/usr/gfx/startgfx)&

There are two kind of configuration file you can use to deal with multi-channels configurations. We only speak here about the MPK config file. To run V5 with such a configuration file, type in a shell: export CATMPKConfig={complete path of the config file}. then, in this same shell, run CATIA : /usr/DassaultSystemes/B09/irix_a/command/catstart env {EnvName} direnv {environment path name} The Mpconfig command will use the configuration file pointed by the CATMPKConfig environment variable.To have a full undertanding of the MPK config file format, please refer to the MPK documentation. Only a standard display configuration will be taken as an example and detailed here. Lets assume we have a cubic immersive space such as a Fakespace CAVE, or a Barco Cubic Immersive Space. This system has four walls. All of them are square. The length of each square side is 3 meters long. There are four projectors displaying active stereo (one projector per wall). The machine has two pipes and six channels per pipe. It is set (ircombine) so that: The pipe-managed areas are 2560x1024 Pipe 0 channel 0 goes to the front wall. Its size is 1280x1024. Its location is (0,0) Pipe 0 channel 1 goes to the right wall. Its size is 1280x1024. Its location is (1280,0) Pipe 1 channel 0 goes to the left wall. Its size is 1280x1024. Its location is (0,0) Pipe 1 channel 1 goes to the floor. Its size is 1280x1024. Its location is (1280,0) The mpk file writes as follows:

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global
{ MPK_WATTR_PLANES_ALPHA 1 MPK_DEFAULT_EYE_OFFSET 57 MPK_WATTR_HINTS_STEREO 1 MPK_DATTR_QUADSTEREO_HEIGHT 768 MPK_DATTR_QUADSTEREO_WIDTH 1024 } config { name mode mono stereo "Config" stereo [ "", none ] [ "", quad ]

This is the global section where you set some global options. Always specify the MPK_WATTR_HINTS_STEREO option when using stereo. Set the MPK_DATTR_QUADSTEREO_HEIGHT and MPK_DATTR_QUADSTEREO_WIDTH to your manage area size when using stereo. Set the mode to stereo or mono to activate or not the stereoscopic rendering.

Declare the pipes you are using and specify their name. In each pipe section, declare the windows Version 5 will manage on these pipe (including the main document window). The main document window should always appear first in its pipe. If your run Version 5 in pipe X, the main document window will use the paramaters of the window declared first in the pipe X section of the configuration file. The window viewport specifies the window size and position within the pipe frame buffer. The figures correspond to a ratio of the managed area size : [x,y,width.height]. You should always declare one channel per window, and only one (Version 5 only support on channel per window). The term channel may be confusiong since it does not have the same meaning as the usual pipe channels. Just always declare the channel viewport as [0,0,1,1]. Then, specify the coordinates of the wall corners. This window image will then be supposed to be projected onto the corresponding wall, fitting exactly the rectangle described by the coordinates. The coordinates should be expressed in the MPK reference frame. Use the same unit as the unit. name viewport channel { name viewport wall { "left view" [ 0., 0., 1., 1. ] "left window" [0, 0, 1, 1 ] The default eye position is defined by this reference frame. This means that if you use the MPConfig command without head tracking, the point of view will be computed for a user standing with its head at this reference frame origin, looking along its Z axis, and with its right on the positive X axis side. Since it is usually better to define the system front wall as the one naturally seen by the default head position, the MPK reference frame is chosen so that this front wall is on its Z axis side. Bear also in mind that the interaction with the model is only possible within the main window. In particular, this is the case of the viewpoint manipulation with the mouse. Thus, the front wall is usually set as the main document window. Here, we get :

pipe { display window { ":0.0"

bottom_left -1524, 1828.8 ] bottom_right -1524, -1828.8 ] top_left 1828.8 ] }

[-1828.8, [-1828.8, [-1828.8, 1524,

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} } window { name viewport channel { name viewport wall { bottom_left -1524, -1828.8 ] bottom_right -1828.8 ] top_left -1828.8 ] } } } } pipe { display window { name viewport channel { name viewport "right view" [ 0., 0., 1., 1. ] "right window" [0, 0, 1, 1 ] ":0.1" [-1828.8, 1524, [-1828.8, [1828.8, -1524, "front view" [ 0., 0., 1., 1. ] "front window" [0, 0, 1, 1 ]

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wall { bottom_left -1828.8 ] bottom_right 1828.8 ] top_left -1828.8 ] } } } window { name viewport channel { name viewport wall { bottom_left -1524, 1828.8 ] bottom_right 1828.8 ] top_left -1828.8 ] } } } } [-1828.8, -1524, [-1828.8, [1828.8, -1524, "floor view" [ 0., 0., 1., 1. ] "floor window" [0, 0, 1, 1 ] [1828.8, 1524, [1828.8, -1524, [1828.8, -1524,

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Workbench Description
Real Time Rendering 1 Real Time Rendering 2

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Workbench Description Real Time Rendering 1

The Material Library Version 5 application window looks like this: Click the hotspots to see related documentation:

Menu Bar Material Library Quick Reference Card

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Menu Bar
This section presents the menu bar tools and commands dedicated to the Material Library workbench. Help Insert Start File Edit View Tools Windows

Edit
For... See...

Paste Special... Copying & Pasting Using Paste Special...

Search...

Finding Materials

Links...

Modifying Materials

Properties

Modifying Materials

Insert
For... New Family See... Creating a Material Library

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New Material

Creating a Material Library

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Material Library Toolbar

See Creating a Material Library See Creating a Material Library See Creating a Material Library SeeCreating a Material Library See Creating a Material Library See Creating a Material Library See Modifying Material Lighting Properties and Modifying Material Texture Properties See Sorting Materials Within a Family See Sorting Materials Within a Family

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Quick Reference Card

Material Library
Create a Family
Scenario

In the Material Library workbench, click the icon to create a new family.

Rename a Family

Scenario

In the Material Library workbench, select the family to be renamed then click the icon and enter the new family name.

Remove a Family

Scenario

In the Material Library workbench, select the family to be removed then click the icon.

Create a Material

Scenario

In the Material Library workbench, select a family then click the icon to add a material.

Rename a Material

Scenario

In the Material Library workbench, select the material to be renamed then click the icon and enter the new material name.

Remove a Material

Scenario

In the Material Library workbench, select the material to be removed then click the icon.

Sorting Materials

Scenario

In the Material Library workbench, click the icon to arrange materials in ascending alphabetical order, from left to right and top to bottom. In the Material Library workbench, click the icon to arrange materials in descending alphabetical order.

Modify a Material

Scenario

In the specification-tree, right-click the material to be modified then click the icon. or In the specification-tree, right-click the material to be modified then select the Edit->Properties... command.

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or

In the specification-tree, right-click the material to be modified then select Properties from the contextual menu.

Apply Material
Apply a Material
Scenario

Select the element on which the material should be applied then click the icon and choose a material from the Library.

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Workbench Description Real Time Rendering 2

The Real Time Rendering 2 application window looks like this. Click the hotspots to see related documentation:

Menu Bar Scene Editor Toolbar Animation Toolbar Apply Material Toolbar Viewpoint Toolbar Quick Reference Card

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Menu Bar
This section presents the menu bar tools and commands dedicated to the Real Time Rendering 2 workbench. Many other operations are documented in the Version 5 Infrastructure User`s Guide. Start File Edit View Insert Tools Windows Help

Start
The Start menu is a navigation tool intended to help you toggle between different workshops. The contents of the Start menu vary according to the configurations and/or products installed. For... Infrastructure->Real Time Rendering See... For more information about the Start menu, refer to the Infrastructure documentation.

File
The File menu lets you perform file creation, opening, saving and printing operations. Refer to the Infrastructure documentation.

Edit
The Edit menu lets you manipulate selected objects. Please refer to the Infrastructure documentation.

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View
The View menu lets you view document contents. Please refer to the Infrastructure documentation.

View - >Toolbars
For... See...

Animation Apply Material Scene Editor

Animation Toolbar Apply Material Toolbar Scene Editor

Scene Editor Toolbar For... Create Box Environment Create Spot Light Create Camera Animation Toolbar For... Create Turntable Simulation Generate Video Play a Simulation Apply Material Toolbar For... Apply Material Apply Sticker See... Applying a Material and Defining the Wallpaper Applying Stickers See... Creating a Turntable Creating a Simulation and Animating Scene Elements in a Simulation Generating a Video Using the Player See... Creating an Environment Defining a Light Source Creating a Camera

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Catalog Browser

Browsing the Scene Catalog

Tools
The Tools menu lets you perform image capture and album management, set user preferences and manage macros. lease refer to the Infrastructure documentation.

Window
The Window menu lets you arrange document windows in relation one to the other. Please refer to the Infrastructure documentation.

Help
The Help menu lets you get help on the currently active command and the product in general. Please refer to the Infrastructure documentation.

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Scene Editor Toolbar

This toolbar contains the following tools for creating and managing scene elements:

See Creating an Environment See Creating an Environment See Creating an Environment See Importing an Environment See Defining a Light Source See Defining a Light Source See Defining a Light Source See Creating a Camera from a Viewpoint

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Animation Toolbar
This toolbar contains the following tools for creating and rendering turntables:

See Creating a Turntable See Creating a Simulation See Generating a Video See Using the Player

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Apply Material Toolbar

This toolbar contains the following tools for applying materials and stickers as well as browsing material catalogs.

See Applying Materials See Applying Stickers See Scene Catalog

Viewpoint Toolbar
This toolbar contains the following tools for adjusting your viewpoint:

See Looking At Objects in the Version 5 - DMU Navigator User`s Guide See Defining a Light Source See Defining a Light Source See Magnifying in the Version 5 - DMU Navigator User`s Guide

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Quick Reference Card

Scene Editor
Environments
Scenario

Click the icon to create an environment with a rectangular shape. Click the icon to create an environment with a spherical shape. Click the icon to create an environment with a cylindrical shape. Click the icon then select the .cam file to import to generate the environment.Scenario Lights
Scenario

Click the icon to create a light source with a conical shape. Click the icon to create a light source emitting light in all directions. Click the icon to create a light source generating constant intensity parallel lighting. Camera
Scenario

Click the icon to create a camera at the current viewpoint.

Animation
Create a Turntable
Scenario

Click to create the turntable, then position it along the x,y and z axes. Create a Simulation
Scenario

Select the object to be animated then click the icon to define the animation. or Play a Simulation Click the icon, choose the object to be animated from the Select dialog box then define the animation.
Scenario1 Scenario2

Click the icon, select the simulation to record then choose the video name and format from the Video Generation dialog box. Click the icon, select the simulation to replay then define the Player Parameters before replaying the simulation.

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Apply Material
Apply a Material
Scenario

Select the element on which the material should be applied then click the icon and choose a material from the Library. Apply a Sticker
Scenario

Click the icon then select the Stick contextual command and choose the 3D location onto which the sticker should be applied. Browse the Scene Catalog
Scenario

Click the icon to open the Scene catalog then double-click the selected elements to instantiate them. or or Click the icon to open the Scene catalog, copy then paste the selected element directly onto the product in the specification tree. Click the icon to open the Scene catalog, drag and drop the selected element directly onto the product in the specification tree.

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Customizing For Real Time Rendering

This section describes how to customize different settings. All tasks described here deal with permanent setting customization. These tasks are: Material General Settings Setting Priority Between a Part and a Product

Rendering Display Stickers

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Material Library
This tasks explains how to define material general settings using the Tools -> Options... menu item. 1. Select the Tools -> Options... command. 2. Click the Infrastructure category then select the Material Library subcategory to display the Material tab:

3. Activate the "Warning when adding new properties to a material".

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Once the warning option has been activated, whenever you wish to add properties to a material (by double-clicking on it and choosing the Analysis or Drafting tab for examples) a warning message is issued:

This to let you know that the material have been modified when you accessed the analysis or drafting properties.

4. Check the "Link mode is the default mode for applying materials" option to map the selected material as a linked object and thus, have it automatically updated to reflect any changes to the original material in the library. Note: the link mode is activated whichever method you use to apply the material: click Apply Material or use copy & paste or drag & drop capabilities. For more information, refer to "Applying Materials" in the CATIA - Real Time Rendering User`s Guide. 5. The "Force mode is the default inheritance mode" option lets you activate the force inheritance mode, i.e. force a material when applying it onto parts, products, bodies or surfaces in order to make it visible even if a father material propagates. For more information on inheritance modes, refer to Setting Priority between Part and Product in the CATIA - Real Time Rendering User`s Guide. 6. Use the "Desynchronize visualization when modifying material attributes" option to modify the material properties independently from the visualization and thus, to avoid visualization refresh which can take a long time when working on big models.

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7. When checked, the Material Parameter Creation option automatically creates a material parameter for any part or product you create or read, even if no material is mapped onto it. As a consequence, an automatic update may occur when opening a .CATProduct or .CATPart file. Checking the Material Parameter Creation option also means that the "Material=None" parameter will not appear in the specification tree. If you use a SGI workstation, along with the ClearCoat product successfully installed, you can activate the ClearCoat Support option to be able to use its specific data. In this case, the system automatically looks for .cc360 extension files (if these files exist in the same directory) to replace the images used to define the material textures, i.e. tiff, rgb, and so on. For detailed information about ClearCoat 360, browse the following Internet site: http://www.sgi.com/software/clearcoat/ 8. Use the "Modifying a material parameter creates a link towards catalog" option to create (when checked) or not a linked material when modifying a mapped material using Knowledgeware capabilities. Do not forget to check the "Parameters" option in Tools->Options->Mechanical Design->Part Design->Display to visualize the Material parameter. In the two examples below, the Material parameter was selected in the specification tree then modified via the Edit Parameter dialog box (using the Material object->Definition... contextual command):

Example 1 Option checked Material applied as a linked material

Example 2 Option not checked Material applied as a non-linked material

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9. The Environment Image area enables you to use your own environment instead of the default one provided. icon to Simply enter the path to the user-defined environment or use the open the File Selection dialog box which lets you browse your folders to the desired location. Or Click the Environment image generator Generator panel: icon to open the Environment Map

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In the upper part of the dialog box, just click each environment wall (i.e. "Up", "Back", etc.) then navigate to the desired image using the File Selection panel. The resulting environment will be displayed on the environment map as shown below:

The Image Size pulldown list lets you choose a Small, Medium or Large size for your environment image. Once the image is generated, enter its name and path in the "Save as" field or icon to open the File Selection dialog box which lets you browse click the your folders to the desired location. Click OK to validate and go back to the Material tab. 10. Click OK.

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Setting Priority Between a Part and a Product

This tasks explains how to set material visualization priority between the material applied to a Part and another material applied to a Product. Open the PriorityProduct1.CATProduct document. The document contains a Part, a Part instance and a Product onto which three different materials have been applied. By default, the material mapped onto the Product is displayed, having precedence over any other element into the document. Therefore, in our example, the Alpine Fir material is visible:

1. Right-click the Alpine Fir material in the specification tree and using the Properties menu item, display the Properties dialog box.

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2. Select the Inheritance tab.

The three available inheritance modes are the following ones: Propagates material towards children: the material propagates towards lower levels in the hierarchy (default mode). The corresponding material icon in the specification tree is . No propagation of material towards children: the material does not propagate. The corresponding material icon in the specification tree is . Force material and do not accept material from father: the material is forced, i.e. it is visible even if an upper level material propagates. The corresponding material icon in the specification tree is .

3. Check the "No propagation of material towards children" option. The element visualization is instantly modified, and you can now visualize the material mapped onto the Part instance. The geometry now looks like this:

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4. Click OK.

If you had selected the "Force material and do not accept material from father" option, the geometry would have looked like this:

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To be able to visualize the material mapped onto the lowest element in the specification tree (the Part here) you only need to force the material on this element.

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Rendering Display and Stickers

This task explains how to customize Rendering display as well as the sticker default image.

Rendering Display
1. Select the Tools->Options... command then in the Infrastructure category, click the Real Time Rendering sub-category. The Display tab appears:

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Setting Light Display This area lets you control the display of inactive lights: check the "No display for inactive lights" option to turn off inactive light display check the "Full display for inactive lights" option to turn on inactive light display.

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Setting Environment Display This area lets you to set the type of environment display: check the "No display for inactive environments" option to turn off inactive environment display check the "Simplified display for inactive environments" option to display inactive environments in a simplified way check the "Full display for inactive environments" option to turn on inactive environment display.

Setting Environment Reflection Display This area lets you define reflection parameters: check the "Enable" option to enable active environment reflections on reflective objects. However, bear in mind that this option does NOT deactivate the active environment reflections. Whenever you wish to restore the default reflections, you can either deactivate the environment by right-clicking it in the specification tree then unchecking the "Environment Active" option, or simply delete it. Checking this option grays out the fields displayed below: specify the reflection Quality: Low, Medium or High check the "Enable reflections when viewpoint is changed" option to update environment reflections on reflecting objects when the viewpoint is modified beyond a predefined threshold. Otherwise, the reflection update only occurs when you are working with a new or modified environment (i.e. new wall textures or colors). you can use the "Quality while moving" option to indicate the texture size used when the viewpoint is moved the "Update threshold" field lets you specify the texture update threshold in degrees when the viewpoint is rotated the "Computation passes" field lets you indicate the number of texture passes.

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Stickers
1. Select the Tools->Options... command then in the Infrastructure category, click the Rendering subcategory. 2. Click the Sticker tab:

3. The Default Image area lets you replace the default sticker image with your own image. icon to open the Simply enter the path to the user-defined image or use the File Selection dialog box which lets you browse your folders to the desired location. 4. Click OK to validate.

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Glossary A
ambient lighting attenuation The intensity of light emitted in any direction by the object, even if not lit by any light source The action of lessening illumination

C
camera A rectangular-shaped element with a lens used to specify the chosen viewpoint to take the image

D
diffuse lighting directional light The intensity of light diffused by the object when lit by light sources A light coming from a given direction (like the sun, for instance) generating constant intensity parallel lighting

E
environment A geometrical element, either rectangular, cylindrical or spherical, used to simulate interior as well as exterior scenes

L
light source A source of light illuminating the object to be rendered

M
mapping material A method used to apply an image onto an object in order this object acquires a surface texture An object that can be mapped onto a geometry to simulate visually and physically the components an object is made of (e.g. wood, stone, etc.)

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P
part point light product property A 3D entity obtained by combining different features A punctual illumination (like a bulb, for instance) emitting light isotropically, i.e. in all directions A 3D entity containing several components The attribute or characteristic of an object that defines its state, appearance or value

R
reflectivity refraction rendering roughness The ability to reflect light The degree of light passing through an object A photo-realistic drawing of three-dimensional objects The dullness of an object (it represents the size of the reflecting zone)

S
scene A reusable configuration enabling to put models on stage using cameras, light sources, environments, turntables specification tree An area of the document window reserved for viewing the design specifcations of a part, presented in the form of a tree structure specular lighting The dullness of an object spot light A light source emitting the light isotropically inside a cone of influence determined by the privileged direction of illumination (forming the axis of revolution) and the angle that the edge of the cone forms with this axis. An image that can be mapped onto a face of a product

sticker

T
texture transparency An image that can be mapped onto the geometry The degree of transparency of an object. The object transparency defines its property of transmitting light so that elements lying beyond are seen

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turntable

A revolvable platform enabling to generate a sequence of images representing the model rotation around a user-defined axis

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Index
A
adjustment sticker advanced reflection settings ambient lighting Analysis and Drafting applications tabs Animate viewpoint option animation replay Animation toolbar Apply Customized View command Apply Material command Apply Material toolbar Apply Sticker command applying material attenuation (lighting) angle ratio end start ratio automatic mapping

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B
box environment broken link

C
camera conical cylindrical focal length lens manipulate properties view Camera Window command catalog description keyword Catalog Browser command CATStartupPath variable color intensity lighting sticker commands

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Apply Customized View Apply Material Apply Sticker Camera Window Catalog Browser Copy Copy Rendering Data Create Box Environment Create Cylinder Environment Create Directional Light Create Library Create Point Light Create Sphere Environment Create Spot Light Create Turntable Edit simulation objects Edit-Links Edit-Properties Environment Active Generate Video Import an Environment New Family New Material Paste Special... Play a Simulation Remove Family Remove Material

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Rename Family Rename Material Search Send To Directory Send To Mail Send To-Mail/Directory Simulation Sort Material (A-Z) Sort Material (Z-A) Wall Active compass conical camera Copy command Copy Rendering Data command copying material material rendering parameters Create Box Environment command Create Cylinder Environment command Create Directional Light command Create Point Light command Create Sphere Environment command Create Spot Light command Create Turntable command cylinder environment cylindrical

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camera

D
default library diffuse lighting dimensions environment dynamic reflections

E
Edit simulation objects command Edit-Links command Edit-Properties command environment box cylinder dimensions importing properties reflections resize sphere Environment Active command Environment Image generator

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environment reflections

F
family removing renaming Feature Properties finding material Flip U,V focal length camera

G
Generate Video command gizmo

H
HLS hue

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I
image formats Import an Environment command importing environment intensity color interoperability V4 textures

L
layout sticker lens camera library default material library (material) Light On option light source manipulate symbol lighting ambient attenuation color

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diffuse parameters position properties reflectivity refraction roughness shape specular transparency wall lighting properties material link material Link to file option link u,v loop mode luminance

M
manipulate camera light source mapping material sticker

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material applying copying finding library lighting properties link mapping modifying positioning properties removing renaming size sorting specifications texture properties Material Library toolbar Material Library workbench material texture sending Menu toolbar Menu toolbar model manipulation modifying material

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N
New Family command New Material command

O
orientation

P
parameters lighting texture Paste Special... command planar projection Play a Simulation command Player position lighting position u,v positioning material properties camera environment lighting material

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rendering sticker texture

R
Real Time Rendering 1 workbench description Real Time Rendering 2 workbench description real time shadows reflections environment reflectivity lighting refraction lighting Remove Family command Remove Material command removing family material Rename Family command Rename Material command renaming family material rendering properties

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repeat u,v replay animation resize environment RGB roughness lighting

S
saturation scale U, V scale u,v Scene Editor toolbar Search command Send To Directory command Send To Mail command sending material texture Shadows option shape (lighting) Simulation command Sort Material (A-Z) command Sort Material (Z-A) command sorting materials specular

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lighting sphere environment sticker adjustment color layout mapping properties transparency

T
texture parameters properties texture properties material toolbar Animation Apply Material Menu Scene Editor toolbars Animation Apply Material Material Library Menu

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Scene Editor transparency lighting sticker

U
u,v link position repeat scale Use Transparent Color option

V
V4 textures interoperability variable CATStartupPath video view camera

W
wall lighting

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Wall Active command workbench Material Library workbench description Real Time Rendering 1 Real Time Rendering 2