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DriveWorks Pro 23
3D Preview Box

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3D Preview Box

The 3D Preview Box is a form control that can be placed on a form in DriveWorks, so that an interactive 3D Model can be displayed during specification.

The 3D Preview Box can run in three different modes:

  • File Mode

    Use File Mode to display a .drive3d file in the 3D Preview control.

    To run the control in File Mode the File Name (see below) property of the control must be set.

    When a value is applied to the File Name property the file will be displayed in the 3D Preview Box.

    If a value is not applied DriveWorks will look for a value applied to the Preview Document Name property.

  • Document Mode

    Use Document mode to display a configured DriveWorks 3D File - document in the 3D Preview control.

    To run the control in Document Mode the Preview Document Name (see below) property must be set.

    When a value is applied to this property the document will be displayed in the 3D Preview Box.

    If a value is not applied DriveWorks will look for a value applied to the Preview Engine property.

  • Autopilot Mode

    Individual Groups

    Autopilot Mode for either of the Generation Methods (OnDemand or Queued) is not supported for Individual Groups.

    Use Autopilot Mode to display a .drive3d file that has been created by going through SOLIDWORKS, to create the exact model specified in the user form, from the rules applied in the Model Rules list.

    Autopilot Mode will take the first active model found from the Model Rules list.

    When looking for the first active model, the search will begin from the bottom of the Model Rules list.

    The first active model found is a viable root component set.

    A viable component set is a top-level model with a valid file name.

    Component sets can be bypassed in the Model Rules tree by setting their file name to "DELETE".

    Autopilot Mode will not use these models and will continue searching up the list.

    During a specification, file names can result in delete but when released, switch back so they will generate.

    The 3D Preview control will run in Autopilot Mode when the properties: File Name, Preview Document Name and Preview Engine have no values applied to them.

    When using Autopilot Mode, while specifying through DriveWorks Live, the Preview Service Location setting must be applied in the web.config file. See the Configuring the 3D Preview Service Location heading in the 3D Preview Service Location topic.

    When using the 3D preview Box control in Autopilot mode a location must be set for the Group Content Folder (see General Settings.)

    To troubleshoot Autopilot Mode please see How To: Troubleshoot Autopilot 3D Preview.

The computer running DriveWorks Autopilot will need its Firewall settings to be modified. This will allow a secure connection to the 3D Preview service. Please refer to Autopilot: 3D Preview Settings for more information.
Multiple DriveWorks Autopilots can be used to generate 3D Previews. Please see Info: 3D Preview Load Balancing for more information.
3D Preview performance in DriveWorks Live has been significantly improved. When a model is altered in a 3D document or an OnDemand based preview, only the altered parts on the model will be downloaded. The model will continue to be visible (but locked) while the altered, removed or added parts are reloaded.

Properties

Appearance

  • Background Color

    Specifies the color of the control's background.

  • Display Performance Window

    Determines whether to show the performance window over the preview control. True will show the performance window. False will hide the performance window.

  • Enter Immersive XR Button File Name

    An absolute path, or path relative to the project file of the image to show on the preview enter XR button, if you have chosen to display it.

  • Enter Inline XR Button File Name

    An absolute path, or path relative to the project file, of the image to show on the preview enter Inline XR button, if you have chosen to display it.

  • Loading Progress Bar Color

    The color of the progress bar displayed when a preview is loading, if you have chosen to display it.

  • Loading Progress Display

    Specifies how the progress of a loading preview will be displayed within the Preview Control.

  • Loading Progress Image File Name

    An absolute path, or path relative to the project file, of the image to show, if you have chosen to display it.

Appearance - Border

  • Border Color

    Specifies the color of the control's outer border when the 'SingleLine' border style is selected.

  • Border Style

    Configures the border style of the control.

  • Border Width

    Specifies the width of the control's border.

Autopilot Mode

  • Generation Method

    Specifies which model generation method to use when previewing the model.

  • Tags

    Specifies the tags that each Autopilot will use to determine whether it can process the preview. Note: These Tags will override any Tags set in Model Rules.

  • Timeout

    Specifies the number of seconds to wait before the preview times out. 0 should be used to specify no timeout.

  • Use Relative Path Rules

    Determines the location that the .drive3d files will be output to when using the OnDemand generation method. True will use the relative path rules set in Model Rules to determine the output location. False will use the group content folder.

  • Use SOLIDWORKS Extension Suffix

    Specifies whether to include the SOLIDWORKS file type extension in the file name of the .drive3d that will be created when using the OnDemand generation method. False will omit this from the file name, otherwise True will include it. Note: If the suffix is omitted all parts and assemblies must have unique file names.

Behavior

  • Camera Auto-Center

    Controls whether to automatically center panning on the 3D scene's center rather than the origin.

  • Camera Default Orientation

    Default Orientation for the 3D preview camera. Values in the order: horizontal rotation, vertical rotation and zoom distance. Then camera pan X, Y and Z position values in millimeters. E.g. "90|45|50|0|2|0".

  • Camera Enable Orthographic

    Whether the default camera should use an orthographic projection instead of perspective.

  • Camera Enable Pan

    Controls whether panning is enabled.

  • Camera Pan Max Radius

    The maximum distance from the Camera Default Orientation's position you are allowed to pan in millimeters.

  • Camera Rotation Limits

    The limits for rotation from the Camera Default Orientation's rotation in the format: "Left|Right|Up|Down"

  • Camera Zoom Limits

    The limits for camera zoom distance in the format: "Min|Max".

  • Enable Animations

    Shows or hides the control menu

  • Enable Hover

    Enables hover on the 3D preview control, enabling mouse-over features for 3D models.

  • Enable Image Mode

    Specifies whether to use image mode for the 3D Preview Control when viewed in a browser.

  • Enable VR

    Shows or hides the Toggle VR button. (Only in web browser)

  • Enabled

    Controls whether the control is enabled (if the result is TRUE) or disabled (if the result is anything other than TRUE, e.g. FALSE).

  • Error Result

    Determines whether the value of the control is in error. The result of this rule is a string containing the error message if the value is in error, otherwise a blank string or the number zero.

  • File Name

    An absolute path, or path relative to the project file, of the picture to show.

  • Final Frame Render

    Enables or disables rendering with high quality settings when the scene is not moving in a browser.

  • Lighting

    Lighting setup to use in the 3D Preview Control

  • Preview Document Name

    The name of the project document that provides the preview model to show.

  • Preview Engine

    Leave this property empty so the default preview engine will be used (recommended), or set to the name of a specific preview engine to override the default.

  • Tab Index

    Configures the position of the control in the form tab order.

  • Visible

    Determines whether the control is visible (TRUE) or hidden (FALSE).

General

  • (Metadata)

    Optional text which can be used to provide information belonging to or about a control. For example, a list of CSS classes which can be parsed and applied to the control using the Integration Theme in DriveWorks Live. This doesn't affect the control's behavior.

  • (Name)

    The name of the control

  • (Tag)

    Optional text which can be used to describe the control, but which doesn't affect the control's behavior.

  • Tooltip Duration

    Controls the duration, in seconds, for which the tooltip will remain visible. Values of 0 and below indicate an infinite duration.

  • Tooltip Text

    Specifies the text to display in a tooltip when hovering over the control.

Layout

  • Height

    Controls the height of the control.

  • Left

    Controls the left position of the control.

  • Top

    Controls the top position of the control.

  • Width

    Controls the width of the control.

A user form control that displays a box in which an interactive 3D Model can be displayed during specification in DriveWorks Live.

The 3D Preview Box can run in 3 different modes:

  1. File Mode - Requires the location of existing 3D content to be applied to the File Name property of the control.
  2. Document Mode - Requires the name of an Output Document that uses a DriveWorks 3D file to be applied in the Preview Document Name property of the control.
  3. Autopilot Mode - Requires the name of an engine that DriveWorks Autopilot will use to render 3D content back to the control, this is set in the Preview Engine property of the control.

File Mode describes the 3D Preview Box when it is pointed at a static file on your computer or the network.

Document Mode describes the 3D Preview Box when it is pointed at a DriveWorks 3D document in your DriveWorks Project. Using the 3D Preview Box in this way, enables changes on your form to alter the displayed 3D file; based on rules.

A mode of operation for the 3D Preview Box control to display 3D content.


This mode will create and render SolidWorks files using the specified engine.

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