Scratch plate hatching

Diamond hatching

Hints & Tips

For this newsletter we will take a look at some of the common questions asked where answers are not so obvious. During the training courses, many of these questions are explained but for those who have been unable to attend....

Embossing text
It is currently possible to create true type text as profiles and extrude them as individual solid bodies and either unite or subtract to create permanent text on a solid entity. However, using the command EDIT > PROJECT ELEMENTS it is possible to automatically project the text geometry on the solid / surface body.

After projection, it is possible to use the command MODELLING > MOVE A FACE (window selection) to extrude all the individual text faces and automatically generate the embossed text.

Please note that it is also possible to leave the text as imprinted edges (with no thickness) but these edges may get simplified during other modelling operations. To prevent this happening, it is possible to use the command OPERATION > MARK / UNMARK RELEVANT EDGES. Once applied it is possible to retain relevant edges during body simplification.

Custom hatching
The question was recently asked about the ability to create custom hatching patterns. This is certainly possible, but it requires a pen and a piece of paper. Within your VISI\User_Profiles\Default\Language folder you will find a file called 'HATCH.CFG'. This file can be opened with a text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad.

Each individual hatch pattern is displayed as a separate section within the file, for example :

[CROSS]
#Segment 1 = 0.5, 0.0, 0.5, 1.0;
#Segment 2 = 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 0.5;

The hatch pattern is defined on a 1 x 1 grid and the co-ordinates represent the start point and end point of each segment (any number of segments or parameters can be used). An example of a custom hatch pattern is displayed below.

Scratch plate hatching	Diamond hatching
[Scratch Plate] #Segment 1 = 0.2, 0.2, 0.8, 0.8; #Segment 2 = 0.3, 0.7, 0.0, 1.0; #Segment 3 = 0.7, 0.3, 1.0, 0.0;	[Diamond BB] #Segment 1 = 0.5, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5; #Segment 2 = 0.2, 0.5, 0.5, 0.9; #Segment 3 = 0.5, 0.9, 0.8, 0.5; #Segment 4 = 0.8, 0.5, 0.5, 0.1;

If you have any tips or tricks that you would like to share, please email me with a short description (marc@vero.co.uk) and I will add them to a future Vero Newsletter.

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