Graphics

Collaboration with both ATI and NVidia has lead to dramatic improvements in graphics speed and quality. As an example the number of FPS (Frames Per Second) is now up to 20 times faster. The recommended graphic cards for VISI 17 are the ATI FireGL and FirePro series and the NVidia Quadro series.

Graphics Card : NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M | Operating System : Windows VISTA 64

Workfile Name	Workfile Size	FPS - V17 - Open GL	FPS - V17 -  DirectX	FPS - V16 - Open GL	FPS - V16 - DirectX
1-04-638-1final.wkf	168MB	23.8	39.9	4.23	3.11
F02034.wkf	118MB	57.62	112.72	18.1	14.24
4759_mold.wkf	70MB	59.6	59.94	11.3	6.72
JIC_137.wkf	60MB	59.94	86.08	13.08	8.71
3865_394951_00_re.wkf	59MB	46.78	77.08	10.43	7.03
MW252.wkf	49MB	60.1	177.65	29.63	21.39
Tool-10.wkf	35MB	51.44	99.4	13.13	9.15

Graphics Card : ATI Fire ProV5700 | Operating System : Windows VISTA 64

Workfile Name	Workfile Size	FPS - V17 - Open GL	FPS - V17 -  DirectX	FPS - V16 - Open GL	FPS - V16 - DirectX
1-04-638-1final.wkf	168MB	72.39	71.75	2.88	4.82
F02034.wkf	118MB	238.16	205.33	9.97	19.46
4759_mold.wkf	70MB	146.66	96.16	5.55	10.47
JIC_137.wkf	60MB	163.66	176.83	7.54	13.33
3865_394951_00_re.wkf	59MB	151.48	160.16	6.22	11.8
MW252.wkf	49MB	321.33	371.16	18.19	35.24
Tool-10.wkf	35MB	198.33	196.5	8.6	15.25

Processor

VISI 17 uses an enhanced processor instruction command set (SSE2) which gives processing speeds app. 10% faster than previously. However this means that VISI 17 is no longer available on processors that do not support this feature. Specifically it is no longer available on Pentium III processors, or on AMD chips available prior to the Opteron or ATHLON 64 chip that was introduced in 2003.

Model Thickness Analysis

A new feature under the Analysis menu that enables you to calculate and display the thickness of a CAD model using two user-defined algorithms. One based on the largest sphere that can be placed within the model and a second algorithm based on shooting a ray through the model along the triangle normal.

This tool can be used to quickly identify thick and thin areas of the model that helps validate the model integrity and highlight any areas that may cause internal voids, surface sink marks, unpredictable shrink rates and longer cycle times.

Align Geometry / Solid Mating

The Advanced Transformation functions for face and edge alignment were rarely used because of their complexity and have been replaced with two new commands that also manage both frontal and co-planar alignment combinations. The Align Elements command replaces the two previous commands, and a new Solid Mating function allows intelligent mating of solid geometry based on face type and application point. This command can be used to mate planar faces, cylindrical faces to holes and cylindrical faces to meeting corner conditions.

Plotview

There are numerous improvements to the management of plot view. One of the more significant is the ability to import pages from other work files and re-build the link between the solid geometry. This is a very important point and represents the start of Collaborative Work for multiple users. This capability allows multiple users to share the same 3D design with each designer creating their own plotview pages - adding views, sections, annotations, balloons etc. When the pages have been completed, they can be imported back into the master file and all ID links to the 3D data are reconnected.

Body Weight Calculation

A new feature has been added to Assembly Manager that makes it is possible to calculate the weight and centre of gravity for a single body or a complete assembly based on the specific material weights defined within a new configuration file (WEIGHT.CFG).

Using this command it is possible to show:

• The total weight of the selected bodies (Kg or Lbs)
• The total volume of the selected bodies (cubic mm or cubic inches)
• The description of any commercial material name
• The coordinates of the centre of gravity

Printing

The printing has been completely revised for VISI 17. A single dialog is presented that allows the user to manage all printing parameters including Printer/Plotter setup, plot scale, orientation, a new dynamic preview window and the ability to plot the image plane, grid, axis and the WPL / origin.

Surfaces

Drape Surface - The drape surface has been updated to include the ability to automatically trim the resulting surface. If the geometry selected to create the drape surface produces a closed loop (wireframe or edges), a new option will be available within the drape dialog to automatically trim the result.

Piped Surface - The 'Piped Surface' command has been improved to allow multiple selection of drive elements. If a single drive element has been selected, a new option to reverse the start & end radius will become active.

Face Selection

Two new face selection methods have been introduced to dramatically increase the speed of multiple face selection.

1. Matching Faces : When selecting a face, the system will search for matching face conditions for both planar and concentric cylindrical faces of the same diameter.

2. Tangent Seed faces : Similar to seed face detection, when this option is active, the system will detect all tangent faces from the master face using an interactive tangency tolerance.

Solid Groups

The management of solid groups has been updated to include the following capabilities :

• Copy solid group onto set of points
• Mirror solid group
• Modify solid group attributes (colour & layer)

When a solid group has been mirrored, the solid group manager is automatically updated and a family is created of the combined solid groups.

Workplane Management

The workplane commands have been integrated and simplified, reducing the total number of commands from 12 to 3. They have also been extended to include numerous dynamic actions and additional options.

Annotation

Various improvements to annotation including the ability to select ISO or ANSI dimensioning without re-starting the application.

A new Note command has been included which is similar to the stamp concept within E Drawings. The note remains visible and constant to the viewing direction, independent of view, rotation, or other transformations. It is available in both model and plot views. The Note3D has also been improved with respect to its auto-hide visibility during model rotation.

Back...