Creating a Multi-View: Standard Views' Customization

Before you start

In order to take full advantage of this scenario, you need to be familiar with the basic vocabulary:

• "Viewer" is the screen area in which 3D objects are drawn
• "View" is a part of the viewer. Usually, the viewer has one single view but it can also be divided into 4 parts representing a different view each. When a viewer is split into several views, it is identified as a "multi-view" viewer
• "Viewpoint" is the set of parameters required for defining a 3D view volume, i.e. the eye of the user, the view direction, the focus point and the axis system defining the position of the user. It can be defined as the position in model coordinates at which the eye is looking.

Bear in mind that the configuration remains active throughout the whole Version 5 session but it is not saved when selecting File > Save As. For instance, if you apply a specific configuration then save and close your document before reopening it, this document is displayed using the last active view before the save.

However, the view direction and orientation you define in this tab are stored in the CATSettings directory and therefore, you can reuse your customization from one session to another by clicking Create Multi-View in the View toolbar. If no customization has been defined for a standard view, the default standard view is applied.

1. Select View > Navigation Mode > Multi-View Customization to open the Views and Layout dialog box then select the Standard Views tab:

   Note that you can also access the Standard Views tab by selecting View > Named Views then choosing a view from the list before clicking Properties.

   This dialog box is made up of six areas: standard views icons let you select the standard view to be customized View Selection lets you modify the direction and orientation of the selected standard view View Direction lets you manipulate the viewpoint Apply to axis lets you specify the axis to which the modification will be applied Reset All lets you restore all the standard views to their original default direction and orientation Confirmation: lets you validate or cancel the configuration.

2. Select a standard view to customize by clicking one of the icons displayed to the left. By default, Front View is selected. In our example, we click Back View .
   When a standard view is selected, the preview displayed in the View Selection area is updated:

   The standard views displayed in this dialog box are identical to those available in the Quick View toolbar:

   Isometric View Front View Back View Left View Right View Top View Bottom View

3. Click Apply then OK to apply Back View to the current viewer:

4. Re-select View > Navigation Mode > Multi-View Customization to re-open the Views and Layout dialog box: Back View is still selected and we can now start customizing the view.

5. Use the four translation arrows (such as ) to shift the selected standard view by 90 degrees in the arrow's direction.

   Below is an example of the result you can obtain when clicking repeatedly the arrow with Back View as the selected view and starting position displayed to the left:

   Note that if the current standard view is an isometric view, the isometric view's direction changes to one of the eight possible isometric views using predetermined increments. Below is an example using repeatedly the arrow with starting position displayed to the left:

6. Use the four rotation arrows (such as ) to change the orientation of the current view: one click on an arrow rotates the view by 90 degrees in the arrow's direction.

   Below is an example using repeatedly the arrow with starting position displayed to the left:

   Note that if the current standard view is an isometric view, the view is rotated by 60 degrees:

7. Use the three boxes displayed in the View Direction area to change the direction of the current view.

   This area indicates the direction of the selected standard view along the X, Y and Z axis (as shown below):

   To change the direction, you can enter one of these three values in the desired field: -1, 0 or 1 before clicking Apply. Note that if the selected view is not an isometric view, you can enter a value only in one of the tree fields: as soon as a value is entered in a field, the other two are automatically filled with the value "0". On the contrary, if the selected view is an isometric view, you can enter a value in the three fields. If you enter a positive value other than "1", it is changed to "1" and if you enter a negative value other than "-1", it is changed to "-1". For instance, entering "-1" instead of "1" in the first box to the left inverts the view direction along the X axis:

8. Use the Apply to axis area to position the selected standard view according to the local axis or to the axis you select:

   when Use local axis is displayed, it means that the standard view is positioned according to the active (i.e. current) local axis. If no local axis is active, the standard view is positioned according to the global axis system (displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen) of the UI-active object. For instance, if a part is activated, the standard view uses the part's axis as reference. To set an axis as current, right-click it in the specification tree or in the geometry area then select xxx object > Set As Current. select the Select axis check box lets you position the standard view according to a specific axis: to select the axis to be used, first select the text No Selection then click the axis to be used in the geometry area. The name of the selected axis is displayed in the box:
   The directions of the selected axis are saved in the CATSettings directory and are applied to the standard view. As these directions are stored in the settings, this means that the standard view is always positioned according to them and this, whatever the orientation changes you might make afterwards (for instance, if you change the compass orientation). If you want to apply new directions to the standard view, you need to select another axis. Note that the Select axis option remains activated even if you select another standard view. Therefore, do not forget to deactivate the option if you want to use the local axis.
   In case your current axis sytem is left-handed, the standard views are positioned according to the global axis system.  For detailed information about defining a three-axis system locally, refer to Axis System.
   	If you want to restore all the standard views to their original direction and orientation, click Reset All.

9. When satisfied with your configuration, click OK (or Apply then OK) to validate and close the Views and Layout dialog box.

10. In the View toolbar, click the icon of the standard view you have just customized (Back View in our example).

    The modified standard view is applied to the current viewer and you see that the result is totally different from the one in step 3 where the original standard Back View has been applied: