Basic 3D entity creation capabilities (plane, cylinder, cone, sphere,
etc.)
Label creation
Feature recognition capabilities – For example, if a cylinder is originally described in general BSpline-form, there may be a need to "recognize" its radius and its orientation in the 3D space
Fast and easy-to-use 2D/3D view (orthographic / perspective view, object
transparency, etc.)
Simplified event generation from the mouse actions (object picking,
widow selection results, automatic rotation/pan/zoom on mouse moves, etc.)
Point picking on surfaces, curves
3DCore is an ideal choice if you must work on CAD models and need a 3D view, but are not necessarily concerned with modeling and CAD design. 3DCore contains COM components to build three-dimensional "models" and an ActiveX "view" component for visualization. It has a "multiple document – multiple view" structure. This means that the application can operate with more than one model and more than one view of a model.
The "Model" component is able to
Import CAD models from different
file formats (currentlyIGES, VDA, STL, DXF, later VRML, STEP and so on).
Store the CAD file to memory in a variety of modes (wireframe, curves, points with symbols, point groups, labels, etc.)
Create custom entities through application interface
Transform or animate entity groups in the 3D space
Supply information
on entities and their relationship (feature recognition)
Make calculations
on the entities
Quickly store/restore the whole model - or a part of it - in
an internal file format
The "View" component deals with graphic
representation. It includes:
Resizable 3D view area for rendering the model
Orthographic / perspective
view
Shaded / wireframe view
Meshing the surfaces with controllable detail
level
Typical graphic functions (part movements, zoom, color management,
etc. )
"Picking" entities
"Picking" points on surfaces/curves
Cross-sectioning with up
to six planes
Adjustable entity transparency
Hide/lock entities
Event generation towards the main application
Make screenshots
These kinds of components (COM, ActiveX) are widely supported by the current software technology and can be used in applications for example developed in Visual C++, Delphi, Visual Basic or Java.
There is also a test-application (which is developed in Borland-Delphi) to demonstrate/teach 3DCore’s usage. (It also demonstrates how easy it is to use these components: a full functional IGES viewer can be written approx. in 500 program lines only!)
The 3DCore components are object-oriented, developed in Visual C++ and they are supplied in some .dll, .ocx files +documentation and an .odl header file. On special request we can modify/expand the interfaces, functionality to match the individual needs!
SmartFit 3D, which is also based on 3DCore’s model, expands 3DCore’s mathematical capabilities into best-fitting.
3D Core - Demo application
- Screenshots
Four viewports, with a different background colors. The bottom-right view uses perspective; the rest use orthographic.
Imported DXF drawing. You can see the model structure in the tree on the right, and the properties of the selected circle on the bottom.
2D drawing imported from IGES, with part of it zoomed in (right-side view).
Imported STL file in shaded, silhouette, wireframe, and triangle views.
Imported 3D DXF, viewed from various angles.
Imported VDA model, displayed with silhouette on the left, and without silhouette on the right. The model structure also can be seen in the tree on the right.
Left view: before material-side correction; right view: after material-side correction.
Left view: transparent; right view: not transparent.
