4.13. Bodies

4.13.1. Adding New bodies

Shortcuts:
  • Menu → Insert → Bodies

  • Icon add.gif

  • Right-mouse-click to open popup menu

  • [Ctrl] + Right-mouse-click to open the insert dialog

  • [Spacebar] or [Ins] or [Ctrl*Enter] to open the insert dialog

  • [b] to open directly the bodies insert dialog

  • [B] to repeat the last body added

Mouse actions:

  1. Select the type of body you want to insert

  2. Move to the appropriate viewport, body will be perpendicular to the selected viewport

  3. <Left-mouse> click on the wished location of the new body

  4. either release the left-button and drag the cursor or keep the left-button pressed drag to the location of the first extend of the body .. note:

    - Releasing is lets you create more precise objects
    - You can type-in the coordinate the coordinate during the
      action e.g.  while adding a SPH type 40 and it
      will set the radius to 40
    
  5. click and continue with the next one…

Mouse Steps:

XYP.gifXYP, XZP.gifXZP, YZP.gifYZP: Viewport should not be parallel to body
  • Location

PLA.gifPLA: perpendicular to viewport
  • Location

  • 2nd point belonging on the plane

RPP.gifRPP: symmetric around the w-axis
  • Location

  • Outer corner on the viewing plane

BOX.gifBOX: XY plane // viewport, Z vector = -w
  • Location

  • X-vector end

  • Move outer plane

WED.gifWED: as in BOX.gifBOX
  • Location

  • X-vector

  • Y-vector (forced perpendicular to X)

RCC.gifRCC: Height will be lying on viewport
  • Location

  • Height

  • Radius

REC.gifREC: Height will be lying on viewport
  • Location

  • Height

  • Radius-X

  • Optionally: Radius-Y if viewport permits it

XCC.gifXCC, YCC.gifYCC, ZCC.gifZCC
  • Location

  • Radius

XEC.gifXEC, YEC.gifYEC, ZEC.gifZEC: be careful on the chosen viewport
  • Location

  • Radius-X

  • Optionally: Radius-Y if viewport permits it

TRC.gifTRC: Height will be lying on viewport
  • Location

  • Height

  • Apex radius

  • Base Radius

ARB.gifARB: not possible for the moment

QUA.gifQUA: will generate a sphere at desired location

Location

Note

  • The default dimension/radius of all new bodies is one grid unit

  • Renaming a body will automatically rename any reference to it without asking the user

  • All new bodies will use the same name prefix from the last body renamed

  • Shortcut: [n]ame allows to fast edit the name of the object without the need to move the mouse to the properties listbox

4.13.2. Body Visibility

The default behaviour is that body SEGMENTS ARE ONLY VISIBLE when they represent borders of REGIONs. In order to make them visible (to be able to visually select them):

  • Select the body (from the list box, or from its visible segment)

  • Menu → Select → Visibility → Set

  • Go to the Attributes and click on Visible [X] check box

  • or Right-click → Visibility → Set

  • or Shortcut [v]

  • or Icon toggle.gif on the ribbon

Experimentally you can display the 3D wireframe of a body in order to see it even if it doesn’t intersect the current viewport.

  • Go to the Attributes and click on Wireframe [X] check box

  • Menu → Select → Wireframe → Set

  • or Right-click → Wireframe → Set

  • or Shortcut [#]

  • or Icon wireframe.gif on the ribbon

4.13.3. Body Editing

Bodies can be edited either

Text:

directly in the properties listbox, typing the correct coordinates or in flair input editor

Graphically:
  • Select the body and the action handler(s) will be displayed

  • Click on the action handler (cursor) and start moving the object

  • Control + click on the action handler duplicates the body

  • Click for a second time and drag with the mouse the appropriate handler or body surface:

    • on the small circle to freely move (Shortcut: [g]rab)

    • on the large circle to rotate around w (Shortcut: [r]otate)

    • on the red/green/blue line representing the x/y/z axis to move but locked on the corresponding axis.

    • While moving with [g]rab or locked you can always turn on/off the axis locking by clicking on [x], [y] or [z]

    • on any surface to freely resize the body dimensions radius, etc..

    • on any small square handler (to be visible it has to lie on the viewing plane)

  • Shift-MouseWheel resizes the action handler

    body-handlers1.gif

Example a truncated cone TRC.gifTRC will look like below

body-handlers2.gif

Click and drag:

  1. On the base plane, to move it perpendicular to height vector

  2. On the small square handler on the apex plane, to freely move the height, axis or normal of body This handler appears only if it lies on the viewing plane

  3. On the apex plane, to move it perpendicular to the height vector

  4. On the conic surface close to the apex to resize the apex radius

  5. On the conic surface close to the base to resize the base radius

Shortcuts:
[Shift]:

pressing [Shift] while dragging cancels the alignment. (Free move)

[Ctrl]:

holding [Ctrl] while dragging makes more relaxed by a factor of 5 the snapping