topic Re: Easy one: invert Surface Merge logic in 3D Part & Assembly Design

Project Lightning Wish List

pwyndham — Sun, 13 Dec 2020 00:16:42 GMT

This list is to articulate our wants and needs to PTC on what changes we would like to see to Pro/Engineer Wildfire with the release of Project Lightning. I was asked to put a list of what my company wanted to see in Lightning, and thought it would be better if PTC saw what the whole

Smart Filter List

pwyndham — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:43:04 GMT

The selection filter is a very helpful tool. It would be more helpful and easy to use if the list was in alphabetical order.

Here is the current WF5 order of the list in part mode.

This particular time the list is short, so easier to look through. Sometimes it gets longer and hard to find what you are looking for.

Pan, Rotate and Zoom

pwyndham — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:48:44 GMT

It would be really nice if Pan, Rotate and Zoom worked the same in all modes of working in Pro/E. For example the way it is now, the holding the middle mouse button in part mode rotates the part. But, if you are in Drawing mode the drawing pans. Scrolling works the same for zoom in both. Panning and Rotating should also. I understand there is no rotate in Drawing mode.

Re: Pan, Rotate and Zoom

pwyndham — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:50:38 GMT

Maybe make it so you can Pan, Rotate and Zoom without holding down the modifier key (Ctrl, Alt or Shift). Hold middle mouse to rotate, scroll the wheel to zoom, hold right mouse to pan. Then if you just press and release the middle mouse button without moving the mouse the menu comes up.

Initial Zoom for new parts

pwyndham — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:32:27 GMT

This might be hard to do, but it would be nice if there were an option to set the default zoom on new parts. When you are working on small metric parts it is hard to make the first sketch the right size. It seems to always end up too large. This causes you to have to scale the part and hope eveything moves correctly and you don't have any accidental constrants.

Many of our engineers work on handheld devices, so the internal parts are less than an inch. With the default sketcher zoom it seems that you always end up with 5 or 10 inch parts (or as in the picture below 76.44mm parts in metric, instead of 15mm).

Maybe there could be a config option to set the default zoom. Then it could be set to a value that is close to what most of your work needs.

Selection Search Order

JonathanHodgson — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:06:41 GMT

When picking solid geometry, the current search method appears to be:

- project a line into the screen under the cursor position

- select entities starting with the nearest to the line

- select vertices, then edges, then surfaces (possibly?)

If I point at the middle of a surface on the outside of a complex part or assembly, this means that the first entity selected is a vertex, somewhere inside or on the reverse of the model, and not the surface that my cursor appears to be on!

Since surfaces are preferred as references, followed by edges, with vertices the least preferred, the current search method works exactly backwards.

It is also counter-intuitive that something I can't see is selected before something I can (that I think I'm pointing to).

How about:

- project a line into the screen

- first select the nearest surface to the screen that the line passes through

- then select each edge and vertex attached to that surface, starting with the nearest to the line

- then select the next surface away from the screen...

Easy one: invert Surface Merge logic

JonathanHodgson — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:37:22 GMT

When we merge two surfaces, Pro/E is about 95% successful at choosing the wrong (default) side to keep, for both surfaces!

I've just merged a series of surfaces into my main quilt, the sequence being:

Select main quilt (graphics area)

Select new quilt (graphics area)

Select Merge (top right)

Change side of both quilts (bottom left)

Select new quilt (graphics area)

Select Merge (top right)

Change side of both quilts (bottom left)

Graphics area

Top right

Bottom left

Graphics area

Top right

Bottom left...

Does everyone else find that it wants to keep the wrong part of the quilt, or are we just using it wrong?

If other users agree, it should be easy to add a "NOT" to the code for this function.

Re: Selection Search Order

pwyndham — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:25:17 GMT

That is a great idea. It was one of the items on my list as well. One thought I would like to add is that if you are in wire frame mode, then selecting a line first is helpful. But, if you are in solid display mode the surface should absolutely be first.

Re: Dynamic Cross Section

pwyndham — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:35:40 GMT

Creating section views in Pro/E is extremely powerful. If would be even better if you could also create dynamic sections to complement the fixed sections. For this I think it would be great to bring in the dymanic section technology from ProductView.

This would allow the engineer the ability to look through the model and check for interferences. With the technology in ProductView it is also great, then non-CAD users can check the systems.

Here is a screenshot of ProductView:

Forgot to put in that it would be nice if the cross-section interface was easier to use and much quicker.

Re: Easy one: invert Surface Merge logic

DavidButz — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:01:04 GMT

Yes, it is my experience that it frequently, if not usually, picks the wrong side by default (generally the scrap rather than the body of a surface). Graphics and prompts could be clearer, too.

Re: Project Lightning Wish List

DavidButz — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:23:30 GMT

Folks,

Most of what we have been kicking around so far has to do with the User Interface, very important for clarity, efficiency, etc. Interestingly, this probably says--without saying--that the underlying substantive modeling capabilities are not where there is a deficiency. However, there is also room for improvement in geometry creation. The biggest thing I've wished for since I started (on 12.0) is a Swept Revolve. In other words: Give me what an endmill does!!! (More generally, what a rotating cutter does; and while you're at it, it might as well be capable of adding material in the same manner.)

All of this geometry can be constructed using various Pro/E feature types and techniques, but how much easier some of them would be if you could just lay down a trajectory (and a half section only if necessary) and be done with it! Examples above include simple slots on the flat, inclined cuts, & cam slots on a cylinder produced with a standard end mill as well as a dovetail slot and a slot created with a form cutter. All of this geometric reality is already present in Pro/Manufacturing, NC-Check, and Vericut; it just needs to be enabled for modeling.

Those cam grooves on the cylinder (from a "real" project) are part of a pattern; having to add the end geometry in that case, then Reference Pattern, was particularly time-consuming, and sometimes on the edge of successful regeneration, depending on dimensions, etc.

David

Re: Swept Revolve

pwyndham — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:44:27 GMT

That is an excelent idea. It is always hard to get the end of a sweep to look like the end mill would create it. A swept revolve would be very helpful.

I was hoping for Geometry creation ideas like this, but I guess the ideas I put up so far were interface related. Thanks for pointing that out.

Split Part Model

pwyndham — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:50:31 GMT

A lot of times when you are working on something you realize that it would be better to have two parts instead of one. It would be nice if you could put in a seperation line and have to part cut into to part files. It would be cool if Pro/E could be smart enough to then move the cut to the top of the model tree as the first feature. Then, remove all the references to the other part and make the cut sketch kind of like a skeleton model.

Not sure how to make a picture of this but I will work on something. Lots of times this situation comes up in sheetmetal parts too. So, it would be nice to have the capability in both solid modeling and sheetmetal.

Re: Project Lightning Wish List

JonathanHodgson — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:20:46 GMT

+1.

Maybe more generally, it would be good to have the ability to sweep any volume (3D quilt) along a trajectory.

Could be used to produce hobbed, involute gears as well...

I tend to agree about UI improvements versus actual modelling capabilities, overall. Pro/E is pretty powerful and capable - just let us get at that capability quickly and simply!

Re: Project Lightning Wish List

CM10 — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:24:58 GMT

Interesting comment David. I've wished for the same thing for a while too. I did a barrel cam a few years ago for a mechanism, somewhat similar to what you modeled, and realized that the way it's modeled in Pro/E would not be the the way an end mill would actually cut the material. The endmill would actually remove a little MORE material, how much more would be dependent on the helix angle. It turned out to be a fairly big difference in some cases. Also, things like ball end milling cuts are more tricky to actually model too.

Re: Project Lightning Wish List

DavidButz — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:17:21 GMT

Yeah, I meant to include a ball-milling example, too; very basic and important.

Re: Project Lightning Wish List

gvora — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:56:14 GMT

My wish for the project lightning is under.

(1) PATTERN IN THE SKETCH MODE.

(2) DRAFT IN SKETCH MODE.

(3) IMPORTING "IGES" & "STEP" FORMAT FILE AS FEATURE AT PART LEVEL AS WELL IN ADDITION TO ASSEMBLY. AND THE IMPORTED

FILE CAN BE ALLOWED TO BE CONSTRAINED ANY WHERE AT PART LEVEL OR ASSEMBLY LEVEL.

(4) EXTRUDE WITH DRAFT FOR DIFFERENT HEIGHTS ON BOTH SIDE OF PLANE.

Thanks.

Gautam Vora.

I am adding some more features in detailing the parts as wish list ( I think the wish list is like CHRISTMAS WISH LIST, AND SANTA NEVER FULL

FILLS OUR WISH LIST )

(1) FULL(ALIGNED) CROSS SECTION CAN BE INDEPENDENT AND OTHER PROJECTION VIEW CAN BE CREATED FROM THAT FULL (ALIGNED)

CROSS SECTION. THE DIMENSIONS SHOULD ALIGN ACCORDINGLY.

(2) FULL (UNFOLD) CROSS SECTION TOO.

Re: Project Lightning Wish List

BurtLand — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:13:10 GMT

ONE user interface to Rule Them All

This is fundamental to every user but hasnt been completed with WF5, so why introduce anything new - Lightning will just create more mess.

Frankly the vision required to fix this seems to be missing - Appearance Manager is a case in point.

PTC need to employ the best interface designers in the industry and get it sorted. Their UI managers need to know how the underlying product works and have actually used it. The rework of Appearance Manager shows that this is not the case.

Re: Project Lightning Wish List

CM10 — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:20:59 GMT

....But they were, all of them, deceived, for another Interface was made. In the land of PTC, in the fires of Mount doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret a Master Interface, to control all others. And into this Interface he poured his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all users.

Re: Project Lightning Wish List

BurtLand — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:51:03 GMT

I suspect it has more to do with Dilbert than LOTR.

Good product requires management to have used it - in a Startup they have; in a SME they used to; in a Corporate they never have.