Comparing Results Across Multiple Plot Views Simultaneously

You can display multiple field outputs plots or X-Y plots simultaneously. You can view plots from different analysis cases, steps, or frames. Plots can be from the same simulation or from different simulations. You can divide the 3D area into as many as eight views with a plot in each view. You can arrange these views in a variety of configurations.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin: The Results action must be active, and multiple contour or symbol plots must be available.
See Also
About Results Comparisons

Configure a Custom Arrangement and Content of Plot Views

You can create a configuration of one to eight views to compare plots. You can create multiple view arrangements by merging or splitting rows horizontally or vertically. You can then populate the configured views with plots of your choice.

Before you begin: Open all the simulation objects from which you want to display output.
  1. From the Display section of the action bar, click Compare Results .
    The Compare Results dialog displays a list of plots open in the simulation and a Comparison preview pane for you to configure the view. By default, four views are displayed as shown below, with the active plot in the upper left view:

    You can change this view to display any plot open in your session.
  2. Configure the plot views as required.

    • Click or to split the views horizontally or vertically.
    • Click to clear the view.
    • Click to delete the view.

  3. From the list of simulations and plots, drag a plot you want to compare to any view in the Comparison preview pane.

    Note: If you want to superimpose the data from two plots, you can drag two plots into the same view. This can be useful with X-Y Plots when you want to compare two curves on the same axes simultaneously.

  4. Repeat Step 3 until you have all the plots required for your comparison.
  5. Click OK.

The 3D area changes to accommodate the specified arrangement of views. In addition, the Compare Results Options dialog box displays the options to synchronize view manipulation and orientation across plot views, steps, and frames. Compare Results Options also contains options for editing and saving the view configuration and for synchronizing the range of values in the legends.

Configure the Arrangement and Content of Plot Views Using Templates

You can create a configuration based on similar plots using templates. You can create plots that share the same output type across analysis cases or across different simulations in the same session.

Before you begin: Open all the simulation objects from which you want to display output.
  1. From the Display section of the action bar, click Compare Results .
    The Compare Results dialog displays a list of plots open in the simulation and a Comparison preview pane for you to configure the view. By default, four views are displayed as shown below, with the active plot in the upper left view:

    You can change this view to display any plot open in your session.
  2. From the list of simulations and plots, drag a plot you want to use as the seed for comparison for similar plot types.

    For example, if you want to compare von Mises stress across different analysis cases or simulations, drag a plot with von Mises stress into the Comparison preview pane.

  3. From the Templates tab, select one of the following templates:
    OptionDescription
    Across cases Displays plots of the same type in all analysis cases within the simulation, and creates the comparison view by creating new sections or deleting extraneous views.
    Across simulations Displays plots of the same type from all analysis cases of all simulations in your session, and creates the comparison view by creating new sections or deleting extraneous views
  4. Click OK.

The 3D area changes to accommodate the specified arrangement of views. In addition, the Compare Results Options dialog box displays the options to synchronize view manipulation and orientation across plot views, steps, and frames. Compare Results Options also contains options for editing and saving the view configuration and for synchronizing the range of values in the legends.

Note: If you make additional changes to the Across cases or Across simulations configured views, the template switches to Customize. The Customize template is selected for any custom configurations you create.

Edit and Save the Plot Configuration

You can edit the results comparison configuration by changing the arrangement of the views, adding or deleting views, or changing the content of the views.

Before you begin: Create a results comparison to activate the Compare Results editing options.
  1. From the Compare Results Options dialog box, click Edit .
    The Edit Comparison dialog displays the list of plots open in the simulation and the Comparison preview pane with your configured view. This panel is identical to the Compare Results panel, differing in name only.
  2. Clear or change the plot content of the view, delete the view, or split the views into rows and columns to achieve a new configuration.
  3. Click OK.
  4. Click Save or Save As to save the configuration for future use.

    • Click Save to overwrite the current configuration.
    • Click Save As to save the configuration with a new name.
    The configuration is saved in the Saved Comparisons tab of the Compare Results dialog box. The saved comparisons are also accessible from the tree for the Result node.

Synchronize View Manipulations Across Plot Views

You can synchronize view manipulation to act across all plot views simultaneously.

Before you begin: Create a results comparison to activate the Compare Results editing options.
  1. From the Compare Results Options dialog box, select View manipulations.
  2. Click Save.

You can zoom, rotate, and pan and your actions are synchronized across all views at the same time. To manipulate each view independently, disable synchronization.

Synchronize Plots Across Steps and Frames

You can synchronize multiple plots from the same analysis case across steps and frames.

Before you begin: Create a results comparison to activate the Compare Results editing options.
  1. From the Compare Results Options dialog box, select Steps and frames.
  2. Click Save.

You can switch steps or frames and your actions are synchronized across all views at the same time. To manipulate each view independently, disable synchronization.

Synchronize Legend Values

You can synchronize the legends from all analysis cases to display the same range of values.

Before you begin: Create a results comparison to activate the Compare Results editing options.
  1. From the Compare Results Options dialog box, select Legends.
  2. Click Save.

The legends update to use the same range of values. If any of the legends has a user-specifed minimum or maximum value, this upper or lower limit is indicated with underlined text.

Apply a Common Orientation and Magnification Across Plot Views

You can apply the same orientation (pan, rotate) and magnification (zoom) to all plot views.

Before you begin: Create a results comparison to activate the Compare Results editing options.
  1. From the Compare Results Options dialog box, click to apply the orientation and zoom of the active plot to the plots in all other views.
  2. Click Save.

The active view is propagated to the remaining views.

Activate or Deactivate the Plot Displayed in a View

You can activate the plot displayed in any view. Activation means that you are applying the selected results plot to the current view of the model. When you deactivate a plot, the view reverts to the undeformed model.

  1. Right-click the model you want to activate.

    Tip: You can also right-click the plot name in the tree or in the Feature Manager.

  2. From the context menu, select Activate.

The plot now displays the simulation results in the active view. To return the view to the undeformed plot, select Deactivate.