Creating Plane Systems

You can define a number of planes in a given direction. Planes can then be used as reference planes or supports when creating other items.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin: Create a 3D shape containing a plane or a line and a point.

Create a Regular Symmetric Plane System

You can define regular symmetric plane system by creating same number of planes on either side of the origin.

  1. From the Grid section of the action bar, click Plane System .
  2. Select an entry in the tree under which you want to create a new representation to locate your plane system before proceeding. If you want to use an existing representation, select that representation in the tree.
  3. In the Type list, select the Regular symmetric type.

Regular symmetric plane systems are created in similar fashion to regular asymmetric plane systems, the difference being that they have the same number of planes on either side of the origin.

Create a Regular Asymmetric Plane System

You can define regular asymmetric plane system by creating different number of planes on either side of the origin.

  1. Click Plane System .
  2. Select an entry in the tree under which you want to create a new representation to locate your plane system before proceeding. If you want to use an existing representation, select that representation in the tree.
  3. In the Type list, select the Regular asymmetric type.
  4. In the Direction box, select a plane or a line to define the direction of the plane system.

    If you select a plane, the center of the plane is automatically taken as the origin of the plane system and an arrow appears showing the direction.

    You can, if desired, change the origin.



    If you selected a line, select a point to define the origin,

    Or,

    If you selected a plane and want to change the origin, click the Origin box and select a point.

    Important:
    • Click Reverse in the dialog box or select the arrow in the work area to invert the direction.
    • The context menus in Direction and Origin boxes let you create appropriate geometry directly without having to exit the current command.
  5. In the Primary Subset area, define the primary subset parameters:

    • In the Spacing box, specify the distance between two planes.

    • Enter a prefix identifying all planes in this set.

    • The planes are identified by this prefix plus a positive or negative number that increments away from the origin. Plane numbers are positive in the direction of the plane system. The origin is identified by suffix.0.



    • Specify the number of planes.

      The number you enter is the number of planes you want to create on either side of the origin. Note that the number of planes does not include the plane at the origin.

  6. Optional: Select the Allow secondary subset check box to group a number of planes in the primary subset together and create a secondary subset:

    • Specify the step. For example, enter 4.

    • Every fourth primary subset plane will belong to the secondary subset.

    • Enter a prefix identifying all planes in this set.

    Important:
    • The plane at the origin always belongs to the primary subset.
    • Select the subset in the tree to visualize all planes in this set in the work area.
  7. Click OK.

Create a Semi-Regular Plane System

The semi-regular option lets you easily and rapidly define a plane system comprising groups of planes with different spacings.

  1. Click Plane System .
  2. Select an entry in the tree under which you want to create a new representation to locate your plane system before proceeding. If you want to use an existing representation, select that representation in the tree.
  3. In the Type list, select the Semi-regular type.
  4. In the Direction box, select a plane or a line to define the direction of the plane system.

    If you select a plane, the center of the plane is automatically taken as the origin of the plane system and an arrow appears showing the direction.

    You can, if desired, change the origin.



    If you selected a line, select a point to define the origin,

    Or,

    If you selected a plane and want to change the origin, click the Origin box and select a point.

  5. In the Primary Subset area, define the primary subset parameters:

    • In the Spacing box, specify the distance between two planes in your first group.

    • In the End box, enter the number of the last plane having the specified spacing.

    • Click Add to confirm your first group.

      The first group is identified in the list view control and the Start box incremented to display the number of the first plane in your second group.

    • Repeat to specify the spacing and the number of the last plane to be created with this spacing, then click Add.

    • Continue until satisfied.

      If the current spacing is the same as the spacing of the previous group, any new planes are added to the previous group.

    • Enter a prefix identifying all planes in the primary set. The planes are identified by this prefix plus a positive or negative number that increments away from the origin. Plane numbers are positive in the direction of the plane system. The origin is identified by suffix.0.

  6. Optional: Select the Allow secondary subset check box to group a number of planes in the primary subset together and create a secondary subset:

  • Specify the step. For example, enter 4.

    Every fourth primary subset plane will belong to the secondary subset.

  • Enter a prefix identifying all planes in this set.

    Notes: The plane at the origin always belongs to the primary subset.

Important: Select the subset in the tree to visualize all planes in this set in the work area.

Create an Irregular Symmetric Plane System

You can define irregular symmetric plane system by creating same number of planes on either side of the origin.

  1. Click Plane System .
  2. Select an entry in the tree under which you want to create a new representation to locate your plane system before proceeding. If you want to use an existing representation, select that representation in the tree.
  3. In the Type list, select the Irregular symmetric type.

Irregular symmetric plane systems are created in similar fashion to irregular asymmetric plane systems, the difference being that they have the same number of planes on either side of the origin.

Create an Irregular Asymmetric Plane System

Plane systems can be created by importing a TSV (tab-separated) file containing the definition of the plane system.

This file must be formatted as follows:

positive_or_negative_absolute_distance_from_origin<TAB>subset_prefix where <TAB> denotes a TAB character

and should contain an entry 0<TAB>subset_prefix. Typically,

-4800 WEB -4200 FRM -3600 FRM -3000 FRM -2400 WEB ... 0 FRM ... 2300 WEB 2700 WEB

  • Do not type space characters using the space bar.
  • It is not necessary to specify the positive sign '+' when entering positive distances.

It defines a plane system in one direction only but can contain as many subsets as desired.

  1. Click Plane System .
  2. Select an entry in the tree under which you want to create a new representation to locate your plane system before proceeding. If you want to use an existing representation, select that representation in the tree.
  3. In the Type list, select the Irregular asymmetric type.
  4. In the Direction box, select a plane or a line to define the direction of the plane system.

    If you select a plane, the center of the plane is automatically taken as the origin of the plane system and an arrow appears showing the direction.

    You can, if desired, change the origin.



    If you selected a line, select a point to define the origin,

    Or,

    If you selected a plane and want to change the origin, click the Origin box and select a point.

    Important:
    • Click Reverse in the dialog box or select the arrow in the work area to invert the direction.
    • The context menus in Direction and Origin boxes let you create appropriate geometry directly without having to exit the current command.
  5. Click Browse... and navigate to the file containing the plane system definition.
  6. Click OK when done to create a plane system along the specified direction.

Important: When you edit the plane system, Irregular symmetric and Irregular asymmetric types are not available.

Modify and Remove Groups to the Plane System

You can modify or remove the groups from the plane system.

  1. To modify groups in your plane system, select the group you want to modify.
  2. Enter a new spacing value or modify the End value to change the number of planes in the group.

    Note: You cannot modify the Start value.

  3. Click Modify.

    The plane system is updated. Changing the number of planes in any one group does not affect the number of planes in other groups.

    Tip: Click in the list view control to cancel unwanted modifications that have not been confirmed using Modify.
  4. To remove groups, select the group you want to remove.
  5. Click Remove.