Global Values for Viewing modes in 3D?

[ricki-fritz]

HELP!

I was wondering if anyone knows how to define conditions in GDL based on the current 3D viewing mode (block, wireframe, hidden, or shaded)?? - Yes, I know about the GLOBAL_CONTEXT to determine if the 3D view is active.

Ricki

[Vitruvius]

You can use GLOB_CONTEXT to respond to views, for example:

IF GLOB_CONTEXT = 2 THEN doorswing = 90
IF GLOB_CONTEXT = 3 THEN doorswing = doorswing 3D
IF GLOB_CONTEXT = 4 THEN doorswing = 0

The first will keep the doors open in 2D, the second will open them per the 3D script and the third will close them for Section/Elevations.

Then, in 2D you can then use PROJECT2 to determine whether you want a wireframe, hidden line or shaded view in 2D. Though I'm not sure why you'd want to control the GDL symbol separately from the overall 3D rendering parameters?

Cheers, CAmeron

[Anonymous]

ricki_faris wrote:
I was wondering if anyone knows how to define conditions in GDL based on the current 3D viewing mode (block, wireframe, hidden, or shaded)??

I don't think there is anyway to detect the 3D view mode within a GDL script (perhaps with API?). Why do you need this?

[ricki-fritz]

Matthew wrote:
Why do you need this?

For example, I have a library part which is (for simplicity) a CPRISM which has a LOT of vertical edges. I want to place a lot of these objects in the plan, say 100, plus.

I you can control the status value, so for objects which are close to the camera I have defined as being 79 (showing the main edges of the object only). But those objects which are further away, I make the status value 8 - no contours, just the face is visible.

In shaded mode this is desirable because the faces can be seen (there's no need for the edges/contours because they are too small).

However, if I want to view in wireframe or hidden line mode - The distance objects aren't visible! So, if I could query the 3D viewing mode, I could adjust the status value correspondingly. For section/elevation modes, this is not a problem as we have GLOBAL_CONTEXT on our side.

Hope that helps you understand my goals?

Ricki

[Anonymous]

Now I see what you are getting at.

Is it for performance reasons that you don't just use the 79 status value all the time? I find it hard to imagine that it makes that much difference.

[ricki-fritz]

Matthew wrote:
Is it for performance reasons that you don't just use the 79 status value all the time? I find it hard to imagine that it makes that much difference.

I did a test with 100 objects, using the Internal 3D engine, with contours on & there was a 10-15% improvement with the status value set to 8.

May be marginal if you expect your 3D view to come up in 10 seconds, but for larger projects (stadiums, multi-level developments, etc) could have its advantages.

I guess at this stage, there is no way to determine if the 3D view is in shaded or hidden (or other) mode. So, as a work-around, I've programmed in a variable to manually set the status value...

Ricki