MultiBoardAssembly_Pnl-ViewConfigurationView Configuration_AD

A section view is a view that can be used to reveal detail within an assembly, that might normally not be visible. This is achieved by defining a plane where a section of the assembly is sliced or cut away. The Multi-board Assembly editor supports defining a section plane along each of the 3 axes, allowing the section definition to be in 1, 2 or 3 directions.

• Section View - enable/disable the section view feature. When this option is enabled, the colored Edit Planes will be displayed. The default location is to define the section at the geometric center of the assembly, in all 3 planes. The Section View can also be toggled on/off using the Shift+Ctrl+V shortcuts.
• Edit Panels - the panels are used to define the section location - that is, the location of the cut in each plane. Each panel includes a small arrow control, click, hold and drag on the arrow to change the location of that section plane. Alternatively, click and hold anywhere on the panel and move it, the software will attempt to select and move the panel under the cursor. When the Edit Panels Off button is clicked the panels are hidden, giving a clearer view of the sectioned assembly. Alternatively, use the Shift+Ctrl+E shortcuts to toggle the panels off and on. Note that the section plane colors continue to be applied to any object surface that is cut by the section, after the panels have been hidden.
• Section Plane controls - these controls are used to enable sectioning in each plane, and to toggle on which side of that plane the assembly's content is to be removed.

EXAMPLE IMAGES

Setting the Color

Each layer includes a small color button, click this to display the color selector, as shown below.

The panel includes:

• A history row, showing (up to) the last 10 color choices that were made.
• A grid of 10 x 8 predefined color buttons, click a button to select that color.
• A Custom Color row of up to 10 custom colors.

Custom colors can be defined, to do this:

• Click Define Custom Colors to expand the color palette to also display the Custom Color Palette.
• Use the horizontal slider in the center of the Custom Color Palette to select a base color, then click anywhere on the palette to brighten or darken that color.
• Alternatively, enter the Hex or RGB values into the appropriate fields in the Custom Color Palette.
• Click the Apply button to add the new color to the Custom Color row, and apply that color to the layer being edited.

Displaying or Hiding a Workspace Feature

Certain workspace features (such as Selection), can be displayed or hidden. Click the eye icon ( ) to toggle the visibility off and on. If the icon is grayed out, the visibility of that layer cannot be changed.

Ambient occlusion is a method used to approximate how bright the light should be shining on any specific part of a surface, based on the light and that surface's environment (how hidden/open it is to the ambient light source). 

• Screen Space Ambient Occlusion - enabling this option will generally add more contrast and detail to the displayed surfaces, creating a greater sense of realism and making it easier to interpret the image. The image below shows a section of a heatsink without ambient occulsion applied. Move your cursor over the image to apply ambient occulsion, note how the extra visual detail in the heatsink fins makes it easier to interpret the image.

A section of a heatsink, without ambient occlusion applied - hover the cursor over the image to enable ambient occulsion.