Moving, Rotating, and Scaling Objects

4.Press Edit|Boolean|Subtract or click on the Subtract toolbar button to complete the intersection operation.

5.The resulting object will be the successive subtraction of each of the other three objects from the first object.

Unite

The Unite operator takes two or more objects and unites the total volume of the objects to form one single object. If the objects do not overlap, they are still united, in effect tied together. If one object completely encloses another, the result of the unite operation is to effectively delete the smaller object.

You can create a lollipop shape by creating a sphere and a narrow cylinder (a rod) that sticks into the sphere. Then use the unite operator to unite the sphere and the cylinder. After the operation, one object remains which is in the shape of a lollipop.

You can also use the unite operator to attach a baffle vane to a tube. Select Edit|Select|Object or press the Select Object toolbar button, select the tube, shift+select the baffle vane, and then select Edit|Boolean|Unite or press the Unite toolbar button. Remember that once the vane is united with the tube, there is no way to unattach it, unless you do it right away using Edit|Undo.

To use the Unite operator select two or more objects, you must do a multiple selection in TracePro using the Shift or the Ctrl Key. For example, to unite four objects:

1.Select Edit|Select|Object or click the Select Object toolbar button.

2.Select the first object. You may click on the object in the model window or use the system tree.

3.Press and hold the Shift (or Ctrl) key and select the second, third and fourth objects.

4.Press Edit|Boolean|Unite or click on the Unite toolbar button to complete the intersection operation.

5.The resulting object is the total volume of all four objects.

Moving, Rotating, and Scaling Objects

You can move, rotate, and scale an object or group of objects using the

Edit|Object|Translate, Edit|Object|Move, Edit|Object|Rotate, and

Edit|Object|Scale menu items, respectively. Any number of objects can be manipulated as a group. Simply select an object or objects with the mouse, then select the desired menu item. To select an object, click on it with the mouse. To select additional objects, hold down the Ctrl Key and click on them with the mouse, or use the selection tool in rubberband mode to enclose a group of objects in the rubberband rectangle.

All of the dialog boxes are modeless, so you can leave them open to select new objects for moving, rotating, scaling, or to perform other operations. You can rotate, move, or scale object(s) in small increments by leaving the dialog box open, setting the parameters to small values, and repeatedly pressing Apply.

For an example using Move and Rotate to create arrays of objects see the example “Using Copy with Move/Rotate” on page 9.38.

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Translate

To move a group of one or more objects interactively, select the objects with the mouse, then select Edit|Object|Translate or click on the Translate toolbar button. Using the mouse, press the left mouse button and drag the selection to a new location. Translate moves the object(s) along the plane of the screen, keeping the current depth coordinate - whatever it happens to be in 3D space. The Translate tool will be active until a new tool is selected.

Translate Copy

You can copy the selection by pressing the Ctrl key during the mouse dragging. When the left mouse button is released, new objects will be made from the selected objects and placed at the translated position.

Move

To move a group of one or more objects, select the objects with the mouse, then select Edit|Object|Move to open the Move Selection dialog box. The dialog box contains buttons to choose either Relative, Absolute or Distance along with X, Y, and Z values. You can use the Relative option to move the object relative to its own center, while the Absolute option places the object at the given global coordinates. For example, to move a selected object by 2 units along the z-axis, use Relative movement and set the values as follows:

X Center	0
Y Center	0
Z Center	2

Then press Apply, and the objects move by 2 along the z-axis.

When you select the Absolute option, the dialog will be updated to show the current location of the first object in the selection.

You can also move the selection a desired distance along a vector by selecting the Distance option, with a direction in (X,Y,Z) and distance entered in model units. This is similar to the relative move such that the distance is relative to the objects original position.

FIGURE 2.24 - Move dialog with the distance option selected

When more than one object is selected, the first object selected is moved to the location specified, while the other objects maintain their position relative to the first object.

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Move Copy

Move Copy allows you to make a copy of an object and move it in one operation. This is much more convenient than manually copying the object, where the copied object is superimposed over the original. Move Copy is also a powerful tool for creating arrays of objects, using Move Copy Relative. This is because Move Copy makes a copy of the selected object(s), then moves the original to the coordinates specified. Once you have the X, Y, Z values defined and the object selected, you can repeatedly press the Copy button to make a row of objects, one for each button press. Once the row is completed, you can make an array by selecting the whole row of objects, then pressing Copy again, but with a different direction entered for the X, Y, Z values.

Note: If you apply surface and material properties before you do the Move Copy, the properties will be copied as well, saving you some effort later on.

Rotate

To rotate a group of one or more objects, select the objects with the mouse, then select Edit|Object|Rotate to open the Rotate Selection dialog box. The dialog box contains a rotation angle, an axis about which to rotate and X, Y and Z values to specify a rotation point. A text box allows you to enter a number specifying the angle of rotation. Next to it is a button that enables you to specify whether the units for that angle are in degrees or radians. Rotations follow the right-hand rule.

The default units for rotations are degrees. If you prefer to use radians, press the button labeled in Degrees and it changes to in Radians. The rotation angle will be applied in radians.

Once you have entered the rotation angle, axis for rotation, and the rotation point, press Apply, and the selections are rotated.

Axis and Center of Rotation

FIGURE 2.25 - Rotate Selection Dialog

The Axis combo box has 7 choices to select the axis about which the rotation will take place:

About X	This is the global x-axis, the vector (1.0, 0.0, 0.0)
About Y	This is the global y-axis, the vector (0.0, 1.0, 0.0)

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About Z	This is the global z-axis, the vector (0.0, 0.0, 1.0)
About Object X	This is the object's local x-axis, the vector (1.0, 0.0, 0.0)
	Use View|Display Object WCS
About Object Y	This is the object's local y-axis, the vector (0.0, 1.0, 0.0)
	Use View|Display Object WCS
About Object Z	This is the object's local z-axis, the vector (0.0, 0.0, 1.0)
	Use View|Display Object WCS
Customize	This allows any vector in global coordinates to be used for the
	axis of rotation

The first 3 choices are rotations about the Global axis. The next 3 choices are rotations about the object's WCS axis. If more than one object is selected the first object in the selection is used. If Customize is selected, you can specify an arbitrary axis by input X Direction, Y Direction, and Z Direction. Every time you make a selection in the axis combo box the selected axis information is updated in

X Direction, Y Direction, and Z Direction edit boxes.

You can either enter the center point or check Origin of Object WCS which means using the origin of the first selected object's WCS as the center point. At the time you check Origin of Object WCS the origin coordinates of the first selected object are displayed in X Center, Y Center, and Z Center edit boxes. If you wish to use global coordinates, enter numbers specifying the rotation center point. This will be the point around which the selected object will rotate after you click the Apply button in the dialog box.

Rotate Copy

Rotate Copy allows you to make a copy of an object and rotate it in one operation. This is much more convenient than manually copying the object, where the copied object gets superimposed on top of the original. Rotate Copy is also a powerful tool for creating arrays of objects. This is because Rotate Copy makes a copy of the selected object(s), then rotates the original by the values specified. Once you have the rotation values defined and the object(s) selected, you can repeatedly press the Copy button to make a curved row of objects, one object for each button press.

Note: If you apply surface and material properties before you do the Rotate Copy, the properties are copied, saving you some effort later on.

Scale

To scale a group of one or more objects, select the objects with the mouse, then select Edit|Object|Scale to open the Scale Selection dialog box. The dialog box contains a scale factor to specify the magnitude of the scaling. A scale factor greater than one enlarges the selection, while a scale factor less than one makes the object(s) smaller.

All scaling is done relative to the object's origin, so all points within an object (other than the origin) appear to shift when a scaling operation occurs. You can also scale the selection's position by checking the scale position box. This is useful for scaling groups of objects that must fit together.

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FIGURE 2.26 - Scale Selection Dialog

Scaling can be Uniform with X, Y, and Z directions having the same scaling factor, or Non-Uniform using different scaling factors. For example, you can scale a sphere into an ellipsoid by setting one scale factor to be different from the other two.

The non-uniform scaling option includes Local WCS and Global WCS selections. The scaling is performed in the three directions but can be made relative to the global coordinate system or to the object's coordinate system.

Once you have typed in the scale factor, press Apply, and the objects will be scaled.

Figure 2.27 shows the result of non-uniform scaling using Local and Global options. Two square blocks were created with a 45 degree rotation about the x- axis and scaled with a Y Scale Factor of 2. The left block was scaled to the Global WCS and the Right was scaled to the block's Local WCS.

FIGURE 2.27 - Two blocks after non-uniform scaling

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