3D View Window

Main Window overview

The main window displays a 3D model of your enclosure which you can manipulate in real time.

Main Window—U-Shape enclosure rotate to show rear face

A—Standard Toolbar

B—Viewport

Creating, opening, saving assembly files

Enclosures created in Protocase Designer® are saved as Protocase Designer® Assembly files (.pda file extension).

Create new assembly file

Template:Procedure

Open existing assembly file

Template:Procedure

Save current assembly file

Template:Procedure

Save a copy of the current assembly file

Template:Procedure

Changing enclosure properties

At any point after you create a new enclosure you can modify your enclosure properties such as size, thickness, material, and colour. Template:Procedure

Note: The size of your enclosure must meet all the manufacturing constraints listed at the bottom of the dialog box.

Viewing the model

There are several controls to allow viewing and manipulating the 3D model of your enclosure.

Rotate model

The Rotate command enables spinning the model about its center.

1. On the Standard Toolbar, click Rotate.
2. In the viewport, left-click and drag to rotate the model to the desired orientation.

Pan model

The Pan command enables moving the model about the plane of the viewport.

To pan the model, do one of the following:

Method 1

• In the viewport, right-click and drag the model to the desired location.

Method 2

1. Press and hold the Alt key
2. In the viewport, left-click and drag the model to the desired location.

Method 3

1. On the Standard Toolbar, click Pan.
2. In the viewport, left-click and drag to Pan the model to the desired location.

Zoom model

The Zoom command controls the visual size of the model displayed within the viewport.

• In the main window, rotate the wheel button forward or backward to zoom in or out.

Note: The model zooms in/out from the centre of the viewport, regardless of the pointer location

Show/Hide Parts

The Show/Hide Parts command allows for viewing inside the model by hiding one or more parts.

1. On the View menu, click Show/Hide Parts. The Show/Hide Parts dialog box appears.
2. Select or clear the appropriate check boxes to show or hide parts.

Toggle flat/bent view

• The Toggle Flat and Bent commands displays the enclosure parts as they are laid out prior to the bending process during manufacturing.

Note: This feature is for reference only and does not affect the manufacturing of the final enclosure.

To display a model in a flat or bent configuration, do on of the following.

• On the Standard Toolbar, click Flat to display the model in a flat configuration or click Bent to display the model in the default bent configuration.
• On the View Menu, click Toggle Flat to change a model between a bent configuration or a flat configuration.

Reset view

• The Reset View command displays the model in the center of the viewport in its original orientation.

To reset the view, do one of the following.

• On the Standard Toolbar, click Reset View.
• On the View menu, click Reset View.

Use Transparency

The transparency option makes exclusion zones and the background of silkscreen images transparent. This allows you to view features that may be hidden behind exclusion zones or silkscreen images.

1. On the Edit menu, click Preferences to display the preferences dialog box.
2. Select the Use Transparency check box.

Note: Turning on the transparency option does not affect the final product.

Change background color

The Change background color command allows for customizing the background color of the viewport.

1. On the Edit menu, click Preferences to display the preferences dialog box.
2. Click Change Background Color. A dialog box appears allowing you to customize the background color of the viewport.
3. Select the Swatches, HSB, RGB

Change axis color

The Change Axis Color command allows for customizing the color of the coordinate system axis displayed on the model.

1. On the Edit menu, click Preferences to display the preferences dialog box.
2. Click Change Axis Color. A dialog box appears allowing you to customize the axis colour.

Editing a face using the Face Editor

To customize your enclosure, you add features such as cutouts, silkscreen, exclusion zones, and construction lines to a face in the Face Editor Window.
To open the Face Editor:

1. Rotate the model to show the face you want to edit.
2. On the Standard Toolbar, click the Edit Face button. . The pointer will change to a crosshair.
3. Click a face to edit. The Face Editor window opens.

See Face Editor Window for details on using the Face Editor.

Viewing the Part Tree

The Part Tree shows a hierarchical list of all the faces and objects in your enclosure. You can change the name and description of objects as well as open a face in the Face Editor Window directly from the Part Tree.

Part Tree window–adding notes

Editing a face from the Part Tree

Part Tree window—editing a face

Note: The Part Tree window can also be accessed from the Face Editor Window.

Main Window Preferences

You can change the background color and the axis color in the main window viewport.

See Face Editor Preferences for changing the background color and axis color. The same Preferences dialog box is accessed from the Main window or Face Editor Window.