Clipping Submenu

Clipping lets you display only those parts of the model which fall inside a clipping box.

• To display the Clipping submenu, right-click on the Clipping & Options icon on the 3D View toolbar.

  The options available from this menu are:

Enable

Controls whether the clipped model or the whole model is displayed. The default is for clipping to be off.

Capped

When you use clipping, only the parts of the model which lie within the clipping box will be displayed. Where items are intersected by the clipping box, they can have a coloured cap added to show that they extend beyond the displayed region. Note that this feature is not available on all graphics cards.

To control whether or not caps are added, set Cap on or off. The default is for capping to be off.

Colour...

To change the colour used for capping, select the required colour from the displayed Clip Cap Colour form.

CE

Sets the clipping box to the current element.

Owner

Sets the clipping box to the owner of the current element.

Limits Box

Sets the clipping box to the dimensions of your explicitly defined Limits Box.

Pick Item

Sets the clipping box to the element you select from the 3D View.

Pick Limits

Lets you specify the extent of the clipping box by constructing a box between two points identified by picking on the displayed graphics. Positioning options for picking are controlled using by selecting from the options on the Positioning Control form.

Explicit

Selecting the Explicit... option displays the Clip - 3D View and Positioning Control forms. If a clipping box has previously been defined its dimensions and origin are shown on the Clip - 3D View form; if not, a default sized box is placed at the origin of the view. The current settings for the box are shown in the 3D View as a box, in the default aid line colour.

These forms allow you to define a new clipping box by either:

• Entering the dimensions and co-ordinates of the origin (center) directly into the text-boxes on the Clip - 3D View form. You can use the drop-down list boxes to set the North/South, East/West and Up/Down axes as necessary.

• Entering the dimensions directly into the text-boxes on the Clip - 3D View form, and then picking the required origin in the 3D View with the cursor. Note that the Clip – 3D View form will be automatically updated with the picked co-ordinates. You can use the EDG facilities on the Positioning Control toolbar to select the type of item to be picked in the 3D View, and the mode the software will use to derive the point.

and then clicking Apply.

You can also change the orientation of the clipping box, by defining a plane through which it passes. The icon buttons at the top of the Orientation frame allow you to define a plane by picking either three explicit points or two points, the third point is taken as the current working plane. Alternatively, you can edit the Y is and Z is test boxes, to set the orientation of the clipping box.

To extend the clipped volume by a specific amount, enter a number into the Extend Clipped Volume by gadget.

Dismiss the forms when you are satisfied with the settings.

You must also select the Enable menu option to make the setting take effect in the view.

Planes

Allows up to six individual planes to be defined to clip the model - see Six-Plane Clipping.