Default view from Base view

[Berserk]

Hello,

Is there a way to switch off the default top view when creating a base view?

More often than not, top view or any other default view is NOT what I need and I have to wait for UG to regenerate a wrong view before I can pick the correct one.

TIA!

UGNX5.0.4.1 MP6 \ WinXP-SP3
Productive Design Services

http://www.productivedesign.com

 

[NXConsultants]

I don't think you can.

As a workaround (I've used this on large assemblies)

Open the drawing/assembly structure only.
Add the base view - NX will default to top, but as there is no geometry on the screen, the view will not take a long time to regenerate before you place it.
Select the view you want to place
Place view.
Switch on part.
Update view.

 

[JohnRBaker]

There are a couple of things that you can do which will provide more productivity.

The first is to create a set of your own Drawing templates with what you consider your standard views already placed on them (or at least a single base view based on what you would like to do and then just create projections from it as needed).

If you don't want to do that or you consider it impractical (although in the long run that is probably the MOST productive approach to take) you can always set the default display of the view being place to be just a box and while it will still default to 'Top' at least you will not have to 'waste time' waiting for it to come up before you can change to your desired base-view. To change the default from a shaded view to just a box, go to...

File -> Utilities -> Customer Defaults -> Drafting -> General -> Preview

...and change the style to 'Border'. As a compromise, you night want to consider using 'Wireframe'. While it's not as fast as 'Border' it will at least show you the wireframe representation of what will be in the drawing view which can help to assure that you have actually selected the correct view and that it's being placed as you would like to see it. Granted, it's not as unambiguous as a 'Shaded' or a 'Hidden Wireframe' preview, but it is much more efficient than either of them and the wait time before you can change to a different base view will be significantly reduced.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[hudson888]

You can also switch over into border or wireframe view placement previews on a needs be basis, under Preferences>Drafting and using the Preview tab. But from what I can see when you first create a drawing with no views show then the system attempts to add the first view based on the top view and there isn't a way to turn that off? So as John says your best option is to change the default to the least demanding method under the customer defaults and then manually change it back using the preference settings I described above if you wish to as an exception rather than the rule.

When I was looking at this I also noticed that when you do add a view and have the option to use the Orient View Tool it would be nice if in that popup window that F8 would work.

Best Regards

Hudson

www.jamb.com.au

Nil Desperandum illegitimi non carborundum

 

[Berserk]

Hello,

Thanks for the replies.

I already have the
File -> Utilities -> Customer Defaults -> Drafting -> General -> Preview

set as "border", but it still shows a shaded top view when I add a base view. I have checked "user", "site"(read only), and "group"(read only) and they are all set to "border".

As for creating default views, I wish I could do that, but most of our drawings are not square to absolute. So I have to create a new view as a base view.

UGNX5.0.4.1 MP6 \ WinXP-SP3
Productive Design Services

http://www.productivedesign.com

 

[JohnRBaker]

Were you aware that when the preview of the 'Top' view comes up, when placing your Base View, that you can press MB3 and then select the 'Orient View Tool' so that you can directly orient the 'Top' view so that it can be placed however you need it to be? When that small preview window opens up, you can manipulate the display using either your Spaceball or using the mouse options until you get what you want or you can select edges/faces as reference until you get what you need as your desired 'Base View' and then just accept it and go from there. Just because the system defaults to the 'Top' view does NOT mean that you are locked into using that orientation, it's just a starting point.

And if you HAVE already defined a custom view, pressing MB3 and selecting the 'View' option will allow you to directly select that view from the list of available views in BOTH the current part file and the master model (those are the views with the '*' in the names).

So while it is true that there is NO option to redefine the default 'base view' ahead of time, there are many options available to you when and if there is a need to use an orientation other than what the 'Top' view would have given you if you had accepted it as is. Please look at the MB3 options available to you when placing your Base View as I think you will find that this can be very efficient and effective way to work, particularly if what you imply is correct that there are no hard and fast best view orientations to start with. I think you find that the 'Orient View Tool' option was added precisely to cover situations like yours. You just need to start using it.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[ewh]

Thanks for that, John... now if only the documentation could keep up with you!

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]

 

[hudson888]

John,

What you're saying is more or less what I was alluding to and yes I think you're probably better than the documentation on this one. What I was thinking is that as soon as you start an empty drawing the system attempts to place and canned view for you. It is perhaps a reasonable assumption but can be a waste of time and a hassle if the data is large and detailed and you just forgot to turn of the shaded view. In fact unless you have your default permanently set to border or wireframe then it is already too late to stop it. I think I'd rather that you had to select add view before the view placement dialog opened up.

Now here's a thing I mentioned that I think would make sense. When you're in 3D model space F8 snaps to the nearest orthographic view or normal to a selected face as you know. The orthographic view possibilities for the F8 button are more numerous than the canned views because they are effectively six multiplied by 4 because it will snap to the nearest 90 degrees of rotation. I just mentioned that it would make sense if when you use the orient view tool that F8 was enabled. The reason that it makes sense to me is because it would save me work and because I practically never have any awareness of what the canned TOP, FRONT, LEFT, RIGHT or BACK views actually are! I work 100% of the time with Space Pilot 3D pointing device and I think many others would probably experience the same thing. It is just a thought that I had that I thought was worth elaborating on, because in reading the topic I was prompted to wonder how infrequently adding the top view turned out to be the correct guess.

Best Regards

Hudson

www.jamb.com.au

Nil Desperandum illegitimi non carborundum

 

[JohnRBaker]

Hudson,

As I've stated before, one should seriously consider creating Drawing templates with predefined views. Now for those cases where you want to place all of your own views, but you would like to have 100% control over what and when you place the first base view, try this trick. Create a drawing template with a single small 'Reference' view up in say the left hand corner. Now when you use this template to create your drawing, the system will NOT automatically go into the 'Add Base View' mode, but you can launch it yourself with whatever settings you wish to use. And once your views have been place, just delete that small Reference View and continue to finish your drawing.

Now as to the idea of being able to use F8 in the 'Orient View Tool', that has already been implemented in NX 6.0!

Note that you must first click your cursor in the small preview window so that it 'has focus', but once you do that, the F8 key should work like it does in your normal NX graphics window.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[hudson888]

Oops Didn't check it in NX-6 just using NX-5 for an old client and commented on that basis. I guess the real thing I wondered at was whether there was an awareness out there that many users with 3D pointing devices have all but completely forgotten where the canned views lie in relation to their design.

Best Regards

Hudson

www.jamb.com.au

Nil Desperandum illegitimi non carborundum