Tools and settings: the 3CAD Next top bar

The following project info is presented in this section:

• Prj. ID
  It displays the project's ID (numeric value). This field can not be edited,
  
  

• Project name
  It displays the project's name. It is possible to update the name at any time by typing in the field,
  
  

• Prj. status
  It displays the project status.
  
  

The central section of the bar holds the configuration tools' menu, where the majority of the configuration tools and settings can be set. Some of them are specific to the 2D or the 3D views, therefore the bar is dynamic and changes when switching from one view to the other.

Note: Additional tools can be found in the right-hand toolbar (see The 3CAD Next right-hand sidebar article). 

The menu items in the central section of the bar are described in the following paragraphs. When differences exist between the 2D and the 3D view, they are highlighted.

Under the Projects item, you find the following sub-items, that are identical between 2D and 3D views:

• CATALOG SETTINGS

  • Cost and Sales
    By clicking it you open the Catalog settings window that handles variations on cost values and sales prices.
    
    
    

• PROJECT ACTION

  • New Project
    By clicking it you start a new project.
    Note: A pop-up window appears to save the current project.
    
    

  • Clone Project
    By clicking it you create a copy of the project.
    
    

  • Save Project
    By clicking it you save the project.
    
    

  • Open Project
    By clicking it you open the Project list.
    
    
    

Under the Views item, you find different sub-items depending on whether you find yourself in the 2D or 3D views.

2D View

• OBJECT VISIBILITY

  • Center Zoom
    This tool adapts the scene's dimension to the full screen (see article Reset scene zoom to full screen).
    
    

3D View

• CAD VIEWS
  

  It allows you to change the view of the scene. The available options are:

  • 3D Right View

  • Left View

  • Right View

  • Top View

  • Front View

  After selecting one view, it is possible to adjust the perspective by left-clicking and holding while moving the mouse on the scene.
  
  
  

• CAMERA VIEWS

  When default settings on article views are defined in the catalog (LockVisual rule command), in the front end, or both, this tool allows you to switch between configured settings or exclude any default setting or lock. The main aspects that are affected are the point of observation on the article, its rotation, and the zoom range. The possible options are:
  
  

  • Free Visual
    No lock on views is applied,
    
    

  • External View
    The frontend lock visual is applied when defined,
    
    

  • Rule View
    It applies the view defined in the catalog (LockVisual rule command). If non-existing the External view is applied,
    Note: If no default setting or lock is defined, either in the catalog or in the front end, no change happens when changing from one view to another.
    
    
    

• OBJECT VISIBILITY

  • Zoom All
    It adapts the scene's dimension to the full screen (see the Reset scene zoom to full screen article).
    
    

  • Zoom Window
    It allows you to zoom a small area (window) of the project. To define the window, select the tool, then left-click and hold while dragging the cursor on the scene.

    
    
    

  • Backface Culling
    When enabled, this tool hides graphic elements normally not visible to the user and supports a smoother and faster graphic configuration (for example, faster mouse movements). Therefore, it is enabled by default.

    Only when the faces of an element are oriented differently than the normal orientation, this tool can support the correct visualization of elements either enabling or disabling it.
    Note: It is suggested to leave this tool enabled for most of the uses.
    
    

  • Box Culling
    This tool hides "box elements", such as cabinets, when looking at them from the back side (or if rotating the view around them, when approaching the back side). It can be useful for clearing the view on items that are positioned beyond the hidden element.
    
    
    

• CAD MODE

  

  These tools are available for the 3D view only.

  • Full View: it displays the whole scene in the 3D planner.
    
    

  • View Maker: it opens the view maker section where you can access all the Generated views, previously created by compiling the viewmaker.json file, and the screenshots taken with the Save view tool.
    Once in the View Maker, click on the Configure button on the left-hand side of the window to open the List of all generated views.
    
    
    
    

  • Photomatch: it allows you to match the configured articles to a background picture so that the object appears as contextualized in a realistic setting.
    
    

    
    
    
    

• SNAP POINT

  

  It manages the articles' behavior when they are placed close to each other, by making their snap points (the black dots positioned on each corner of the article) slightly magnetic to other elements' snap points. This tool simplifies the proper placement of articles, for example, kitchen cabinets, when positioned next to each other. Articles can snap to other articles or walls.
  

  • Element snap: when selected, articles are magnetically attracted to other nearby articles.
    
    

  • Snap on wall: when selected, articles snap to walls if positioned against one.
    
    

  
  
  
  

• FUNCTIONALITY
  

  Under the Functionality item, you find different sub-items depending on whether you find yourself in the 2D or 3D views.
  
  2D View

  
  
  

  • Enable/Disable Multiselection: It allows you to select multiple articles simultaneously. When enabled, you can either select all articles in sequence or draw a box that includes the articles while holding down the shift key. Selected articles can be moved together as a group until you unselect them.
    
    

  • View/Hide Collision: It manages how objects behave when they collide. When disabled, articles overlap when colliding, while when enabled, they do not overlap each other like in reality. When two articles overlap each other, a warning message appears at the bottom of the screen.
    
    
    

  3D View

  
  
  

  • Enable/Disable Multiselection: It allows you to select multiple articles simultaneously. When enabled you can either select all articles in sequence or draw a box that includes the articles while holding down the shift key. Selected articles can be moved together as a group until you unselect them.

    Note: The multiselection in the 3D view works only if the 3D rotation is enabled.
    
    
    
    

  • Redraw All: By enabling this tool, 3CAD Next reevaluates the graphic rules of all the articles in the project at once.
    
    

  • Evaluate finals: This tool runs a script for the final evaluation of the rules of the articles in the scene. It evaluates each article's rule, considering the rules of the adjacent articles; this prevents the coexistence of incompatible articles or specifics in the same composition.
    It is necessary because article rules are defined independently from each other in the catalog (LayEdit).

    Example: In a composition of a wardrobe, the Evaluate finals tool reevaluates the rule of each article (wardrobe component) considering its relative position to the other articles.
    
    

  • Save view: By clicking it, you take a screenshot of the current view. The screenshots taken are stored in the View Maker section.
    
    
    
    

  • Explode: It allows you to disassemble an article in all its components. By dragging the slider it is possible to emphasize the disaggregation less or more.

    
    
    

  • F1 Dettaglio: It is a debug tool. It shows the typologies of that article and their specifics, by selecting first the tool and then the article in the planner.
    
    

  • View/Hide Collision: It manages how objects behave when they collide. When disabled, articles overlap when colliding, while when enabled, they do not overlap each other like in reality. When two articles overlap each other, a warning message appears at the bottom of the screen.
    
    
    

• GROUPING

  
  
  

  • Create Group: It creates a group of articles that can be moved as a whole. The group is preserved also when the multiselection tool is disabled or when you switch between 2D and 3D views.
    To create a group, first select multiple articles using the Enable/disable multiselection, then click on Create group on the toolbar (see the How to group and ungroup articles article).
    
    

  • Remove Group: It ungroups the articles that were previously grouped. To ungroup articles, select the grouped articles and press Remove group on the toolbar (see the How to group and ungroup articles article).
    
    
    

• GALLERY & RENDER
  

  Under the Gallery & Render item, you find different sub-items depending on whether you find yourself in the 2D or 3D views.
  
  2D View
  

  

  • Save Gallery: It allows you to save the current composition in the gallery (see the Saving compositions in the gallery article).
    Note: This tool is common to both 3D and 2D views.
    
    

  • Load Gallery: It allows you to load a composition from the gallery (see the Importing preset compositions from the gallery article).
    Note: This tool is common to both 3D and 2D views.
    
    
    

  3D View

  

  • Save Gallery: It allows you to save the current composition in the gallery.
    Note: This tool is common to both 3D and 2D views.
    
    

  • Load Gallery: It allows you to load a composition from the gallery.
    Note: This tool is common to both 3D and 2D views.
    
    

  • View - AR: Click and frame the QR code to view the project in augmented reality.
    
    
    

• EXPORT TO

  

  It exports the scene to specific formats or specific software listed below. These options are available for the 3D view only.
  
  

  • Wavefront 3D Object File (3D format)
  • High Resolution File (export format for rendering in augmented reality)
  • Virtual Reality File (export format for rendering in virtual reality)
  • Mr File Format (export format for rendering in mixed reality)
  • FlowCharter File Format (integration with Winner)
  • Innoplus File Format (integration with Innoplus)
    
    
    

The 2D-3D switch is located under the top bar.

This section holds user-dedicated icons, such as:

• The country flag icon:
  It indicates the current language used in 3CAD Next and it can be changed by clicking on it.
  
  

• The user icon:
  When clicking it, it displays key information related to the user, like access key, email, assigned shop, etc.