Working with CAD Bodies
nTop supports both multi-body parts and assemblies and treats CAD imports as collections of Bodies; even if the import only contains a single body. Some operations require identifying the specific CAD Body or Face by creating a CAD Body or Face Variable.
Extraction by Manual Selection on Screen
The quickest way to convert an imported CAD part into an implicit body is to extract directly from the part shown on the screen. Both the CAD Body and Face can be converted into implicit bodies as well as made into CAD Body or Face Variables.
Double-Click to select the whole body, then right-click to either “Create CAD Body Variable” or “Convert CAD Body to Implicit Body”
Single-Click to select a face, then right-click to either “Create CAD Face Variable” or “Convert CAD Face to Implicit Body”
Hold Ctrl to select more than one body or face, then “Create CAD Body List Variable” or “Convert CAD Body to Implicit Bodies”. A List is created if more than one item is selected.
In this example, we choose 2 faces, so the block will have a (2) behind its name, with 2 being the size of the list.
Edges or vertices can also be extracted the same way, but they can only be made into CAD Vertex or CAD Edge Variables and not implicit bodies.
Extraction by Properties
Open up the Properties Panel of the Imported part. Expand the Bodies Properties until you reach the desired element. Drag it into the Notebook to create a block from it.
Extraction by Properties using CAD View
When opening the properties panel of an imported CAD part or assembly, there are many property chips to choose from. To simplify extraction we added a CAD View filter, which hides all properties except for CAD bodies.
Extraction by CAD Blocks
In nTop 5.8, we released a series of new blocks that are designed to help users interact with CAD bodies more efficiently.
To extract CAD Faces:
Use the Get CAD Faces block:
To extract CAD Bodies:
Use the Get CAD Bodies block:
You can also use the Get CAD Bodies by Name or Get CAD Faces by Name block to further refine your selections:
Extraction by Color
ou can extract CAD Faces and CAD Bodies using our two color based blocks:
- Get CAD Faces by Color
- Get CAD Bodies by Color
In the gif below, the Color property chip is extracted from the face/body. We recommend this method as it directly links to color, as opposed to inputting the RGB values of an empty Color block.
If you import your CAD part and it doesn’t have any color, make sure you change the Display Mode to “CAD Color”.
Turning Multiple CAD Faces into a Single Surface
Create a CAD Face List of faces you want to merge, then use the Stitch CAD Surface Bodies or the Stitch Adjacent CAD Faces block. These blocks merge multiple sheets within a tolerance range and output the results as a list.
This block comes auto-populated with a list, however. You cannot input a list into a list. You need to delete the auto-populated list to input the CAD faces.
