ViaCAD 2D/3D V6 New Features ViaCAD 2D/3D V6 represents a significant upgrade relative to the inaugural release of ViaCAD V5.0.0 with over one hundred and fifty documented changes. Some of the highlighted features are listed below. 3D Modeling Update The underlying modeling kernel was updated providing improvements to blending, chamfering, shelling, Booleans, and direct face editing. Architectural Tools The 2D architectural tools provides fast drafting tools for creating walls, windows, and doors. Features associated with these tools include: --Automatic healing with neighboring walls --Auto-dimensions --Attach doors, windows, and custom symbols --Support for custom wall styles (user patterns & colors for multiple material regions) Performance Boosts Significant boosts in visualization including: --200X Faster Hidden Line (Mac & PC) --6X Faster Dynamic Repaints (Mac & PC) --2X Faster Static Repaints --Level of Detail for additional performance 3Dconnexion Support The SpaceNavigator device drivers are now recognized by ViaCAD. This includes support for Mac OSX (Universal Binary), Windows XP, and Vista. Use the SpaceNavigator to dynamically zoom, rotate, and pan views into your data models.
Multiple Viewports Viewports provide a graphical user interface to display the same drawing in multiple views. Each view may have a different orientation, which provides the ability to see an object simultaneously in isometric, side, front, and top views. Gradient & Image Backgrounds The preference dialog box now provides features to specify two and four color gradients. You can also specify a JPEG or BMP file as a background. Color Per Face Users can now apply colors per face. Use the Deep Select tool to select a face and then pick a color from the pen menu.
New Using Wizard The New Using Wizard dialog box provides the ability to create a new drawing file from a collection of custom settings or selection of an existing file from a template. Quickly set up a drawing for mechanical or architectural layouts. Single Click Fill & Hatch Click in a region of trimmed or untrimmed curves to hatch or fill. Resultant hatch is auto trimmed and remains associative to the neighboring untrimmed curves. New Verify Tools Use the new Bounding Box tool to determine the rectangular bounding volume of an object. Or verify the curvature circle at any location of a curve. TurboCAD Mac Native File Support ViaCAD 2D/3D V6 reads TurboCAD Mac V1, V2, & V3 including preserving the history tree for rapid design modifications. Improved SketchUp Support Most SketchUP files now read in faster and save to smaller size. Facet smoothing is now implemented for better visualization. New Arc & Circle Tools One point circles and two point arcs were added. The two point arc preserves the start and end location when you modify the radius.
New Polygon Tools Intelligent slot and rounded rectangle tools added to the polygon tool palette. Align Dimensions The Align tool was enhanced to recognize dimensions. Use the align tool to organize text positions of dimensions. Picture Background Transparency Imported images now have an option that supports background transparency, a nice feature when tracing over imported images.
Dynamic Linear Array The Dynamic Array tool will create and distribute copies based on the starting reference point and cursor location. As you move the cursor, the angle and number of copies increases or decreases. The spacing value describes the absolute distance between each consecutive object. Profile Tools Feature based solids such as extrusions, sweeps, and lathes are created from collections of 2D curves called profiles. When you display Concepts Explorer, you will see a Profile Surface entity that contains a list of curves defining a closed profile. Right clicking on the Profile Surface entity displays a menu that provides new options to replace the entire profile or add a curve to the existing profile. Protrude/Cutout The protrude and cutout tools now include an option to extrude relative to the profile face. Interoperability --Improved AutoCAD Compatibility --OBJ Export --Export JPEG --Import JPEG --Publish to Web