Quick Reference Guide - · PDF fileQUICK REFERENCE GUIDE iv CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT NEW FEATURE...

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

i

Quick Reference Guide By Bryan A. Ross

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i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents

CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT INTRODUCTION Historical Overview ................................................................... ii

Direct Modeling in Creo ........................................................... iii

Creo Elements/Direct New Feature Highlights ...................... iv

MODELING Interface Introduction ........................................................... 1-3

Interface Summary ..............................................................1

Files, Ribbons, and Toolbars ..............................................2

Right-Hand Rule...................................................................2

Dialogue Boxes ....................................................................3

Calculator .............................................................................3

Workplanes ..........................................................................4

Real and Construction Geometry .......................................4

Basic Modeling .................................................................... 5-15

Catch, 2D CoPilot, Lock and Keyboard ..............................5

Modify 2D and Relative Measurement ..............................6

Putting it all Together ..........................................................6

Selecting Regions ................................................................7

3D Copilot and Reference Cones .......................................7

Pull ........................................................................................8

Selection ..............................................................................9

Blends and Chamfers....................................................... 10

Moving and Pulling Faces ................................................ 11

Stretch Face, Edge, and Offset ........................................ 12

Taper Faces ...................................................................... 13

Cut, Copy, and Paste Faces ............................................. 13

Punch, Stamp, and Section ............................................. 14

Shell and Imprint .............................................................. 14

Boolean Operations .......................................................... 15

Mirror, Scale, Align, and Merge ....................................... 15

Advanced Modeling ........................................................ 16-18

Freeform Modeling ........................................................... 16

Splines, 3D Curves and Points ........................................ 16

Projected Profiles ............................................................. 17

3D Surfacing Tools ........................................................... 17

Features and Patterns ..................................................... 18

MODULES

Machining ............................................................................... 19

Surfacing ................................................................................. 20

Basic Sheets ........................................................................... 21

ASSEMBLIES Building Assembly Structures ............................................... 22

Containers .............................................................................. 23

Copy, Share, and Instancing ................................................. 23

Advanced Assemblies .......................................................24-25

Clipping Planes ................................................................. 24

Stock/Finish ..................................................................... 24

Coordinate Systems ......................................................... 24

Configurations .................................................................. 25

Explosions ......................................................................... 25

Clash Analysis ................................................................... 26

ANNOTATIONS Annotation Application .................................................... 27-29

Introduction....................................................................... 27

Drawing Structure ............................................................ 27

Template Browser ............................................................ 27

Starting Drawings and Views ........................................... 28

Placing and Updating Views ............................................ 29

Adding Dimensions, Text, and Objects ........................... 30

Sketching Geometry ......................................................... 31

BoM Tables ....................................................................... 31

Printing .............................................................................. 31

3D Documentation Application ....................................... 32-34

Introduction....................................................................... 32

Setup ................................................................................. 32

Annotate ............................................................................ 33

Display ............................................................................... 33

Modify with Dimensions ................................................... 33

BoM ................................................................................... 34

Group ................................................................................. 34

Template Browser ............................................................ 34

MODEL MANAGER

Introduction ........................................................................... 35

Model Manager Breakdown ................................................... 36

Search and Load ................................................................... 37

Save ........................................................................................ 38

Conflict Resolution ................................................................. 38

Bill of Material Editor ............................................................ 39

Versions and Inseparable ...................................................... 39

APPENDIX A — SUPPORT Platform Support .................................................................. 40

Technical Support ................................................................... 41

APPENDIX B — SHORTCUTS Creo Elements/Direct Shortcuts ........................................... 42

APPENDIX C — STRUCTURE BROWSER ICONS Structure Browser Icons ......................................................... 43

APPENDIX D — INTERFACE BREAKDOWN

Quick Access Toolbar, Ribbon, Prompt, and User Input ...... 44

Structure Browser, Catch Toolbar, and Status Bar .............. 45

File tab ..................................................................................... 46

Modeling, Structure, and Feature Tabs ................................ 47

3D Geometry, Analysis, and View Tabs ................................. 48

Applications Tab ..................................................................... 49

GLOSSARY Glossary ......................................................................... 50-51


ii

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Creo Elements/Direct Introduction

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The lineage of Creo Elements/Direct

(CED) introduced the concept of dynamic

modeling to mechanical designers across

the world. Starting with

ME 30, CED has been

providing continuous

improvement and inno-

vation for over 27 years.

ME 30

ME30 isn’t actual-

ly the originating soft-

ware behind CED.

SolidDesigner is. Still,

ME30 provided the seeds that eventually

grew into SolidDesigner.

Originally developed in Germany, HP

Precision Engineering / ME30 (HP PE/

ME30) was released in 1986 by Hewlett

Packard MDD (Mechanical Design Divi-

sion) . The first versions were exclusive to

the HP-UX operating system, but a Mi-

crosoft Windows compatible version was

developed as popularity grew.

ME30 was based on the Romulus ker-

nel and therefore had an inherent issue

with freeform surfaces.

SOLIDDESIGNER

HP licensed the ACIS kernel in 1989

for the PE suite. Solid Designer was devel-

oped shortly afterwards with freeform capa-

bility.

HP PE/SolidDesigner began in

1994 as a product-modeling

suite simultaneously supported

with ME30, but HP transitioned

their customers from ME30 to

SolidDesigner through 1995.

COCREATE ONESPACE

CoCreate Software Inc. adopted its

name in 1996 when it became a subsidiary

of HP rather than the Mechanical Design

Division thereof.

By 1998, HP CoCreate Software solu-

tions were installed in more than 30 coun-

tries on more than 120,000 systems. A

testament to the success of the software.

Cocreate then became its own inde-

pendent entity in 2000. Two years later,

the product line changed names and

CoCreate OneSpace Modeling made its

début.

HBK Investments took-over CoCreate Software Inc. in 2006.

PTC purchased CoCreate from them in 2007 for roughly $250M.

Shortly afterwards, PTC released CoCreate Modeling 2008 as the

last revision with the historic interface (rev 16).

It wasn't until rev 16.5 in late 2009 that we started to see changes toward a mutual-

istic relationship with Pro/Engineer (Pro/E). 16.5 introduced the save-as functionality for

the GRANITE and ProductView formats and an integration with Mechanica.

CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT

Creo Elements/Direct (Rev 17) came out in 2010. This is where we get our first

taste of the sweeping changes to come. Two new commands appeared; Pull and Stretch

Face. New functionality showed PTC’s willingness to continue the product line; Import na-

tive Pro/E data, improved dimensioning, better PCB interaction, additional constraint recog-

nition in the 2D Copilot, and more for a total of 30 major changes.

Creo Elements/Direct (Rev 18) appeared in 2011 and was the first time we saw the

new Fluid UI common to the Creo applications. We also see 28 more major changes intro-

duced including the new Stretch Edge command and numerous functionality improve-

ments like improved data exchange with CP, cross-part move and stretch, and the impres-

sive Face Part Modeling.

PTC released Creo Elements/Direct (Rev 18.1) in 2012 with

19 more major changes . Improved selection and stretching, 2D

geometry and 3D wire parts added to Annotations, edge change

commands, and much more.

PTC proved its commitment to product improvement and en-

hancement in Creo Elements/Direct and will carry it well beyond the

next generation of CAD tools.

Forward looking information is subject to change without notice


iii

DIRECT MODELING IN CREO


PARAMETRIC AND DIRECT

There are at least two distinctively different design paradigms in the 3D CAD

world; Parametric and Direct modeling. They sit on opposite sides of the modeling

spectrum, but PTC brought them together in the new Creo product suite. Learning from

Creo Elements/Direct, PTC created Creo Direct and the Flexible Modeling Extension for

Creo Parametric. PTC continues to significantly invest in expanding direct modeling in

Creo and making direct modeling its core CAD strategy.

DIRECT MODELING SOLUTIONS

Developers spent years perfecting techniques to trade data amongst CAD applica-

tions. Translation, feature recognition, 3D from 2D generation, and more. Most of

these fall short of providing what the parametric industry needed for years; a method to

effectively manipulate foreign data without re-creation.

Direct modeling provides that and much more. You gain the ability to better ad-

dress late stage changes, generate faster concept designs, have an easier time with

model simplification, and include more people in the design workflow. The cost is typi-

cally the loss of your design history. PTC eliminated that drawback with the interaction

between Creo Parametric, FMX, and Creo Direct. Designers now gain the power of di-

rect modeling without giving-

up design constraints.

FLEXIBLE MODELING EXTENSION

Flexible Modeling Extension (FMX) for Creo Parametric (CP) lends the paramet-

ric user the ability to manipulate existing parametric or neutral parts using di-

rect modeling techniques. The interface has been stylized after Creo Paramet-

ric for ease of use. The commands are deceptively simple and easy to pick-up.

The move command itself has an incredible array of options to explore once you under-

stand the basic concepts. Each direct command creates a new feature on the history tree

which adds a new dimension to parametric mod-

eling. You can not create new geometry with it,

but you don’t need to. You can use CP’s full ca-

pability to create any new geometry seamlessly.

CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT

A portion of the technology from CoCreate now appears in PTCs new CAD suite of

products under the CREO moniker. The original application has been re-named, re-faced,

and re-distributed as Creo Elements/Direct, but is not actually part of the Creo suite. The

term “Creo Elements” is meant to describe that the original application was one of the

elements used to create the new Creo framework, but does not reside within the frame-

work itself.

Productview and Pro/Engineer were the other two technology platforms that formed

the basis for Creo. They were re-named at the time as well to Creo Elements/View and

Creo Elements/Pro respectively. Those applications, however, have new incarnations

inside of the Creo framework. Creo View/MCAD and ECAD both replaced Productview.

Creo Parametric replaced Pro/Engineer. Creo Elements/Direct continues as its own ap-

plication suite.

CREO DIRECT

Creo Direct (CD) is a new stand-alone application within the Creo suite. Very simi-

lar to FMX in functionality, Creo Direct comes with the additional ability to author

new geometry using direct modeling techniques, but no 2D drawing capability.

The interface leans more towards new users and further away from seasoned para-

metric ones. There’s a click-through workflow where one operation ends by starting another,

and a mini toolbar that appears with feature options while you work. The intent is for some-

one without parametric modeling experience to

participate in the design. One can then Round-Trip

data between Creo Direct and Creo Parametric with-

out any need for translation while retaining all de-

sign history.

NOTE: Creo Direct will continue to grow in features and may eventually replace the Creo

Elements/Direct product line, but Creo Direct has a long way to go and PTC is committed to

continuing support and enhancement for Creo Elmenets/Direct for many, many years.

ALERT: Creo Direct is not a continuation of

CoCreate inside Creo. It’s a re-birth.

NOTE: FMX modifications become more difficult as

the model’s shape becomes more organic.


iv

CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT NEW FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS


MIDDLE CLICK BEHAVIOR

When the cursor is over a current

viewport, you can middle-click to perform

the following operations:

Middle-click to end a command

Middle-click and rotate (or

press CTRL, middle-click, and

drag the cursor) to zoom.

Middle-click and drag the

cursor to rotate (spin).

Press CTRL and Shift, mid-

dle-click, and drag the cursor

to rotate elements in the view-

port around a point.

Press SHIFT, middle-click,

and drag the cursor to pan.

To change the mouse

interaction mode, click File

SettingsViewport. The View-

port Settings dialogue box

opens. Then click the CoCre-

ate mouse interaction mode

check box in the Dynamic

Viewing pane of the Viewport

Settings dialog box.

CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT NEW FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

PTC implemented many major enhancements to Creo Elements/Direct, roughly 82 since rev 16, and is committed to the continua-

tion of those improvements. Many of those changes had drastic impact on the modeling environment. Like Creo Data Exchange, Para-

metric Assemblies, Outline Views, Cross Part Move-and-Stretch, Enhanced 2D CoPilot, Projected Profiles, Modify Edges, and many more.

Four of those improvements, though, stand out above the rest. Stretch Faces, Stretch Edge, Pull, and Face Part Modeling.

STRETCH FACES

You can now move a

face while maintaining their

boundaries and adapting the

neighbor faces. This new

Stretch command strongly

resembles the stretch feature

in 2D where you move e.g. a

straight line and the connect-

ed edges are adjusted like a

rubber band. You can also

stretch several unconnected

faces at the same time.

STRETCH EDGE

The new Stretch Edge

command is the logical next

step beyond the Stretch Face

command. Stretch Edge al-

lows you to move edges (one

per face), automatically ad-

justing the affected faces.

Some model changes that

required several steps before

can now be performed in one

operation.

PULL

You now have one oper-

ation that combines the Ex-

trude, Mill, Turn, Bore, and

Linear and Angular Lift com-

mands. The new Pull com-

mand simplifies the user inter-

action. When selecting a work-

plane, closed profile areas are

automatically detected and

highlighted as pre-selected.

Pull can also work with select-

ed faces.

FACE PART MODELING

Parts that do not repre-

sent a closed volume can be

modified like solid models as

long as the open boundaries

are not affected. This situation

often arises when imported

models don’t match the receiv-

ing system’s accuracy require-

ments. Repairing such models

requires expert skills which is

not a good prerequisite for

potentially simple changes.

NOTE: You can also right-click the

current viewport and drag to pan.

NOTE: For the complete list of updates from Rev 16 to current, please visit:

http://www.ptc.com/appserver/wcms/relnotes/?show=y&product=137115

Or search on http://www.ptc.com/ for Enhancement Details.

http://www.ptc.com/appserver/wcms/relnotes/?show=y&product=137115

http://www.ptc.com/


1

MODELING: BASIC MODELING

Modeling

INTERFACE SUMMARY

Browser Bar The

browser bar shows all

opened browsers; for

instance the structure

browser. The struc-

ture browser displays

all 3D objects and

elements (parts, as-

semblies, workplanes,

and so on) and their

interrelationships.

User Input Line Used to enter commands, general ex-

pressions, or text. On by default and can be shown us-

ing the Ribbon ViewToolbarsUser Input Line.

Status Bar Shows the alert history, current work-

plane, part, and settings for Catch and Units.

Also shows pre-selection focus, quick viewport

settings, and a "previous application" switch.

Configurable on right-click.

Prompts By default, displayed in the status bar. Provides gen-

eral feedback, messages, and guidance. Can be added to a

Prompt Bar using the Ribbon ViewToolbarsPrompt Bar.

Quick Access Toolbar Provides quick access to frequently-used commands. You can

customize it by adding, removing and reordering commands (buttons and groups) to it.

Ribbon Contains commands organized as a

set of tabs. On each tab, related commands

are grouped. Fully customizable.

Mini Toolbar Helps you to quickly execute a

command from the viewport, and changes

content based on current selected object and

context. The first command is the default

for that operation. Fully customizable.

OK, Cancel, and Detail Buttons

These buttons are only available

if a command is active. Check

mark to complete, ex to cancel,

and triangle to view Command

Details dialogue box.

Command Details

Opens by activating

the Detail Button.

You can select

elements or set

properties, com-

plete or cancel the

command, and get

quick access to help.

Context Menu Opens when you select

and right-click any element in the view-

port in the pre-selection mode. Depend-

ing on the current context and selected

object, the commands change.

File Tab Unique tab providing the application’s most intrinsic

commands. Session and file operations, settings and options,

module and application activation, command search, and exit.

TIP: You can press SPACEBAR

to open the Mini Toolbar and

click on its to open the

Command Details during an

operation.


2


Modeling

WORKING WITH FILES

Creo Elements/Direct is a session

based software rather than file based. This

allows it to open multiple files at the same

time. Opening new files adds them to your

current session.

When saving, you’re asked to provide

what, where, and how. Select what objects,

parts, and/or assemblies to save. Then

direct the file browser to the desired save

location. Finally, choose your preferred file

format.

CED interacts with a large array of file types.

These are the native file types typically used:

*.pkg — Package. Some or all of the 3D data for a

project in a single file.

*.bdl — Bundle. Assembly and/or 3D model and

associated drawing stored together.

*.sd* — Individual 3D Content and Instance data

files.

*.ses — Session. All parts, assemblies,

workplanes, and settings like units,

lights, viewports, etc.

*.env — Environment. All active environment

settings.

*.mi — 2D drawings and annotations.

WORKING WITH THE RIBBON

The ribbon UI provides an efficient layout for modeling commands. The most frequently used commands are displayed in large icons.

Uncommonly used commands are grouped into submenus within each section of the ribbon The commonly used Utilities section is available

in most tabs. Settings for each functional area are grouped with the modeling functions.

RIGHT-HAND RULE

The right-hand rule has been around

for a long time, and is still commonly re-

ferred to today. It’s a mathematical mne-

monic for understanding 3 dimensional

vectors. There are several ways to use the

right-hand rule, but it’s generally referred to

in association with rotation in CAD.

If you choose an edge as your rotation-

al axis, and a positive number for your rota-

tional value, will the subject turn inward or

outward? Right or left?

If your rotational axis’s positive direc-

tion is your right thumb as it points in a

“thumbs up” gesture, then a positive num-

ber will rotate your subject in the direction

your fingers curl.

TIP: Some object or file-type selections will

only correspond to their respective file-types

or objects. Don’t be surprised if your options

change based on what you click.

BEST PRACTICE: If you’re working directly

with 3D files, and not using a data manage-

ment solution, use “Package” (*.pkg) as your

go-to file format. Otherwise, packages are not

recommended due to their file size and prob-

lems generated from a broken file stream

when saving in a PDM or PLM environment.

Common Un-Common

Settings

TIP: You can add commands to the Quick Ac-

cess Toolbar directly from your search results.

MINI TOOLBARS

The operations mini toolbar offers di-

rect access to commonly used operations

based on your operation without having to

traverse the ribbon. The most common

command is automatically activated without

having to be selected. The list of commands

can be customized to suit your needs.

The options mini toolbar offers addi-

tional options during an operation. To acti-

vate, press the SPACEBAR. This has the

added benefit of bringing the operations

toolbar back into view if it’s faded.

Functional Areas Divided Into Tabs

Closely Related Command Groups

Operations Mini Toolbar

Options Mini Toolbar

COMMAND FINDER

Open the File Tab. At the bottom is a

search window used for finding commands.

The search assumes a wildcard on either

end of your entry. It doesn’t search the

command description, but will search the

FULL command name; displayed or not.

BEST PRACTICE: It is always preferable to

work with a PDM or PLM rather than a file

system when possible.


3


Modeling

DIALOGUE BOXES

Command dialogue boxes display your

current option sets, but also typically require

some additional information before being

able to complete the command. To provide

the required information, you can click an

item in the viewport or structure browser if

you need to choose a face, object, drag an

angle, pull a position, etc. You can also type

data in a yellow field if the information can

be given alphanumerically. For example, for

Model Name you can type “p1” to specify a

part rather than selecting it in the viewport

or Structure Browser. The forward slash

prefix “/p1” isn’t required. Spaces are not

allowed for parts, assemblies, or file names.

TIP: If you use a postfix to specify measure-

ment units, they are converted to the sys-

tem’s current units. Math is also supported.

Length Units: um, mm, cm, m, km

uin, mil, inch, foot, yard, mile

Angle Units: deg, rad, grd

Angle Convert: Degrees:Minutes:Seconds

Math:

RIGHT-CLICK DIALOGUE

Right-clicking in a dialogue box that can

accept numeric entries will provide a contex-

tual menu designed for your input options.

It offers a list of the last values you’ve en-

tered into similar boxes, a link to measure-

ment based on the dialogue box type, a link

to the calculator, and quick access to your

copy/paste functionality.

From the Calculator, you can use the X

box to the left of your numerical entry win-

dow to send your product back to the dia-

logue box.

From the measurement output dia-

logue, you can use the leftmost green arrow

to send your measurement back to the dia-

logue box. If you need to do some calcula-

tions first, use the green arrow with the cal-

culator icon to send your measurement to

the Calculator command.

From the measurement dialogue you

can select any of the different types of

measurement if the one selected was not

what you truly needed. ALERT: You can’t use unit conversion and

math in the same step.

=

=

=

+, -, *, /

sin, cos, tan

asin, acos, atan

sqrt (square root)

exp (e^x)

PI (or lower-case pi)

bracket terms

floor(n) (highest integer less

than or equal to n;

rounds n down to the

next integer)

ceil(n) (smallest integer not less

than n; rounds n up to

the next integer)

^ (power: x^y where Y is an

integer

CALCULATOR

The utilities

command group

is repeated in

most tabs. In the

lower right corner

of the utilities

group you’ll find

the Calculator command.

Change the calculator from a standard

(the default) to a Reverse Polish Notation

(RPN) calculator from File Settings

System.

Use the EngLen, Dist, Rad, Ang, 3D,

and Prop buttons for a variety of measure-

ment options. Use the measurements di-

rectly in your computations and copy/paste

your solutions back to dialogue boxes or use

the X button to send them to your active

dialogue box. Use the scroll bar (circled in

red on the lower right of the illustration) to

see additional math operations.

RPN CALCULATOR

EXTENDED OPERATIONS

R->P and P->R are exclusive to the RPN

calculator. Also, y^x is x^y in the standard

calculator.


4

INTRODUCING WORKPLANES

The workplane (WP) is a 3D represen-

tation of an infinitely large plane. This is

where you define all 2D geometry for mod-

eling. It has its own coordinate system with

a u, v, and w axis. You can have multiple

workplanes defined, but only one can be

active at any given time.

Default Workplane: Most basic WP.

Its origin is aligned with the global

coordinate system upon creation.

Workplane on Face: The most com-

monly used WP. Once you have a

face selected, hold ALT and middle-

click for an instant WP. You can also grab a

draw tool and simply start drawing on a

face. The WP will be generated for you.

Workplane on Axis: When working

with a cylindrical part, a WP aligned

with its axis is often needed. The

new WP can align its u, v, or w axis

to the part’s center axis by select-

ing a curved surface as reference.

BEST PRACTICE: Workplanes can be deleted.

Try to keep their number to a minimum. Or-

ganizing, categorizing, and managing the

display of many used workplanes can unnec-

essarily clutter your design.

TIP: It may be easier to line-up your axis WP with

the Pt on WP option to anchor to a specific point.

POSITIONING WORKPLANES

Use the work-

plane positioning

options to move your

workplane to exactly

where you need it to

be. Use the mini toolbar or right-click while

the workplane is selected in your 3D view-

port. Position the

workplane using

the 3D CoPilot

and/or the meth-

ods available in

the command

dialogue box.

You can

change the work-

plane’s origin by

using the Slide

WP Origin com-

mand. It can be

found in the

Structure Tab in

the Workplane

group under the

More menu.

Click a point

on the workplane

or type the point

position relative

to the old workplane origin.

CONSTRUCTION GEOMETRY

Construction geometry is generated

using many of the same 2D drawing

methods as real geometry. It’s used to

create references for real geometry

creation, and can even be traced over

with real geometry using the Overdraw com-

mand. You can also use it as a guideline

for machine operations like turning

an axis.

REAL GEOMETRY

Real geometry is directly used

for machine commands. Any remain-

ing construction geometry is ignored.

In addition to the typical line and

circle creation commands, you can

create a variety of rectangles, arcs,

splines, and project 2D geometry from

faces, edges, cross-sections, and out-

lines. Real geometry can be modified

with fillet, move/stretch, trim, rotate,

scale, mirror and more.

Delete 2D geometry by selecting it and

using your Delete key or right-click menu

delete option.

NOTE: The workplane UVW axis starts off in the

lower left of the workplane. (as viewed from +W)

When you reposition the origin, it does not retain

this boundary relationship. From then on, the

boundary is centered on the UVW where possible.

The workplane grows off center to encompass all

contained 2D geometry.

CREATING 2D GEOMETRY

Use the 2D Geometry creation tools

under the Modeling tab in the Draw group.

All 2D geometry is created on a workplane.

In fact, you can only create, modify, or de-

lete geometry from the active workplane.

Aside from your basic geometry, you

can create arcs, splines, ellipses, functional

and conical curves, fillets, and equidistant

offsets.

The Overdraw command

is used to draw on top of con-

struction geometry to create

real geometry. The usage of

Overdraw depreciat-

ed with the advent of

the 2D and 3D CoPi-

lots, but can still be

very useful.

Quickly swap

between geometry

and construction

with the Overdraw dialogue box options.

The tracking options allow you to choose

what your traces snap to; real geometry or

construction geometry. You can also decide

to compute the intersection between your

contour and edges. Uncheck to ignore inter-

sections for faster performance.

If you take a wrong turn, use the Back

button in the dialogue box to return to the

previous selection. You can also click your

last profile point or use the Z key to return to

the previous selection.

NOTE: You can also draw 2D geometry on Docuplanes

from the 3D Documentation application.


Modeling


5


Modeling

THE CATCH TOOL

The Catch tool defines how your cursor

catches or snaps to the elements defined

in the 2D and 3D Copilot settings. It’s an

integral part of the environment, and a core

piece of the 2D drawing and 3D modeling

experience in CED. As you mouse-over

geometry, the catch tool gathers references

based on those snap settings. For exam-

ple, if you mouse-over an edge, that edge

will be referenced in your 2D sketch. To

clear the reference memory, hit the Delete

key. You can access the catch settings

from the Catch label on the status bar.

Within the Catch settings you have a

dropdown for Next Catch, Default 2D, and

Default 3D. This dropdown indicates which

group of Catch settings you’re affecting

with your changes.

Next Catch settings only apply to the

very next caught entity — The one-off catch-

es needed as you sketch. It returns to de-

fault after the operation if it was changed.

Default 2D and Default 3D refer to the

default behavior in 2D mode and 3D mode

for your next catch and every subsequent

operation. Take care when making chang-

es to these settings.

By default, Default 2D catches to all

geometry elements on the active workplane

and projects the point onto the workplane.

By default, Default 3D catches all ge-

ometry elements on all workplanes and all

parts.

THE 2D COPILOT

The 2D CoPilot can assist in creating 2D geometry without using construction geome-

try. It’s an interactive tool with automatic snaps, real time referencing and feedback, and

relative measurement capability. Access the 2D CoPilot settings from the Draw and Modify

2D command groups under the Modeling tab or File Settings 2D CoPilot.

Combining the catch tool and 2D CoPilot, the drawing

experience is enhanced significantly. For example, in the im-

ages above, the 2D CoPilot guides the creation of the new line

by indicating newline length, distance to horizontal reference,

angle from existing geometry, parallelism and perpendicularity to existing

geometry. In a typical workflow outside of CED, you’d need to create those

references through the use of construction geometry in many cases.

Further, you can type dimensional values where applicable by clicking the TAB key to

cycle through available dimensions. You can also alter the snap-grid precision by using

PgUp and PgDn. For example, dragging your line may progress from 14 to 15 and 16. Af-

ter pressing PgUp, the numbers jump from 10 to 20 and 30. Similarly, using PgDn can

take the dimensions down to 2 decimal places while dragging. Home key resets.

The little keyboard icon appears when you have a Mini Toolbar available. Use the

SPACEBAR to open the Option Mini Toolbar or click the keyboard. Click the button

for a list of available shortcuts. Access relative measurement, bends, the back command,

ignore o r lock snaps, and more in a context sensitive list with shortcut hot-keys listed.

Use the Set Length or Set Angle command to constrain your lines. Use Set Radius to

constrain your circles, or swap between rectangle types using their respective commands.

New Line

Catch Points

LOCKING CONSTRAINTS

You can lock or unlock (by use of the L

key) snapping conditions as they appear in

the 2D CoPilot to restrict the movement of

your profile element during creation. The

individual snapping conditions additively

restrict degrees of freedom in the element,

refining its final placement.

You can recognize lockable constraints

by the red lock that appears next to them.

Locked constraints

will appear red them-

selves and must be

unlocked in the same

way to restore free-

dom of movement in

that direction.

Multiple locked con-

straints, while having

a beneficial additive

effect, can also be-

come too difficult to

navigate as refer-

ence combinations

bind movement con-

trary to the desired effect. You can unlock

or explicitly ignore (by use of the I key) spe-

cific constraints or clear the buffer entirely

with the Delete key.

KEYBOARD INPUT

Type 2D coordinates at any time to

start or end a single line, rectangle, or speci-

fy the center of a circle. Entering a number

during line creation indicates length. A sub-

sequent number will be its angle. Circular

entities will have their radii defined.


6


Modeling

MODIFY 2D

The basic Modify 2D commands like

Rotate, Move, Scale, Mirror, and Stretch will

change the geometry by either location, size,

or orientation. Convert Geo toggles geome-

try types between real and construction.

Use the trim and extend commands to re-

pair 2D geometry.

MOVE AND STRETCH 2D

You can activate Move

and Stretch from the com-

mand button, but get a wid-

er array of fast options from

the Options Mini

Toolbar by simply

clicking on a piece

of 2D geometry.

TANGENCY

At any point during line creation, use

the Options Mini Toolbar to override any

active snaps and use the Tangency snap.

SET MIRROR

Mirroring your 2D geometry real-time

couldn't be simpler. Use your Options Mini

Toolbar, select Set Mirror, and choose a

mirror line/reference.

RELATIVE MEASUREMENT

Create any 2D geometry relative to

existing geometry or references. Tap the R

key to start a relative measurement. The

point or line your cursor was over at the time

is immediately used as a reference point.

You can use multiple references for a single

command. For example:

Start a new rectangle and catch a verti-

cal reference. Then tap R to define that

vertical reference edge as a relative meas-

urement reference.

Then move to a horizontal reference,

and tap R again.

Notice that the 2D CoPilot is already

using the first reference for a relative di-

mension. Now that you have both refer-

ences, you can either type manual dimen-

sions (cycling with Tab) or drag your refer-

ences out to the desired starting point and

left click to begin your rectangle.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Mastering 2D drawing in Creo Ele-

ments/Direct will require using all of these

features together. Particularly, get use to

using your hot-key commands.

R for relative measurement.

B to create a bend (arc).

Z to undo your last 2D command.

SHIFT pressed to suspend snapping.

I to ignore a snap.

L to lock/unlock a snap.

Delete clear Catch memory.

SPACE for your Mini Toolbar.

PgUp increase adaptive grid size.

PgDn decrease adaptive grid size.

Home reset adaptive grid size.

Shift+Ctrl to snap to a center.

Relative measurement can be used mid

-sketch. Not just to initiate a sketch. Any-

time you want to place a point relative to

another location, use R.

Using B to create an arc can save you

from creating construction circles and arcs

with Overdraw to get what you need. Press-

ing B when your cursor is positioned as a

continuation of the previous line will start

arc tangent to the previous line. Pressing B

when your cursor is positioned at an angle

to the previous line will start an arc that’s

tangent to that angle.

Easily recover from missteps with Z.

New users will tend to finish the 2D com-

mand, delete unwanted geometry, then

begin again. Some will delete the workplane

entirely and start fresh. This interrupts the

rhythm of your design process and con-

sumes valuable time. Get familiar with us-

ing Z to simply back-up one step.

Snaps can be extremely valuable while

drawing in 2D. Using I to ignore some snap

conditions may open-up further snaps that

you may have been looking for but were

considered lower priority. Use SHIFT, I, and

L to traverse snap conditions quickly. Use

Delete to wipe your current snap conditions

and start over.

Change your snap options to suit your

needs under your 2D CoPilot settings.

Orange symbols appear when the snap

is activated against existing geometry. The

adjoining geometry will also be highlighted

in orange. If the snap represents a theoreti-

cal relationship provided by the 2D CoPilot,

the icon will be in cyan. These symbols

gives you the opportunity to suppress, ig-

nore, lock, or just run with the snap.

TIP: You can use H to show/hide the 2D CoPilot cursor

text that normally shows u,v position or dimension text

TIP: In Creo Elements/Direct Trim, you pick what you

want to keep. Not what you want to delete.

Perpendicular

Vertical

Horizontal

Tangent

Parallel


7


Modeling

REFERENCE CONES

The green and red reference cones act

as anchors for the dimensional definition of a

3D modification. For example, if you were to

pull a face, the default anchors would give

you a dimensional reference that indicates

the from-to change. What if that wasn’t your

aim? Maybe you were interested in the re-

sulting overall length of the part after the

modification.

Traditionally, you’d need to measure the part,

subtract its current length from the desired

length, and then enter the remaining amount

in your modification. In this case, though, you

only need to click the red anchor, click the

rear of the part, and type-in or drag to your

desired dimension.

3D COPILOT

The 3D CoPilot ap-

pears in many forms de-

pending on the context of

your modification. In every

case, though, its job is to help

you clarify a 3D set of con-

straints in a clear and easy

manner.

The blue widget is looking

to be placed on an appro-

priate reference. The or-

ange widget (in whole or in

part) is anchored to your

reference and displays your

degrees of freedom. Select

an axis for linear move-

ment, a toroid for angular,

or one of the planes for

planar movement options.

The green reference dia-

mond indicates that you

can change the origin of

the 3D CoPilot widget.

The red reference dia-

mond indicates an origin

change. You’ve selected

a green reference dia-

mond, and now need to use

the new widget to re-position

the 3D CoPilot widget. When

you’re done, select the red

reference diamond to com-

plete the movement.

Change the settings from File Settings

3D Copilot.

NOTE: Operating the 3D CoPilot is a click and re-

lease interface. There is no drag-and-drop.

SELECTING REGIONS

A 2D profile must contain at least one

closed loop, but that’s the only restriction.

You can have several loops, extraneous

geometry, and construction lines. Once

you’re done with your 2D profile drawing,

middle-click or click the check mark to

complete. When you Pull the profile (or

another command, but Pull is most com-

mon), you’ll be given the opportunity to

select which closed loop (region) you wish

to use for the given command.

Simply click on the closed loops until

you have the desired region(s) selected.

UNDO AND REDO

On the Quick Access Toolbar, you can

undo or redo one step at a time. You can

also click the down arrow next to the undo/

redo icons to select the number of steps

you want. If you want to view the history

before making your choice, click Expand.

Creo Elements/Direct tracks both the

command history and the history of any

active module applications. When you un-

do, you may get a warning that you’re about

to undo a module application

command.

TIP: If you click on the workplane border to

start a Pull, as shown here, you can immedi-

ately start selecting regions and continue the

pull by then clicking on the 3D CoPilot widget.

If you instead execute the Pull command from

the ribbon or mini toolbar first, you’ll need to

open the dialogue box and change the Select-

ed option to modify the selected region(s).


8


Modeling

THE PULL COMMAND

Extrude, Mill, Turn, and Bore have been replaced by Pull. The Pull command actually con-

tains a combination of two 2D profile commands (Linear Pull Profile and Angular Pull Profile)

and two 3D modification commands (Linear Pull Faces and Angular Pull Faces). 3D modifica-

tion is covered elsewhere in this guide.

Linear Pull Profile and Angular Pull Profile are the main focus for most 3D geometry crea-

tion from 2D profiles. You can activate the Pull command by clicking on the command ribbon,

left-click on your workplane border, or double left-click on the

workplane representation in your structure browser. The only

difference being that the command ribbon option automati-

cally assumes all closed loops in your profile are to be pulled.

If you intend to change the region selections, you’ll need to

modify the selection list through the command dialogue box.

The default command is Linear Pull Profile when using

pull on a 2D profile. To change this option to angular pull,

use the Option Mini Toolbar or change the command dia-

logue box.

The Linear Pull Profile will provide a linear 3D CoPilot

widget for the pull along with Reference Cones to refine the

distance after the initial definition.

The Angular Pull Profile will provide a reference 3D CoPi-

lot widget for you to place on an edge, axis, line, or oth-

er axial reference (see Right-Hand Rule). Then, a rota-

tional 3D CoPilot widget appears to define the angle of

the pull.

Add/Remove Material. Each of these commands

will attempt to automatically add or remove material

from your existing part (if one exists). Sometimes, the

automatic determination is not what you want. You can

change this option in the dialogue box under Method

Operation.

3D Snapping. Your Pull Profile can terminate with a fixed

dimension or a reference to an existing element.

You can change which

elements are snapped to un-

der the Type option for the

command. It can be changed

to Part, Face, Point, or Plane.

Change Direction by dragging your 3D CoPilot widget from

one side of the starting workplane to the other or use the Direc-

tion option in the command

dialogue box. The dialogue

box has the added capabilities

to extend your profile from

both sides of the workplane or

take a User Defined approach

to the pull direction.

Specify a Draft Angle between 90 and –90 degrees. The

draft works much like a Taper Face command using the work-

plane as your draft plane and the entirety of your profile to deter-

mine the faces to be changed.

TIP: The 3D CoPilot attempts to snap 3D references you mouse over.

ALERT: To intersect a part, the profile must be fully bound inside the

intersecting part. You can overlap with face, point, or plane, but not part.


9


Modeling

SELECTION

Before you can dynamically modify

geometry, you need to select it. Creo Ele-

ments/Direct provides everything you need

to make selections on-the-fly.

Click Selection: This is the most intui-

tive and simplistic selection method. Driven

by mouse-over, the click-what-you-want

method is your first tool. Simply mouse-over

what you want until it highlights, then left-

click. If you need more, shift-left-click to

start a Selection List instead.

Tab Selection: This is a geometry

based selection method. This huge time

saver grabs geometry by applying rules to

the mouse-over target. Mouse-over a face

until it highlights. Then press Tab. The Tab

Selection method will grab all faces possibly

associated with your mouse-over target by

rule definition. To switch rule definitions,

press Tab and your selection will change.

Cycle through with Tab until you have what

you need and then left-click to complete the

selection. If you need more, shift-left-click to

start a Selection List instead.

Select Mini Toolbar: The Select Mini

Toolbar isn’t a selection method in itself, but

does provide access to three other selection

methods. The toolbar is context sensitive. It

will only appear when a selection method

may be needed. Press SPACEBAR for the

Mini Toolbar.

The Geometry Rules allow you to create

a custom rule configuration (like using Tab

Selection) for selection criteria.

Window Selection: Drag a window with

a left mouse button held down. There are

two possible results. First, everything within

the window is selected. Second, everything

within the window and everything intersect-

ing the window is selected. To toggle be-

tween the two results, hit Tab before releas-

ing the left mouse button.

Selection List: A selection list is exactly

what it sounds like; a list of multiple selec-

tions. You can start one multiple ways; shift-

left-click, select mini toolbar, through the

Probe Selection dialogue, and through the

Selection Tool. To add members to the list,

select them using your preferred method(s)

in any combination. To remove them, select

them again. To end a list, middle-click. You

can also end one from inside the Select Tool

by clicking the List End button.

Probe Selection: The probe selection

tool allows you to select through a stack of

elements piled on top of each other. To

activate, use the Select Mini Toolbar,

Ctrl+Tab, or the command icon Utilities sub-

group in the Ribbon UI. Once it’s been se-

lected, you can move your mouse around

freely. Probe select will remember where

your mouse was originally as the defining

point for your probe selection.

Selection Tool: The Selection Tool can

be activated through the Select Mini

Toolbar, in the Ribbon UI under the Utilities

sub-group, or by pressing F2. It is the most

powerful of your selection options, allowing

for very precise selection criteria.

The Selection Tool changes options

based on its mode. Creo Elements/Direct

chooses the mode for you based on the

context of your operation. The modes are

2D, 3D Elem, Feature, 3D Obj, and 3D Anno-

tation.

The List menu provides a quick way to

create a selection list of elements. This list

interface has much more precise controls

that are accessible by clicking the down

arrows on the right of the List menu title.

You get the new options Add, And, Remove,

and XOR.

XOR is the default behavior of selection

lists. Click on an element. If it’s already

selected, it’s removed from the list. If it’s

not selected, it’s then added to the list.

Add will do just that. Add the next se-

lection to your list. If it’s already a member

of the list, it does not get removed.

Remove is the opposite. Clicking on a

list member will remove it from the list.

Clicking on a non-list member will not add it

to the list.

And empowers the next selection to re-

form the list to include only members that

were already in the list AND are in the next

selection. Everything that doesn’t fit those

criteria is removed from the list.

The Elements area provides a radio

button list of the valid element types you

can select in the current mode. Choosing

one will narrow your selections to those

element types only. Initially, the most com-

mon elements are visible. Clicking the ar-

row button will expand the menu to include

all possible options.

The Boxing options are a representa-

tion of the Window Selection options for

element intersection.

The Methods options provide further

refinement of your selection criteria.

Choose a method to narrow your selection

to related elements.

Selection Tool

Probe Selection

Geometry Rules

BEST PRACTICE: The combination of Tab

Selection and on-the-fly Selection Lists is the

fastest way to select subsets of complex ge-

ometry and will quickly become your most

used selection method.


10


Modeling

BLENDING

Blends are generated on edges based

on the neighboring faces and geometry. The

edge where two faces meet is smoothed or

blended by a singular or various radii. Creo

Elements/Direct uses a rolling ball computa-

tion to generate these blends.

In the

blend operation,

only one blend

face is created.

If your geometry

would require

more faces to

be generated to

make your

blend valid, Creo Elements/Direct will fail

the blend operation. The model would re-

quire additional preparation before a proper

blend could be applied.

You can create Constant Radius

Blends, Var 2 Radius Blends, and Var N

Radius Blends. “Var” refers to the bend

radius as a variable number. In Var 2 Radi-

us Blends you specify the starting and end-

ing radii. In Var N, any number of radii at

any location along the edge can be speci-

fied.

To create a blend, select and edge and

choose your options from the mini toolbar,

or click the command button in the Engi-

neering group of the Ribbon UI.

Blends have four options for how they

behave in relation to each other and exist-

ing geometry.

Intersect is the default behavior and

will ignore neighboring

geometry. If the blend

doesn’t fit, OnTanFaces is

attempted. If both options

fail, you’ll get an error

message.

OnTanFaces is the

default fallback behavior.

With it, a patch surface is

created to get tangency of

all faces.

OnSharpEdge is really a variation of

OnTanFaces. It adds the

contingency of the blend

running-in to a sharp edge

(green). It will handle tan-

gencies in the same way

as OnTanFaces (red).

OnAnyEdge creates a

sharp edge and surface

patch to achieve its own

tangency regardless of the

neighboring edge type.

CHAMFERS

Chamfers behave similarly to Blends

and are restricted by the same rules. You

can create Distance, Dist/Dist, and Dist/

Angle Chamfers after selecting your edge or

using the command button under the Engi-

neering group of the Ribbon UI.

Distance Chamfers as-

sume a 45 deg angle and

measures distance from the

original edge to either of the

two resulting edges.

Dist/Dist chamfers only

require two distances. The

distance from the original

edge to each of the two re-

sulting edges provided as

two separate measurements.

Dist/Ang chamfers

need only one distance di-

mension and one angular

dimension. You can swap

which end of the chamfer

you’re measuring for the distance dimen-

sion.

RECOGNITION

Recognizing blends and chamfers can

convert them from extruded entities. This

process will alter the behavior so that future

updates will have the expected effect.

Extruded cylinders will maintain a fixed

axis. Therefore, when you change the radius

of an extruded cylinder, neighboring faces

will not maintain tangency. You’re left with

a failed modification or a non-tangent round.

When a typical blend is modified it al-

ways maintains the tangency with neighbor-

ing faces. To recognize blends, choose the

command option under the engineering

group and select the face(s) or part in ques-

tion.

In a similar manner, geometry resem-

bling a chamfer can be just as important to

recognize. A chamfer will reference the

original edge when being modified. You can

get away with modifying a chamfer using a

move command if you don’t intend to

change the angle, but even so, you wouldn’t

have the same control over the chamfer as

if it were recognized.

BEST PRACTICE: It can be difficult to backtrack

to your base geometry after adding complex

cosmetic blends. Try to adding cosmetic blends

at the end of the design. It’s best to meet your

prismatic design requirements first. Some de-

sign houses will make a copy of the part before

adding blends so that subsequent changes can

be made from the base geometry. Blends start

from scratch each time with that method, though.


11


Modeling

MOVING FACES

Moving faces looks a lot like a 2D stretch command in the 3D world. Select a face and

the default command is Move 3D. It results in a 3D CoPilot widget and reference cones.

The Move 3D can add or remove material and will attempt to do so

automatically. You can change these options in the command dia-

logue.

You can use the same command to move multiple faces, assum-

ing the geometry lends itself to being altered in the desired direction.

You can also grab multiple internal faces for modification. These are

usually pockets of geometry that need to be resized or positioned.

In this case, you’ll likely want to change the origin for the move.

Once you’ve selected the geometry and chosen the move command, click on an alternate

face or edge to guide the movement. In the same way, you can make decisions about the

kind of modification you want to make. If you change the origin of the move to an edge, you

can either move the face(s) linearly along an axis or create a

rotational movement (See Right-Hand Rule).

Rotational movement can look like bending the model.

When the face(s) is moved, the neighboring faces grow until

they meet the modified face or other faces.

The 3D CoPilot offers an easy and intuitive way to manage the move command. Individ-

ual dimensions can be typed, dragged, or snapped to geometry.

PULL FACES

At first glance, pulling faces may seem a lot like moving faces. Understanding the dif-

ferences can have a huge impact on your design. The Move 3D command will only grow

neighboring faces. The pull command always adds faces unless new faces collapse into

original faces. This offers flexibility to add design features without having to consider

neighboring faces.

The Pull 3D commands are option vari-

ants of the Pull command; Linear Pull Fac-

es and Angular Pull Faces (See Right-Hand

Rule).

To activate them, either grab the command from the Modify 3D sub-

group of the Ribbon UI in the Modeling tab, or use the mini toolbar once

you’ve selected your face(s). Use the

command dialogue box to switch be-

tween the two commands without ending

the operation.

TIP: Hold down SHIFT during a Move 3D or Pull operation to snap to

existing geometry courtesy of the 3D CoPilot. You can change this

behavior to be automatic (not requiring the SHIFT to be pressed) by

altering the 3D CoPilot snap settings. File Settings 3D Copilot.


12


Modeling

STRETCH FACE

Immediately upon se-

lecting a face, the default

command will be Move 3D.

You’ll be presented with a 3D

CoPilot widget and a Mini

Toolbar to confirm the com-

mand. Right next to the Move 3D command

is Stretch.

The main difference between the two

commands is that the Move 3D command

grows neighboring faces while the Stretch

command alters neighboring faces.

In the conic illustration below, Move 3D

continues the conic shape while Stretch

translates the original face and stretches

the neighboring faces to keep-up.

Stretch Face has a much more dra-

matic impact when considering 3D altera-

tions that the Move 3D command has no

comparison for. For example, in a cubic

example, if you grab any face for Move 3D,

your options are to extend the face in a

positive or negative direction, adding or

removing material as you go. The 3D CoPi-

lot widget seems to imply that you have the

option to move in a parallel planar direct by

way of the circular face presented on the

widget. However, if you click the circular

face, the Move 3D command can offer you

nothing in that direction in most cases.

If you’re using Stretch Face,

though, you can turn a cube into a rhom-

boid, skew a cone, etc.

Along the same lines, while rotating a

face with Move 3D can have devastating

effect depending on the 3D origin you

choose, using Stretch Face for rotation can

provide equally as devastating changes

from the original origin. Once you start

moving the origin around for Stretch Face,

you can get all kinds of effects never before

possible so quickly.

STRETCH EDGE

Stretch Edge is the

natural extension of Stretch

Face. It allows the same

power of Stretch Face, but

with the precision of edge

selection. The selected

edge translates position while neighboring

faces and edges stretch.

CHANGE RADIUS/DIAMETER

When you

take what we

learned from

Stretch Face

and Stretch Edge and apply that to the

Change Radius and Change Diameter com-

mands, you get an option to select an edge

as opposed to being restricted to faces. For

example, before you were able to grab a

cylinder and change its radius/diameter.

Now, you can select each end of the cylinder

and modify the radius/diameter individually

rather than needing to create a Loft or com-

plex revolve for the same effect.

OFFSET FACE

At first glance, Offset Face looks like a

Move 3D command as used on any face.

The power really shines when you’re offset-

ting groups of faces rather than a single

face. While Move 3D will grab all the faces

and translate them in the one direction you

specify, Offset Face will move each face in

the direction normal to each of the original

faces in the selection group. It’s a great way

to add/remove material on full or partial

surface chains.

On internal features, Offset Face can

grow/shrink while Move 3D can only trans-

late. You’d need to Move 3D each face indi-

vidually to get a similar effect to what Offset

Face can do in one operation.

ALERT: While the Move 3D command is nearly

a “no-fail” operation, Stretching Faces can pro-

duce bounding faces that cannot be enclosed

in one volume. This will fail the operation.

3D CoPilot Circular Face

ALERT: Resulting surfaces have the potential

to be undefined. This will fail the operation.


13


Modeling

TAPER FACE

Taper Face is typically

used to add draft to the mod-

el. To execute a taper, you’ll

need a target face or faces, a

draft plane, and a draft angle

chosen in that order. Alternately, you can

pick and choose the creation order through

the command details dialogue.

Change face. The target face(s) that

will be altered by the operation.

Draft plane. This plane is meant to

intersect with your change face(s). The line

formed by that intersection creates the axis

of rotation for each face.

You can select any

planar entity as your

draft plane or create one

on the fly several ways.

In the images, the draft

plane is represented by

a blue disc and axis

widget. See how chang-

ing the draft plane dras-

tically affects the taper

of the same four faces.

Draft angle. The

angle to be applied to

the change against the

normal of the draft

plane along the inter-

secting axis. You can

set the angle by using

the 3D CoPilot or by

typing a numeric value.

Advanced Taper. With the standard

taper you can only taper planes, cones and

cylinders. The main difference is that, in an

Advanced Taper, the resulting taper may not

keep its original curvature. The face might

be transformed into a freeform surface to

satisfy your taper requirements. For exam-

ple, you might use an Advanced Taper for a

rib that’s curved in the shape of an S.

You can clearly

see in the illustration that the curve on the

top of the taper is completely different than

the curve at the bottom, but the angle of the

taper has been preserved.

CUT, COPY, AND PASTE FACES

A solid model is comprised of a series of connected faces. When faces are cut, neigh-

boring faces grow. Therefore, the result from cutting can be a removed feature, the model

size may change, or the model is simplified. In a similar

fashion, faces can be copied and pasted within the same

part or between different parts.

Copy and pasting faces is

one of the best methods for de-

sign reuse available in the envi-

ronment. To begin with, when you

copy a set of faces you’re left with

a Face Part. This face part is, by default, characterized as a cyan (light-blue) set of faces that

are typically not solid on their own. The copy is completely independent from the original.

When you paste the faces onto the same or separate part, you have the options to add or

subtract the geometry from the paste target. Upon pasting, the faces can grow or extend

themselves to match-up with the target area even if they previously did not touch.

Notice that the subtraction worked like a cookie-cutter

or ice-cream scoop. The direction of the subtraction is

defined by the normal of the face part. To flip the normal,

go to the Ribbon 3D Geometry 3D Surface Tools

More Flip Faces. Alternately, you may want to solidify

the face part first, then do a Boolean subtraction between

solid parts.

NOTE: The draft plane does not need to intersect

the change face(s) visibly. The intersection can

be theoretical as long as

the planes intersect.

Cut Faces

Copy Faces

Paste Add

Paste Subtract

TIP: When copying and pasting be-

tween parts, make sure that the parts

are set to the same resolution first.

Part Properties Geo Resol

Resolution.

TIP: Blends can be preserved in Advanced

Tapers. The blends get removed, the taper

is executed, then the blends get replaced.

This is why you can’t specify the edge of a

blend as a fixed edge in a taper.


14


Modeling

PUNCH AND STAMP

An easy way to remove material is by using the Punch tool to blast entire-

ly through a part in both directions. In fact, you can use Punch to go through

an assembly as well. The same can be done with Pull, but by using Punch,

you save yourself the trouble of dragging the 3D CoPilot entirely through the

part/assembly.

If you want to do the opposite of a Punch, where the 2D profile defines

the geometry that remains instead of removed, you can use the Stamp com-

mand. Again, this could be done with Pull, but you’d need to draw a larger

rectangle around your entire profile and part/assembly, then drag through.

SHELL PART

You can find Shell Part

under the Modeling tab in the

Model group. It removes mate-

rial from inside a part by remov-

ing one or more

faces and add-

ing thickness to

the remaining

faces either

inside or out-

side the original part.

Turn a cylinder into a tube or cup, a

cube into a box, or more commonly, shell a

complex shape to create the beginnings of a

plastic molded version of your design.

SHELL FACES

You can find Shell Faces

under the Modeling tab in the

Model group inside the Shell

drop-down. While seemingly

obscure, the Shell Faces com-

mand is another huge time

saver.

This command works

similarly to Shell, but allows

you to operate on parts that

have already been shelled.

Instead of requiring a full part, this al-

lows you to shell faces (or recognized fea-

tures) by any distance. You can update an

already shelled part by first adding your

feature and then using Shell Faces to shell

the faces of the newly added feature.

IMPRINT

This command is used

to create edges on a target

part. Those edges can then

be used to for separate

operations themselves

since they’re defining new

face boundaries in your

part. The commands can be found in the

Modeling tab in the Model group.

Linear. Use a sketch with closed re-

gions to define a new set of faces on your

part. Linear will project your sketch from

your workplane onto your part.

Line does not have a dialogue box. It

will ask you for a face and two points along

edges over and over until you complete the

command. It simply creates and edge be-

tween the two points along a face.

Intersection will ask for a blank and a

tool. The command will drawn an edge

along your blank wherever the tool inter-

sects it. You also have the option of keeping

the tool after the operation (default) or auto-

matically deleting it when the operation is

complete.

Silhouette is particularly useful for

rounded and freeform surfaces. If you view

a cylinder from the side, it looks like a rec-

tangle. View a sphere and it looks like a

circle. That 2D silhouette is imprinted onto

the object itself exactly along the viewed

edge. Imagine tracing your hand as it lays

flat on a piece of paper. This can alleviate

the need to go through some complex work-

plane positioning gymnastics when you need

to work with freeform surfaces.

SECTION

The Section command can be found along side Punch and Stamp under

the Modeling tab in the Model Group and Remove drop-down. It’s not (by

default) seen on the mini toolbar from a Pull command like they are, though.

Section will divide a single part into one or more individual parts. It

doesn’t remove any material, but does create new parts. To complete this operation you’ll

need a part to be divided and some sort of tool or surface to execute the division. That enti-

ty can be a face or faces, a surface, plane, workplane and closed profile, another part, or a

face part.

A workplane with a profile will project the profile against the part (potentially in both

directions off the workplane) and slice through as if the profile were a laser path. A face,

part, surface, or face part must be in such a position as to completely divide your part exact-

ly where you want it divided. The new parts will perfectly conform to your dividing entity at

the point of intersection.

ALERT: Section is often confused with the Clipping Plane commands. Section will physically divide

your part into separate pieces. It is not a visualization tool like Clipping Planes.


15


Modeling

BOOLEAN OPERATIONS

Boolean operations are found on your Modeling tab under

the Model group. Boolean refers to a logical combinatorial sys-

tem as implied by the logical operators of AND, OR, and NOT;

adding, replacing, or removing material based on two or more

entities. Unite, Subtract, and Intersect can use solid parts or

face parts. The result will either be a solid part a face part

based on the resulting geometry.

Unite. Add material. This works somewhat like the Paste

Face command except that parts will not be grown or stretched

to meet each other like in

the Past Face command.

Two parts become one part.

Any overlap or intersection

between the blank and tool

is combined into the result.

Subtract. Remove ma-

terial. This command allows

you use one part (or many

parts) as the blank and one

(or many) as the tool to cut

away from the blank. Much

like sculpting something out

of clay, the Subtract command allows you to use a custom tool to cut away from existing

geometry. You always have the option of keeping the tool in case you want to use it again to

subtract in another location.

Intersect. Replace ma-

terial. Intersect can use

several parts as the blank and several parts for the tool. The resulting geometry will be a

representation of only the intersection between the blank and the tool. Everything else is

removed.

Reflect. Is a special

command. It’s a combina-

tion of Copy, Mirror, and Unite. Choose a part and a define a reflection plane. The part will

be copied, mirrored about the reflection plane, and united with the original. You can choose

to reflect material on one or both sides. Depending on the position of the reflection plane,

Reflect can add, remove, or add and remove material.

MIRROR PART

Mirror can be found in the

Modeling tab in the Modify 3D

group in the More dropdown. It

works differently than Reflect

in that you’re mirroring an entire part(s)

about the defined plane. Not mirroring ge-

ometry within a part. If you choose to keep

the original, Mirror will create a new part in

the mirrored position rather than mirroring

the original. You can also mirror entire as-

semblies, workplanes, docuplanes, and

layouts in this way.

SCALE PART

Scale can be found in the

same dropdown as Mirror. You

can change the size of parts

are assemblies isotropically or

anistropically.

Isotropic scaling will change the tar-

get’s volume and its position relative to the

global coordinate origin. A value larger

than 1 will increase while values larger

than 0 and smaller than 1 will decrease.

Anistropic scaling approximates the

shrinkage of molded plastic parts as they

cool. You can specify scaling factors in the

xyz directions to compensate for shrinkage.

Scale the part or face by using values from

0 to 1. For example, 0.9 would scale the

part or face by 10%.

ALIGN FACES

Align can be found in the

Modeling tab under the Modify

3D group. It’s most commonly

used to adjust faces such that

they are aligned with another reference face

(s). For example, if you had 4 embossments

of various heights and wanted to make sure

that the tops were all on the same plane.

You could manually adjust each, or you

could select 3 of them and align to the

fourth. There’s even an offset option if you

wanted to select all 4 tops and offset them

all from the base part in one command.

A more advanced usage is to modify

face topology to match an existing reference

rather than re-creating.

MERGE

During the modeling pro-

cess, you can sometimes end

up with situations where one

part has overlapping faces or

un-needed edges. Merge will

combine faces by removing overlapping

edges or combine edges by removing verti-

ces.

Using Imprint can, in particular, leave

stray edges on faces that should be Merged

in the final design.

ALERT: Use the Use Glue option only when the faces of the two

parts match exactly and will not create an intersection of geom-

etry. Otherwise, the resulting part may become corrupted.

ALERT: Never use identical parts in the same position for a

subtraction. Use the Delete 3D function or right-click delete in

those cases where a total removal is required.

TIP: Try using Intersect for quick interference checking.

TIP: If you have commonly subtracted geometry, try saving the

tool off on its own. You can then reference it for future subtrac-

tions rather than re-creating it each time.

BEST PRACTICE: Use Reflect to create symmetric parts. Create

one half or quarter, then reflect them to complete your design.

NOTE: Mirror can also be found in the Struc-

ture tab inside the Part & Assembly group.

TIP: Try using Mirror for left-hand and right-

hand type part situations.


16

MODELING: ADVANCED MODELING

Modeling

FREEFORM MODELING

The name Freeform Modeling is really referring to the kinds of

surfaces that can be created by the operations in this command

group. Generally, freeform is used to describe surfaces that can’t

be defined as prismatic objects like a plane or cylinder. In that

way, you could group most of Creo Elements/Direct’s surfacing

tools under the same umbrella. Those surfacing tools, however,

have already been captured under a different group — some twice.

What we’re left with is Loft, Sweep, and Helix in the Ribbon

Modeling Model ...More overflow menu.

Loft. The Loft tool can be very elaborate. At it’s heart, Loft will

create a freeform model by forming a smooth transition between

at least two profiles.

The Loft tool is drawing lines between the profiles from ver-

tex to matching vertex, so the number of vertices need to match-

up. You also provide a Match Line (Create ML) for that purpose.

This ML represents the first match-up between vertices. The tool

assumes the rest. Not only do you need to provide these things,

they need to be wrapped-up in a nice package called a Workplane

Set before you can begin your loft. Ribbon Structure

Workplane ...More Workplane Set. Once you have

everything together, execute your Loft Add and most of the

options are defaulted for you.

Use Add Tan to add tangency controls to the vertices

before lofting. The dialogue allows you to adjust the refer-

ences and weighting of the tangency as well. All this ad-

justs how the lines connecting your profiles are drawn. Do

they shoot directly from one vertex to another, or do they bow

and curve to achieve tangency or curvature continuity with

existing parts or faces? Try adding multiple workplanes to your

set and rotating them in different directions.

Sweep. Only one workplane and one spline

curve to worry about in a Sweep. The profile(s) from

the workplane is swept along the spline curve (the

Spine) to create a freeform part.

Helix. The Helix operation sweeps one

profile about an axis (see Right-Hand Rule)

in order to create a helical part. Adjust the

pitch and number of turns in the dialogue

and click the Preview until your helix is per-

fect before completing the operation.

2D SKETCHING WITH SPLINES

2D Splines come in two flavors; Interpo-

lation and Control. In an interpolation

spline, you define a series of points through

which the curve passes exactly through.

With control splines, the shape of the spline

is influenced by a dynamically created con-

trol polygon formed by control points against

the spline curvature.

3D CURVES AND POINTS

Sketching in 3D space can be an unset-

tling proposition. When it comes down to it,

what you’re doing is defining points in 3

axes. See your tools. They can be found

under the 3D Geometry tab in your ribbon.

The different commands like line, cir-

cle, spline, or arc are all just doing different

things with the points you define. So how do

you define points in 3D space?

The trick is really the first

vertex. From then on, each sub-

sequent point can reference the

previously created one. Rather

than simply clicking on the

screen, try defining coordinates with the

user input line or capitalizing on the Catch

tool to grab an existing 3D reference for

your first point. Each tool will have its own

snap helpers too. Face, edge, and axis, for

example. If you have nothing to snap to, you

can use the 3D CoPilot helper for your first

point.

It may take a little getting

use to, but this u, v, and w axis

widget represents the local

coordinates of each point. Click on its axes

or planes to restrict movement and select

your target location. This same widget is

then used for each subsequent point. From

then on it’s much like sketching in 2D.

ALERT: If you create prismatic geometry with

splines like straight lines or circles, your part my

later appear corrupt. Use the right tool for the

job to avoid more work down the road.

ALERT: There must always be a gap, even a mi-

cro-inch, between each turn of your helix. If the

turns touch, the intersection will cause an error.

BEST PRACTICE: Use Containers to group all of your workplanes,

workplane set, and match line together for future reference.

Note: Cursor icon may change to have 3 dots

under it during these commands to indi-

cate a command specific right-click menu.


17


Modeling

CREATING 2D PROFILES FROM 2D AND 3D GEOMETRY

There are a series of projection tools available for the purpose

of speeding your 2D profile creation. With the typical tool set,

you’d need to grab references to 2D or 3D geometry and draw over

them, much in the same way that you might create construction

geometry and use the Overdraw command to trace what you want

to keep. Creo Elements/Direct has done away with the absolute

need for Overdraw and likewise done away with the need to trace

already existing 2D and 3D geometry into new profiles. These

commands can be found in the Project drop-down in the Draw

command group of the Modeling tab. Ribbon Modeling

Project.

The distinction between Construction and Geometry com-

mands defines how the resulting projection will appear in your

workplane; as construction lines or 2D geometry. The Face and Edge commands don’t have

command details, so you wouldn’t be able to toggle between the two as if they were part of

the same command.

Project Face, 2D Edge, and 3D Edge do as their namesakes suggest. They project the

geometry of a face, 2D edge, or 3D edge respectively onto the target workplane. The Gen-

eral command does have a command dialogue and allows for a bit more control over your

projection options. Cross Section projects a cross section onto a target workplane(s) wher-

ever it intersect a part(s), while Outline will project only the outline of a part or face(s) onto

the intersecting workplane.

Along the same line, there are two combo commands that will

create a workplane and create 2D profiles for you at the same time.

The projected profile works more like a cross section than an out-

line. Internal features that intersect the workplane are projected as

well. New WP on Face and Project Real and New WP on Face and

Project Constr don’t have command details either. Just activate the

command and select a face. You can find these commands on the

Workplane dropdown in your Ribbon Modeling Workplane.

BEST PRACTICE: Commands can be separated like this to make it easier to access the

exact function you want on a keyboard shortcut or abbreviation. If the commands were

consolidated, your shortcut would only get you to a details dialogue that you’d then need

to manually, or through a mini toolbar, adjust for your needs. Try assigning common

commands in File Customize to speed your work.

The 3D Surface Tools group is located

under the 3D Geometry tab along with 3D

Curve and 3D Point command groups.

These tools have more of a repair and recov-

er feel to them. Granted, you can get ex-

tremely advanced surfaces by using 3D

Curves and Insert Face, but mostly the tool-

set is basic in its face operations; Can be

much less organic and much more rigid in

execution than what you would see in the

Advanced Surfacing Module.

Face Parts are made-up of individual

faces that do not form a solid body. This

allows you to design complex models by

adding individual surfaces to existing de-

signs or starting new ones from scratch.

Once the faces converge into a closed shell,

Creo Elements/Direct will automatically

convert the face part into a solid part.

Insert Face is arguably the most ad-

vanced tool in the group. Insert Face cre-

ates faces by interpolating from a set of

boundary curves or edges. If you’re using

3D elements (Collectively occupying more

than one plane in 3D space), there’s a limit

of six edges. On a 2D plane, there’s no

limit. Many of the subsequent tool func-

tions can be achieved with an Insert Face.

Grow Surface will grow a face(s) in the

direction of the edge(s) you choose. This

growth will happen infinitely, so you must

define boundaries in the way of parts, faces,

planes, or surfaces to limit your growth.

Otherwise the command will likely fail.

Reintersect Faces will grow several

faces or edges at once using their own inter-

section as your boundary definition. Best

used to close gaps between neighboring

faces.

Untrim is, in essence, a reverse engi-

neering aid. It creates a new face part rep-

resenting the geometry that was used to

trim away at your selected geometry.

Thicken creates a solid part from a

face part by creating an offset copy of the

face(s) and growing side-surfaces between

the original and the copy.

Show Gaps highlights unbound edges

in a face part. These edges mean the differ-

ences between a face part and a solid part.

Gather Faces allows you to select

faces from a solid part and copy them to a

new face part. Very similar to the Copy com-

mand, but without the position option.

Delete Face will poke holes in your

solid part turning it in to a face part or allow

you to take your face part to pieces one face

at a time.

Flip Faces will flip the direction of the

normal on a given face or set of faces.

Trim will use one face as a boundary

(Tool Face)to cut another (Blank Face(s)).


18


Modeling

PATTERNS

Patterns can be accessed from the

Feature tab as well.

You’re able to pattern

Machining features,

Mold Design features, or

Face Set features. You

can also create patterns

of parts within the same

assembly.

Modify the pattern

at any time by excluding

elements or include ele-

ments that were previ-

ously excluded. It can’t be deleted with the

delete key or a right-click option. Use the

delete command from the Pattern group.

Geometry in a pattern is shared out

from the initial feature. If you make chang-

es to any of the features in the pattern, all of

the other features in the pattern have the

potential to change to match. You can use

Modify to restore the altered pattern mem-

ber to its original, or use the OwnPat check-

box to propagate the changes to the pattern.

Defining a pattern can depend on the

type of pattern, but generally the definition

shares some common characteristics.

Linear Direction. You need 1 for a Line-

ar pattern and Radial Grid, and 2 for a

Linear Grid. This uses the 3D CoPIlot

widget to define which way these pat-

terns point.

The Number of pattern members is tied

to the direction. In a grid, if you define 4

in one direction and 4 in another, you’ll

have 16 total pattern members. In non-

grid patterns, the number is exactly how

many total pattern members you’ll end

up with. A Free pattern’s members are add-

ed one at a time.

The Start Position defines where the

pattern should begin. Normally, the start

position is the origin of the originating fea-

ture, but this can be offset according to your

needs.

Your Distance can be defined as the

distance between each pattern member in a

given direction, or as the Total Distance in a

given direction. In either case, the members

are evenly distributed.

In Radial patterns, you must define an

Axis. Normally this is the center of your

source feature, but can be changed. The

Radius determines how far out from your

start position the pattern members will start

to occur in a circular pattern. The Angle

determines how much space is between

each pattern member. Similarly to the line-

ar distance, you can define this as a gap or

as the Total Angle to be covered by the pat-

tern.

FEATURES

A Feature is a set of faces grouped

together and saved in a named container in

the structure browser under the given part.

They can be used as a method for selec-

tion, can contain information for down-

stream processes, and are also used to

create patterns.

There are two variations on the Fea-

ture functionality. You can create a Face

Set Feature of four specific geometry types

or a User Defined Feature for

everything else. The difference

is that a Face Set Feature can

be patterned while a User De-

fined Feature can not.

A feature can consist of any number of

3D elements but they must all belong to the

same part. 3D elements are recognized as

edges, vertices, or faces. You can access

these feature commands and a few more

on the Feature tab of your ribbon.

Your geometry does

not need to match the

icon exactly. The icon for

each of the four Face Set

Features is strictly convey-

ing a simple set of re-

quirements for each.

If your feature needs to change, you

can alter the type of Face Set Feature you’ve

selected. Use the Ex-

change command in

the More drop-down to

select a new type.

When defining a

Face Set Feature, you’ll have 3 attributes

automatically defined for you. The local

coordinates for the feature, the main direc-

tion used for a manufacturing process, and

the secondary direction.

Ref. Pos. This local coordinate system

can have a big impact on future patterns.

Consider a boss whose diameter changes

down the road. If the local coordinate sys-

tem had not been centered, the resulting

pattern would be affected by a diameter

change.

MainDir. A manufacturing process

would be a drill, mill, punch, etc. This can

help define which side of the part should be

worked during manufacturing.

StartDir. Should not be parallel to

MainDir. Helps define where a machining

process should begin.

TIP: A User Defined Feature can still be patterned

using Copy Face and Paste Face commands. You

just don’t have the creation and redefinition op-

tions available for pattern features.

TIP: When making changes to features, be sure to

use the correct Modify command. There are 3 on

the Feature tab and they’re not interchangeable.

TIP: Use the TAB key to flip a direction widget

from the 3D CoPilot.


19

MODULES: MACHINING

Modules

Creo Elements/Direct Machining is an

advisor module. It assists during the de-

sign phase by allowing easy specification of

common machining features, providing

easy modification of those features, and by

providing advice about machining opera-

tions. Machining assists further when cre-

ating documentation by providing methods

to transfer dimensional tolerances into the

annotation module in a streamlined pro-

cess. You can even transfer technical infor-

mation into select CAM systems.

Creating Holes. Click on the hole of the

desired type (Through, Tapped, or Blind) for

the placement dialogue. Fill the yellow dia-

logue boxes and complete your new feature.

Notice that the hole is created as a feature

in the structure browser and matching anno-

tation was generated.

During the feature dia-

logue step, you can click

Show Image for a detailed

image explaining your hole

options.

Also during feature specification, the

advisor component kicks in. These checks

are based on general rules and can be

changed using the CED Integration Kit.

Modifying Holes. Simply right-click on

the hole feature in the browser and select

modify to go right back into the hole dia-

logue.

Hole Patterns. Create a New Pattern

from the Feature tab and choose the hole

feature from the 3D viewport as the source.

You can create linear, linear grid, radial,

radial grid, or free patterns in this manner.

The pattern feature is fully parameterized

and can be modified just as easily as the

hole feature itself.

Adding Threads to Cylinders. The ma-

chining module can also

add thread features to ex-

isting cylinders for the crea-

tion of bolt or screw mod-

els. Choose one of the

outer threads from the machining options

and select your bolt or screw’s cylinder as

the target face.

Specifying Tolerances. You can add

tolerances to hole features. By default,

they’re appended to the dimension label,

not the note hole

note text. You

can add Upper/

Lower, Plus/

Minus, Limits, or

ISO. Inside the

hole dialogue,

click on the Show

T&Q button for the extended tolerance op-

tions to appear under Diameter Tol.

Specifying Quality. Surface quality can

be assigned to all machining features.

These are best used in the 2D drawing from

the information stored in the 3D note or

further downstream in manufacturing

through the machining output reports. Also

under the Show

T&Q options,

click on the Side

Quality button for

your options.

Machining Settings. Under File

Settings Machining, you can make quick

adjustments to common controls for ma-

chining features.

Data Table Customization. A more

permanent form of adjustment is achieved

with data table customization. This method

allows you to customize the machining envi-

ronment to suit your design needs exactly.

You can create custom holes, defaults,

change advisor validations, and more. This

is typically done by your CAD administrator

through the use of the CED Integration Kit.

CED Integration Kit. The kit itself is a

collection of tools typically used to program

add-on applications for CED. Making chang-

es with the Integration Kit requires a thor-

ough understanding of CED, some basic

programming skills, and a basic knowledge

of the Common Lisp Programming Lan-

guage.

Activate Machining FileModulesMachining Access Machining RibbonFeatureMachining

NOTE: Settings changed in this way work for

your current session only unless you save the

settings to an environment file.

ALERT: Changes made through the Integra-

tion Kit are not guaranteed to work with fu-

ture releases of Creo Elements/Direct.

BEST PRACTICE: Adding threads as a feature

is usually preferable over an actual helix.

Conserve your graphics capability for your

design imperatives.


20

MODULES: SURFACING

Modules

The Surfacing Module is a much more

organic set of surfacing tools than are

available out-of-the-box. Each command

takes much more time and dedication to

master, but the resulting capability and

possibilities are well worth it.

Skin is like Insert Face times ten.

You’re inserting a face via 2D or 3D curves

or edges like Insert Face, but here you can

use curves inside a mesh as guides in addi-

tion to the boundary curves. This apparent-

ly simple change opens the door to a wide

range of capability, command options, opti-

mization, and built-in surface analysis

tools. Many of the subsequent tool func-

tions can be achieved with a Skin.

Advanced Sweep adds three new

additions over normal

Sweep; The option to

create face parts, the

use of any collection

of edges as the sweep

profile, and the use of

a second guiding

curve for the sweep.

Guided Loft is a marriage of the

Sweep and Loft tools. A Sweep allows you

to take a single profile and sweep it along a

single guiding line or spline. Loft will take a

series of profiles and draw lines between

them to create a solid body. Guided Loft

combines them by removing the need for

multiple profiles, adding a line or spline as

a guide for your loft, and automatically add-

ing helper profiles along the path.

Cap creates a

freeform cap on a part

using a Cap Point and

looped edges.

Face Round. Like a 3D fillet between

faces, Face Round creates a chain of

rounded faces to connect two face part

sets tangentially or curvature continuously.

Bridge. A quick way

to fill the gap between two

faces. Does not need to

be fully bounded. Just se-

lect two edges or sets of

edges you want to bridge.

The connection can be

made tangential and the

curvature weighted.

Extrude Edges. Similar to Grow Sur-

face, but here you’re creating a new face

part and can change the direction and

length of growth with the 3D CoPilot.

Extrude Face Part. Similar to Thick-

en, but you’re not creating a uniform thick-

ness offset. You’re extruding directly from

the original face part to create a solid part.

Surface Editor. An extremely power-

ful surface tool used to control surface

contours with a wire model and parametric-

like constraints.

Smooth Surface.

Easily analyze and

smooth surface transi-

tions with color coded

feedback and real time

surface analysis.

Modify Surface. Quickly and easily

manipulate custom surface meshes to cre-

ate complex surfaces. A favorite tool for

making bold surface changes. You build

your custom mesh by click points on the

surface. The

tool creates

intersection

lines that you

can grab and

manipulate.

Offset Face Part. Similar to Offset,

this tool will offset a face part normal to the

original faces while making adjustments to

the face geometry based on the offset dis-

tance (similar to the adjustments a Thicken

might make).

Adjust Faces is used to work the tran-

sition between faces. Typically, it’s a good

idea to create good face transitions during

design, but Adjust Faces can be used to

repair poor connections.

Analysis. Skin, Guided Loft, Cap,

Bridge, Smooth Surface, Modify Surface,

and Adjust Faces have built-in real-time

surface analysis capability. Once Surfacing

is activated, you can also access these

tools under the Analysis tab.

The Surface Analysis tool

will analyze the quality and

curvature of a surface or sur-

face transitions. You can also

check min-max radius values.

Types are Gaussian curvature, Mean curva-

ture, and Zebra stripes.

Angle Analysis will deter-

mine the maximum angle

along an edge between two

faces along the intersection.

Activate Surfacing Module FileModulesSurfacing Access Surfacing Module RibbonSurfacing

ALERT: Surface Editor requires the Parametrics

module as well as the Surfacing module.


21

MODULES: BASIC SHEETS

Modules

Basic Sheets is a free module with a

small, but surprisingly effective set of sheet

metal creation and modification tools. You

can start using sheets by either creating a

new piece of sheet metal from scratch (New

By Outline) or by using these sheet metal

operations on any model that would meet

the physical requirements to be manufac-

tured as sheet metal. Keep in mind that

using this module does not preclude you

from using standard modeling commands.

By combining the techniques, though, you

run the risk of creating a part that can no

longer be modified by the Basic Sheet com-

mands. For example, a non-uniform thick-

ness part will eliminate or hamper most of

your options.

New By Outline. Create a brand new

sheet metal part from an active workplane

and a sketched closed region. The dialogue

box will allow you to choose a material which

will derive your sheet thickness for you.

Material. The Attach Material com-

mand can initiate or modify the material

definition of your sheet metal part. It brings

up a list of thicknesses from the Basic Shop.

Careful when deleting these thicknesses.

Adding them back is not as easy.

Unfold and Refold. Simple, but essen-

tial in sheet metal design. These com-

mands will do just as their namesake sug-

gests. They’ll unfold or refold your entire

sheet metal part. Simply select the com-

mand and choose the face(s) that are to

remain stationary during the process.

Fold/Unfold. This single command will

recognize and toggle the bend status of any

given bend. It doesn’t matter if the bend

was created with Basic Sheets or some oth-

er process.

Create Bends and Modify Bends. You

could create the entire sheet metal part in

the flat, then use bends to fold it up. To

create a bend, you’ll need an active work-

plane with a sketched line on it. Your line

is extrapolated infinitely and intersected

with your sheet metal part for bending.

Breaks in the sheet metal are recognized

so if you want multiple flanges to bend,

make sure your sketched line crosses into

each if they’re on the same plane.

Bend Animation. Visually simulate the

folding and unfolding of a bend. You can

change angle between each step in the

animation. Step in and out of the anima-

tion one frame at a time. Finally export

your animation as an AVI.

Add Lip. Once you have a

sheet metal part, you’ll need to

start designing with it. Lip is a de-

ceptively simple command with a

significant amount of complexity

tied into it. On the simple side, just

grab an edge, type in a length, and

Lip it. Done. On the complex side,

there’s a myriad of options availa-

ble for the Lip command.

L/R AutoMiter. Turn this on to

detect a miter situation. If detect-

ed, the system retrieves as many

parameters as possible.

Left/Right Lip. Select corner

options. The green area is the new

lip to be added.

Left/Right Angle/Dist. Angle

in/out from and Distance from

each end reference.

Connection. Options to pre-

vent material deformation where

the lip connects to the original

sheet. Defaults to automatic for

each end.

Activate Basic Sheets Module FileModulesBasic Sheets Access Basic Sheets Module RibbonSheets

Add Lip

ALERT: Once a lip is created, it’s

treated like any other bend. You

won’t get back the same dialogue

when making changes.

Angle

Distance


22

ASSEMBLIES: BUILDING ASSEMBLY STRUCTURES

Assemblies

ASSEMBLY STRUCTURES

Assembly structure refers to a logical collection of parts and assemblies in a hierar-

chical structure. In Creo Elements/Direct, the assembly structure is visually represented in

the Structure Browser. Each individual assembly in CED is a simple Bill of Material (BoM)

that acts as a container for parts and sub-assemblies. You can manage assembly member-

ship in the structure browser through a drag-and-drop interface. Assembly tools can be

found in the Structure tab.

GLOBAL AND LOCAL COORDINATES

Creo Elements/Direct uses two 3D coordinate systems; global (X, Y, Z) and local (U, V,

W). While there is only one global, all children of the world of CED have their own local coor-

dinate systems. It follows that an assembly container has its own local 3D coordinate sys-

tem. Further, each part and assembly within can be considered to have a relative position

to the parent coordinates. Likewise, each element in the hierarchy of the Structure Browser

can be considered to have a relative position to its parent up to the root of the hierarchy

where the global coordinate system is the parent.

STRUCTURE BROWSER

The Structure Browser lists all 3D ob-

jects and elements in a hierarchical struc-

ture which illustrates their relationships to

each other. Check and uncheck individual

items to show or hide them in the viewport.

Use Ctrl+click or Shift+click to select multi-

ple items. You can also right-click for a

menu of actions to execute against the se-

lected item(s). Click the plus or minus signs

to show or hide the children of a container

in the hierarchy display of the browser.

NEW ASSEMBLIES

Using New Assembly will cre-

ate the container in the structure

browser. The dialogue box asks

for the name of the new assem-

bly, the model name, and the

owner. Adding an owner allows

you to avoid the drag-and-drop by starting

the assembly under another container. The

model name is optional. It refers to the

name of the Contents Data container.

Global Container (X,Y,Z)

/a1 Container. Local U,V,W relative to Global XYZ

Local U,V,W Relative to /a1

/a2 Container. Local U,V,W relative to /a1

Local U,V,W Relative to Global X,Y,Z

Local U,V,W Relative to /a2

POSITIONING PARTS

You can position a part by using the Position command from the ribbon UI, by double

left-clicking the part in your structure browser and clicking the Position command from the

mini toolbar, or by the right-click context menu in

the 3D viewport. Dynamic and Mate Align are only

two of the fifteen methods available for positioning.

Dynamic position is the default, and allows you to use the 3D

CoPilot widget to position your part.

The Mate Align option opens another set of options with which

you can position a part by face relationships.

Align Axis is another very important placement option under Ma-

te Align. Especially useful when employing Coordinate System fea-

tures to position complex parts. (By Ref CS works well there too.)

TIP: You can also initiate the Position com-

mand by left-clicking on any vertex in a part.

BEST PRACTICE: Containers can help organize workplanes or other useful objects in the Structure

Browser. Structure Parts & Assemblies More Tools New Container

ALERT: Positioning a part does not constrain the part permanently. Any

implied constraints are only used to aid in placement and are temporary.

The part is free to be moved in any direction after positioning.

Aligned Mated

Parallel Parallel


23

ASSEMBLIES: CONTAINERS, COPY, SHARE, AND INSTANCING

Assemblies

COPY VS. SHARE

It’s best to use Share for any part or assembly that you’re using more than once rather

than making a copy. Making a copy will duplicate the part or assembly entirely. Sharing

does not create a copy, but an instance of the original. This will ensure that any modifica-

tions you make to the part or assembly Contents Data are automatically reflected in all oth-

er shared instances (Instance Data). This applies to geometry as well as changes in the

base settings and other shareable attributes. Any previously shared part or assembly can

be unshared. This will, in effect, create copies where once were only instances.

SELECTIVE INSTANCING

Sharing is a huge time saver and it’s also just good practice to have

one master part that’s shared when possible. Still, there are some situ-

ations where the inherent association between shared parts and assem-

blies can become a problem. For example, if you wanted to move a bolt

in a set of shared assemblies independently from the others without

affecting the BoM. You might selectively unshared the instance and

make your changes.

Unshare and select the bolt in question. Chose a new name if you

have one and the new context. Notice in the images below that the Sel

Inst Context is set to the container above the shared parts. The default

is one container upwards in the hierarchy where the selected instance has an impact, but

you can change this manually in the Unshare command dialogue box.

Use Reshare when you’ve changed your mind or circumstances require the reversal of

your previous Unshare. The part or subassembly will revert back to its original state.

The Cleanup command is used when a selective instance exists, but all the other

shares have been deleted or unshared. There would be nothing to revert back to if Reshare

was used. The Cleanup command effectively removes any sharing baggage and makes the

selective instance independent. This command will not work if there are still shares that

would be affected by the removal of the share data.

Master. Selective instancing can cause issues with assembly instances that are shown

in the documentation. Master allows you to specify which assembly share is to be used

when computing view geometry.

Content

Data

Instance

Data

Content

Data

Instance

Data

Content

Data

Instance

Data

Content

Data

Instance

Data

Instance

Data

When you create a share, the system automatically creates a folder to contain share

data and places your newly shared items underneath. Creo Elements/Direct has no dis-

tinction between the original part and the shared instances. If you change one, it changes

them all. However, each instance can have its own part

and instance data while remaining an instance.

For example, you can change the position, name,

and part colors of instances. To change part instance

colors, examine the properties of any of the shared

parts. The dialogue box shows appearance properties

for Instances separately from Base properties. Assy_In

stance1

Assy_In

stance2

View Details

CONTAINERS

You can find the New Container command under the Structure tab in the

Part & Assembly group’s More overflow menu. A container is a structural or-

ganization tool. They can be used to hold models, assemblies, and work-

planes. They are particularly useful for organizing complex geometry modification elements.

None of this reference data or geometry will be transferred to Annotation so these building

blocks will not appear in the drawing. Without a container, you’d likely need to manually

remove these references from each drawing view.


24

ADVANCED ASSEMBLIES: CLIPPING PLANES, STOCK/FINISH,

AND COORDINATE SYSTEMS

Assemblies

CLIPPING PLANES

A clipping plane allows you to look through a part or assembly

as if you’d cut away from them along a plane to reveal the fea-

tures, parts, or assemblies behind. A familiarity with clipping

planes will allow you to navigate and inspect your designs much

more effectively. You can find the clipping plane commands on

the View tab in the Clipping group.

Once defined, a clipping plane remains in your

design as a clipping plane feature that can then be

activated or deactivated as needed. You can view

particularly troublesome areas and access their

clipping planes whenever needed.

A single clipping plane feature can contain many clipping

planes. In fact, you can not have multiple clipping plane features

active at once. Only one per viewport active. So, if you want to

clip from multiple directions, you’ll need to define each plane in a

single feature’s dialogue box. Up to six total clipping planes can

interact with each other in a single feature.

To change which parts will be clipped and which will not, use the Targets command.

Your selection will define the targets for all clipping features in your model. To change how

your clipping planes are viewed in the viewport, change the viewport show properties via a

right-click Show Properties, or change the clipping plane settings. Use the settings button

on the Clipping group in the ribbon UI.

STOCK/FINISH

A stock finish relationship does not propagate changes from one member to another like

a share relationship. The idea is that you may have a situation where you have a stock part

that is somehow altered in its finished form. Color, extra holes, draft, etc. Maybe you actually

have a literal stock/finish relationship where you buy copper bar stock and cut your own fin-

ished lengths. The Stock/Finish operation will create a relationship between the two parts to

aid the process of managing different related product states.

A stock part can have many finished parts, but a finished part can only come from one

stock piece. However, you can also chain the effect. So the finished product from one opera-

tion can be come the stock for another finished piece. TIP: You can also activate/deactivate

clipping planes by double-clicking

them in the Structure Browser.

Finish_Cut2

Bar_Stock Finish_Hole

Finish_Cut1

COORDINATE SYSTEMS

When dealing with advanced assemblies, it can sometimes become

difficult to find handles or attachment points between geometry. One way

to alleviate this issue is to add custom coordinate systems to your parts or

assemblies. You can line them up to your part or assembly in whatever

direction suits your needs and reference them for movement or assembly placement. These

coordinate systems will attach themselves to their owner and can therefore be shown or hid-

den like any other object in the Structure Browser.

Create a new Coordinate System from the command group of the

same name in the Structure tab. You’ll need an

owner, name, and position. They can always be

renamed and repositioned as well. For your visu-

alization needs, the Coordinate Systems can be

resized and recolored.

TIP: You can always snap to the center of a 2D circular feature or 3D spherical one by holding down

Shift+Ctrl. You’ll need to press Shift+Ctrl regardless of your 2D or 3D CoPilot snap key settings.

TIP: Coordinate Systems can be extremely helpful for advanced

positioning. Try adding them to complex objects.

TIP: You can manipulate geometry while clipping

planes are active. Try modeling with clipping on.

TIP: You can now create new workplanes off of existing clipping planes. This is a com-

mand option in the dialogue box for a new workplane and can also be accessed via the

context menu (right-click in viewport).


25

ADVANCED ASSEMBLIES: CONFIGURATIONS AND EXPLISIONS

Assemblies

CONFIGURATIONS

A configurations is used to store the positions of parts, what’s hidden or shown in the

viewport, and different camera direction through various stages of an assembly. To create

a configuration you must have an assembly, but the configuration itself can be owned by an

assembly that’s further up the hierarchy if needed. The

owner of the configuration can not be the root of the

structure browser. Configuration operations can be

found in the Structure tab in the Configurations group.

Once you’ve created your configuration, making

changes relies upon your activation or deactivation of

the configuration. Use the Act/Deact commands or

simply double click your configuration in the Structure

Browser. Once it’s active, any changes that you make

to the assembly or any subassemblies underneath the

configuration’s owner are recorded by the configuration. Toggle Act/Deact to see your parts

smoothly float in and out of the various positions set by each of your custom configurations.

If you do not move a part while your configuration is active, then no positional infor-

mation is stored for that part. If you want to make sure positional informational is stored,

click the Hold command. This can be important especially when considering how subas-

sembly components may get moved around in your design.

When creating an assembly process, it can be convenient to Copy the previous configu-

ration as a starting point. To capture camera position or draw list, use the right-click menu

on your configuration. This information is not automatically stored like part position. You

can even make changes to this information without the configuration being active. Use

Highlight to see which parts are being controlled by the current configuration.

If you make a mistake or want to remove some of the data you’ve captured, use Re-

move Data. The dialogue box will ask if you want to move positioning, camera, or drawlist

information. Of course, you can do away with a configuration entirely with the Delete com-

mand or by right-click delete. To show multiple configurations at the same time, use the

Multiple Positions command.

EXPLOSIONS

An Explosion is the most common kind of Configuration. You can build from scratch or

change an existing configuration into an explosion. This is also the same method used to

modify existing explosions since an explosion is considered just another configuration when

you’re done creating it. The command will take your assembly and blow it apart. You de-

cide how it explodes and how far. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?

To create an explosion, select Explode from the Configurations command group in the

Structure tab. Choose your configuration or create a new one. The One Level check box

indicates if you want the subassemblies to behave as single parts of if you want the individ-

ual parts to move as well. The Scale determines how far the parts will be moved from the

explosion center. In the case of a Cylindrical explosion, you’ll have an Axial and Radial

Scale. The Show Move Feedback checkbox determines if you’ll have a visual representation

of the movement or not. This is shown as green lines extending from original positions to

ending positions. The movement references are temporary and will disappear as soon as

you’re done configuring the explosion.

Align Axes. This mode constrains objects with coincident axial

faces to explode along their common axes. Objects without are ex-

ploded spherically.

Spherical. A spherical explosion will move all objects in all direc-

tions away from the explosion center.

Cylindrical. Move objects away from an axis radially and axially.

You can set the axial and radial scales of movement separately in a

cylindrical explosion.

By Direction. You’re shaping the direction of the explosion. An

explosion is typically spherical; where everything radiates

away from the explosion center. This will move objects

away from the explosion center as well, but only in the di-

rection you specify only.

Pos Dynamic. If none of the default explosion types are working for you, you can al-

ways manually position the parts.

ALERT: You should not use the Formations goodie. The Configurations feature replaces its function-

ality. Use the Convert command to upgrade any Formations you may have in existing assemblies.

NOTE: Please note that each Explosion feature can have a series of

explosions inside. The explode and back buttons inside the dialogue box

allow you to work through each explosion individually.

ALERT: Configurations do NOT change the original position of your assembly. Activate and Deacti-

vate configurations to see your assembly in different positions/configurations. The original remains

the same throughout.


26

ADVANCED ASSEMBLIES: CLASH ANALYSIS

Assemblies

CREATE CLASH ANALYSIS

The Create Analysis command will cre-

ate a Clash Analysis object in your structure

browser. This object will contain the

parameters for your analy-

sis and any results you may

have calculated. If the icon

is green it means

you’re analysis is out of

date.

Once it’s been created,

you can always modify,

rename, delete, calculate,

clear issues, and bring up

the Clash Issue Browser

from right-click commands

on the object in your Struc-

ture Browser or from com-

mands in the ribbon UI.

When you execute the Cal-

culate option, it will run

through your assembly to discover if there are interferences

based on the parameters you set in the definition of the

clash analysis. Once you’ve selected what will be analyzed

and where the analysis will reside, you can change options

like ignoring press fit parts, ignore parts from the 3D library,

ignore threaded parts and holes, specify specific clearance,

and exclude parts from the analysis.

A Clash Analysis must be owned by an assembly and

not by the root “/” or a selective instance of the assembly.

If the selective instance is created after the analysis, your

icon in the Structure Browser will turn red. This indi-

cates an invalid analysis. To repair the situation, attach the

Clash Analysis to a valid owner and recalculate. When the

icon is yellow it means that the assembly is only par-

tially loaded, might contain lightweight parts, or the state of

the analysis is undefined.

CLASH ANALYSIS ISSUE BROWSER

Once you run the analysis, the Clash Analysis Issue

Browser will show up. If you close it, you can always re-

summon it with the right-click command in the Structure

Browser. This is where you view your clash results. The

issues are listed numerically in the browser and can be

searched, filtered, and sorted for your easy perusal.

Just like the Structure Browser, you can define very

complex searches through the binoculars icon. It will allow

you to define a list of custom criteria and store those

searches for later use. Filtering is much the same.

Once you have the list narrowed, you can right-click on

individual issues for a list of commands. Draw Only will

remove everything from your viewport but the parts brought

into question by the issue. Draw Only in new VP will do the

same as Draw Only, but create a new viewport to view the

parts in. Recalculate Issue will bring up a command dia-

logue for a single clash and an auxiliary viewport with your

issue specific parts in it. Search Clash Analysis in Structure

will find the clash analysis in the Structure Browser (in case

you’ve lost it). Search Parts in Structure will find your issue

specific parts in the Structure Browser. The Properties of

the Issue are also available and provide a detailed status

and resolution pop-up.

RESOLVING CLASH RESULTS

There are only three ways to

resolve a clash. The most obvi-

ous being fix the problem. The

Clash Analysis tools provide a

number of methods for finding

and refining your models by giv-

ing you easy access and detailed

information about each issue. In particular, Recalculate

Issue will give you the Draw Only in New VP, but with a trans-

lucent model that highlights the volume of intersection in

red. The clash dialogue box that pops-up from the Recalcu-

late Issue will give you quick access to methods for redefin-

ing the analysis for that specific issue. Change the status to

“Modified” in the properties pop-up when your changes are

complete.

The second way is to accept and ignore the problem.

You will definitely run into situations where a clash is inten-

tional. Press fits, interference fits, etc. Add a note to the

issue’s properties and select “Accepted” in the status

dropdown.

The third and final way to resolve a clash result is to

ignore it. Yes, you can mark the issue as “Conditional Open”

or “Conditional Accepted” and write a note for posterity de-

scribing why this issue was unavoidable or when it will be

revisited.


27

ANNOTATIONS: ANNOTATION APPLICATION

Annotations

APPLICATION: ANNOTATION

The Annotation application in Creo Elements/Direct is the 2D tool used for creating

drawings from 3D designs. To use Annotation, you can select File Modules and find the

Applications submenu. Put a check in the Annotation check box. Once you’ve done that,

you can switch between Modeling and Annotation by going to the Applications tab of your

ribbon UI. Toggle between the applications as needed. Annotation runs in parallel with

Modeling.

Look and Feel. The Annotations application has the same look and feel of Creo Ele-

ments/Direct Modeling. It has the same menu and dialogue functions — Even the same

interface layout and navigation as the Modeling application. When toggling between the

two, it’s seamless enough to be considered the same application.

Associativity. The Annotation application maintains association with the 3D model. As

the 3D model is modified, the drawing will reflect the changes in 2D.

2D Features. Just as you would expect in any other 2D CAD application, you can create

dimensions, text, and 2D geometry using the Annotation application for CED. Add these

features to your 3D view projections to complete your drawings.

Bills of Material. A Bill of Material (BoM) can be generated in Annotation using multiple

sources. You can also manually adjust the BoM in Annotation. BoM flags can be added to

the drawing using DIN, ISO, or custom flag standards.

Browsers. The Annotation application adds two new browsers to your interface. In

Modeling, you only have the Structure browser. In Annotation, you’ve gained the Template

browser and the Drawing browser. Similar to the Structure browser, both of your new

browser are organized in a hierarchical fashion. The Templates browser organizes and ena-

bles the reuse of common objects. The Drawing browser organizes all drawing entities in

session.

DRAWING STRUCTURE

Within the drawing structure, owner-

ship falls to the parent. When a parent

object is moved or deleted, the child is also

moved or deleted. Navigate from object to

object by clicking on their icons in the

Drawing Browser. The hierarchy of the

drawing structure looks like this:

Drawing

Sheets

Frame

Sketch

Geometry of title block

Text of title block

Views

Dimensions

Text

Additional geometry

VIEW SYNCHRONIZATION

View synchroniza-

tion is color coded.

Dark Blue indicates that

a view is totally up-to-

date. Cyan shows when

a view is not updated,

but the model is cur-

rently loaded in the

Modeling application.

Red tells you when the

view cannot be updated because its associ-

ated model isn’t in memory.

NOTE: When you click New Session in Annotation, it only clears the session

within Annotation. To clear Annotation and Modeling, you’ll need to switch

to the Modeling app and start a New Session as well.

NOTE: Drawing-Model associativity is

dictated by the views in the drawing.

TEMPLATE BROWSER

Templates allow you to reuse common

text, sketches, and symbols. When added

to a drawing, symbol templates can allow

you to specify new values for named param-

eters. The “Smart” fields are filled-in as

needed. The templates are viewed in your

Template browser which became a new tab

in your Structure Browser with the Annota-

tion Application.

Standard templates include GD&T

Datum and Tolerance, Surface symbols, and

Welding symbols. To add a Template to a

drawing, simply double left-click the Tem-

plate from your template browser and fill-in

the dialogue box for parameters and place-

ment. New user-defined Templates can be

created and added to the Template browser

as needed.

Define text and symbol can be found

in the More dropdown of the Annotation

group of the Annotation tab. Define sketch

can be found under the Insert tab in the

Sketch group.

To define a text or sketch template,

use the appropriate type, enter a unique

name, select a category from the dropdown

list or create a new category, click the

thumbnail checkbox to create a thumbnail,

fill-in any other required boxes, and com-

plete the operation.

To defined new symbol templates,

start with one that was defined from the

standard templates. It can then be added

to your templates itself to create a new tem-

plate; preserving your dialogue box settings

for future use.


28

STARTING A DRAWING

Start a drawing from the New Drawing command located under the An-

notation tab in the Setup group. You can not create any other annotation

features until you create a drawing. You can only have one drawing loaded

at a time, but each drawing can have multiple sheets. Take care to save

your current drawing before opening another or start-

ing a new one. New Drawing creates a drawing and

a sheet object in the Drawing Browser and then the

dialogue box appears.

The dialogue offers you three Modes of opera-

tion. 2D Process is the default and typical method.

It will assume you want to take your 3D model and

create 2D documentation from it. The 3D Process is

all about creating 2D documentation from 3D doc-

uplanes. The third and final mode is No Model. It

assumed there will be no 3D model association. You

can always add it later.

The dialogue that’s common to all three modes

is Number, Sheet Frame, and Scale (Auto). Number

represents the Sheet number. What do you want to

call your sheet? It doesn’t need to be numeric and

will accept alphanumeric characters, underscores,

and spaces. It defaults to your model name. Select

a sheet frame or None from the dropdown list to select a frame for your drawing.. Default

options range from A0-4 to WM-E. The Scale (Auto) attempts to choose the correct scale

based on the 3D model and the sheet frame chosen as you add views to the sheet frame in

an attempt to make them all fit. You can choose a scale from the dropdown or specify one

manually. You can always modify the individual view scale afterwards if necessary. If you

click Add Views or simply complete the command, you’ll be immediately moved over into the

New Std View command dialogue.

Once you’ve created your drawing and initial sheet, you can create new

sheets with the New Sheet command. You’ll be asked for the sheet Number,

Sheet Frame, and Scale. Much as you were in the New Drawing dialogue.

This dialogue doesn’t not automatically throw you into the New Std View com-

mand dialogue, though. You’re free to create new views or annotations as

needed.

DRAWING VIEWS

CED can generate several types

of views. Use the New Std View com-

mand on your Annotation tab. The

command dialogue box breaks your options

down into different view categories.

Orthogonal View. Orthogonal views

refer to the common “Front”, “Top”, and

“Right” viewing convention. Technically,

views are orthogonal if they’re perpendicular

to each other. So, to-

gether these three views

form an orthogonal rep-

resentation of a part or

assembly.

Isometric. An iso-

metric view of an object

is defined as viewing it in

such a way that the an-

gles between the projec-

tion of the 3 axes are all

the same (120°). Ob-

jects drawn with isomet-

ric projection do not ap-

pear larger or smaller as

they extend from the

viewer.

General. Describes

a view that ascribes to

no specific convention.

Choose a direction in the

viewport and use the

right-click menu to as-

sign the view.


Annotations

Profiles refer to a collection of

settings that give you an optimal com-

bination of accuracy and performance.

For example, you may want to use a

Large Assembly profile for assemblies

with over 500 parts. If so, the views update

faster and small parts and tiny circles are

automatically removed. Available profiles

are Single Part, Small Assy, Medium Assy,

Large Assy, Photo-Realistic, Shaded Only,

Shaded+Geometry, and NC.

Once your

views are creat-

ed, you can

adjust how the

graphic data is

updated by each view individ-

ually. Use your View Proper-

ties to adjust the Calc Mode.

You can choose from Classic,

Classic+Shaded, Graphics,

Graphic+Shaded, and Shad-

ed update modes. Classic is

the traditional dimensioned

method. Graphics is better

for larger models. Shaded

best with renders that don’t

geometry to be dimensioned.

Just below the Calc

Mode, you’ll see Econofast.

Econofast uses occlusion

culling to give you a very fast

and efficient view update, but

requires an OpenGL-based

graphics card. If you don’t

have a compatible video

card, the option will be

grayed out. NOTE: All ME10 and Creo Elements/Direct Drafting drawings can be

imported and re-associated with their models


29


Annotations

PLACING VIEWS

The New Std View dialogue box starts off with the

owner of the view, and the orientation of the view. What

this means is that CED can’t generate a view for you

unless it understands the relative orientation of your part

or assembly. The command chooses some defaults for

you to make things easier, but understanding these re-

quirements can avoid a lot of frustration when working

with more complex parts.

Use the Front Dir or Up Dir options to open a 3D

viewer that will present your part or assembly. You can then spin the model(s) around and

use the 3D CoPilot widget to choose a front or up direction. These directions act as the

references for all other view options in the dialogue box. You can also change the scale as

needed. Scale is a ratio describing the relative size of your part or assembly on the drawing.

A scale of 5:1 would indicate that every 5 units of measure in the drawing represented only

1 on the part. Meaning that the drawing is five times larger than actual size. 1:1 being

actual size. (Drawing : Part/Assy)

At any point during the view definition where you have at least one type of view defined,

you can click a point on your drawing to define placement. If you’re not happy with the

placement, use Reposition Views to make updates until you are satisfied. Up until you com-

plete the view definition, you can add, remove, or reposition views as many times as you’d

like.

Your views will show-up as a hatched box on your drawing until you complete your view

creation dialogue box. Once you’re done creating the views, you will not get the same dia-

logue box to edit the views you created.

After you’ve placed your views, you can use the Move View command to

reposition, or simply click on the view border twice. The first click will bring up a

mini toolbar in case you want to access some other view command. From there

you can right-click for a contextual menu or click again. The second click acti-

vates Move View.

CREATE DEPENDENT VIEWS

Under the Annotation tab in the Setup

group, you’ll see the Dep View drop-down.

Each command has its

own dialogue box. As you

use a command you’ll no-

tice that the icon for the

Dep View drop-down

changes. You can quickly

repeat the last command.

The dependent view will show-up in

the browsers underneath its parent.

OUTLINE VIEWS

If you want to conserve some time and

don’t need the interior detail of a view,

change the “Calculate Outline Only” property

on your view. It will leave your view with

nothing but the outline of whatever part or

assembly was within. View Properties >

Visibility > Calculate.

UPDATING VIEWS

You can Move and Scale a drawing view.

You can also change a few options on de-

pendent views, but you can not change view

type. The views are actually created in Creo

Elements/Direct Modeling.

The Annota-

tion application has the position on paper,

scale, and such, but the Model contains the

actual view. The two must work together to

complete a drawing.

To keep them working together, use

Update View. This command will check the

validity of your 3D model references and

recreate your 2D projections if there’s been

an update.

Updated view geometry will change color

according to the status of the 2D and 3D

geometry. To see the colors, change Viewport

Show Setting Upd Color.

Unchanged Geometry = Magenta

Changed Geometry = Yellow

New Geometry = Cyan

Changed 3D Documentation = Orange

Transferred 2D Elements = Green

Updated 2D Elements = Blue NOTE: Choose a Configuration

from the view dialogue box or

edit the view properties to

display a Configuration rather

than the assembled position.

BEST PRACTICE: Always save your model after

making Annotation changes and updates. Not

just the drawing. Even if you don’t think that any-

thing in the model was changed. This prevents

accidental inconsistencies between the two.


30


Annotations

your selection. There are a series of Mod

Position commands

available in the same

command group if

you plan on moving

more than the dimen-

sion.

Single. Typical

distance dimension

from one point to another.

Datum Long. A series of

single dimensions attached to a

datum on one end.

Datum Short. Same as Datum Long

except there’s no extension line on the

datum.

Chain. A stacked series of single di-

mensions where you have one occurring

after the other in turn.

Coordinate. A series of dimension

lines in the X or Y direction based off of a

single reference point.

Chamfer. Dimensional call-out at-

tached to chamfer geometry.

Sym Single. Same as a Single dimen-

sion but attached to a symmetry line.

Sym Long. Same as a Symmetry Sin-

gle, but will automatically position subse-

quent dimensions relative to the first one.

Aside from Linear dimensions, you also

have Circular and Angular dimensions to

choose from.

Tangential. Dimensions

a circle in tangential mode.

Would be used for the length

of a slot or distance between

a point and a tangent point

on a non-linear edge.

Arc. Specify the actual linear length and

actual angle of an arc.

Angle. Measured in a clockwise direc-

tion. Switch between your selected angle,

adjacent +, Opposite, and adjacent – by

right-clicking during the dimension creation.

DIMENSIONAL STANDARDS

ASME/ANSI. American Society of Me-

chanical Engineers standards adopted from

the American National Standards Institute.

DIN. Deutsches Institut fur Normung.

German institute for standardization. Mem-

ber of ISO.

ISO. International Organization for

Standardization is composed of representa-

tives from various national standards organ-

izations.

JIS. Japanese Industrial Standards pro-

vided by the Japanese Industrial Standards

committee and published through the Japa-

nese Standards Association.

Custom. You can also create custom

dimension standards to suit your needs.

ANNOTATION

Annotation is mainly about placing your

2D features along with your projected views

to complete the full representation of your

3D objects for the purposes of illustration

and/or manufacture. To that end, Creo

Elements/Direct provides several tools for

annotating your views.

DIMENSIONS

Each dimension

has a type, attach-

ment, unit of measure,

and adheres to one of

four dimension stand-

ards. (or a custom

standard)

Dimension com-

mands are found on

the Annotation tab in the Annotate com-

mand group. Relocate a dimension the

same way you would a View. Left-click the

dimension twice. First click brings-up a mini

toolbar and a right-click from that point will

show the contextual menu where you can

access dim properties. The second click

initiates the Move Dim command against

Chain Coordinate

Chamfer

Single

Datum Long

Diameter

NOTE: Value, tolerance, format, text, and

arrow adjustments can be made in the

dimension properties dialogue box.

ADDING TEXT

Text can be added to drawings by man-

ually creating text, importing text from a file,

or using a text template.

Manually add text through

the Text New command in the

Annotation tab under the Anno-

tate group. The dialogue allows

for changing style, angle, size, adjust point,

ratio, slant, line space, font, fill, frame and

color. Fill-in your text with the pop-up text

editor and define a placement position.

Import/Export text in the same Text

New command using the pop-up text editor.

Use the save and open options to grab or

save *.txt, *.lsp, or *.rec files.

Edit text with the Edit Text

command through the mini

toolbar, ribbon, or by right-

clicking on a selected text entity and select-

ing the command from the context menu.

INSERTING OBJECTS

You can insert pictures and OLE ob-

jects through the Insert tab of the Annota-

tion application. Pictures require a *.bmp,

*.png, *.tif, *.jpg, *.jpeg, or *.tiff file type.

You can also take a picture of a 3D or 2D

viewport as your image using the Viewport

dialogue box option.

You can embed objects from other

applications into your drawing using an OLE

object. For example, you could display a

Microsoft Word or Excel document.


31


Annotations

SKETCHING GEOMETRY

Creo Elements/Direct Annotation Application comes with your typical 2D geometry cre-

ation tools under the Geometry tab; lines, rectangles, circles, splines, etc. It also includes

the associated modification tools; copy, paste, rotate, mirror, stretch, trim, etc.

Use these tools to create new 2D geometry in your drawing. The Annotation CoPilot will

help guide your geometry creation. It provides incremental movement, size indication, snap

lines, and 2D geometry snaps.

Incremental movement can be adjusted using the Page Up or

Page Down keys while creating geometry. The grid size will go from 3

decimal places up to increments of 50,000 units in 26 steps.

Size indication label shows the new element size or the modifica-

tion distance in a convenient X,Y format as you work.

Snap lines appear when you move your cursor close enough to

the catch point. By default, these snap lines are green. The catch

points are added to your buffer by holding the cursor over a vertex

for .5 seconds. (by default) A small plus sign will appear on the vertex.

You can snap to start, end, and midpoints of lines, centers, and 2D geometry intersections.

2D geometry snaps occur whenever a constraint

requirement is met. You’ll see a green symbol if the

constraint is snapping to snap lines or an orange symbol if it’s snapping to geometry.

A Sketch acts as a container for 2D geometry. It can be found on the Insert tab under

the Sketch group. To group geometry under a sketch, you can either create the geom-

etry first, and then use the Move command to change the owner of all your required

geometry or you can create an empty sketch first and change owner of your geometry

as you create it. You only need to set the owner dialogue of new geometry

once. All subsequent geometry will default to the last owner.

BOM TABLES

Your Bill of Material (BoM) commands

can be found under the Insert tab in the

BoM command group. To place a BoM ta-

ble, you must first generate or import one.

Use Scan Model to grab your BoM from an

existing assembly.

Once you have BoM data, it can be

accessed from the BoM Table command.

Assign numbering using the BoM Numbering

command.

Draw your BoM onto the drawing using

the Draw BoM command. In this dialogue,

you assign the table layout and configure

the growth direction, table range, and the

table adjustment point.

The table layout is what determines

how the table is displayed and what data

should be mapped. Default table layouts

are Company, DIN, and ISO. Configure your

own for specific columns, titles, or other

requirements using the BoM Table Layout

command.

Place position flags using the Pos Flags

command. Use dialogue option From

Table to preserve your BoM Table number-

ing. Use flag layouts to govern the look of

your position flags. Select the item from the

BoM table, the geometry view, then flag

position.

PRINTING

Printing is done in

two ways depending on

the type of printer chosen

from the print dialogue

box. Find the print dialogue in File Print.

If you’re using a GDI printer, the raw

print data is sent to the print spooler. The

spooler then produces the final output. If

using one of the generic printer types, the

internal print drivers will generate the output

and send it to a print file.

Depending on your output device(s)

configured on your machine, the Print Man-

ager may allow you to set several printer

options in addition to those offered by Creo

Elements/Direct Annotation.

Typical print configurations are PDF,

Clipboard, Laser (B&W), Laser (Color), Plot-

ter (Ink), and Plotter (Pen). You can choose

from a large list of paper sizes, select an

orientation, and even preview your settings

directly on your Annotation viewport.

3D SCREEN DUMPS

If you want to capture your 3D viewport

screen, you can create a High Resolution

Print. Select the High Resolution Print from

your print dialogue in the Creo Elements/

Direct Modeling Application. Alternately,

right-click in your 3D viewport and select

Viewport Properties. HR Print is one of the

options and will bring up your printer set-

tings dialogue. You can also use this dia-

logue to Print the output to TIFF file

rather that directly to a printer.

NOTE: You can’t move a selection list of 2D geometry by selecting and double click-

ing. You must either group the geometry into a sketch or use the Move command.

Tip: Try using the Grid Settings under File Settings Grid ...

Perpendicular

Vertical

Horizontal

Tangent

Note: You can scan an existing BoM from

the 3D Documentation Application or send

the data from Model Manager BoM Editor.


32

ANNOTATIONS: 3D DOCUMENTATION APPLICATION

Annotations

APPLICATION: 3D DOCUMENTATION

The goal of the 3D Documentation Application is to communicate design ideas and

thoughts in the 3D environment. It provides various capabilities to attach information to

your design that may not have been easily captured by the geometry itself. For example, a

specific manufacturing process. Activate the application by selecting File Modules and

finding the Applications submenu. Put a check in the 3D Documentation check box.

Activating 3D Documentation creates three new tabs, one new envi-

ronment, and opens the template browser for your use. Annotate, 3D

Documentation and Insert are your new tabs, but only the Annotate tab

and template browser are accessible from the main Modeling application.

The Annotate tab appears to the right of your existing tabs and is high-

lighted in blue.

The new environment is accessed through the Applications tab. From there, you can

switch back and forth between both environments. This is not a totally new session as with

the Annotate Application, though. This is more like a modified Modeling environment. If you

select New Session in either environment, it applies to both. They share the same memory

space. In this 3D Documentation environment, the new Annotate tab becomes a command

group under the 3D Documentation tab and you gain Setup and Display. Under the new

Insert tab you gain BoM, Group, and Index. There are three other tabs available (Analysis,

View, and Application), but these are standard fare from the Modeling application.

With 3D Documentation, you can create 3D dimensions, GD&T symbols, and notes.

You can construct and implement Bills of Material (BoM) and attach position flags. Finally,

you can create transfer your 3D dimensions and annotations over to the Annotation Applica-

tion.

3D documentation has distinct advantages, like sharing im-

portant design information in the 3D environment with subsequent

designers, indicating important dimensions, and describing specific

manufacturing processes. Even so, you may not be able to share

your 3D annotations with every manufacturer or simply want to com-

plete the documentation in the traditional 2D format. Your 3D

documentation work is not lost. Using docuplanes, you can lever-

age your work and transfer it into the 2D Annotations Application.

SETUP COMMAND GROUP

A docuplane is similar to a workplane

with only a few differences. A docuplane

can be active at any time. A docuplane

can not exist outside of a docuplane set.

Also, docuplanes can not be saved individually. They are married to their own-

ing part or assembly. Finally, they are different in their purpose. A docuplane

only exists to transfer 3D documentation into the 2D Annotation Application.

First, create a docuplane set using New Set. This combo-command asks for the name

and owner of the new set and also defines and underlying reference direction with the Front

Dir and Up Dir options. As soon as you accept these options, the docuplane set is created

and you’re thrown into the New Docuplane dialogue. The owning DP Set is already filled-in

and you’re ready to choose a type and any other positional options for your new plane. You

can create plane after plane from the same dialogue

by clicking Next after each one.

It’s important to understand how docuplanes

are used to transfer data before you begin adding

3D documentation to your design. If an annotation is not attached to a

docuplane, it will not transfer. To attach an annotation to a docuplane,

the annotation and docuplane must share an owner. Also, dimensions

can not be transferred unless the docuplane it’s attached to is a valid

display plane that is parallel to the measure direction of the dimension.

Whenever you create an annotation, you’re given the option to attach it to a doc-

uplane. You can also modify an annotation for attachment after it’s been created or use

the Gather command to assign free 3D annotations to docuplanes. To transfer these anno-

tations you must use the Transfer Docuplane from the Annotations Application and use

Sync to DP to keep them up-to-date.

In this relationship between docuplane and Annotation Application view, the doc-

uplane is the master. Dimension positions are not synchronized, but things like scale, up

direction, normal, section line, detail border, name, or component list are all controlled by

the docuplane. The synchronization will override any conflicting changes made in the An-

notations Application with docuplane values. If you need to alter these values more perma-

nently, make your changes in the docuplane to avoid having your changes overridden with

the next sync.

NOTE: Annotations are seen from either

side of a docuplane. The labels flip as

you rotate the view to remain readable.

TIP: Matching Templates in the Template browser can make it easier to trans-

fer symbols between the 3D Documentation and Annotation Applications.


33


Annotations

ANNOTATE COMMAND GROUP

Whether it be attached to a docuplane or free

floating, an annotation can be created and modified

through a series of commands in the Annotate com-

mand group. (The Annotate command group also

exists in the Modeling application once the 3D Doc-

umentation application is activated.)

Dimensions. Linear, circular, angular, coordinate, and datum

long dimensions can be generated using the corresponding com-

mands. Coordinate dimensions form series of individual dimension

lines based off of a single reference. Datum long dimensions are a

series of single dimensions attached to a single datum on one end.

The interface for attaching them to 3D geometry is a little different

than what you’re used to in a 2D environment, but not by much. When you activate a di-

mension command, an elaborate dialogue box appears, but the actual dimension place-

ment is intuitive. Click the element or start and end-points needed for your dimension oper-

ation, then place the dimension text.

The 3D Note command will ask you for an element to attach a reference line. This

referenced part becomes the owner of the note and the 3D Note a feature within it. For this

reason, a 3D Note can only reference one feature of the model. They are generally used to

specify manufacturing processes or specifications.

The dialogue will ask you for a docuplane or free placement. Then you can fill-in the

actual note text using the pop-up text editor. This same editor will allow you to save and

open text files. If you enter a Ref. URL, it will be displayed as a hyperlink in the feature re-

port’s URL column. If you click Ref. File, the browser options and allows you to link a file.

Finally, you can choose the note type from Generic, Engineering, Manufacturing, or Inspec-

tion. These categories can be useful when filtering customer process features for reporting

or highlighting purposes.

Text objects are generally much more generic than the 3D Note. The dialogue box

starts off asking for the text to be entered since reference lines are much less important to

a text object. Enter or open your text as before, then add a primary reference. Optionally,

add as many secondary references as you’d like. Define placement as docuplane or free,

and place your text.

Text generated in a dimension, 3D Note, or Text can be format-

ted using the Annotation 3D Properties command. You can change

color, frame, display mode, anchor point, arrow type, size, and more.

Access the Annotations 3D Properties command from the mini

toolbar, the More dropdown, or right-click for the context menu.

Modify your anno-

tations first with Orien-

tation (if needed) and

then with Position. The

Orientation command asks for Text Dir and

Up Dir. Use any 3D references you’d like.

Surprisingly, these two simple commands

will quickly orient your annotations exactly

as required. Once you have the annotation

in the correct plane, use the Position com-

mand to move it In Plane (left and right, up

and down, as if you were viewing it straight

on a piece of paper directly in front of your

eyes), or Thru Plane (closer or further away

from you if viewed from the same orienta-

tion). Use Ref Position and Refline to

change the reference line targets and ori-

entation.

DISPLAY COMMAND GROUP

Display has a few

functions to help manage

the visibility of your anno-

tations. Show will drop

down to several com-

mands for docuplanes,

groups, annotations, features, tolerances,

and indexes. The Highlight drop down

works for docuplanes, annotations, and

features. HTML Reports can be generated

to display a list of all custom features at-

tached to a model, assembly, workplane,

WP set, or selection list. Create filters in

the dialogue box before completing the

command for cleaner output.

MODIFY WITH DIMENIONS

You may have noticed that the Move

3D command has the option to use a dimen-

sion as a transformation reference.

This will allow you to guide a transfor-

mation using a dimension, similar to how a

parametric dimension might control geomet-

ric properties. The difference is that this

relationship in CED is not exclusive. You’re

fully capable of making more modifications

with other references. Conversely, you can

guide the transformation of any geometry

using any dimensional reference. It’s not

fully restricted to the geometry that’s been

dimensioned. However, at least one ele-

ment must be directly to related to the di-

mensioned reference.

This is very similar

to behavior you might

achieve using refer-

ence cones. With this

method, though,

there’s some sem-

blance of permanency.

The dimensional refer-

ence remains to be

used over and over if

necessary.


34


Annotations

INSERT TAB

The Insert tab contains command groups for the insertion and management of a Bill of

Material (BoM) and an annotation Group. The BoM works similarly to the one in the Annota-

tion Application, but you’ll not be drawing the actual BoM table from here. This BoM group

is geared towards placing flags only. A Group is an organizational tool for annotations.

BOM COMMAND GROUP

Use Collect to grab BoM data from your assembly or data management source. Collect

a flat or multi-level BoM as needed. You can then use Table to see a pop-up dialogue de-

scribing your collected BoM, the new BoM table will start with empty position numbers.

Placing flags will fill-in position numbers as you go.

Placing flags with the New Pos

Flag command will pop-up

both the flag dialogue and the

BoM table. You need to use

them both, along with the 3D

viewport for flag positioning.

Double-click on a BoM table entry to fill in the BoM Entry box. The

part highlights in the 3D viewport. Type a Number or go with the

automatically assigned one. Choose docuplane or free. Optionally

adjust your text orientation. Before you can complete the dialogue,

you must choose a reference for the flag, which is some element on

the geometry of the BoM Entry that your flag reference line will point to. An arrowhead will

appear at the point you choose and a stretching reference line will allow you to place the

label. The dialogue is set-up such that using the Next option can quickly take you through a

BoM.

Using Modify Pos Flag will take you to a very similar dialogue to the one used in crea-

tion, but the BoM table doesn’t appear and you’re not able to change the owner of the posi-

tion flag. You can, however, use Delete Pos Flag to remove ALL position flags from a given

assembly. Simply use the command, click on the assembly, and confirm. If you need indi-

vidual deletion, just select a flag and hit your delete key. Use the annotation positioning

and property commands to make adjustments to the display of your flag.

GROUP COMMAND GROUP

All annotation types can be contained

in groups. Groups can also contain other

groups. When selected, a group will return

all children directly within it and all children

of any subgroups.

A New Fixed group can be quickly pro-

duced from a selection list. Simply define

by clicking on the specific annotations

you’re interested in grouping. Your selec-

tions can belong to any part or assembly

owned by the group’s owner or by any sub-

assembly or subgroup thereof.

You can create general or exclusive

fixed groups. Within general fixed groups, a

single annotation can belong to multiple

groups. A general fixed group can be a

parent or subgroup. Exclusive fixed groups

can only be subgroups. They must have a

parent group. Within exclusive fixed

groups, an annotation can only belong to

one group. That same annotation, howev-

er, can belong to several owners outside of

the exclusive group hierarchy.

A New Variable group is created with

the intention of having the group update its

own membership list. Membership is con-

trolled by a rule you generate from any

number of annotation properties.

To modify a group’s options or mem-

berships, right-click the group in your struc-

ture browser and choose the modify option.

Use Show to highlight and traverse

your annotation group hierarchies. You can

also use Show to hide/show entire groups

of annotations.

Note: BoM data can be

used by the Annotations

Application using the

Scan Model command.

TEMPLATE BROWSER

The Template browser in the 3D Docu-

mentation application is identical in behav-

ior to the one in the Annotation application

with a few restrictions on the geometry al-

lowed in your symbols. You can not use

splines, hatches, dimensions, symmetry

lines, centerlines, construction lines, or

points. Further, your elements can not have

a line size of zero. Text can not have a ratio

of 1 and slant of 0. You must also have a

frame on your text.

Standard templates include GD&T Da-

tum and Tolerance, Surface symbols, and

Welding symbols. The selection has been

pruned to comply with the restrictions of

being affixed to geometry in 3 dimensional

space. To add a template, simply double

left-click the template from your template

browser or use the Create Symbol command

and fill-in the dialogue box for parameters

and placement. When added to a

drawing, symbol templates can

allow you to specify new values for

named parameters. The “Smart”

fields are filled-in as needed.

New user-defined templates

can be created and added to the

template browser as needed

using Define Template.

Specify the default owner of

any GD&T templates using GDT

Owner. Any subsequently created

GD&T templates will default to

the specified owner. It’s located

in the overflow menu More

under the Annotate command

group.


35

MODEL MANAGER: INTRODUCTION

Model Manager

PRODUCT DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Model Manager is the fully integrated Product Data Management (PDM) system for Creo Elements/Direct. Data management is extremely important when working with a large number

of files and an extended design team. Manual file shares can be managed for a time, but quickly become more of a burden than a solution. Compare common data management concerns

without and with a software solution in place.

Manually managed by a CAD administrator or by each design-er. They create an elaborate system of folders to maintain data integrity.

There is usually nothing to prevent a designer from operating outside the convention other than doctrine.

Large numbers of files become increasingly difficult to manage as you approach the critical limit for hardware, networking, or have exhausted manual intervention options.

The IT department refuses to take ownership because of the overriding engineering knowledge required to decrypt the data structure and version control conventions.

Communicating data outside of the design team in a con-sistent and efficient manner becomes virtually impossible.

CAD administrators usually develop a complex system of file naming to accommodate the need to maintain version history.

There is usually nothing to prevent a designer from operating outside the convention other than doctrine.

Versions become confused. Newer versions are overwritten due to lack of control. Older versions are duplicated across the elaborate data structure.

Permissions are usually ignored beyond the need to maintain a separation between administration and design.

In larger file share environments, departments are given own-ership of file structure trees or segments in their entirety. Library data is copied across each segment.

Team or project based permission management is out of the question in most cases.

Data reuse is normally a file copy/paste exercise. Aside from the relationship corruptions, the difficulty is in knowing what’s available for reuse. Some teams print catalogs of categorized part images with file locations that are not kept up-to-date.

In larger file share environments, some have given-up on re-use in general. The best they can manage is keeping the same designers on subsequent projects so they’re knowledge-able enough to know what can be reused.

WITHOUT A PDM SYSTEM

Product structure and file structure are maintained separately. What makes sense for the product is kept isolated from data management concerns. File structure become irrelevant to design and is maintained automatically.

File stores are still at the mercy of hardware limitations, but software solutions mitigate the impact of hardware and net-working shortcomings on the design team. Hardware and networking issues are relegated to the IT department and data integrity is maintained automatically regardless of the file size or number of files within those limits.

Versions are maintained by the system. One file name is rep-resentative of the latest version and all previous versions. Default interaction assumes the latest version, but version history is always available when needed.

Permissions can be left open or narrowed down to depart-ment, project, team, or individual as necessary. You can even configure external access safely; Secure in the knowledge that your external visitors only have access to what they were given access to.

All objects in the system have a series of searchable attributes and notes associated with them that have been configured by your administration team to include everything your designers feel is important. Parts and assemblies have a special Save-As type function that allows the user to reuse data without corrupting relationships.

DATA STRUCTURE

VOLUME OF DATA

VERSION CONTROL

PERMISSION CONTROL

DATA REUSE

CONCERNS WITH A PDM SYSTEM


36

MODEL MANAGER: MODEL MANAGER BREAKDOWN

Model Manager

INTERFACE BREAKDOWN

Model Manager comes in three pieces, generally speaking. First, your interface in Creo

Elements/Direct Modeling is altered to accommodate Model Manger. Second, you get a

brand new Workspace window for data management. Third, there’s a centralized database

and a server application on your network that manage the storage and access of all CED

hosted data. This guide will cover the first two pieces of Model Manager from the user per-

spective by describing, from a high level, the interface and capabilities.

First, Creo Elements/Direct Modeling gains new right-click menus, file management

menus, a new DB Attributes Browser, a new Model Manager tab and matching toolbar (View

Toolbars), and most visibly gains bracket symbols [ ] to the right of each object in the

Structure Browser. The Model Manager information is displayed in the Structure Browser as

— Name [MajorRev.MinorRev] Status.

Second, the interface for the workspace window of Model Manager is very similar to

Creo Elements/Direct. It has a quick access toolbar, ribbon UI, and a Details Panel on the

left where the Structure Browser would be. The main viewport, now Information Panel,

shows information specific to each tab of the Workspace Bar rather than your 3D models.

The workspace acts as your window

to data management outside of

Creo Elements/Direct.

DATA BREAKDOWN

Model Manager stores all of your files

in one large repository. Think of it as a

software managed network drive without

subfolders. The local workspace window

provides a representation of the data sored

in that central repository. That view is re-

freshed every 15 minutes (configurable).

From Creo Elements/Direct, a refresh

will show you a status message to the right

of your model name. You’ll see things like

New, Up-to-date, Locally modified, and Con-

flict. From the right-click menu you can

choose to reload, save, or resolve data

differences as needed.

The default method for file storage is

the 3D Data format provided by Creo Ele-

ments/Direct. It’s a very flexible format

and offers direct access to part and assem-

bly files. There is only one data source per

part or assembly. All iterations of the same

part or assembly are simply references to

the original. (This is contrary to package

files where the same source data might be

found in two different files)

If you have an assembly with four

unique parts in it, then the CED format will

produce six files.

One assembly instance. *.sda

One assembly contents. *.sdac

Four part contents. *.sdpc

ORGANIZATION BREAKDOWN

The default method for data organiza-

tion is through the use of save/search/

load. All data resides in one place and you

must fish for what you need through the

use of search strings and attribute hooks.

<EnablePackets>true</EnablePackets>

Beyond save/search/load, the primary

method for organizing, controlling, and

sharing your data is through the use of

Packets. Your administrator must turn

Packets on through the XML configuration

file.

Packets are used to control and or-

ganize data within and send data outside

of your PDM system. Once implemented,

Packets change the typical workflow in

Model Manager.

Nothing can be created, modified, or

deleted unless it’s in a packet. Think of a

packet as an envelope. Each user has their

own envelope (or mailbox). You can’t open

someone else's mail and they can’t open

yours. However, for collaboration, you can

send envelopes to whoever you need.

<EnableProjects>false</EnableProjects>

Projects and Folders offer a logical

organization and permission control of data

based on container ownership. These

methods are provided for backwards com-

patibility only. They’re off by default. One

major deficiency in Projects is that you can-

not assign roles or permissions directly to

Folders.

1) Quick Access Toolbar

2) Ribbon UI

3) Workspace Bar

4) Quick Search

5) Details Panel

6) Info Panel

Tip: Create new packets (envelopes) to organize

your data into groups (mailboxes). Logically label

them according to project, design phase, etc.

BEST PRACTICE: Use the Refresh command

to get the latest view of your data before

making critical decisions with data that’s

being manipulated by multiple designers.

BEST PRACTICE: Model Manager is highly configurable and is rarely used for long without

alteration. It excels at matching your preferences and processes. Plan on it.


37

MODEL MANAGER: SEARCH AND LOAD

Model Manager

SEARCHING

Search for information in your workspace window

for Model Manager or the File Open From Model Man-

ager dialogue from CED. Use the quick search function

or use the main search interface. Switch to the main

search interface in Model Manger by clicking the Search tab in the Workspace Bar.

If you’re not using the Project, Folder, and Packet functionality,

searching is your only method for finding data. There is no browsing

other than any lists you’ve created; Recent List and Favorites.

The quick search includes the Name, Version, and Data Class of

the objects in the database. Results are presented in the Information

Panel below your Workspace Bar.

A full search can be executed from the Search tab in the Work-

space Bar. First, choose your data type. Then, you’ll see a set of at-

tributes associated with your data type. Your top 1000 search results

(or fewer) will appear in the Information Panel. Search options, object

preview, and details are available in the Detail Panel as you click

through your results.

You can run similar searches from the File Open From Model

Manager dialogue from Creo Elements/Direct.

LOAD OPTIONS

Single select or multi-select your mod-

els from the Recent List, Favorites, or Open

dialogue. Load from your search results by

right-click, double click, or ribbon UI. All

roads lead to the same pop-up dialogue.

Having chosen your files, the Load

Options Dialogue allows you to more specif-

ically decide which versions, structure

members, and level of geometry you want

to load. In most cases, you could likely

forgo any further specification and simply

click Load when this dialogue appears. The

defaults will load your files at the highest

revision with full geometry.

Navigate the assembly structure by

using the plus/minus icons on the left side

of the table.

Load Rules and Revision column. The

Load rules are As Stored, Highest Revi-

sions, or Highest Released Revisions. De-

fault is Highest Revision. Make your rule

selection to alter the entire list, but note

that you can still make changes to the Revi-

sion column individually as needed.

Use the Filter to scrub the list for Modi-

fiable Items, Non Modifiable Items, Full

Geometry, Lightweight Model, or Partial

(structure only). Notice that you can alter

each individual item in the list by clicking

the dropdown arrow next to the object icon.

Masterdata is a meta-placeholder for

all models, drawings, supporting docu-

ments, and BoM data for a specific manu-

factured instance. Masterdata is helpful

when you have a part or assembly repre-

sented by more than one drawing or docu-

ment. It’s also helpful when you have one

document that needs to be attached to

many drawings. Picture a part that’s cast

and molded in different colors with differ-

ent logos. When more than one master

data exists you can select between them

from the masterdata column. This will load

the geometry and attach the information

stored with the alternate masterdata.

The Options submenu allows you to

configure the way loading takes place.

Your selections are saved and will carry

from session to session. TIP: You can use ? as a single character and * as a general wildcard in searches.

TIP: Save your complex searches so you can run them again later.


38

MODEL MANAGER: SAVE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Model Manager

SAVING DATA

You can save data from several interface options. You

can use the Model Manger tab inside Creo Elements/Direct

(CED) ribbon. You can use the File Save to Model Manag-

er command from CED. Right-click your model in the Struc-

ture Browser for model manger save options. Use the model manger toolbar (View

Toolbars). All roads lead to the same pop-up dialogue.

The Save Options Dialogue allows you to

specify save type, name, whether or not to

create thumbnails, search, and filter. In most

cases, you could likely forgo any further

specification and simply click Save when this

dialogue appears. Understanding your op-

tions will help you decide when that’s the

case and when it’s not.

The name value synchronizes with the

Model Name attribute in Modeling. It

can be set in the part properties, but if

you don’t set it Model Manager will

use the instance name. You’re given

the opportunity to change the name in

the save dialogue. This will be auto-

populated if using a number generator.

Toggle the binocular icon to highlight or un-highlight table entries based on their status

as modified items or new entries. Use the filter capability to scrub your table for modified

items or new entries.

There are four different Set Save Types. They will alter the versioning method across

all entries in your table. Note that you can still make individual changes even after selecting

a Set Save Type. Major Rev ALL Items will assume you want to go up one major revision for

everything being saved regardless of its change status. Minor Rev MODIFIED Items (the

Default) will add to your version history one minor revision level for every modified item in

your save table. Major Rev MODIFIED Items will do the same but bump the major revision

level. Overwrite MODIFIED Items doesn’t create a new revision. It overwrites the last revi-

sion with your new data.

CONFLICTS

Model Manager identifies potential problems before they happen. Without Model

Manager these conflicts are usually left undetected until they become a major issue. The

two types of conflicts are Name and SysID.

A Name conflict occurs when someone attempts to save a model into Model Manager

that has the same name, but different SysID of a model that already exists in Model Man-

ager. If it were a historical revision of the same part, it would have the same name and

the same SysID.

There are several ways to resolve a name conflict through the numerous methods to

rename parts and assemblies. The Auto Number Generator can even help you avoid the

issue altogether. If parts are set-up to use the Auto Number Generator, no duplicates

occur. When they do occur, the name conflict resolution wizard can suggest a resolution

for you. You can also use the wizard to enable a renaming rule to batch resolve a collec-

tion of similar conflicts.

A SysID conflict occurs when you have a model in session from outside Model Manag-

er that has the same SysID and name as a model already stored in Model Manager. This

usually happens when you load data from the hard drive while working with Model Manag-

er data.

With a SysID conflict you can assign a new SysID to the object in session, replace your

conflicting local data with Model Manager data, or replace Model Manager data with your

local information. You should very rarely ever need to replace Model Manager data with

your local information. If your session information is truly a newer revision of the existing

Model Manager data, you should use the Make Version command rather than overwriting

any data.

Likewise, you should rarely use the Continue to Save option when you run into a con-

flict during a save operation. Investigate the conflict unless you’re absolutely certain of

the issue and the impact of saving into Model Manager.

NOTE: If you’ve configured the number generator,

use the button to get the next number. Each

subsequent click will increase the number by the

configured value.

ALERT: If you're using Packets, you can

not overwrite unless the data is in a

packet you own.

NOTE: You can now save a full structure by

saving the highest member. Lower members

are automatically saved with the parent.

BEST PRACTICE: SysID conflicts can also happen when storing package file data into

Model Manager for the first time and when re-using data by making a copy and

renaming it.

The Assign new SysID to local model command should be used any time new

data is introduced into the system or copied from existing data. This will prevent

corruptions and confusion down the road.


39

MODEL MANAGER: BOMS, VERSIONING, AND INSEPERABLE OBJECTS

Model Manager

VERSIONING

Versioning can be found in Creo Elements/Direct (CED) on

the Structure tab under the Part & Assembly group. Companies

don’t always model every component that they use internally.

They’ll often send models out for revision, be contracted to work

on a section of another design in progress, or themselves sub-

contract a section of a design to someone who doesn’t use Creo

Elements/Direct. This situation can create major disturbances

in the design process as each participant revises their section of

the design.

The main issue being resolved for CED has to do with the

Model ID. Any time you load an imported model, it’s viewed

as a new model and assigned a new Model ID. Therefore,

you would need to manually re-integrate the new version into

your design. As far as Model Manager is concerned, two dif-

ferent Model IDs means two different parts.

Use Make Version to load and version the original part or assembly. This is where you

might take a model from a vendor or contractor that’s done work on something you’ve

already integrated into your design.

INSEPARABLE OBJECTS

Also in CED, you can Create Inseperable objects from the

Inseperable dropdown under the Structure tab in the Part & As-

sembly group. Inseperable objects are created from assemblies

that need to be represented in BoMs as a single part. For exam-

ple, you may have a welded assembly that is actually several

parts but is purchased as and needs to be listed as a single part

in the BoM.

The Inseperable object will appear as a single part in subsequent BoM scans and ap-

pear in the Structure Browser with a distinctive red circle next to the assembly and part

icons. See the Structure Browser icons in the appendix for examples. Reverse your chang-

es with the Separate command.

The Bill of Material Editor in Model Manager can also flag objects as inseperable and

reverse the change during the generation of a BoM report. The settings can be saved as a

Configuration and reused as the BoM progresses through design.

BILL OF MATERIAL EDITOR

The Bill of Material (BoM) Editor is a separately licensed add-on module for Model Man-

ager. It can construct a BoM from the product structures housed in Model Manager. The

use of the BoM Editor doesn’t require Creo Elements/Direct (CED). You can therefore rele-

gate BoM Editor responsibilities outside of design engineering.

The BoM Editor uses masterdata information. Alternative masterdata entries can be

used to build different BoMs so that multiple products can be made without needing to du-

plicate the design. To create masterdata, right click on your assembly and select Scan from

the context menu. You can also find Scan under the Structure tab in the BoM group.

Once you have masterdata to work with, use the BoM Editor command from the same

right click context menu. You can also find the BoM Editor command under the Structure

tab in the BoM group. From the BoM editor, you can add non-modeled parts like solder,

paint, or lubricants. You can add spare and documentation items. You can also add pro-

cess specific tools or materials for manufacturing.

The first time an item is added in this fashion, you will likely need to use the New Mas-

terdata command. An item that already has masterdata can be added with the Existing

Masterdata command. Compare BoMs between versions or assemblies by using the Com-

pare BoMs command.

Generate custom BoM reports from the Tools menu with the Generate Reports com-

mand. You can create flat, consolidated, and structured BoM reports. Include, exclude,

show, and hide parts as necessary for your reports. You can explode an assembly structure

using the Phantom option (uses the parts but not assembly structure) or define Inseparable

assembly structures that should be treated as a single part rather than an assembly. Add

or remove custom fields for the report like Effectivity or Options. Save all this back to your

masterdata as a Con-

figuration so you don’t

need to repeat the

effort as things change.

You can also use the

Send To command to

export a BoM to HTML,

MS Excel, CSV, Annota-

tion, Drafting, and Mod-

eling.


40

PLATFORM SUPPORT

Appendix A: Support

Operating System Windows 7 32-bit Editions: Ultimate, Enterprise, and Professional

Windows 7 64-bit Editions: Ultimate, Enterprise, and Professional

Windows Vista 32-bit Editions: Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise


Windows XP Professional

Windows XP Professional x64

System Memory (RAM) Minimum: 1GB

Recommended: 2GB or more

Very large assemblies: 64-bit processor with 6GB or more

CPU Intel Pentium (III, 4, M, D)

Intel Xenon

Intel Celeron

Intel Core

AMD Athelon

AMD Opteron

Note: Support for single and multi-core CPUs.

Video Display Minimum: 1024x768

Note: Available dual monitor support

Workstations Available certified/supported workstations from different partners.

http://www.ptc.com/partners/hardware/current/support.htm

Optical Drive DVD

Hard Disk Space During DVD Installation: 3GB

Minimum: 2GB

License Server At least one Create Elements/Direct License Server is required

locally or within a network to host and maintain licenses for Creo

Elements/Direct 18 products

Virtual Machines Creo Elements/Direct Modeling 18.1 is not tested or certified on

virtual machines such as Microsoft VirtualPC or VMware products.

Creo Elements/Direct 18.1

Operating System Windows 7 32-bit Editions: Ultimate, Enterprise, and Professional


Windows XP Professional

System Memory (RAM) Minimum: 512MB

CPU Intel Pentium (III, 4, M, D)

Intel Xenon

Intel Celeron

Intel Core

AMD Athelon

AMD Opteron

Note: Support for single and multi-core CPUs.

Optical Drive DVD


Minimum: 300MB

Model Manager 18.1 Client

Operating System Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit Edition

Windows Server 2008 32-bit and 64-bit Editions of Standard and Enterprise

Windows Server 2003 32-bit and 64-bit Editions of Standard and Enterprise

Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit Editions of Ultimate, Enterprise, and Professional

Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit Editions of Ultimate, Enterprise, and Business

Windows XP Professional 32-bit and 64-bit Editions

System Memory (RAM) Minimum: 2GB (1-20 Creo Elements/Direct Model Manager clients)

Optical Drive DVD


Minimum: 18GB

License Server At least one Creo Elements/Direct License Server is required locally or within a

network to host and maintain licenses for Creo Elements/Direct 18 products.

Virtual Machines Creo Elements/Direct Model Manager client and server are not tested or certi-

fied on virtual machines such as Microsoft VirtualPC or VMware products.

Additional Information For specific, detailed system requirements please refer to

http://www.ptc.com/partners/hardware/current/creo-elements-direct-

Model Manager 18.1 Server

Platform support information is kept up-to-date by PTC at

http://www.ptc.com/partners/hardware/current/support.htm


41

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Appendix A: Support

PTC TECHNICAL SUPPORT—PHONE

PTC can be contacted via the phone for technical support and license management in

local time zones and local languages. Support outside of the Monday-Friday business hours

is provided only in English. If you’re current on maintenance and unless you made an addi-

tional investment in PTC support, you’re a Gold-level support customer. As such, you will

receive phone support 24x5 during the workweek. GOLDplus customers get the addition of

weekend support for critical issues. Platinum support customers receive continuous 24x7

phone support.

United States and Canada Technical Support (800) 477-6435

United States and Canada Customer Care (877) ASK-4-PTC (877-275-4782)

PTC TECHNICAL SUPPORT—WEB

PTC provides a wealth of tools and information on the web. First, you need to have a

PTC account. Once that’s in place, you may need to upgrade the account based on your

customer information. PTC provides a knowledge base, case logger, case tracker, SPR

Tracker, subscriptions, and more for your web based technical support needs.

CREATING A PTC ACCOUNT

In order to access PTC web support,

users are required to create an account.

This can be done by accessing the PTC

website at www.ptc.com and clicking the

“Login” link. From there click the “Create

Basic Account” link and follow the dialogue.

UPGRADING A PTC ACCOUNT

Upgrade a basic account through the

“Upgrade to a Customer Support Web Ac-

count” link and dialogue. Upgrading ena-

bles access to tools such as logging and

tracking calls, software downloads, and

searching the Knowledge Base.

CASE LOGGER

Create a new case to document a sin-

gle issue through the web or phone and a

case number is generated for you. Subse-

quent emails, phone calls, file references,

and all other records are tied to your case

number. Find the Case Logger on the PTC

support web site while logged-in.

CASE TRACKER

The Case Tracker allows customers to

view the status of a case, see who’s as-

signed to the case, view history, and upload

additional files. This is also where you’d

escalate a case if necessary. Escalation will

push the call up to a technical support man-

ager.

SPR TRACKER

A software performance report (SPR)

documents an issue that requires a soft-

ware correction due to a bug or problem

with the current software version and date-

code. An SPR can be generated if multiple

call numbers or customers refer to a single

issue. The SPR Tracker allows a customer

to track the status and resolution of an

SPR.

PTC/USER SUBSCRIPTIONS

PTC/User is a free, dedicated forum for

the PTC user community. Share infor-

mation, tips and tricks, and issues with oth-

er users across the globe. It’s a great site to

ask questions, receive answers, and discuss

multiple PTC-related topics.

http://www.ptcuser.org

COCREATE USER FORUM

The forum was originally sponsored by

the CoCreate America’s User Group which

has since dissolved. The main site hasn’t

been updated since 2003, but the user

forums are still active. They provide a his-

torical archive and current conversations.

http://www.cocreateusers.org/forum

Case Logger

PTC’s Support Website

http://www.ptc.com/support/

NOTE: Signing up for a basic account will only give

you access to basic functionality at PTC’s website.

To gain access commensurate with your purchas-

es, it will be necessary to upgrade the account.

BEST PRACTICE: The following are required in order

to successfully upgrade a basic account.

1. Customer Number

2. Service Contract Number (SCN) or

Sales Order Number (SON)

To find out how to obtain the customer number,

SCN, and SON, refer to the Frequently Asked

Questions page for Licensing on the PTC website

by searching for the key word: PTC Order and

License Support FAQ.


42

CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT SHORTCUTS

Appendix B: Creo Elements/Direct Shortcuts

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS MOUSE BEHAVIOR

VIEWPORT SHORTCUTS

STRUCTURE BROWSER SHORTCUTS

F1 Help on Current Context

F2 Open Selection Menu

F3 Toggle Global Axis

F4 Toggle 3D Hidden Edges Visibility

F5 Toggle 3D Geometry Visibility

F6 Toggle 3D Shaded/Wireframe View

F7 Toggle Workplane Borders Visibility

F8 Toggle Local Workplane Axis Visibility

F11 Toggle Full Screen for Current Viewport

F12 Toggle Structure Browser

Ctrl+Z Undo One

Ctrl+Y Redo One

Ctrl+Q Hide/Show Open Menus

Ctrl+X Cut Selection to Clipboard

Ctrl+C Copy Selection to Clipboard

Ctrl+V Paste Selection Contents

Ctrl+N New Session

Ctrl+O Open Load Dialogue Window

Ctrl+S Open Save Dialogue Window

Ctrl+F Opens Search/Filter Dialogue from Structure Browser

Left Click Select a single item

Ctrl+Left Click Select multiple items

Left Click and Hold Drag and drop

Shift+Middle Click Expand or collapse select-

ed object

Right-Click Display context-sensitive

menu

Double-Click Apply selection

Right-Click Apply Apply selection

Space Open command specific mini toolbar

Shift+Space Toggle command dialogue box

Delete Delete selected 2D and 3D elements

Tab Initiate or cycle to next selection method in

sequence starting from initially highlighted face

Shift+Tab Initiate or cycle to previous selection method in

sequence starting from initially highlighted face

(Boss/Pocket, Rib, Slot, Boss, and Pocket)

Ctrl+Tab Activate probe selection

Arrow keys Rotate view by 45°

Shift+Arrow keys Rotate view by 3°

Ctrl+Arrow keys Pan view

R Relative measurement

B Create a bend (arc)

Z Undo the last 2D command

Shift Suspend snapping

I Ignore a snap

L Toggle snap locking

Delete Clear catch memory

PgUp Increase adaptive grid size

PgDn Decrease adaptive grid size

Home Reset adaptive grid

Shift+Ctrl Snap to center

Left-Click Single select

Start selection window (while dragging mouse)

Selection list: Toggle selection list membership

Middle-Click Ok/complete command (when mouse is still)

Dynamic rotate (while dragging mouse)

Right-Click Pop-up context sensitive menu (when mouse is still)

Dynamic pan (while dragging mouse)

Shift+Left-Click Select list start/resume

Shift+Middle-Click Dynamic pan (while dragging mouse)

Shift+Right-Click Pop-up menu with catch, select, and show options

Ctrl+Left-Click Dynamic pan (while dragging mouse)

Ctrl+Middle-Click Dynamic rotate (while dragging mouse)

Ctrl+Right-Click Dynamic zoom (while dragging mouse)

Alt+Middle-Click Over a face: New workplane on face then start Line/Arc

Shift+Alt+Middle-Click Over planar face: Move face by typed distance

Shift+Alt+Left-Click Over planar face: Move face by From point and To point

2D COPILOT SHORTCUTS

Length Units

um, mm, cm, m, km, uin, mil,

inch, foot, yard mile

Angle Units

deg, rad, grd

Angle Degrees to Decimal

Degrees:Minutes:Seconds

Math

+, -, *, /, sin, cos, tan, asin,

acos, atan, sqrt, exp, PI

floor(n), ceil(n), ^ (power)

DIALOGUE BOX

CONVERSIONS

Ctrl+H Hide elements

Ctrl+U Unhide elements

Shift+F4 Toggle tangent lines

Shift+F5 Toggle sketched geometry

Shift+F7 Toggle vertexes

Shift+F10 Toggle update colors

Shift+F11 Show template browser

Shift+F12 Show drawing browser

ANNOTATION APPLICATION KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS


43

STRUCTURE BROWSER ICONS

Appendix C: Structure Browser Icons

Part

Assembly

Container

Stock/finish relation

Workplane

Workplane set

Face part

Wire frame part (3D curve)

Coordinate system

3D view set of an Annotation drawing

3D view of an Annotation drawing

3D docuplane set

3D docuplane

Multi-section

Part loaded with the lightweight option

selected

Configuration

OBJECTS

Modified

Locked

Multiple versions of a part loaded

Shared part

Shared assembly

Selective instance

Untouchable—due to open references

the object cannot be modified

Open references

Partial assembly

Partial part

Partial container

Partial workplane

Partial workplane set

Inseparable assembly

Inseparable container

Inseparable face part

Inseparable part

Inseparable stock/finish relation

Inseparable wire part

Inseparable workplane

Inseparable workplane set

Feature

Part group

Fixed or variable 3D annota-

tion group

GD&T datum

GD&T tolerance

Applied taper feature

Not applied taper feature

Clipping feature

Assembly which is a version of an original

Part which is a version of an original

Container which is a version of an original

Workplane which is a version of an original

Workplane set which is a version of an original

Face part which is a version of an original

Wire frame part which is a version of an original

Partially loaded objects are displayed with the

same icons shown in the partially loaded ob-

Drawing

Sheet

View updated using Econofast mode

View updated using Graphics mode

View — updated

View—not updated

View—error

Flat view—updated

Flat view—not updated

Flat view—error

OLE object

Sketch

Modified

Frame

Shared view—updated

Shared view—not updated

Shared view—error

Section line

Detail border

Cutaway border

Picture

Stepped Hole

Countersunk Partially Toleranced Through Hole

Countersunk Through Hole

Counterbored Through Hole

Counterbored Through Hole with Chamfers

Threaded Hole

Partially Threaded Through Hole

Partially Threaded Blind Hole

Flat Blind Hole

Countersunk Partially Toleranced Flat Blind Hole

Countersunk Partially Toleranced Blind Hole

Countersunk Flat Blind Hole

Countersunk Blind Hole

Blind Hole

ANNOTATION

STATUS

INSEPARABLE

FEATURES

PARTIALLY LOADED

MACHINING MODULE

VERSIONS

Up-to-date

Out-of-date

Invalid

Partially loaded or lightweight

subject or undefined

CLASH ANALYSIS


44

QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR, RIBBON, PROMPT, AND USER INPUT LINE

Appendix D: Interface Breakdown

Quick Access Toolbar. Located in the upper left hand corner of the

interface, it provides quick access to frequently-used commands.

You can customize it by adding, removing and reordering commands

(buttons and groups) to it. Right-click any command from the com-

mand search or ribbon UI to add them to the Quick Access Toolbar.

The Ribbon UI is an interface style where a set of toolbars are placed

on tabs in a tab bar at the top of the screen. Each tab in the ribbon

contains icon commands that are organized into groups. This is also

where you’ll see new colored tabs appear as modules and applica-

tions need them.

The ribbon UI provides an efficient layout for modeling

commands. The most frequently used commands are displayed in

large icons. Less common commands are displayed with smaller

icons. Uncommonly used commands are grouped into submenus

within each section of the ribbon.

Prompt Bar. By default, displayed in the status bar on the bottom left corner of the interface. It provides general feedback, mes-

sages, and guidance. It can be removed from the Status Bar as its own entity using the Ribbon ViewToolbarsPrompt Bar.

Closely Related Command Groups

Functional Areas Divided Into Tabs

Utilities Command Group Is

commonly located on all but the

View and Application tabs. It

provides quick access to several

frequently used utilities.

Settings. Most command groups provide a settings button that provides quick ac-

cess to a dialogue for those system settings that are related to that command group.

These same settings can also be accessed from the Settings menu located in the

File tab.

User Input Line. Several commands within Creo Elements/Direct

will require keyboard input to complete without a dedicated

dialogue box. Also, when drawing in 2D, you can enter coordi-

nates instead of clicking on the viewport. Use the U,V syntax

with each coordinate separated by a comma. To specify several

coordinates, separate each with a space.

Enter a command name to start that command. For exam-

ple, type “LINE” to start the Line command. You can also set

and retrieve variable values using setf (S E T F) and the variable

name. For example, “setf a 20” will make the variable “a” equal

to the number “20”. Typing the variable name into the User

Input Line is the same as typing its value. Note: String values

must be contained in double quotes.


45

STRUCTURE BROWSER, CATCH TOOLBAR, AND STATUS BAR


Search and Filter icons will pop-up a dialogue

used to find, filter, and display items from the

Structure Browser based on your criteria.

Status Bar is found on the lower right hand section of the main interface. It

shows the alert history, current workplane, part, and settings for Catch and

Units. Also shows pre-selection focus, quick viewport settings, and a "previous

application" switch. Configurable on right-click.

Structure Browser lists all currently loaded 3D objects and elements and shows their interrelationships through its hierarchal structure. You can control the display of 3D objects and ele-

ments using the check box next to each one. You can also expand and collapse the hierarchy as needed with the plus and minus symbols. The structure browser has a details display

option toggled by the blue table icon located just below the Structure Browser tab icon. This alternate view will show a context sensitive list of properties. The browser area will also house

new tabs like the Template Browser, Drawing Browser, and DB Attributes Browser as your active modules and applications that require a browser. It’s located on the left pane of the inter-

face but can be undocked and moved about.

Catch Toolbar can be activated from the View tab or by clicking

the Catch icon on the Status Bar. It controls the settings for your 2D

and 3D snaps with three unique groups of settings.

Next Catch settings only apply to the very next caught entity. It

returns to default settings after the next catch operation.

Default 2D and Default 3D refer to the default behavior in 2D

mode and 3D mode for your next catch and every subsequent opera-

tion. Take care when making changes to these settings as they can

have a drastic impact on the 2D and 3D modeling environments.

Quick Viewport Settings. From left to

right the viewport commands are Full

Screen, Window, Last View, and Fit.


46

FILE TAB


File Tab is a unique tab providing the application’s most intrinsic commands. It pro-

vides load and save functionality, database access, print capability, and customiza-

tion.

New Session will wipe all objects from your current environment and start

fresh. There is no Close option so a New Session is the best way to start anew other

than closing and reopening the application. Open, Save, and Print work much like

you’d expect from any other Windows based application with the exceptions of CAD

specific nuances such as, opening a myriad of CAD data formats with extensible

translation capabilities. Also, saving data out selectively to different file formats.

The interaction with different data storage methods might also be a little different

than Windows users may be use to, but the concept is the same — New, Open, Save,

and Print.

Edit file will open the selected file in a separate text editor. The Modules sec-

tion is where you’ll make adjustments to which modules, applications, and interfaces

are active in your environment. Some of these options will require licenses beyond

the standard, but that’s clearly indicated in the dialogue.

Use Settings to tweak how your various functional areas look and operate while

Customize will get into extensive toolbar, pop-up, and keyboard modifications. Op-

tions is where you make modifications to the Quick Access Toolbar, Ribbon UI, and

your Command Mini Toolbars.

Finally, search for any command in the interface with your command finder at

the bottom of the File tab. Results will be displayed in a list which replaces the rest

of your File tab options while you’re searching. You can right-click results to add

them to your Quick Access Toolbar or execute directly. Take note that the command

finder search text looks in the command description as well as the command name.

Toolbox is an empty menu

that you can use to place

your frequently-used com-

mands. You can drag this

menu item to any toolbar

or to the top menu bar

itself in order to get faster

access to the Toolbox

buttons.


47

MODELING, STRUCTURE, AND FEATURE TABS


Modeling Tab contains most of your 2D and 3D object creation and manipulation tools. You’ll need to start with a workplane and a 2D profile to create 3D geometry, so those tools are available

on this tab in the New and Draw groups. The 2D CoPilot will help streamline 2D profile creation. Tweak your 2D profile with commands from the Modify 2D group. Once you Pull some geometry,

shape it with your intuitive 3D CoPilot and/or use the Model and Modify 3D commands. Round or Chamfer your edges or put your final Tapers in place with the Engineering group.

Structure Tab. Through the use of different types of containers, the Structure Tab offers faster assembly manipulation, complex feature intelligence storage, helper object creation, and even a

special container to store different assembly positions for your process drawings. Everything you would need to organize and prepare for assembly management and documentation. The Struc-

ture Tab also introduces the concepts of part and assembly sharing and instancing to capitalize on reuse. Your more advanced workplane commands are found here too. Some of the com-

mands in the Modeling tab and 3D Geometry tabs may require you to use the more advanced workplane tools found here.

Feature Tab. The Feature tab organizes your parts. While Creo Elements/Direct is history free, it may become necessary, and it’s even recommended in some cases, to organize part history or

design specific elements into containers for future reference. These commands allow you to group faces and other elements together into their own containers. The New Pattern command can

only be executed against certain containers fashioned in this way. Part Group extends beyond the standard feature capability and can contain full parts, assemblies, and other containers. This

tab is also where you’ll find the Machining operations if you’ve activated the Machining module. Finally, you have 3D dimensional annotations that can be added to your designs. These basic

Annotation 3D commands are representative of the functionality you see extended in the 3D Documentation Application and can provide dimension features that can also be used as a modifica-

tion reference by the Move 3D command.


48

3D GEOMETRY, ANALYSIS, AND VIEW TABS


3D Geometry Tab contains your basic surfacing commands. You can add 3D curves, splines, and points. Use these to create and modify Face

Parts for complex freeform surfaces. This is also where you’d gain access to the Wire Editor if you’ve activated the Parametrics Application.

Analysis Tab provides Check Part to troubleshoot corrupt parts, Compare Parts to compare geometric and topologic information, and Clash/Interference reports and single evaluations. You’ll

also find a comprehensive set of measurement tools here, some of which are repeated in the Utilities command group. Run color coded Draft analyses on your parts and Curve analyses on

your 2D and 3D curves. This is also where you’d gain access to Angle and Surface analysis tools if you’ve activated the Surfacing Module.

View Tab. Many of the view commands are built-in to the interface through the use of shortcut commands. Many, like isometric positioning and center selection, are exclusive to the Viewing

group. Store custom camera views with Edit Camera and cycle through the list with the Next camera and Previous Camera commands. Create custom lighting, create, modify, and cycle through

new viewports, and adjust model shading modes from the View tab. From here you can open or close current and legacy toolbars. The Clipping group provides invaluable visualization tools by

adding methods to cut away model visibility with real-time editing capability. This is also where you’d gain access to the Render command if you have the Rendering module active.


49

APPLICATIONS TAB


Applications Tab comes fully loaded with all of the application icons available

for Creo Elements/Direct Modeling. If the application is not active, the icon

will be grayed out. You can activate/deactivate the applications, if you have

access to the proper licenses, from the Modules dialogue box shown below.

You can get to the Modules dialogue box from any of the three settings but-

tons under the Applications tab groups or from File Modules.

There’s also an Previous Application function that switches between your

current application and the previously used application. The icon is located on

the bottom right hand corner of your interface in the Status Bar. The Previous

Application function is not a recognized command that can be found

using the command search, but it can be added elsewhere in the

interface using File Options.


50

Glossary

Creo Elements/Direct (CED) PTC’s direct modeling me-

chanical CAD software. Purchased in 2007 as CoCreate.

Re-branded to Creo Elements/Direct in 2010 as one of the

three core elements that make-up the Creo software

framework.

CED Integration Kit A Creo Elements/Direct tools and doc-

umentation collection provided for the purposes of custom-

izing Creo Elements/Direct and programming add-on appli-

cations on top of Creo Elements/Direct.

Creo Direct (CD) PTC’s new stand-alone Direct modeling

software released under the Creo software framework in

2011.

Creo Parametric (CP) PTC’s mechanical CAD software re-

leased under the Creo software framework in 2011. His-

torically referred to as Pro/E.

Creo Simulate (CP) PTC’s FEA software package released

under the Creo software framework in 2011. Available as

an extension to Creo Parametric or as a standalone appli-

cation. Historically referred to as Mechanica.

Creo View (CV) PTC’s viewing and interrogation software

suite released under the Creo software framework in

2011. Historically referred to as ProductView.

Direct Modeling is the history free method of CAD where

objects are manipulated based on existing geometry only;

without conforming to a rigidly controlled design con-

straints system. (see Parametric)

Drawing Browser Creo Elements/Direct Annotations inter-

face element located on the left pane. The drawing brows-

er provides a hierarchical display of object, container, and

relationship information about drawing elements in ses-

sion memory.

Drawlist In Creo Elements/Direct, refers to the list of ob-

jects and elements to be drawn in the 3D viewport. Its

contents can be edited through the use of the check boxes

in the Structure Browser. A separate drawlist is also stored

with each Configuration feature.

Drawing File (*.mi) Creo Elements/Direct Annotation

standard file type for 2D drawings. The files maintain rela-

tionship information about the 3D models referred to by

the associated 2D views in the drawing. The relationship is

maintained on both ends and therefore both files must be

saved after edits to maintain the relationship.

Docuplanes Creo Elements/Direct 3D Documentation

feature represented as a plane in the 3D viewport. Doc-

uplanes provide a position reference for annotations and a

medium for the transfer of annotations from 3D to 2D.

Dynamic Modeling Term originally coined by Hewlett Pack-

ard to describe their method for history free 3D CAD mod-

eling. Later referred to as Direct Modeling.

Environment File (*.env) Creo Elements/Direct standard

file type for the storage of user specific environmental da-

ta. The environment file contains information such as

units, color of 2D geometry, and part and workplane ap-

pearance settings.

Face Part A 3D part that is made-up of individual faces

that do not form a solid body. In Creo Elements/Direct

Modeling, a Face Part becomes a solid body automatically

once the faces converge into a closed shell.

Finite Element Analysis (FEA) The process of generating a

computer model that then has theoretical stresses applied

to it for the purposes of deriving the most likely physical

results.

Flexible Modeling Extension (FMX) Refers to a break-

through extension for Creo Parametric that allows a user to

apply Direct modeling modification techniques to geometry

in conjunction with the native parametric environment.

Fluid UI PTC’s terminology for the interface of their Creo

suite. Includes a Ribbon UI and Quick Access Toolbar simi-

2D Copilot Refers to the automated toolset which provides

the functionality and feedback for creating all 2D geometry

in Creo Elements/Direct Modeling.

3D Copilot Refers to the 3D widgets and functionality pro-

vided by Creo Elements/Direct Modeling to facilitate the

creation of all 3D elements.

Access Control List (ACL) Describes a list of permissions

for a given object or set of objects in a computer file sys-

tem. The ACL dictates who has access as well as what

operations can be executed against an object.

Bill of Material (BoM) In Creo Elements/Direct, a list of sub

assemblies, parts, and the quantities of each as derived

from a given assembly. A final production level BoM may

include additional reference designators, attributes, and

documentation. CED provides tools to derive, modify, and

maintain production level BoMs.

Bundle File (*.bdl) Creo Elements/Direct file type that

ideally includes a 3D model and associated drawing that

have been saved together from the Creo Elements/Direct

Annotation application.

Computer Aided Design (CAD) The use of computer sys-

tems to assist in the creation, modification, analysis, or

optimization of a design.

Camera Position In Creo Elements/Direct, refers to the

position and orientation of the viewing perspective in a 3D

viewport.

Content File (*.sd*c) Creo Elements/Direct standard file

type that contains the master workplane, part, or assembly

properties, geometry, and topology information.

Creo PTC’s newest line of CAD software applications fea-

turing a common data model, common user interface, and

common application framework. The name Creo repre-

sents the software framework along with PTC’s develop-

ment path and vision for the future of CAD.

GLOSSARY


51

Glossary

ing design intent and enabling the easy modification of the

design within those constraints.

Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) As one of the

world’s largest and fastest-growing technology companies,

PTC works with over 27,000 businesses worldwide in a

wide array of manufacturing industries. They help manu-

facturers address the biggest business challenges they

face. PTC provides software solutions for Product Lifecycle

Management (PLM), Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Appli-

cation Lifecycle Management (ALM), Supply Chain Manage-

ment (SCM), and Service Lifecycle Management (SLM).

Pro/Engineer (Pro/E) PTC’s parametric mechanical CAD

software. Re-branded to Creo Elements/Pro in 2010 as

one of the three core elements that make-up the Creo soft-

ware framework. Re-branded to Creo Parametric in 2011

and released under the Creo framework.

Product Data Management (PDM) Refers to the use of

software to track and control file data related to product

development. In CAD, a PDM also maintains the integrity

of CAD specific file relationships, version control, and ac-

cess control.

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Refers to the use of

software to manage a single source of product information

through its entire lifecycle; from inception to obsolescence.

A PLM integrates people, data, process, and business sys-

tems to provide a software backbone for product develop-

ment companies. PLM systems typically have a wide range

of functionality that’s uniquely configured to meet the indi-

vidual needs of each production environment they support.

A PLM system is generally defined as providing multi-CAD

product data management, varying degrees of embedded

visualization, distributed collaboration capabilities, docu-

ment management, BoM management, configurable pro-

cess workflows, change management, and configuration

management. Many PLM systems start with these capabil-

ities and scale well beyond them as needed.

ProductView PTC’s viewing and interrogation software

suite. Re-branded to Creo Elements/View in 2010 as one

of the three core elements that make-up the Creo software

framework. Re-branded to Creo View in 2011 and re-

leased under the Creo framework.

Quick Access Toolbar Coined by Microsoft to refer to one

of their user interface elements, the phrase refers to a

customizable toolbar on the upper left corner of an applica-

tion that houses frequently used command icons and

groups of the same.

Ribbon UI Describes a major software interface element

where virtually all toolbars and menus are placed in a se-

ries of narrow tabs that span the top of the window. Each

tab in the ribbon contains command icons that are orga-

nized into functional groups and arranged according to

frequency of use. These command groupings are fully con-

figurable in most environments. The Ribbon UI element is

commonly recognized as part of Microsoft’s Fluent UI re-

leased with their Office suite.

Session FIle (*.ses) Creo Elements/Direct file type meant

for a fast and easy saving of all current data. They’re used

for temporary storage of projects in progress typically out-

side of a PDM system. The session file saves all parts,

assemblies, workplanes, workplane sets, and all environ-

ment settings.

Structure Browser Creo Elements/Direct Modeling inter-

face element located on the left pane. The structure

browser provides a hierarchical display of object, contain-

er, and relationship information for 3D elements in session

memory.

Template Browser Creo Elements/Direct interface element

located on the left pane. The template browser provides

clear display of stored templates of design symbols, regis-

tered sketches, and registered texts that can be added as

3D and 2D annotation elements within the active session.

lar to the Microsoft Office Fluent UI, unique mouse naviga-

tion, and a fluid look and feel to the overall colors, layout,

and interface behaviors.

Formations Goodie Creo Elements/Direct Modeling depre-

ciated add-on package provided to create assembly pro-

cess views. Replaced by Configuration features.

GDI Printer Refers to a printer that has built-in support for

the Windows Graphical Device Interface (GDI).

GRANITE Refers to PTC’s feature-based interoperability,

3D surface, and 3D solid modeling kernel. Specifically

built to support a robust parametric modeling environment

and data transitions between related software packages.

HP Precision Engineering (HP PE) Hewlett-Packard’s suite

of mechanical engineering centric CAD software.

HP PE/ME30 Hewlett-Packard’s mechanical CAD package

introduced in 1986 and transitioned away from in 1995.

Instance File (*.sd*i) Creo Elements/Direct standard file

type for a workplane, part, or assembly that works in con-

junction with a parent Content File. The Instance File con-

tains additional property and position data unique to the

instance, but is dependent upon the Content File for base

information.

Package File (*.pkg) Creo Elements/Direct file type that

potentially stores an entire design; assemblies, parts, and

drawings. Typically used by solo engineers, design groups

using file system storage, and designers who need to cre-

ate a complete design package to be sent to a partner.

The package format is slower to update and comes with

the intrinsic danger of creating multiple copies of data

originally intended to be unique.

Parametric Refers to the concept of a design being com-

pletely value driven; using dimensions and parameters to

rigidly define and control the size and location of features

and components. This is done for the purposes of captur-

GLOSSARY

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