With just these basic tools, we can take parts and assemblies and model them as a series of Drive3D models to create a complete and dynamic representation of your product. These preview documents also support cameras, lights, macros to be called when individual nodes are clicked, and even Orientation which will allow your 3D Preview to react to the accelerometer in your mobile device. For each of these models, the document can have rules for Replacement File Path (path to the Drive3D model), Is Suppressed (is the model visible), appearance (color, texture, etc.), Texture Mapping Mode (source, box, sphere or cylinder), Position (X, Y, Z), Scale (X, Y, Z), and Rotation (X, Y, Z). This output document allows you to build a node structure (predefined or with specification tasks) where each node can control a Drive3D model.

The third option is the DriveWorks 3D Preview File. But, in its defense, it does bring the full power of SOLIDWORKS to the party.

This is subject to traffic on your Autopilot. As a result, this is generally considered slow. Despite all of our boasting above, this does require SOLIDWORKS.

The second method is to use a DriveWorks Autopilot to build a SOLIDWORKS model and save it as Drive3D to present in the control. This rule can be dynamic so that you can display a prebuilt Drive3D file from a library. The most basic is to provide the file name of a Drive3D file for the user to explore. There are a few basic ways that you can utilize a 3D Preview control on a form. So let’s take a look at the basic functionality of 3D Preview, and how you can use that to build a more effective, more robust configurator. But at the same time, it provides enough basic functionality for you to be able to create the visualizations that your users need to understand what they are configuring. 3D Preview requires no CAD jockey skills. 3D Preview does not require a CAD license for every user. 3D Preview does not require a high-end graphics card. That’s right, 3D Preview does not take a long time to load. But the bottom line is that this is not a full 3D geometry engine. Recent versions of 3D Preview have made the images more realistic and the functionality more interactive. But that’s where the DriveWorks 3D Preview technology comes in. And while 3D is a great way to provide an unambiguous representation of a product that may not even exist yet, generating 3D content can require a lot of overhead and time. Visualization can be key in helping your users understand what they are configuring and what your customers will be ordering.

Pan in solidworks with the path