3D Plot Options

The 3D Plot settings of the structural model can be adjusted to best meet the user's preferences and requirements.

Display Layout

With this facility, accessible through the button on the right, users can (i) select a pre-defined layout, such as Standard Layout (default), or Structural Model (the latter is particularly useful to visualise internal forces results), (ii) save their personal Display Layouts or (iii) change the 3D Plot Options.

Save Current Layout

Users may wish to save the changes made in the 3D Plot Options. To do so they have to (i) click on the button , (ii) assign a name to the new layout configuration and finally (iii) click the Ok button to confirm the operation. The new layout will appear in the drop-down menu. Further, users may always return to the initial default layout by selecting the Standard Layout option from the drop-down list.

3D Plot Options...

The full range of plotting adjustment parameters, on the other hand, can be found in the 3D Plot Options dialog box, accessible from the main menu (Tools > 3D Plot Options…) or through the button .

Within the 3D Plot Options menu, there are a number of submenus from which users can not only select which model components (nodes, structural members, etc.) to show in the plot but also change a myriad of settings such as the colour/transparency of elements, the plot axes and background panels, the colour and size of text descriptors, and so on.

By default, the 3D Plot is automatically updated. In cases where the structural model is very large (several hundreds of elements) and/or the user is using a laptop running on batteries with a slowed-down CPU (so as to increase the duration of battery), the program takes some seconds to update the view. Hence, it might prove to be more convenient for users to disable this feature (uncheck the Automatic 3D Plot Update option in the 3D Plot Options General submenu) and thus opt for manual updating instead, carried out with the Update 3D Plot command found in the 3D Plot Options on the right of the screen.

Basic Display Settings

These is a list of settings accessible through the  button on the right, users can tweak the most commonly used plotting features (view type, rendering options, names show, members’ axes representation, element transparency, and so on) using the available check-boxes and drop-down menus.

Cut Planes

In addition to the previous features, also the Cut Planes option can be activated through the button on the right.

Additional operations

Users can also quickly zoom, rotate, and move the 3D/2D plot of the structural model, by using either the mouse (highly recommended) or keyboard shortcuts, as described in here. Further, it is also possible to point & click elements to quickly go to the Building Modeller to view/modify element’s properties, or right-click and select "Member Configuration...".