CAE Settings

VCollab Pro users can edit range, colors, format of legend values, etc. using options available in CAE Settings. The modifications are grouped into four tabs as below.

• Legend Settings

• Edit Legend

• Hotspot Finder

• Vector Plot

Legend Settings

The various fields available in the Legend Settings tab are explained below.

Change Range	Change min & max values.
Min	Modify min value in the range.
Max	Modify max value in the range.
Filter	Applies palette colors only for values within the min max range. Out of bound values are applied with filter color
Filter Parts	If enabled, Parts beyond result range will be hidden
All Instances	Applies the modification to all instances
Color Plot	Applies/Removes color plot. The model will be seen in material color if this option is off.
Min & Max Labels	Displays Min and Max value labels attached to corresponding nodes.
Update Color Plot on Show/Hide Parts	Updates color palette and its values while hiding / showing parts.
Header Display	Show / Hides Legend Headers, Model Name, Result Name and Instance Name
Apply	Applies the modifications.

Edit Legend

The various fields and options available under Edit Legend tab are explained below.

Palette	Choose the colors to be applied on the model.
Auto	Allows the application to compute text format precision and scientific values. Precision and scientific options are disabled when ‘Auto’ option is enabled.
Scientific	Displays the legend values in scientific format.
Precision	Select the decimal places for contour values
Font Size	Change the font size.
No Result Color	Select a color to denote no result data. Default color is grey.
Transparency	Allows user to invert the transparency and to clear the transparency.
Background	Enable and set background color.
Frame Info	Display/Hide frame information
Orientation	Choose the orientation of the legend - left, right, top or bottom of the view port.
Undeformed Mesh Mode	Change Undeformed Mesh Mode and its color.
Contour Lines	Select contour lines color.
Show	Show/Hide Legend palette.
Reverse	Reverse the legend values against the color palette.
Discrete	Switch to discrete fringe bands in color plot.
Update All Viewpoints	Update the changes to all available viewpoints.
Custom Range	Switch to customized range palette and color plot.
Apply	Apply the changes to the viewer.

Note

Double Clicking on the legend color palette (including No Result color box) inside the viewer opens up CAE Settings Dialog with Edit Legend page.

Hotspot Finder

The Hotspot Finder can find in,

• Local Extrema - To find regional or local min and max values.

• Global Extrema - To find the minimum and maximum values in the selected region not like local extreme values.

• Range Cluster - To finds hotspots one per palette range.

The various options and fields seen in Hotspot Finder tab are explained below.

Find	Select a mechanism either Local extrema or Global extrema
Min	Set minimum range.
Max	Set maximum range.
Top	Specify the top count. If 5 is specified, the top 5 values will be given
Bottom	Specify the bottom count. If 5 is specified, the bottom 5 values will be given
All Top	Includes all same top values and its IDs.
All Bottom	Includes all same bottom values and its IDs.
Mark MinMax	Highlight the labels of maximum of top labels and minimum of bottom labels
Zone Radius	Skip an area around already found hotspots.
Visible Surfaces	Consider visible labels only.
Probe Type	Based on this, displays value for current result or all results in a table, or all instances in table or XYPlot.
Template Type	Provides a list of predefined label formats.
Result Options	Allows users to customize the list and order of results in the labels.
ID	Includes or excludes node or element ID in the label
Compare Options	This option is visible if at least one file is merged with the existing one. It will open a dialog box with compare options.
Add Viewpoints	Generates viewpoints according to viewpoint options if enabled.
Export	Exports the viewpoints into either VPT file or microsoft PPT file
View Point Options	Provides various options to include or exclude different types of viewpoints
Find Hotspots	Generates viewpoints for the model according to above information

Vector Plot

The various fields seen in the Vector plot settings panel are explained below

Vector Plot	On/Off switch to plot vectors.
Derived Vector	Default derived vector for vector result is Translational and for scalar and tensor is Normals.
Deformation	Sets deformed nodal position as the starting point of the vector.
Detach Geometry	Displays vector plot of a part, even if the geometry is hidden.
Uniform Length	Enables Fixed length to all the vectors. User can enter the fixed value.
Auto Scale	Enables Auto Scale for vector plot
Scale Slider Control	Scale up or scale down. Slider will be enabled when either Auto scale is unchecked or Uniform Length is checked.
User Color	Select a color from the palette for vectors.
Arrow Size	Choose any one size out of three for the arrow.
Node Position As	Set nodal position as either start point or end point.
Reverse	Change the direction of vector.
Invert	Inverts the Vector Plot Display.
Filter…	Allows users to filter the nodes using zone radius and nodesets.

The derived vectors are based on the type of result selected.

Result type	Available Derived Vectors
Scalar	Normals (Nodal or Elemental)
Vector	Translational (Default)
Six DOF	Translational (Default) Rotational Both
Tensor	Normals (Default) Minimum Principal Direction Middle Principal Direction Maximum Principal Direction Full Tensor

Vector Plot Filter Panel

User Filter	Lists the availabel Filter Options.
Zone Radius	Allows users to define a zone radius. Only one vector is considered for displaying vector.
Nodesets	Allows user to select user defined nodesets for displaying vectors. User can select multiple nodesets.
Apply	Applies filtered nodes for vector plot.
Close	Closes the dialog.

None	No filtering. All the vectors will be displayed.
Zone Radius	Vectors are filtered and there will be only one vector is considered for displaying in the zone of given radius.
Nodesets	Vectors at the nodes of selected nodesets will be displayed.

Steps to update Legend with user defined range

• Open the Legend Setting tab by clicking CAE | CAE Settings.

• Click Min and Max options to change range.

• Enter the new range values.

• Click Filter to enable the color window box.

• Select a color to be applied for results which are beyond the user range.

• Click Update Current Instance button.

• Observe the changes in the viewer.

Steps to Edit Legend

• Open Edit Legend tab from CAE | CAE Settings

• Select “preset#3” in palette dropdown.

  

• Click Apply and observe the changes in the viewer as below.

  

• Select an option, say Right, under placement drop down.

• The legend and frame information is placed on the right side in the viewport.

  

• Check Discrete option and click apply.

• Palette is changed to discrete color from continuous color.

• Contour plot in the model changes according to the modification in color palette.

  

Custom Range

Legend palette values are divided evenly by ‘n’ number of colors. Here the length of any two consecutive ranges is constant and interpolated linearly. Custom range allows users to define any length for any range but with certain limitations.

• Length of a range should be less than length of min and max.

• Users cannot edit extreme values. But it is possible in Legend settings.

• The modified value should be between predecessor and successor values.

• If there are blank in the palette values, it will be interpolated linearly by default.

Steps to set Custom Range

• In the Edit Legend tab, check the Custom Range option and click on the button next to it.

  

• The Custom Range dialog box opens up

  

• Change any value out of extremum values.

  

• Click Apply.

• A warning message saying that values should be in descending order is displayed

  

• Change some values and leave some blanks in the palette.

  

• Click Apply and notice that blanks are filled by interpolation.

  

• Click OK

• Click Apply.

• Notice the changes in the color plot of the model according to the new custom range palette.

  

Steps to visualize specific result contour range or zones

• Load Airbag.cax from the sample folder.

• Select Displacement result with default derived type.

• Select the last instance or frame.

  

• To customize contour, click CAE | Contour Settings and open Legend Settings tab.

  

• To visualize the result range between 150 to 300 unit, set the min and max fields with 150 and 300 respectively.

• Click Apply

  

• To filter the contour color beyond user range, check the Filter option and click Apply.

  

• To hide the parts beyond range, check Filter Parts and click Apply.

  

• Users can visualize the interested result zone clearly with the above options.

Switching CAE Properties On/Off

VCollab Pro allows users to switch on/off the following CAE properties through product explorer.

• Color Plot

• Legend

• Min & Max

• Frame Info

• Deform Mesh

• Undeformed Mesh

• Vector Plot and

• Contour Lines