Need Help!- shading colours

[stevieboy]

In X3. I have to draw up a model made of 4 different parts, all of which need machining as seperate items with 2/3 ops for each part. I want to show the model assembled with the 4 parts shaded different colours. I did the first part, shaded it one colour and saved it. Then did the second part, changed the shade colour and saved it etc. etc.

When I came to stick them all together as a complete model The parts are all shaded the same colour as the last part save. Even though when I go to open the drawing I can see in the preview window they are shaded the original colour I saved them as, the colour changes to the last one used when I open the drawing.

I'm changing the shade colour in the screen drop down menu. Am I missing something. Any help?

[jhmanvf2]

try changing it to all surfaces then using changing atributes to change the parts of the model you want to the colour you want.

[Mike Mattera]

They're Purple. That is a group color. Screen - Clear Colors. Or Status Bar lower Right Groups and delete the groups. It wont delete the entities, just the list that contains the entities.

Any time you so a Transform, The selected Group of items turn red and the Result of the transformation turns Purple.

Mike Mattera

[stevieboy]

Very good Mike, not entirely sure what the hell you're on about though. Elaborate
perhaps?

[Mike Mattera]

I'm not sure what to add. Did you look at what I suggested?

Mike

[stevieboy]

I don't quite understand, what's purple? How do I have different parts on an overall drawing of a model shaded in different colours so I can see they're different parts? It seems such a simple thing to want to try and do.

[Superman]

When moving/copying entities
Whenever you Xform entities, the copied entities are displayed in PURPLE, the original entities are RED.
Their actual colors are still in effect, but this screen color change is just to highlight the new arrangment
These "group" colors are removed by the "clear colors" button on the analyse toolbar, or on the Screen menu pulldown.
When these "group" colors are cleared, those "xform patterns" (red & purple) are removed from "memory" ( there are Mcam functions that use these patterns for quick selection )

When merging files
Merging files can have an effect on entity colors
-if any item is brought into a session, it should come in as it is drawn
--if you select the "use current attributes", ( view, color, origin, level, etc ) the incoming items do take up the current selected attributes.
then if you have to move them, the When moving/copying entities comes into effect

[Mike Mattera]

"When I came to stick them all together "

I guess we done know what you did to stick them together. I (and Superman) assume you did a Transform to more them into position. Or you could have done a "Merge" join the files/parts together.

If you did a Transform to move them you should have Red for original selection and Purple for the Result of the transformation.

So what do you mean by "Stick them together"? What command did you use?

Mike Mattera

[stevieboy]

Ok, I see how the "merge" works. I was using cut and paste before to put all the parts onto one screen so learnt something new.

So, all four parts have been drawn individually and saved as seperate files and when they were saved they were shaded different colours by changing the shade colour in the screen menu. I can put the four parts on one screen using merge and place them away from each other. However, they are now all shaded one colour, whichever was the last shade colour used. Then I can use xform/translate to put them together as one solid model. This is where I'm stuck. How do I shade the four parts different colours so they stand out as different parts.

When you say "they're purple" do you mean the entities that are selected. I have my entity colour set as colour 4, a dark red I think. Then the "auto highlight" colour is white and "select" colour is green. I just like them like that with a screen colour of light blue. Is this what you mean by "purple".

In the system configuration dialogue box in colours there is a check box, "use group and result colour in xform". This is un-checked. Any more help?

[Superman]

Let's take a step back

#1- You don't have to create parts in seperate sessions, it is one way it can be done, so you aren't incorrrect in your method.

#2- when bringing the parts together, you are adding the parts together to make 1 solid part-----if parts are to be made as seperate components, keep them seperate. You wouldn't turn a nut & bolt into 1 solid.

Then I can use xform/translate to put them together as one solid model. This is where I'm stuck. How do I shade the four parts different colours so they stand out as different parts.

A solid ( at this stage ) can only exist as 1 colour.---This step is giving you the problems. Keep them seperate

#3- Try to understand the use of levels, these are like clear sheets of plastic that you place entities on, turn one level OFF is like removing that sheet from the screen, turn 10 levels ON and you get to see all the entities on all of those 10 levels

for example

LVL# NAME
 1      MAIN
 2      Part A - construction
 3      Part A - Solid
 4      Part B - construction
 5      Part B - Solid

Turn only level #2 ON for the entities to construct Part A solid, do the same for Part B. Then place the solids on their correct level
Turn on #3 & #5 will show 2 solids, each in their own colour an an assembled state, the yellow line (in the levels manager) defines the active level that new emtities will be placed on, a tick means that level is visible.

If any entity is wrongly place on a level, there are many ways to move it, easiest is using the entity attributes button, where many features of that item can be "adjusted".

When going to create toolpaths on Part A (level #3), turn all the others OFF and program that item

Create a seperate machine group to program the other item

I have only opened 1 mastercam seeion to create 1 assembly drawing and programmed both items

Levels are used extensively in all forms of CAD and CAM. Learn and manage this area well, as it will be your best friend


It is good to be able to draw as an assembly, if you wish to have seperate sessions for each itemm, it is best to use the "Save Some" command and save only the solid to another file, as this tends to eliminate some of the drawing junk

When you say "they're purple" do you mean the entities that are selected. I have my entity colour set as colour 4, a dark red I think. Then the "auto highlight" colour is white and "select" colour is green. I just like them like that with a screen colour of light blue. Is this what you mean by "purple".

Mike and myself were under the impression that the screen colours were not "cleared" or you had another button pressed when merging files together.

Purple ( colour#3 ) others say pink ( as I should have said ), is the "result" colour after you move it, "clear colors" will get rid of this pink and return it to the actual color that you had chosen.

If you had Xformed copied 500 entities, the originals would be RED, and the copies would be PINK. You can then select <ALL> <Result> , which would select the PINK items (only the copied ones) to do a further step like rotating, changing levels, etc......"Clear colors" means the patterns are not available to select by the <Result> button

[stevieboy]

Thanks for your imput superman.

I understand about levels and actually draw using them, wireframe, solid, surfaces, dimensions etc. That's not where the problem is. I can create the parts as seperate items in seperate sessions or all on one sheet (session) but keeping them seperate.

I wished I could show you what I mean, or perhaps explain it better. When you say,

"A solid ( at this stage ) can only exist as 1 colour.---This step is giving you the problems. Keep them seperate"

So does that mean I can't do what I want to do, fit the parts together but have them shaded different colours so I can see they are different parts. For example, you can draw a nut and bolt as seperate items then put them together because the bolt will fit into the hole in the nut. But how do you have the bolt shaded "chrome" and the nut shaded "brass". See what I mean?

It's only really for demonstration purposes so I can see how everything will look assembled. At the end of the day I can put the parts together and just have them all one colour, that's quite easy to do. It would just be nice to have them shaded different colours. Is this possible?

What do you mean "At this stage"?

I really appreciate everyone's help.

[Mike Mattera]

Doesn't sound like your reading or understanding my postings at all. You seem like a visual learner.

Might I suggest this...
http://www.tipsforcadcam.com/product/TFM-CD3DDesign-X4

Mike Mattera