What is a "solid"?

[johnny]

We have the option of converting slabs, poly-solids, etc into something called a "solid" which then brings up a "3d shape specification" dbx that has very limited edit-ability.  In fact, you lose almost all edit ability you had on a slab/poly solid etc converting to this "solid" - I wonder why its even an option.

 

What is a "solid"...and why would you want to convert to this more limited shape type?

[Alaskan_Son]

A solid can be very useful for creating complex shapes as you can use boolean operations in all 3 dimensions. You can take it further from there and explode a solid into separate faces which can be extremely useful for assigning custom materials to the different faces. I'll try to make a video when I have a few spare minutes. I still have to make that CAD mask video too.

[Paramount]

Prior to the solid there was wireframe and surfaces, a struggle to find clashes and produce renderings. The whole intent actually behind a solid is DMU (Digital Mock-UP) as one unit for interference checking. Happen in auto/aircraft about two decades ago. When it did there were far less design issues, reworks, and the weights and balances far more predictable. Boolean operations are now obsolete, constrained sketch based operations have taken over. The constraints allow for easy boolean type operations and modifications. Other features that came with the solid body was properties such as mass, inertia, materials, etc, that can be used for structures analysis (FEM), WUFI, BIMS, Kinematics, Material List, etc...CA needs an update.  

[Alaskan_Son]

Here's a quick video going over just the basics. Sorry, its not super organized or edited, but hopefully it will give you a pretty good idea of the key differences between polyline solids and solids. I'm thinking a more in depth version may be in order at some point. It's just tough because there's so many different things that could be discussed and a lot of rabbit trails along the way. Anyway, hopefully this helps clear a few things up for those of you unfamiliar with the distinctions between the 2 object types...

[Joe_Carrick]

Johnny,

 

Sometimes it's easier to start with a Polyline Solid to get a basic shape.  Then if you want you can convert that to a Solid and work with other Solids.

 

If you only need the Primitive Solid Shapes then you can skip the Polyline Solids but if you need an irregular Shape to start with then using them makes sense.  For Spheres, Cones and Pyramids you need to use Primitive Solids

[johnny]

Thanks guys - great video.  So if you go to a "solid" it basically becomes a 1-way dead end street?  You can no longer edit the shape other than scale and "Boolean"? 

 

I could swear there was a video showing a basic push/pull in action inside Chief....maybe I am wrong through.

[Alaskan_Son]

I went over it a little bit late in the video, but you also gain the ability to explode the shape and you can extrude (push/pull) the resulting faces. I don't think I would go so far as to call it a "dead end street" But yes you do lose reshaping capabilities to some extent. You can still reshape using boolean operations it's just not quite as easy as reshaping a polyline.

[Alaskan_Son]

...You can still reshape using boolean operations it's just not quite as easy as reshaping a polyline.

On second thought, maybe I shouldn't have said it quite like that. It actually IS as easy as reshaping a polyline in a lot of cases. It just requires a few extra steps to make a second polyline (perhaps using CDFV as the basis), convert that polyline to a solid, size and position it correctly, and then use the boolean operations to modify the original solid.

[johnny]

I get a TON of crashes when I start messing around with faces.  Anyone else?

[Alaskan_Son]

Funny you bring that up, I was actually going to report that to tech-support myself. Just haven't gotten around to it. I only get the crash if I try using the revolve tool. In all fairness though I have never once needed the revolve tool.

 

EDIT:  I have used the Revolve tool many times since this post.  Very handy tool. 

[johnny]

I wasn't using the revolve tool, but check it out if you work it in other aspects more.  Its not a crash each time at a certain place, since I can reopen CA and start wroking again - get past that point it crashed before, only to have it crash down the line again.

 

Its so unstable I dont think you can work with it inside CA.

[Alaskan_Son]

I've verified the behavior Johnny.  You're right.  There are some major issues with faces in X8.  X7 is very stable though.  I'm going to report the issue right now. 

[Alaskan_Son]

Report submitted. 

[Chopsaw]

Thanks Michael, Great vid, very informative. What did tech say about the crashing? And is it fixed yet?

[Alaskan_Son]

Yes. That particular issue has been fixed.