Is just me....or--Problem with section view making surfaces un-pickable

Sometimes it is necessary to use a section view to expose the inside of
an assembly so parts can be mated. When I do this it frequently happens
that the faces I want to mate to are un-pickable and I have to go to
wireframe display with no section view to pick the faces. This is a big
time waster because of slow large assembly performance, especially when
in HLV display mode.

SW2004 SP4.1
Large assembly mode turned off.

 

Did you try CTRL-Q when you go back to a normal view in shaded mode?
Sounds like a PITA though

Corey

 

I am not sure what you are saying. I can't access many faces, edges and
vertices while in Section View. CTRL Q doesn't help there and I can't
switch views while in INSERT MATE so I have to get my views lined up
and then leave INSERT MATE, switch to HLV and use Select Other to grab
faces, edges, etc.

 

I was saying you may be able to save some time by skipping the HLV regen and
staying in shade mode just drop the...........Darnit your whole point was to
see interior parts sorry.

How about the transparency switch (SW2004 and up) RMB on outside parts and
select change transparency then you can do the same to change it back.

 

Well, what about using the new "Select other"?

WT

 

I'll answer yours and the two below it here.

Transparency is a thought although one of the features I am mating to
would be the outer feature that I am sectioning.

SW2004 not SW2005, sorry. The new select other would do the trick as
far as grabbing the surface needed, but of course it wouldn't help much
in terms of seeing the insides before going for the mate. It seems to
me that when VIEW, SECTION was a new enhancement it worked a lot
better. Could be just me though.

 

I tried it on my machine 2004 sp4.2 I don't have a large assembly only 50 or
so parts but it seemed to recognize each edge and surface correctly.

When using Transparency you can select the features(faces & Edges) of the
transparent parts by holding shift and you can use the old "Select Other" to
get down to the surface you need, and being transparent you will know
exactly where to click. The Change Transparency makes parts more like
Translucent so you can still see all the geometry but you can see through it
(for those that haven't tried it yet) If you use this in conjunction with
the selection filter for when you want to select burried edges you should be
able to get some time savings on HLR anyway. Though if you have to go too
deep it may be cumbersome.

Corey

 

Remember that currently when you measure a surface in a sectioned model it
only measures the area of the visible part of the surface and forgets to
include the hidden portion of the surface. I don't know if the newer SPs
have fixed this yet or not though (Just be warned)

 

Thanks for the shift trick. I didn't know that one.

The only problem with transparency is that sometime you have to select
a transparent surface that will occlude other features that need
picking. As long as the transparent feature is picked last it works ok.

 

I always hate it when I have to use select other and then when I get to the
correct surface I want to RMB but that doesn't work.

I was hoping to help you limp along until they can get it to work right.

Maybe an assembly cut will help instead of the section. Though I would
suggest supressing rebuilds as much as you dare because assy cuts bog down
the rebuilds.

Corey

 

Section views seem to bog things down too. Better than wire frame
though.

The big problem is that you can't change view type when in the mate PM
so if you get into a situation where the Section view is causing a
problem you have to leave the Mate PM, toggle off Section view and
re-enter mate PM. Hardly a fluid work flow.