Top 5 Enhancements in 3dvia Composer V6R2011

At the end of June, Dassault Systemes launched the newest version of their document authoring tool, 3dvia Composer V6R2011.  This release continues the trend of V6R2010x by integrating more compatibility and uniformity from the SolidWorks' UI, as well as adding features to simplify the authoring process. 

Here are my top 5 enhancements in the 2011 version of 3dvia Composer:

1 - Assembly-level Color Mapping:

Parts imported from an assembly now inherit colors applied in SolidWorks, CATIA, and 3DXML to the part level. Colors applied at the highest assembly level in CAD will be imported into 3dvia Composer at correct part level yielding native-looking models.

SolidWorks 2010 / 3dvia Composer V6R2011 Color Mapping

2 - Multiple Actor Replacement:

Replacement and update of geometry within 3dvia Composer has always been a one to one function. 2011 now allows multi-selection of actors when performing an Update Geometry command.  This can be very useful if replacing fasteners and other groups of components when changes occur in the design phase.

3 - Per Actor Hatching:

Cutting planes, by default, would only add a uniform hatch at the plane of intersection and this can be modified now to customize the attribues per part.  Each part can now have a unique hatch angle, spacing, color and thickness, allowing sections to display more clarity between components.

4 - Interactive Storyboards:

This new addition simplified functionality from previous versions, taking a multiple step process into a simple right click or CTRL drag of an existing view.  This action creates an interactive document with clickable images in the view that modify the active viewing interface.  

3dvia Composer V6R2011 Interactive Storyboards w/ Magnet Lines

5 - Magnet Lines:

This is one of my favorite new features and I hope to see this someday in SolidWorks as well.  Magnet lines are a new collaborative actor that behave like a magnetized construction line.   You can either move the magnet line toword annotations/2D panels or move the entities to the line and they will snap to it like a magnet.  This makes movement and alignment simple, resulting in a polished layout.

The release is littered with little UI enhancements like tooltips in the mini right-click toolbars, updates to the gizmos (translation, rotation, explode, compass and view & animation modes) and uniform shortcut commands like using CTRL+A for select all.  DS seems to be on a 6 month release cycle with 3dvia Composer, releasing an "x" version in between the major "R" releases.  3dvia Composer V6R2011 refines the tool, making the experience, especially for SolidWorks users, familiar and streamlined.  ~Lou

SolidWorks Gives Back to 3DVIA Composer

3DVIA Composer (3DVC) debuted at SolidWorks World a few years back and ever since, SolidWorks users have been intrigued and miffed by this documentation tool. Although from a glance it might appear to be a CAD tool, 3DVIA Composer merges many of the tools required by users who are responsible for creating techinical publications.  As an engineer, the toolset is pretty straightforward but there are many presentation aspects and intuitive modification tools that lends itself to be used by non-engineers as well.  

When SolidWorks 2009 shipped, there were a couple of powerful features from 3DVC that showed up in the release like double-click the graphics area to fit, the magnify tool with zoom and section (shortcut "G-key") and the click-to-orient triad, to name a few.R6V2010X Ribbon UI

Being a SolidWorks user, I have become accustom to the context interactive SolidWorks UI so my first thoughts of the original 3DVIA Composer Interface was that it was very outdated.  Although useful, the standard "toolbar" approach buries much of the power, making the user have to dig into menus to get into the bulk of the features.

3DVIA Composer V6R2010X shipped in December of 2009 and along with many additions and updates to the existing feature set, 3DVC adopted a few aspects of the SolidWorks UI.  These modifications streamline the UI and make 3DVC more usable, especially for those of you who use it in addition to SolidWorks. 

V6R2010X 3D Right Click MenusThe most noticeable addition is the ribbon UI (above) that was introduced by Microsoft in their Office 2007 product, although unlike SolidWorks' implementation, users have the option to use the previous interface.  The right-click menus also received an update with the addition of 3D menus, similar to SolidWorks, allowing less mouse travel when selecting common tools.

After watching Dassault Systemes and SolidWorks Corporation "blur the line" between the two companies at SolidWorks World, this could be another example of ways the two companies can share technologies between products. If you are using an older build of 3DVIA Composer, V6R2010X is a must have upgrade especially for those of you that use both SolidWorks and 3DVC. ~Lou