Export to 3D PDF

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This command allows to export all the objects displayed in the 3D scene, in a 3D context embedded in a pdf file. Such a pdf can be opened with Acrobat Reader for instance. The interaction to handle the 3D scene may differ between Cyclone 3DR and other third party software.

No selection is required.

Reading 3D PDF

You need a PDF reader to open 3D PDF files. We strongly suggest to use Adobe Acrobat Reader DC as 3D content is not supported by all PDF reader.

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC can be downloaded at this address: get.adobe.com/reader/

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  1. Export.
    You have the choice between:

    1. Create a new pdf, which will contain only one page with a 3D scene, without any title, header or footer.

    2. Insert in an existing pdf, which will append a page in an existing pdf file, created for instance with the command Report Editor or with any other tools (word...). With this option, you have to select the file to append, and define where the new page will be added: at First page, at Last page, or define the page index after which the new page will be added.

  2. Label.
    If the 3D scene contains some labels, the option is proposed.
    As the labels in Cyclone 3DR and pdf 3D are not managed in the same way, we can not display the Cyclone 3DR labels as is in pdf 3D. So, in pdf 3D, you will only find a number corresponding to the label ID - without other information - placed in 3D above the object where the label is linked. That is why it is useful to have the details of the label with a report created by Report Editor, then insert the 3D scene in the pdf as a second step. You can define the direction of the lines between the object and the label ID.

  3. Contour lines.
    If the 3D scene contains some contour lines with texts on it, the option is proposed.
    In the software, the number of text on a contour line is dynamic and linked to the zoom factor. In pdf 3D, this behavior is not available. It is therefore necessary to choose the distance between texts. You can also choose the color of the font.

The display of text in 3D pdf is time consuming. So, to quickly display the text and to have a quick refresh of the scene when moving the 3D scene, do not export too many texts.

When everything is set, you can launch the export by clicking on Export. You will have to choose the destination file.

Tip & Trick

  • The default camera view in the PDF document is the one used when the user hits the Export button, including the orthographic or perspective setting and the camera orientation with a zoom all.

  • With the option Insert in an existing pdf, it is possible to export into the pdf initially selected

  • After Export, the PDF is open with your default pdf browser

  • The tree structure of Cyclone 3DRas well as the names of the objects are kept so that the objects can be displayed/hidden in an easy way

  • In case of several scene, the current active one is exported

The exported entities are:

  • Points, including the 3D text if any

  • Point clouds, including inspection values or real color information if any

  • Meshes, including inspection values, real color information or texture data if any

  • Polylines and set of polylines, including inspection values and the 3D text if any

    • In the case of inspected polylines, the magnification values are kept, as well as the texts defining the deviations if any

    • In the case of polylines with text (contours lines), the texts are also exported

  • CAD Surfaces, Curves and Contours

  • All geometric entities (Line, Circle, Round Slot, Square Slot, Plane, Cylinder, Sphere and Cone)

  • Labels

    • Labels defined in a 2D layout in Cyclone 3DR are converted in 3D labels containing label numbers only

  • The color scale including the distribution curve

List of objects that are NOT exported:

  • Clipping plane

  • ViewSet

  • Frame of Coordinate system. Even if a local coordinate system is active, the export is done in the World coordinate system.

Note

For all objects with aditionnal information, the representation used while exporting defines the exported information:

  • Textures are exported if the mesh representation is Textured

    • Meshes textured with several images will be split according to texture in the 3DPDF file as this format does not support several textures per meshes

  • Real color values are exported if the mesh (or cloud) representation is Real color

  • Inspection values are exported if the mesh (or cloud or polyline) representation is Inspection

The export of CAD Surfaces is also dependent on the current representation:

  • The surfaces will be exported only if visible (all representations except Wire)

  • The surface contours will be exported only if visible (all representations except Smooth)

  • The surface iso-lines will be exported only if visible (representations Wire and Smooth+Isometric)