Data Entry
tab, type the following values.This help topic provides a basic example to help you get started creating Emboss Swept features. By providing the fundamental information about this feature type, this topic can be useful for beginners or advanced users alike.
For this example, you start from a new BobCAD file. The entire process of creating an Emboss feature is explained.
The Emboss Swept feature geometry can be any combination of open or closed chains. The entities used for the chains can be any combination of lines, arcs, and splines.
1 To open a new file, in the File menu, click New.
2 In the Arcs menu, click Coordinates.
3 In
the Data Entry
tab, type the following values.
Arc Coordinate
Center X |
3.50 |
Center Y |
3.50 |
Center Z |
0.00 |
Radius |
2.00 |
Start Angle |
0.00 |
End Angle |
360.00 |
4 After typing the values, the CAD preview is updated in the Workspace (the graphics area).
5 To create the arc, as shown in the preview, click OK.
6 The geometry creation for the feature is complete. To close the Arc function, click Cancel.
1 In
the Data-CAM Tree Manager, click
the 
BobART Manager
tab.
2 Right-click
(click with the right mouse button) 
Emboss
Model, and click Create/Modify
Stock.
3 In the Stock Parameters dialog box, in the Origin group, double-click (click twice quickly) in the X box so that the entire value is selected. Type 1.000 and press Tab.
4 In the Y box, type 1.000.
The Origin settings define the lower-left corner
(origin) of the stock in the Workspace. The Origin values set the distance
from the 
WCS or world coordinate system. This is
also known as the CAD coordinate system.
5 In the Model Size group, set the X value to 5.00, and set the Y value to 5.00.
These values represent the length of the stock along each of the X- and Y-axes.
6 To set the color of the stock, click Color. In the Color dialog box, click a color and then click OK. For this example, click the fifth color in the first row (Row 1, Column 5).
7 The stock parameters are now defined. To close the dialog box and create the stock, click OK.
Notice the location of the stock origin (lower-left corner). Also note that the geometry created earlier is contained within the bounds of the stock.
The stock for embossed models is created with zero thickness.
1 In
the BobART Manager,
right-click Emboss Model, and
click Emboss Swept.
2 In the Emboss dialog box, in the Emboss Attributes group, click in the Name box.
3 At the beginning of the description, type My so that the description displays My Emboss Swept 1.
4 To define the color of the feature, click Color. In the Color dialog box, click a color and click OK.
5 In the Emboss group, confirm that Convex Arc is selected. Also confirm that the Application Type is set to Add.
6 In the Radius box, type 0.500. Notice that the cross section preview is updated in the dialog box.
All of the other settings remain at the default values.
7 To close the dialog box and add the feature to the BobART tree, click OK.
In the BobART tree, notice that the feature, 
My Emboss Swept 1 - Add, is added under Emboss Model. The red x
through the Emboss icon lets you know that the model needs to be Regenerated
to update the current settings. The model is Regenerated after selecting
geometry in the next part.
1 In
the BobART tree, under
My Emboss Swept 1 - Add, right-click
Geometry,
and click Re/Select.
2 In the Workspace, point to the arc that you created earlier. When the arc changes to the highlight color, click the arc. (Because it is a single entity, the entire arc is selected.)
The arc then changes to the selection color to show that it is selected.
3 To
confirm the selection, right-click anywhere in the Workspace,
and click 
OK.
The geometry selection for the feature is complete.
TIP: When selecting geometry for Emboss features, you often need to hide the embossed model.
To hide the Embossed model/stock, do one of the following:
Right-click Emboss Model, and click Blank/Unblank.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut E. To use this method, click anywhere in the Workspace (so that it has key focus), and press E on the keyboard.
When working with Emboss features, every time that you add a new feature or modify an existing feature, the model must be regenerated.
Emboss
Model, and click Regenerate.
Notice the red x through the icon. This symbol
means that changes have been made that are not yet included in the model.
After regenerating, the symbol changes to Emboss Model.
Notice that the cross section, defined in the Emboss dialog box, is swept along the entire length of the feature geometry. The cross section defines the shape of the emboss vertically in Z. The Application Type, Add, means that the feature is added (or raised) in the positive Z-axis. The Z-height of the feature is 0.500 inches because of the 0.500 radius (Convex Arc) cross section used.
After creating an Emboss Swept feature, you can edit the feature to make changes to the model. To edit the feature, you use the Emboss Feature in the BobART Tree.
1 In
the BobART tree, right-click 
My Emboss Swept 1 - Add, and click Edit.
2 In the Emboss dialog box, click the Cross Section arrow and click Concave Arc.
3 To close the dialog box, click OK.
4 To update the model and show the result of the new setting, right-click Emboss Model, and click Regenerate.
Again, the defined cross section is swept along both sides of the selected feature geometry.
5 Edit the feature (as in step 1).
6 In the Emboss group, click the Application Type arrow and click Subtract. This means that the feature is lowered in the negative Z-axis direction.
7 Click OK to close the dialog box, and Regenerate the model (as in step 4).
1 In the Lines menu, click Coordinates.
2 In
the Data Entry
tab, double-click in the Start X
box and type 1.50.
3 Press Tab, and type 1.500 in the Start Y box.
4 Press Tab twice. In the End X box type 5.50, and in the End Y box, type 5.50.
5 After typing the values, the CAD preview (displayed in green) is updated in the Workspace.
6 To create the line, as shown in the preview, click OK.
7 The geometry creation is complete. To close the Rectangle function, click Cancel.
You can select multiple chains for a single Emboss Swept feature. The process of sweeping the cross section along the chain to create the emboss is applied to each chain regardless of how many chains are selected.
TIP: In
the BobART tree, click My
Emboss Swept 1 - Subtract. Notice that the feature geometry is
highlighted in the Workspace. You can use this preview to locate each
feature when the BobART tree contains multiple features.
1 To hide the model, click anywhere in the Workspace, and press E.
2 In
the BobART
tab, right-click Geometry,
and click Re/Select.
Notice that the previous feature geometry is still highlighted. This shows that it is still selected.
3 In the Workspace, click the line to select it.
4 To
confirm the selection, press the Spacebar.
(This is the same as clicking
OK in the Workspace shortcut menu.)
Notice that the feature preview is shown after confirming
the geometry selection. This is because the Geometry
item in the BobART tree is currently selected. Click
Emboss Model and the preview is no longer shown.
5 Right-click
My Emboss Swept
1 - Subtract, and click Edit.
6 Set the Cross Section to Convex Arc, and set the Application Type to Add. Click OK.
7 To update the model, right-click Emboss Model, and click Regenerate.
To show the model, click anywhere in the Workspace, and press E.
IMPORTANT: When combining multiple emboss features, the Add application type adds the results of each feature together. In the previous images, because the two separate chains were selected for a single Emboss Swept feature, they are created at the same height (0.50). The following images show the result of creating two Emboss Swept features and assigning the arc to one feature and assigning the line to the other feature.
The result is that the intersecting areas of the two features are added together. The 0.50 arc used for each feature results in the total Z-height of the model of 1.00.
When using the cross-section types, Convex Arc or Concave Arc, you can modify the cross section using the Start Angle and End Angle parameters.
1 Right-click My Emboss Swept 1 - Add, and click Edit.
2 In the Emboss dialog box, in the Start Angle box, type 45.00.
This causes the cross section to start at the midpoint of the arc (45 is half of 90). The range of possible values for the Start Angle and End Angle are from 0.00 to 90.00 degrees.
3 To close the dialog box, click OK.
4 To view the change in the model, Regenerate.
The Z-height of the model is now much lower than the previous result. To find the height of the model, right-click anywhere in the Workspace, and click Entity Summary. In the Bounds group, notice the Z Total box displays 0.1464. This is exactly the height of an arc with a 0.500 inch radius drawn from 45 degrees to 90 degrees.
When using any of the standard cross-section types in the Emboss dialog box, you can manually edit the cross section using the cross section preview that is displayed in the dialog box.
1 Edit the feature. In the Emboss group, click the Cross Section arrow and click Line.
2 In the preview, click the red point on the right side. Drag (click and hold the mouse button) the point left to the vertical 0.125 grid line as shown next.
3 Notice that the parameters of the line are updated in the Cross Section group.
4 Click OK.
5 Regenerate the model to view the changes.
The Fast Edit section of the Emboss dialog box is used to scale the cross section or to add a base height which creates a wall at the bottom of the feature.
1 To better show the results of using the Fast Edit parameters, edit the feature.
Set the Cross Section to Convex Arc, and set the Radius to 0.50. Set the Start Angle to 0.00.
Regenerate the feature. The model should appear as it did earlier in this tutorial.
2 Edit the feature. In the Fast Edit group, set the Base Height to 1.00.
3 Click OK, and Regenerate the model.
4 Edit the feature. In the Fast Edit group, set the X-Y Scale to 0.500, and set the Z Scale to 1.500.
These settings cause the defined cross section to be 50 percent of the size in the X- and Y-axes and 150 percent of the size in the Z-axis.
5 Regenerate the feature to show the results.
IMPORTANT: When using the X-Y Scale and Z Scale parameters, only the Cross Section is scaled. The scaling does not affect the Base Height or the feature geometry.
In addition to using the standard cross-section types that are available in the Emboss dialog box, you can also define a custom cross section using geometry that you create in the Workspace.
To learn more, view How to Use a Custom Cross Section.
This concludes the tutorial.