SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [83]
Be aware that the small, square image shown for each scene in the Task Pane is a rendering of the scene and does not reflect how the scene will look in the graphics window. For most of this book, I have used the Plain White scene, but my screenshots do not look at all like the preview image.
Floors and environments may only appear when you do a rendering. If you want to remove shadows from the modeling window while you work, use the View Settings icon in the Heads Up View toolbar to do this. This is shown in Figure 5.28.
FIGURE 5.28
Turning off shadows in the modeling window
When you are using Shadows in shaded mode you can take advantage of a special scene called Ambient Occlusion. With this combination, the SolidWorks model can throw shadows on itself, and holes in the model will appear in shadow. It gives some of the effect of a rendering, but it is just the RealView display.
Ambient Occlusion has some limitations, such as it does not show shadows on the part while rotating, only when you stop rotating the view. It also only works when in shaded mode (with or without edges), and when the Shadows in shaded mode option is turned on in the View ⇒Display menu.
Figure 5.29 shows a part using Ambient Occlusion, along with the studio scenes folder showing that scene.
FIGURE 5.29
Ambient Occlusion scene gives more realistic shadows without rendering
If you want to turn off reflections on the floor while modeling, you can apply a Basic scene or turn off the reflective floor in the Scene PropertyManager, as shown in Figure 5.30. From here you can also perform other common tasks such as aligning the floor with a different plane, offsetting the floor, and adjusting the brightness of the scene.
FIGURE 5.30
The Scene PropertyManager allows you to turn off the reflective floor while modeling.
To apply a scene to a document, you can use the Appearances, Scenes, and Decals tab of the Task Pane, expand the Scenes heading, choose from Basic, Studio, or Presentation scenes, and double-click or drag the scene into the graphics area. The differences between Basic, Studio, and Presentation scenes are as follows:
• Basic scenes use only a background color.
• Studio scenes use a gradient background.
• Presentation scenes use an HDRI image, so that the image rotates with the part as you rotate the view.
In a recent version, SolidWorks made scenes a document property, so they are now controlled by each individual document, and made that the default option. You can override the default with a system option, Tools⇒Options⇒Colors, and change the Background Appearance setting to anything except the first option: Plain, Gradient, or Image.
Turning on the lights
Lights for the model display in the graphics window are slightly different from the lights for rendering. A certain amount of overlap between OpenGL graphics (normal display) and PhotoView 360 exists. The main difference is that the environment (spherical HDRI image) does not affect the lighting in the model. It does reflect on the model, but does not illuminate it. The lighting in a rendering is predominantly from the environment. You can observe this by editing the scene, going to the Advanced tab, and using the Environment Rotation slider to see what happens. The bright and dark faces do not change, but the reflections do change.
You can add separate lights by right-clicking on the Lights folder in the DisplayManager and selecting one of the new light options shown in Figure 5.31.
FIGURE 5.31
Adding lights to the scene
The light appears as an icon in 3D space, which you can drag around. You can also use the PropertyManager for editing the light to key in a specific XYZ location for the light source or direction.
Tip
To use a combination of rotating the view and moving the light icon in 3D space, you can use the Lock To Model option so that the light moves with the model when you rotate the model.
The symbols shown in Figure 5.30 to the left of the Directional 17 and Directional 18 lights