Procedural and Wireframe Rules

[ndcadadmin]

Source:
Dr. Richard Lowrey, Mechanical Engineering Consultant
Don LaCourse, Principal Partner, eDocHelp Publications

These rules are primarily for efficiency and data integrity when working with the wireframe data for large, high precision solid models. Briefly, they are:

1. Create wireframe geometry first. Often, certain geometry can be copied, offset, etc., to produce adjacent geometry. Great caution and forethought should be used, as the accuracy of all geometry is already set at this stage.
2. Perform all operations for a single construction (model sub-division). Preview the construction by solid shading the shape surfaces. This may reveal errors and inconsistencies early.
3. Boolean or intersect shapes to create the first construction.
4. If the result is not correct, is inconsistent or otherwise faulty in any way, always undo the operations and start again! DO NOT PROCEED WITH A SECONDARY "FIT-IT" CONSTRUCTION! Doing so may lead to problem geometry later on either for you or for down-stream operations that must work with your geometry. Geometry integrity should over-ride all other concerns, even time constraints!
5. Make the display of previous constructions invisible so that graphics redisplay time is not increased.
6. Proceed to the next construction.
7. Reset all viewing controls while the object is not shaded. Shading of complex solids is time consuming. Unnecessary re-shading should be avoided.