6/29/2019 3D PDF Enhancements in SOLIDWORKS MBD 2016 - Engineers Rule

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3D PDF Enhancements in SOLIDWORKS MBD

2016
Oboe Wu (https://www.engineersrule.com/author/oboe-wu/) • August 24, 2016

(https://www.engineersrule.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/image003-6.png)

In a previous article (http://www.engineersrule.com/pmi-enhancements-solidworks-

mbd-2016/), we shared three long-awaited enhancements in SOLIDWORKS MBD 2016
regarding product and manufacturing information (PMI). In this post, let’s continue
exploring some practical 3D PDF enhancements in the 2016 release.

Multiple Viewports in One 3D PDF Document

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A 3D PDF is a great tool to present rich design information. All we need is a free Adobe
How to Manage Views in a 3D PDF
Reader (https://get.adobe.com/reader/). In the 3D content viewport of a PDF
(https://www.engineersrule.com/manage-views-3d-pdf/)

document, we can pan, zoom and rotate a model in a similar way as in a CAD
https://www.engineersrule.com/3d-pdf-enhancements-solidworks-mbd-2016/ 1/9
6/29/2019 3D PDF Enhancements in SOLIDWORKS MBD 2016 - Engineers Rule

application.

However, one viewport isn’t enough in many cases. For example, we may want to
present multiple perspectives of a product all together as an overview or arrange
several viewports of different con gurations side by side for easier comparison. And
as I stated in an earlier article (http://www.engineersrule.com/common-mistakes-mbd-
cultural-shift-avoid/), model-based de nition (MBD) doesn’t mean paperless. In the
actual production, we oftentimes need to print out digital documents as hard copies.
Similar to printing a regular drawing, we want to be able to hit the Print button in Adobe
Reader and have all the necessary views come out in a professional fashion, including
orthogonal views, detailed views, exploded views, cross-sections and so on.

From the perspective of MBD implementation, 3D PDF documents may need to be

reviewed and approved by many internal or external key stakeholders. Some of them
may still prefer the look and feel of 2D drawings. Therefore, if 3D PDF view
arrangements closely resemble what was on 2D drawings, it will require fewer
examinations, speed up the review and approval process and hence make the
transition to MBD easier.

Now, using SOLIDWORKS MBD 2016, we can insert as many projected viewports or
independent viewports as needed in the template editor and publish them as a 3D PDF
(see Figure 1).

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Figure 1. Projected viewports and independent

How to Manage viewports in the template editor and 3D
Views in a 3D PDF
(https://www.engineersrule.com/manage-views-3d-pdf/)
PDF.

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6/29/2019 3D PDF Enhancements in SOLIDWORKS MBD 2016 - Engineers Rule

Project viewports are associated with the primary viewport. Upon any model rotation
in the primary viewport, the projected views will rotate automatically according to
prede ned perspectives, such as back, top and so on, relative to the primary viewport.
The intention here is to imitate the 2D drawing of automatic orthogonal projections.

An independent viewport is more exible because it can be populated with any

prede ned views independently of other viewports. More importantly, these view
selections can be remembered and saved into the 3D PDF document using Adobe
Reader. This means that in one document session, we can assign a group of views to
a group of independent viewports. These assignments are maintained as we scroll up
and down the pages or interact with the 3D content so that we don’t have to make the
selections repeatedly. In addition, even if this document is closed or the Adobe Reader
application is ended, we can still reopen this 3D PDF and have all the viewport
assignments preserved if we have saved this document using Adobe Reader. That’s
right. We only need the free Adobe Reader to save the viewport assignments.

The bene t of saving view assignments in Adobe Reader is that the consumers of 3D
PDF documents can adjust which view should be displayed on which page according
to their job requirements. For example, the manufacturing team may want detailed
views with key tolerances on the rst page so that a shop oor planner can quickly
decide whether a part should be manufactured in house or has to be outsourced. The
assembly team may care more about an overview, exploded states and detailed views
on the interfaces so they can choose to give these views higher priorities.

By the way, an independent viewport can not only display models, but can also host 3D
views of notes or tables as shown in Figure 2. There is no limit to the number of 3D
views or independent viewports in a 3D PDF. You can learn more MBD implementation
experiences in Casey Gorman’s presentation from SOLIDWORKS World 2016, “Oh! The
Trauma of MBD: What Will Happen to My 2D?
(https://solidworksworld.lanyonevents.com/2016/connect/search.ww#loadSearch-
searchPhrase=casey+gorman&searchType=session&tc=0&sortBy=titleSort&p=)”

I personally like independent viewports better because

Recommended Content they’re exible and can cover
the use cases of projected viewports.
How to Manage Views in a 3D PDF
(https://www.engineersrule.com/manage-views-3d-pdf/)

https://www.engineersrule.com/3d-pdf-enhancements-solidworks-mbd-2016/ 3/9
6/29/2019 3D PDF Enhancements in SOLIDWORKS MBD 2016 - Engineers Rule

Figure 2. An independent view to show a 3D view of notes. (Image courtesy of Casey

Gorman and Sparton (http://sparton.com/).)

Multiple Sheets in One 3D PDF Document

Once multiple viewports are in place, the next natural question is how to t them into
one document. Furthermore, besides viewports, there are many other types of content
such as the 3D view panel, notes, custom properties, images and tables. A long bill of
material (BOM) table, a detailed note or regulatory statements themselves may take
up an entire page. Also, in the context of hard copies, some companies require that all
the texts and tables must be visible in their entirety. Unlike digital les, printouts don’t
allow a scroll bar in a text eld or a table list scrolling up and down to hide and show
information. Therefore, the extensive content in a 3D PDF document requires multiple
sheets. This enhancement has been implemented in the MBD 2016 release.

Adding a new sheet is very simple. Just click on the + sign at the bottom of the
template editor and the end of all tabs as shown in Figure 3. We can add as many as
we need. Each and every sheet canRecommended
hold its own independent viewports, tables, notes
Content
and images. Deleting a sheet is simple. Just click on the red X sign next to a tab name.
How to Manage Views in a 3D PDF
(https://www.engineersrule.com/manage-views-3d-pdf/)

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6/29/2019 3D PDF Enhancements in SOLIDWORKS MBD 2016 - Engineers Rule

Figure 3. Multiples sheets in the 3D PDF template editor and a published 3D PDF.

The support of multiple sheets in MBD 2016 can greatly ease the transition from 2D
drawings to MBD. It enables richer content in one document, better content
organization and printer-friendly layouts.

Here is a video blog post (http://blogs.solidworks.com/tech/2016/07/3d-pdf-with-

solidworks-mbd.html) sharing more details on the editing and publishing of 3D PDF
templates. To get a rst-hand feel, you can also download some free 3D PDF samples
(https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/109571) at the SOLIDWORKS MBD forum.
Adobe Reader (https://get.adobe.com/reader/) is recommended to open these
documents because other applications such as the Google Chrome browser may
remove the 3D content inside. Also, in the Adobe Reader application, you may need to
enable the 3D content, as explained in this Adobe Help article
(https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/enable-3d-content-pdf.html).

To recap, we looked into two handy 3D PDF enhancements in the SOLIDWORKS MBD
2016 release: multiple viewports and multiple sheets. To learn more about how the
software can help you with your MBD implementation, please visit the SOLIDWORKS
MBD product page (http://www.solidworks.com/sw/products/technical-
communication/solidworks-mbd.htm).
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How to Manage Views in a 3D PDF

About the Author (https://www.engineersrule.com/manage-views-3d-pdf/)

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6/29/2019 3D PDF Enhancements in SOLIDWORKS MBD 2016 - Engineers Rule

Oboe Wu is a SOLIDWORKS MBD product manager with 20

years of experience in engineering and software. He is an
advocate of model-based enterprise (MBE) and smart
manufacturing.  

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