Usage

Solid model

Show or hide the current body’s solid model by clicking on the cube next to it in the workspace browser in the left side of the window. Right-clicking on a body row in the workspace browser opens a context menu for renaming the body or changing its solid model color.

Use clipping planes to hide parts of the solid model.

Where to find things

All tools and actions are available from the spacebar menu. Open it by by pressing Space anywhere in the 3D viewport.

Tools and actions specific to the selection are also available from the context menu that can be invoked by the right mouse button.

For some tools and actions, there are predefined keyboard shortcuts that are listed in the spacebar menu. All keyboard shortcuts can be customized in the preferences window.

Tools

After having started a tool, it receives all keyboard and mouse input, until the tool is finished or you end it by pressing Esc. Look at the bar that appeared at the bottom of the viewport to see what pressing keys will do in this particular tool.

Points

Points are rendered as different icons depending on their type:

■ Square:

End points of lines, arcs, and bezier curves

◆ Diamond:

Origins of workplanes, STEP models, document entities, clusters and texts

▼ Down-pointing triangle:

Anchors of STEP models, clusters and texts

● Circle:

Bezier control points

✖ Cross:

Centers of circles and arcs

Selection

The selection in Dune 3D has two distinct modes. In hover select mode, the item under the cursor is selected automatically and can be used in tools. So you only need to hover over an item before deleting it by pressing Del.

Clicking on an item switches to click select mode. In click select mode, the current selection is retained until it’s explicitly modified. Clicking on an item adds or removes it from the current selection.

Clicking on an item multiple times brings up the selection menu to accurately select overlapping items. This menu can be invoked directly by holding down Shift when clicking on an item.

Pressing Esc clears the current selection and returns to hover select mode.

The current selection mode is shown in the bottom left corner of the window.

Hovering over a constraint highlights the constrained entities.

Groups

Click on a group in the workspace browser on the left side of the window to make it the current group. The current group is shown in boldface. All groups after the current group are hidden automatically. Individual groups and bodies before the current group can be hidden by clicking on the checkbox. The number at the right side indicates the degrees of freedom for the group.

You can also switch groups with the PgUp/PgDn keys or the back/forward buttons on your mouse.

See Groups and bodies for more details on them.

Workplanes

The current group’s workplane is shown in the status bar. Clear the checkbox to temporarily turn off the group’s workplane for constraining in 3D. The active workplane is rendered with a double border.

Multiple documents

From version 1.2 onward, multiple documents can be opened in one window simultaneously, though just one document can be active at a time. The active document is shown in boldface in the workspace browser. Only the active document can be interacted with. To switch the active document, select one of its groups in the workspace browser or double-click on one of its entities. Workplanes from inactive documents are hidden to reduce clutter.

This feature closely interacts with Document entities. Linking another document as an entity also opens it in the current window. Changes to the document are automatically reflected in all of its instances (document entities).