Graphics Window Control

The graphics display windows present a graphical representation of the geometry and/or the mesh. The quality and speed of rendering the graphics, the visibility, location and orientation of objects in the window, and the labeling of entities, among other things, can all be controlled by the user.

Unless the -nographics option was entered on the command line, a graphics window with a black background and an axis triad will appear when CUBIT is first launched. The geometry and mesh will appear in this window, and can be viewed from various camera positions and drawn in various modes (wire frame, hidden line, smooth shade, etc.). This section will discuss methods for manipulating the graphics with the mouse and for controlling the appearance of entities drawn in the graphics window.

Graphics in CUBIT operates on the principle of a "display list", which keeps track of various entities known to the graphics. All geometry and mesh objects created in CUBIT are put into the display list automatically. The visibility and various other attributes of entities in the display list can be controlled individually. In addition, CUBIT can also optionally display entities in a temporary mode, independent of their visibility in the display list. Drawing of items in temporary mode can be combined with the display list to customize the appearance. The overall display is controlled by various attributes like graphics mode, camera position, and lighting, to further enhance the graphics functionality.

The following items discuss the various graphics capabilities available in CUBIT:

• Command Line View Navigation: Rotate Zoom and Pan
• Mouse Based View Navigation: Rotate Zoom and Pan
• Updating the Display
• Graphics Modes
• Drawing and Highlighting Entities
• Drawing Locations, Lines and Polygons
• Mesh Visualization
• Graphics Clipping Plane
• Entity Labels
• Colors
• Geometry and Mesh Entity Visibility
• Graphics Camera
• Graphics Lighting Model
• Graphics Window Size and Position
• Saving Graphics Views
• Hardcopy Output
• Miscellaneous Graphics Options