Amapi 3D

10 How Do You Work with Amapi 3D?

The user will usually go through the following steps to create an object or an entire scene:

1. Build construction lines, surfaces or volumes (using construction lines), or possibly text.
2. Model those lines, surfaces or volumes using the deformation, cutting or smoothing tools.
3. Assemble the parts using the move, scale, rotate, duplicate or group tools.

Once a model is created, a user can:

4. Print it,
5. Save it,
6. Export it to another application.

Before going any further into the Amapi 3D methodology, it is very important for you to keep in mind the following information which is applicable to any tool and any modeling step.

In numerous tools, the user can position a point or a group of points through:
q Successive mouse clicks.
q Entering numerical coordinates for the selected point or group of points.
q Combining mouse clicks and keyboard entries.

The Data Window displays data about objects or actions and allows you to edit the data directly by entering numerical values through the keyboard (points coordinates, dimensions, angles…).

Amapi 3D lets you work in either absolute or relative mode. (See chapter User Manual/Edit/Preferences/Units.)
q In Absolute mode, the position of a point is specified relative to the origin. The origin can be user-defined. By default, it is set at the center of the table.
q In Relative mode, the coordinate of a current point is relative to the last point entered.

Tools can be applied to all or part of an object. The user can apply a tool to a subset of the points defining an object.

The user can define, at any time, the level of precision (number of points of a curve, axis step size, fine tuning of the values entered using mouse clicks, etc.) and set motion constraints.

The user can, of course, check, at any time, the dimensions of his models so as to make any necessary corrections.

The user can change the point of view at any time and continue his work on a different plane.

Let us now go a bit deeper in this methodology. This will not be an in-depth presentation of all the tools; for that, see the chapter User Manual/Tools.