What is Solid Modeling?
 
Solid Modeling is the fastest and easiest way of creating 3D drawings on a computer.  You can join simply shaped objects (union), difference them, or intersect them with Boolean commands to easily build up more complex shapes. You can model whole series of objects within one drawing to create complex assemblies.

 

How does that help you make drawings?
 
Your SilverScreen 3D assembly model is used to automatically produce dimensioned and annotated 2D drawings, from different viewpoints, representing the complete machine, building or scene, both as a whole, as individual parts, or as sections. You can add text notes, dimensions and a pre-drawn border to complete your drawing.  This is generally much faster than drawing each view separately.

 

Why use 3D?
 
Apart from the classic use of 3D in the CADCAM field, every 3D user says the same things:

"We can generate concepts quickly and accurately, and communicate ideas better. This saves time and money."

If you are building machines, tools, structures, or even cupboards, 3D design will often enable you to do a better job faster. Potential customers love 3D: 

"It really helps me sell the product / machine / building ..!"

Every SilverScreen user will tell you -"it’s a great selling tool!"

There are other good reasons too:

You can construct a model in 3D just once. Then every view of this model can be inserted into a 2D drawing. This is much faster than drawing each view separately.

In order to make 2D drawings more understandable, one can make multiple cross-sections of the 3D drawing.

SilverScreen knows the volume, dimensions, surface area and centre of mass, of each object in the drawing, eradicating the need to calculate them separately.  So you can easily work out the number of bricks, the center of gravity, or the amount of paint needed.

 

Isn’t Solid Modeling complicated?
 
Over the years, Solid Modeling has been presented by some CAD companies as a mysterious technology, in which inaccessible terms such as ‘constraints’, ‘parametric kernels’ and ‘dimension driven design’ have featured heavily.  While these complicated features are useful to engineering companies who have families of parts, they are irrelevant to the average potential 3D user.

SilverScreen is particularly easy to use, and within one piece of software has all the features you need to make 3D models and 2D drawings.  It is no accident that the British Open University uses an early version of SilverScreen to teach 3D CAD in its distance learning courses.  After a long evaluation process, the OU chose SilverScreen, because it had all the right powerful features, coupled with unique simplicity.  For the same reasons, Penn State University chose SilverScreen for its engineering students.

 

How do you work in 3D?
 
Usually by drawing a 2D shape and then sweeping it through space to form a solid object. Shapes can be swept to make blocks, swept around to make cylindrical objects, or swept along paths to make spirals etc. You can also make simple shapes like blocks, cylinders, pyramids and cones directly.

These shapes are then joined or subtracted to make more complicated shapes. Edges can be rounded or chamfered. Once you have made one object, you can then start to make adjacent objects. We have SilverScreen drawings with up to 5,000 parts in them. SilverScreen is so fast that it can handle huge 3D assembly drawings.

 

What about things I use regularly?
 
You will never need to draw anything twice. 2D or 3D, you can store them in a library, and bring them back into your drawing. You can even insert drawings into other drawings. If you update a symbol that is stored in a library, if you want, it will update all the drawings you have put it into.

 

Does SilverScreen support NURBs?
 
No. SilverScreen is a faceted solid modeler. This means that all of the SilverScreen solids are composed of polygons. The outer surface of a cylinder, for example, consists of many polygons. When the surface of a cylinder is rendered, SilverScreen uses a special technique to make this surface appear smooth. You will see many examples of polygon surfaces that appear smooth in the Features section.

 

Can SilverScreen dimension things?
 
SilverScreen has very comprehensive 2D and 3D dimensioning, including ANSI Y14.5 dimensioning, that is easy to apply in just the style you want. As well as linear and angular dimensions, you can do stack and datum dimensioning with full control of tolerances and notes.

 

Can I cut and paste?

SilverScreen enables you to open many drawings simultaneously and copy parts on the screen, between drawings. You won’t find many CAD systems that do that!

 

Can I exchange drawings with AutoCAD and other CAD systems?
 
SilverScreen has DXF and IGES interfaces to import from and export to almost any other CAD package. The is an STL interface to Rapid Prototyping Systems too (Have a look at JP System 5, our unique low cost Rapid Prototyping System based on SilverScreen).

 

How many layers are there?
 
Layers?  Most reputable CAD systems are changing to the more sophisticated "object-based" structure that SilverScreen already has.  In SilverScreen all items are named objects, that exist within a "real world" type data structure of assemblies and objects. This structure makes it easy to list out parts, and identify where those parts fit. You can also isolate groups of objects that have the same function (draw an automobile, and see just the braking system), or isolate an assembly (the engine, the gearbox etc).

 

Can I get the printed output that I need?
  
You have full control of line widths colours and styles. There are TrueType and vector fonts for making neat text notes. You can make your own hatch (fill) styles. You can print wire-frame views, hidden-line views, shaded views and shaded views with lights, shadows, patterns and textures applied.  So, output can be in the form of a view made up of lines, or an image.  You can even export screen shots.  Links to word processors and Desk Top Publishing are easy.

 

It has a lot of features.  How long does it take to learn?

SilverScreen has hundreds of commands, but the important thing is that it is very easy to use and very well documented with comprehensive manuals and tutorials. There is extensive on-line context sensitive help too. To get started, just take an afternoon to work through the tutorial. Concepts are simple and logical, to get what you want is always very easy, so progress will be fast compared with other CAD systems.

 

What are the best applications for SilverScreen?

Designing buildings, site layouts, landscapes, wooden or metal structures (decks, stairs etc) and furniture. Specialist joinery, packaging, welded fabrications, machinery layout, product design, sheet metal fabrications. You can easily work with parametric objects using SilverScreen's integrated Silverc language and compiler to automate the design process.

 

Will it replace my existing 2D CAD system?
 
SilverScreen works well alongside existing 2D CAD systems. AutoCAD Lt users will appreciate the simplicity of SilverScreen compared to AutoCAD Release 14’s complex 3D workplane system. And for a fraction of the cost, you are up and running in 3D!

 

Return