View Appearance dialog

Click File > Options > Customise Colours to display the View Appearance dialog.

Use this dialog to set the background of the modelling window and the environment that is reflected in a shaded model.

Background

These options set the background of the modelling window. You can set the background to:

• Graduated — Gradually change the background from one colour to another. Select this option and then select the top and bottom colours using the two drop-down colour selectors.

  Top Colour — The colour displayed at the top of the graduated background.

  Bottom Colour — The colour displayed at the bottom of the graduated background.

• Solid — A single colour is used for the background. Select this option and then select the colour from the drop-down list.
• Image — Displays the Image Selector dialog. Use this dialog to select a background image.

  When you have selected an image, click OK. The Background Image Properties dialog is displayed. This contains the controls to fit the image on the screen.

  The selected image and the Properties button appear on the View Appearance dialog. Click the Properties button to display the Background Image Properties dialog.

  The default background ensures that model objects do not merge into the background. The background options are not intended for normal modelling use, but:

  • to allow colour shaded images to be generated with good colour contrast to the shading colour.
  • to add a background image for tracing.

Note: When you choose different colours, objects of the same colour as the background become invisible.

Reflected Environment

These options set an environment which is reflected in the shaded model. The following options are available:

• None — No reflected environment is set.
• Solid — A solid colour is used. Select this option and then select a solid colour.
• Image — An image is used as the reflected environment. Select this option to display the Image Selector dialog where you can select an image.

  When an image is selected, it is reflected in shiny materials in the shaded model. Shiny materials are those which show reflections in the Material Selection dialog, and include Metal, Cast Metal, Mirror (in Coated Metal), Glass and Metal25.

  The amount by which a material reflects the environment is controlled by its polish. A value of 15 gives a small amount of reflection, and 50 gives a mirror-like material.

Use defaults next session — By default, PowerShape uses the appearance settings specified on the Properties page of the Options dialog. Deselect this option to use the settings specified on the View Appearance dialog instead. Alternatively, change the default colour scheme using the Properties page of the Options dialog.

Set as Defaults — Set the current view appearance for the rest of the session. The settings are also stored in the registry so that they will be used in the next session.

OK — Saves your changes and closes the dialog.

Cancel — Closes the dialog without saving any changes.

Note: To cancel all your view appearance settings, choose the default colour scheme from the Properties page of the Options dialog.