My solid/surface model is very sluggish when dynamically rotating the view

Technote 231
Date: August 2007
Product: All SmartCAM Applications
Version: v14 and up

Problem:
Using dynamic view rotation on a solid/surface model is very sluggish and slow to respond.

Background:
The SmartCAM OGL allows dynamic shaded rendering of your solid and surface models. This also includes different settings that can be affected by the model size or scale. The setting that is most likely to affect model viewing in this manner is the facet tolerance.

Solution:
Open Utility - Display Modes. Found here is the Facet Tolerance setting. The best setting for this item is dependant on the size of your model. The larger the number the more responsive the viewing becomes, but also the model display becomes more coarse. Find a balance that works best for you.

You can save a default setting for this tolerance. If you consistently work on small models a small setting would be best. If your models are large, a larger setting would better suite your needs. Find a setting that works best for the majority of your models and use File - Keep Defaults (before you close the Display Modes dialog).

If you are displaying thickness, consider turning this off when not needed. This is also found on the Display Modes dialog.

Consider hiding elements, especially surface elements, that are not needed for the current task. See Technical Bulletin 218 for a description of the difference between Hide and Mask and how to quickly use Hide functionality.