Graphic Display

RISA-2D's robust graphics make building and understanding your model much easier. You may have numerous independent views open and active at the same time. Fast redraw times, responsive panning, true to scale rendering, animation capabilities, and graphic editing tools all help you build and understand your model. You may draw the model and specify loads and boundary conditions graphically. These items may be modified graphically as well. Verification of your model is made simple with true-to-scale rendering and color coded code checks. Results such as member force diagrams, color-coded stress levels, deflected shapes, and animations may also be viewed for solved models.

Multiple Windows

You may have multiple views of the model open at the same time, each with it’s own characteristics. For example you can simultaneously view and work with members in one window and plates in another. You can have multiple spreadsheets open as well.

To Open a New View or Clone an Existing View

To open a new view of the model click the New View button. Alternately, you can open a new view that is an exact replica of the current view by clicking the Clone View button.

Note

With the model view active you may then use the Window Toolbar to adjust the view of the model.

Controlling the Model View

The two main tools to help you manipulate the views of the model are the Window Toolbar and the Model Display Options.

The Window Toolbar, discussed in this section, is the second toolbar from the top when a model view is active. You may use these buttons to rotate the model, zoom in and out, render the model, and display common items such as joint labels, boundary conditions, and loads.

The Model Display Options Dialog (See Model Display Options for more information) is opened by the first toolbar button and provides various options not otherwise available on the toolbar. It allows you to specify how to plot joints, members, plates, and loads and the information that is to accompany them. The tabs across the top of the dialog break things up into basic elements to help you find the options.

The Snapshot tool is a great way to add images of model views and detail reports in your report printing. See Printing for more information.

Adjusting the Viewpoint

The remaining buttons on the Window Toolbar help you change the viewpoint by rotating, snapping, and zooming the view. You may use the scroll bars and the mouse wheel (if you have one) to pan the view.

To Rotate a View

When holding down the Shift key, the mouse wheel button can be used to dynamically rotate the structure. See Application Interface - Dynamic Controls for more information.
To rotate a view of the model about a global axis, click any of the Rotate buttons on the Window Toolbar:
To snap to an isometric or planar view of the model click any of the Snap buttons on the Window Toolbar:

Note

As you rotate the view, the global X-Y-Z axis orientation is shown in the view.

To Zoom In and Out

Use the wheel button on the mouse to dynamically zoom in or out the model view. Rotating the wheel forward zooms in and rotating the wheel backward zooms out.
To zoom in towards the center of the model view click the Zoom In button or press the + key.
To zoom out from the center of the model view click the Zoom Out button or press the - key.
To zoom in on a specific area of the model view click the Zoom Box button and then draw a box around the zoom area by clicking and dragging with the left mouse button.
To snap the model to a full model view click the Full Model View button.
The Function Keys, F3 and F4, are for the Zoom Previous and Zoom Next functions respectively. The system holds a total of 10 zoom-states. The F3 or F4 keystroke moves the active pointer forward or backward on the list of zoom states. If multiple model views are present, each window will have its own zoom list.

To Pan the View

Clicking and holding the mouse wheel button triggers a dynamic pan and allows the user to drag the current model view to the limits of scroll bars.
If you do not have a mouse wheel you may drag the scroll bars and click the arrows to pan the view.

Enabling Graphic Editing

The Graphic Editing Toolbar or Drawing Toolbar may be turned on to graphically edit the model at any time and it may be turned off to provide a larger view. See Graphic Editing for more information.

To Toggle the Graphic Editing Toolbar

To toggle the graphic editing toolbar on or off, click the button on the Window Toolbar.

Saving Views

Click the button to save and recall views. If you have a view that you like to work with or have created a view that took some time to set up, save it with this feature. All of the Model Display Options are saved with the model for later recall. See Saving and Retrieving Model Views for more information.

Cloning Views

You can clone a view. This allows you to preserve the original view and modify the clone. This is useful in achieving two views that have similarities in some way.

To Clone the Model View

Click the Clone View button on the Window Toolbar.

Displaying Loads

Use these buttons to control the display of loads. You may display one basic load case or an entire load category or load combination. The first button turns the display of loads on and off in the current view. The pull down list controls which load case, category or combination is shown in the view. Click the last button to choose between plotting load cases, load categories or load combinations. More control over the display of loads is provided in the Model Display Options Dialog discussed in the next section.

Toggle Buttons

The last buttons on the Window Toolbar are toggles that plot information in the current view.

Click to toggle model rendering. See Model Display Options for more information on rendering.

Click to toggle the joint labels.

Click to toggle the member labels on and off. If rendering is on, member labels will not be visible.

Click to toggle display of member color basis.

Click to toggle display of deflected shape.

Click to toggle the I-J end flags.

Click to toggle display of member results.

Click to toggle the boundaries.

Click to toggle the global axes orientation on and off in the view.

Click to use the distance tool.

Click to toggle display of reactions and moments.

Depth Effect

Right click in the model view and click Depth Effect on the Shortcut Menu to access the depth effect options. Depth effect is used to increase or decrease the "depth" effect of the plot. Increasing the depth effect causes points farther away from the screen to converge towards a vanishing point, giving the image a more realistic three-dimensional appearance. Removing the depth effect causes the vanishing point to become infinity (no vanishing point). The button resets the view to have no depth effect.

Viewing Part of the Model

You may want to view only part of your model, especially if it is a big one. You may use the selection tools to give you the view that you want. You can graphically unselect parts of the model that you don't wish to see, or you can use a range of coordinates or other criteria to specify what to view. See Graphic Selection for more information.

Saving and Retrieving Model Views

You can save and recall views for a model. Saved views are model dependent so any views you save will stay with the model. A saved view includes information such as the current view angle, zoom state, pan location, plot option settings, etc. Saved views do NOT include the selection state for the model. You can save selection states separately. See Saving Selections for more information.

To Save the Model View

Click the Save View button on the Window Toolbar.
Click the Save button and enter a name and then click OK.

To Retrieve a Saved Model View

Click the Save View button on the Window Toolbar.
From the drop down list, choose the view you wish to recall and then click the Retrieve button.

To Delete a Saved Model View

Click the Save View button on the Window Toolbar.
From the drop down list, choose the view you wish to delete and then click the Delete button.