Creating Exploded Views in OSD/Annotation

Introduction

To create an exploded view you use the “Formations” functionality in SolidDesigner and the “Explode” functionality in Annotation. These two tools are “goodies” and therefore is not supported by CoCreate. We have found Formations to be buggy so proceed with caution. Formations are simply a method of displaying the location of parts that is different from the actual location. Once you have created one or more Formations in SolidDesigner, then you can use them to place Exploded views on your Annotation drawing.

Procedure for creating exploded views:

1. Load the assembly that you want to use to create your exploded view.

2. Select Toolbox / Formations from the Tools menu. You can also use the Toolbox icon in the Standard toolbar.

OR

3. In the Formations dialog, adjust the following settings:

• Attachment - to Instance
• Owner - to be the assembly of the exploded view, I am going to use /act_assy for this example.
• Formation – defaults to Standard, the unexploded parts positions

4. Next select “New” to create a new formation. When the New Formation window appears make sure that the owner is set to the assembly that you want to create the exploded view of. The name for the Formation will default to “Explode”. Click the green arrow (OK). This creates a new formation called “Explode.” Later if desired you can create as many different formations as you like, called whatever you like. The default will be “Explode1” “Explode2” etc.

5. Next re-position the various parts of the assembly, as you would like to have them displayed on the exploded view in the drawing. For example, currently the “Explode” formation is showing in the Formations dialog. Use the standard Part & Assy / Position command to move the parts around. The positions of the parts will be saved to the Formation named “Explode.”

6. When you are satisfied with the exploded positions of your parts, click the Accept button. You may do this repeatedly as you go to save your changes back to the assembly. Note: Accept does NOT save the changes to the hard drive or to WorkManger, it only writes the changes back to the Assembly itself. Hit green check box (Okay) button to actually accept the changes to the formation.

7. Close the Formations dialog before proceeding!! It is imperative that you close the Formations dialog before moving on to the next step. Your assembly should SNAP back to the Standard position automatically when you close the Formations dialog.

8. Next switch to Annotation and select Toolbox / Explode from the Tools menu or Explode from the Toolbox icon.

OR

9. When the Exploded View menu appears select “Create”.

10. Identify the Formation that you want to use for your exploded view, typically “Explode.”

11. Next specify the direction as you would a general view and then select “Explode” from the Formations window. Typically you will dynamically position the 3D view and use VP Dir to capture an isometric or pictorial direction.

12. Click the green arrow (OK) and then locate your exploded view on the drawing. Update as usual.

This page originally drafted by Doug Fritz. Updated by James Osborn, 10/20/2004.