Adobe Solutions for Manufacturing

There is a 3D markup creation tool in 3D Reviewer that sometimes can be quite useful and complementary to the 3D commenting tool available in Acrobat. In this article we will guide you through the basic steps to create and edit 3D markups then publish them to PDF.

Start by opening a new model in 3D Reviewer, and create a new configuration of your choice. We will use this configuration to save the 3D markups we are about to create.

Next, select the 3D Markup tool from the menu by going to 'Tools>3D Markup'.

A new dialog box will open up like the one below. Type in the text of your markup in the upper box, then click on the part of your choice in the viewport, where you want to attach this 3D Markup, and finally move the mouse where you would like to place the 3D markup and click in the background. Closing the dialog box will save the 3D markup to the current active configuration.

First, you will notice that the 3D markup stays persistent as you rotate your model and will always display parallel to the screen. Second, if you click on the 'Initial configuration', then click again on the 'New configuration', you will notice that the 3D markup has been saved only to the 'New configuration". Finally, note that you can access these markups directly from the model tree under the Annotations>Mark-up node.

If you need to edit the markup, you can do so by clicking on the markup in the viewport or in the model tree, then right-click and select Edit to change the text or Edit Markup Font to change its appearance. You also have the option to select Move, if you would like to change the placement of the markup.

There are a few additional things we would like to teach you now, that are not available using the 3D Comment tool in Acrobat. For instance, you can add multiple anchor points to a 3D markup and you can also create multi-segments leader lines in order to better control the placement of the markup. Here are the steps to follow for trying out these two options:

1. Click on the 3D Markup icon to open the 3D Markup dialog box
2. Type in the text of your markup in the upper box
3. Click on a part to attach the markup to the desired anchor point
4. Move the mouse to the location where you want to place the markup
5. Click in the background to place the markup
6. (the 3D Markup dialog box should remain open)
7. Right-Click in the background to access the context menu options
8. Select Add Geometry, then click on another part of your model to place the second anchor point
9. Right-Click again to access the context menu options
10. Select Add Bend Point, then click in the background to place the first segment of the leader line
11. Select Add Bend Point again, then click in the background to place the second segment of the leader line
12. Finally, click on another part of your model to place the third anchor point

When you are done creating multiple configurations with different sets of 3D markups in each one of them, you can publish the result to PDF by simply choosing File>Export and setting 'Save as type' to 'PDF Files (.pdf)'.

If you would like to see it in action, please click on the image below to check out the video:

One great use of this 3D markup tool in 3D Reviewer is for creating work instructions or operation steps for job orders performed on a workshop floor for assembling or repairing a product. Each configuration can constitute one operation step where specific parts are visible and 3D markups are attached to selected parts with a particular instruction describing the course of actions to complete the step.

Pierre Tager, Acrobat Product Manager

Posted by Pierre Tager at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is very easy to create custom views in 3D Reviewer using the 'Add Configuration' tool and publish them to PDF. The creation of views in 3D Reviewer offers more advanced features than what is available in Acrobat such as creating exploded views for instance. We will discuss in this article a few tips to remember when using the 'Add Configuration' tool and share with you a quick video showing the creation of different types of views and how to publish the result in PDF.

After opening your model in 3D Reviewer, open the model tree to the left of the viewport window to get access to the Configurations tree. Then click on the + sign to the left of the Configurations node and you will find one default configuration already created called 'Initial configuration'.

First thing to remember with configurations is that the latest state of the viewport will be the one saved for the current active configuration. The active configuration is the one highlighted in bold in the Configurations tree.

To create a new configuration, simply right-click on the Configurations node and select Add Configuration, then type a name for the new configuration entry created.

Next thing to remember with configurations is how to lock them, so that their state is not altered anymore while manipulating the model in the viewport. Once you have finished setting the viewpoint, parts positions, background, etc... and want to save the current state of the viewport, right-click on the current active configuration and select 'Lock configuration'. If you need to edit the configuration again, you can simply right-click again on the configuration, select 'Unlock configuration' and then modify the viewport as desired before you lock it again.

Finally, if you need to re-order the configurations, you simply click on the configuration name, then hold and drag the mouse up or down to change the position of a configuration in the list.

If you want to see it in action, please check out the video below which also includes a quick tutorial on how to create exploded views and publish them directly to PDF.

Pierre Tager, Acrobat Product Manager

Posted by Pierre Tager at 6:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)