Trace Lines During Animation Using a Trimmed Line Definition File

  1. From the Tracing panel, under Trace select Line.
  2. Select the Select file option from Line source drop-down menu.
  3. Use the file browser to select a trimmed line definition file.
    The line definition file must be in the Nastran format, including NODE and PLOTEL elements.
  4. Click Load.
  5. For Project line to, select the component(s) to which the line will be projected.
    • Use the input collector.
    • Pick the components directly from the modeling window.
  6. Select a Tracing mode option.
    Option Description
    From first step The selected entities are traced starting at the first step to the current step as the model is animated. A line is drawn to illustrate the traced entities. The traced path is erased when the animation starts over.
    All steps All steps of the selected entities are traced.
    Last The traced path is restricted to the last user-specified time steps before the current step. This gives the appearance that the path is following the selected entities. The number of time steps specified will be applied to all entities displayed using this option. HyperView accepts time steps 1-99.
    Note: The number of time steps displayed behind the traced entities can be specified in the preferences.mvw file using the *NumStepsToTrace() statement. See Preference Files for more information on specifying defaults in a preference file.

    Tracing is not displayed unless the time steps have been loaded.
    Select The selected entities are traced for the selected simulation steps. Click on … to select the required steps.
  7. Activate the Show features that you would like to display.
    Option Description
    Original line Displays the original line.
    Surface Displays the constructed surface by the tracing lines.
    Projected line Displays the projected line.
    Node trace Displays the node trace.
  8. Click Create.
    The reference line is projected onto the surface of the model.
  9. Optional: Change the display options.
  10. Animate the model.
  11. Optional: Export the trimmed line definition file.