Graphics Clipping Plane

The graphics clipping plane feature allows the user to temporarily cut parts of the model away to help visualize the interior of a geometry or mesh. The command syntax is:

Graphics Clip {On|Off} [ Plane <plane> | [Location <location>] [Direction <direction>]]

Graphics Clip Manipulation {On|Off}

The GUI tool bar buttons to enable and manipulate the Graphics Clipping Plane are shown below:  

  The first command activates the graphics clip manipulation tools in the graphics window. The keyboard shortcut "Shift-S" while the graphics window is active will also activate the clipping plane. The manipulation of the clipping plane is controlled as follows:

• Red Line - Clicking and dragging the left mouse on plane bounded by a red tube moves the plane along the arrow
• Center Ball - Clicking and dragging the left mouse on the center ball moves the origin of the rotation plane
• Arrow - Clicking and dragging the left mouse button on the arrow head or tail changes the direction on which the plane moves
• Right Mouse Button - Clicking and dragging the right mouse button on any part of the window resizes it
• Middle Mouse Button - Clicking and dragging the middle mouse button on the red plane moves both the center of rotation and the cutting plane
• White Bounding Border - Clicking and dragging the left mouse on the white bounding border moves the whole widget

Figure 1. Graphics Clipping Plane

The second command turns on/off the visibility of manipulation widget in the graphics window. The clipping plane is still active, but the controls are hidden. The normal mouse-based view navigation controls apply.

Examples

brick x 10
sphere rad 1
graphics clip on location -2 0 0
rotate -45 about y
#shows the sphere inside the brick

brick x 10
cylinder rad 2 z 12
subtract 2 from 1
mesh vol 1
quality vol 1 draw mesh
graphics clip on
#shows the mesh quality on interior elements

Figure 2. Viewing mesh quality of interior elements