Curvature Analysis

Compute

Starts a curvature calculation. Settings can be changed before and after the calculation.

Note: A new calculation will overwrite the color map values if Freeze min/max values is off.

Visualization

Curvature type

▪Gaussian

▪Mean

▪Maximum

Choose the type of curvature analysis to be displayed. Each curvature point has a minimum and a maximum curvature value, and those can be interpreted differently:

GAUSSIAN: The product of both curvature values is used to detect surfaces curved on both sides (extreme or saddle points).

MEAN: Arithmetic mean of minimum and maximum curvature values. Helps to identify surfaces with abrupt curvature changes.

MAXIMUM: Displays the maximum curvature values. Helps to identify problematic surfaces for milling and toolpath planning.

Use absolute value

On

On: Instead, use the absolute values.

Off: Use positive and negative values of the curvature calculation for the display of the color map. Turn off when using Gaussian type.

Limit values to min/max

On

On: The color of the minimum or maximum value will be assigned to the values outside the color map range.

Off: Values above the maximum or below the minimum values of the defined Color map will be shown in the color defined by Outside min/max color.

Outside min/max color

Black

This color will be assigned to values outside the Color map range if setting Limit values to min/max is off.

Freeze min/max values

Off

On: Color map values will be kept for new calculations.

Off: New calculations will overwrite the Color map values.

Color map presets

▪Rainbow

▪Jet

▪Invent

▪Analyze

▪CAT

▪Parula

▪Heat

▪Binary

Presets that contain predefined colors and the Number of values for the Color map.

Shows User defined when no preset matches the color map settings chosen.

Note: Presets can be adjusted and added: <Installation directory>\Resources\presets.xml.

Reverse colors

Off

On: Reverses the color sequence of the Color map.

Show color bands

Off

On: Shows color bands instead.

Off: Shows a gradient transition between colors on the geometry and in the legend.

Color map

Number of values

7

Number of values and colors.

Note: Changing the number will trigger a recalculation of the intermediary values and colors. Minimums and maximums will be kept.

Values and colors

▪0 mm / Red

▪0 mm / Orange

▪0 mm / Yellow

▪0 mm / Green

▪0 mm / Turquoise

▪0 mm / Blue

▪0 mm / Violet

Defines the values and their colors. These will be updated by new computations or the buttons below.

Note: To change the unit, use the application unit settings.

Reset min/max

Resets all chosen Color map values to the min/max values of the calculation.

Note: Ignores Freeze min/max values.

Value automation

Update intermediate values

Interpolates the intermediate values.

Note: Use after editing the min/max values of the color map.

Apply quartiles

Removes outlying values from the color map. The top and bottom 25 % of values are ignored to focus on the values in the middle.

Apply logarithmic scale

Uses a logarithmic scale on the color map.

Note: Sometimes, linear intervals obscure very small but important value ranges that are close together. This spreads those small ranges and assigns them a larger color spectrum, making them more expressive.

Miscellaneous

Apply selection to others

Curvature results with different settings cannot be meaningfully displayed in the legend. This applies the settings of the selected result to all other visible results and updates the color map and legend accordingly.

Unify properties

If two or more curvature nodes with different visualization properties are selected, they have to be unified before we can display the visualization settings.

Legend

Show histogram

Off

On: Color legend shows a dotted line indicating the frequency distribution of the values.

Number of decimal places

4

Changes the shown number of decimal places for the color map values.

Show equidistant values

Off

On: All legend intervals are spaced at equal distances, irrespective of their numeric values.

Off: All legend intervals are spaced according to their numeric value.

Note: This improves visibility for very small intervals.