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Concurrent Engineering Blog

The Definitive Creo Parametric 2.0 Guide

Posted by Emma Rudeck on 25-Jan-2013 14:34:00

Creo Parametric GuideIn this definitive Creo Parametric 2.0 guide, I'll take you through the key new features and functions in Creo. Some of my favourite enhancements within Creo Parametric are around the user experience that we have changed in the product. One of the first things you notice when you fire up Creo Parametric is the new user interface. We've implemented the Microsoft fluent-based UI. This allows you to access the commands more easily. We've grouped certain commands for you. We've added a command finder for you, so that you can easily locate the commands in the ribbon.  All this makes it much easier to work with your model, define the geometry you want to do, and it streamlines the design process for you.

Key improvements in Sketcher capability

Now, you can directly access Sketcher simply by selecting a face, and by doing that, it will automatically sketch on that actual plane that you select. Inside Sketcher, you can also now keep my workflow going. If you need to add extra references, you don't have to stop sketching to enter and add references. You can simply hold the alt key while you are sketching. It will pause the sketching process for you, and allow you to pick extra references to add. In addition, there are new geometry commands inside Sketcher, such as the ability to create a center rectangle or a slanted rectangle. It also enhances the ability to automatically regenerate the model or dynamically regenerate the model. Now, you can simply click on a feature, and when you do that, it will show you the dimensions for that particular feature. Each of those dimensions will have drag handles on them. You can directly click on those drag handles and move them, and it will modify just that particular dimension of the section, and in real time, update the rest of your surrounding geometry for you.

Taper capability added to the extrude commands

Now, as you are extruding some geometry, you can at the same time add a draft angle to it. This reduces the need to create a separate draft feature and speeds up the design process for you. In the Sheet Metal environment, there has been a significant amount of work, again, on the user interface. Pretty much all the commands are now draft board-based commands. Again, this gives you direct manipulation capability, drag handles on the screen, so that you can interact in real time with your geometry on the screen.

Commands such as "corner reliefs" have been unified across all the Sheet Metal features

So now, whichever Sheet Metal feature you're in, the ability to apply a corner relief will be the same. You can apply a corner relief, whether it be in the formed or the flat state. In addition to that, we've also added some new commands to Sheet Metal, such as the ability to create a sketched form feature. Previously, you would have had to have created a separate model to use as your sketch form. Then you would have to assemble that in, and that would build your form feature. Now, you can simply sketch the geometry you want, define the draft angle you want, define whether you want to put any bend reliefs on it or not. In addition to that, there is also the ability to create a partial piercing.

Another command added to Sheet Metal is the ability to join disconnected walls. So now, if you have built two separate walls, you have the ability to say, "Join these together." It will allow you the ability or offer you the ability to be able to add a bend between those, as well as give you controls as to which side of those walls you want to keep or remove. Again, from a usability standpoint, in Sheet Metal, a 2D, flat-state preview has been added. So that's a little separate window that will come up in the corner of your Creo Parametric view-screen that will give you a permanent representation of what the flat state is. Within that window, it will also tell you dynamically whether you've got any overlapping geometry in the flattened state. That will give you an upfront idea of whether or not this part can actually be manufactured.

New Freestyle command has been introduced

Creo Parametric Freestyle is based upon sub-divisional surface modeling. This allows you to start with a primitive shape. The primitive shape has a control mesh around it. You can subdivide that control mesh up to add more details. Then you simply push and pull on that control mesh, and that builds high quality, curvature-continuous surfaces for you. Those surfaces or quilts that result from that freestyle feature can then be taken for further downstream use. You can trim them, you can merge them, you can add rounds to them, etc. just as if they were any other quilt or surface created inside Creo Parametric. This allows you to very rapidly build freeform surface geometry.

Introduction of lightweight graphics

This allows you to very quickly load an entire assembly by loading in just the Creo View, viewable information. This comes on to the screen instantly, allowing you then to dial down into the model or dial down into further levels of detail for each component.

Continuing with assemblies, the way we assign constraints, or we constrain certain components when we're placing them has been enhanced. Plus a 3D dragger for placements has now been introduced. So as you bring my component in, you can very quickly and easily drag it around in 3D space to get it to the correct location. Then constraints are now more intuitive and easier to assign. Further to this, there is also the ability to open up a subset. When you do this, you can then open an entire assembly as a subset, and before you load the entire data into the system, you can then choose the components that you want. You have the ability to filter that list or search within that list. You have the ability to say, "I want to ignore all components below a certain size," for example, or, "Only pull in the components within this specific bounding box."

New Flexible Modeling has been introduced

Creo Flexible modeling is a set of features that allow you to do direct manipulation or direct modeling-type operations within a parametric environment. You can select faces, select bosses, select round geometry, and edit those irrespective of where that data has come from, whether it's come from a parametric feature-based model, or whether it's an imported file, a step, or an IGAS file. You can then directly edit that, and the surrounding geometry will adjust accordingly for you.

These changes that you are making are stored as parametric features, so there's no loss of any previous design intent that you had in your model. This allows you to do late stage design changes, for example, where it's the end of the day and you need to make a quick change to something, but you don't want to have to, or you don't know necessarily how that model was built up. Or maybe there's poor design intent in it, and you can't actually achieve the change that you want to make quickly. Flex modeling allows you to make those changes quickly.

Discover more about the features of Creo Parametric 2.0 and get our free guide: 12 Reasons to Upgrade to Creo Parametric 2.0 Guide

 

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