Creo Parametric 4.0 has many updates that help users to produce more complex parts much more easily. The main update which allows for greater complexity in design is the Freestyle Tree. The Freestyle Tree features are all designed to make the manipulation and adjustment of 3D shapes much easier.
These new features are extensive and allow users to be more productive and to create more complex shapes with ease.
Shape selection and manipulation
Users can create more unique shapes as part of their designs by using the new selection tool to create multiple disconnected objects and manipulate selected shapes. This feature means that users can easily edit and manipulate individual and multiple objects regardless of the order that they’ve been created.
Creo 4.0 also allows users to manipulate shapes much easier. Entities can be connected from different shapes and shapes can be split into multiples by slicing them along edges or faces as well as being duplicated, hidden, unhidden or locked.
Changing edges and faces
The new ‘add edge’ option gives users the ability to split quad faces into n-sided faces (N-Gons). It breaks the 4-sided face into smaller faces, allowing users to define the form of each face rather than it being purely automated. Edges can also be deleted from the options menu. The system will then collapse these faces and automatically delete the two vertices rather than the user having to do this manually.
Importing and exporting files
Creo 4.0 allows you to import Wavefront (*.obj) files into the freestyle tool, including geometry that contains multiple shapes or is created from sub-divisional modeler tools including 3D Studio, Maya and Modo. Whilst importing files you can also flip the direction of the control mesh (although control mesh faces are limited to 5000).
Once your designs are complete you can export your files in .obj formats so that they can be used in other applications and saved to your local machine.
Warp features
In addition to freestyle features, Creo 4.0 also retains its warp features which allows the analytic geometry of a shape to be maintained even after the warp feature has been created. Geometry is no longer approximated to splines (which can cause downstream problems) and planer surfaces will remain so outside of the warp marquee or if they’re not impacted by the feature.
Similarly to previous releases, if users want to preserve the analytic geometry they will have to create a new warp feature themselves.
Creo 4.0 means more complex designs and better usability
Creo 4.0 has promised to be an update that improves user productivity and enables them to improve their design capability. These new freestyle shape features, with their ease of use and complex shape adjustments, are certainly part of this movement towards easier and more complex designing.
