Coordinate Systems (3-D)

Drawing > Others > World CS

You can access the functions for 3-D coordinate systems via Drawing > Others > World CS.

Activate World CS

Activates the standard coordinate system.

Activate Part CS

Activates the coordinate system assigned to a 3-D part.

Processing plane

Temporarily creates a local coordinate system by defining a 3-D processing plane.

Local CS, New origin

Moves a coordinate system by defining a new origin.

Local CS, Rotate about X-, Y- or Z-axis

Rotates a local coordinate system or a part coordinate system about the

X-axis,
Y-axis or
Z-axis.

Define Fitting CS

This function enables you to define a fitting coordinate system for the active 3-D part in the same way as for creating 3-D processing planes. It has the following special properties.

Delete Fitting CS

Deletes the fitting coordinate system.

Activate World CS

Drawing > Others > World CS > Activate World CS

You use this function to switch to the world coordinate system (standard coordinate system). This coordinate system is automatically active when a new drawing is created. Its reference point lies in the point (0,0,0), while the xy-plane is the top view plane. By choosing another view and by moving the screen display, you can change the position and the orientation of the world coordinate system even before you start your drawing.

Please note:

3-D point coordinates are always saved in coordinates of the world coordinate system, regardless of the active coordinate system.
Component transformations (rotation, movement etc.) which refer to the axes of the part coordinate system are always executed about these axes, regardless of the currently active coordinate system.
To change the reference point of the world coordinate system, choose the Local/Part CS, New origin function. Also keep the Shortened coordinates (K) point option (2-D) in mind in this context.
Changes to the world coordinate system are lost if you activate another coordinate system and do not save the drawing with the modified coordinate system beforehand.

Activate Part CS

Drawing > Others > World CS > Activate Part CS

You use this function to activate the part coordinate system of the active 3-D part. A part coordinate system is automatically assigned to every 3-D part of your drawing when it is created and saved together with the drawing. Part coordinate systems are required, for example, for clones and can be rotated and moved freely.

Changes to the part coordinate system are lost if you activate another coordinate system and do not save the drawing with the modified part coordinate system beforehand.

Processing plane

Drawing > Others > World CS > Processing plane

This function enables you to define a local coordinate system temporarily by specifying a processing plane.

To specify the processing plane, you can identify points, edges, surfaces and even processing planes in the drawing. You can access further functions for specifying the processing plane by pressing the mouse button instead of making an identification.

The local coordinate system remains active until you define a new one or switch intermittently to the world coordinate system or a part coordinate system.

Define Fitting CS

Drawing > Others > World CS > Define Fitting CS

This function enables you to define a fitting coordinate system in the same way as when creating 3-D processing planes. It has the following properties:

the fitting CS consists of 3 special points:
the origin of the fitting coordinate system
a point on the x-axis of the fitting coordinate system
a point in the (x,+y) half-plane of the fitting coordinate system.
If a 3-D part to which a fitting coordinate system has been assigned is loaded into a new drawing, the points of the fitting coordinate system are placed in the world coordinate system. This defines the fitting direction in space. The exact position in space is defined, as usual, through specification of a fitting point pair.

Referenced components are assigned the standard fitting coordinate system when they are saved if they do not already have their own fitting coordinate system. The standard coordinate system is defined in this case by means of the points (0,0,0), (1,0,0) and (0,1,0).