The following notes describe changes, fixes and enhancements to 3DVU and associated post processors including those for STEP output and parasolid output. Where version numbers are skipped it is normally due to the fact that the version never left the development area.
This version fixes a problem with the STEP and Parasolid export engines.
This version has an improved mechanism of finding the STEP and Parasolid export engines.
This version has an improved polyarc small segment removal function to make it more robust. This includes handling the end segment being too short, and in the case where an arc is preceded by one or more small segments which need to be removed, the arc is re-calculated using the same radius, but modifying the center based upon the new starting point. This ensures that more stringent 3D checking routines should find the data consistent.
3Di2STEP and 3Di2XT now enforce a minimum edge/segment length of 1.0 um even if one is not defined on the command line.
In 3D-VU if the user attempts to create negative dielectric when the 3Di file contains arcs, they will see a warning prompting them to use the Boolean > Unionize menu to replace the arcs with polygon data.
Fixed an issue with the ASCII to 3DI module.
Added new features to the Linux version:
Updated the AEDB converter to identify and correctly output the IO component (typically BGA when coming from Cadence SIP) so that the component shows up intelligently in the AEDB output format. As the problem occurred when there was no IO component explicitly defined, the update looks for pin labels indicating that they belong to a component.
Added new features to the Linux version:
3DVU has been released on Linux with the same functionality as the Windows version.
Updated the underlying libraries so that both the Windows and Linux versions can be maintained easily.
The rule drop down field has been adjusted to allow the user to rename the rule. Earlier versions had a glitch in the drop down that made it difficult to edit the name.
The DRC window/dialog layer drop down was not making all layers available to the user to pick. This has been fixed.
The layer drop down in the DRC Dialog window was broken when the main layer dialog was updated. When a user attempted to pick a layer for a DRC rule, the layer drop down was blank. This has been fixed.
A new flavor of parasolid output has been added. This was in response to SpaceClaim users (for data prep into Ansys simulators) This is implemented in the 3Di2XT module.
The 64 bit version of 3DVU and its supporting engines (3Di2STEP/3Di2XT) and libraries have been rebuilt using the MS 2015 compiler.
A new feature, Negative Dielectric has been added. This functionality was previously in Read3Di but this version also includes the ability to knock-out the negative dielectric (on the top/bottom layers) wherever there is a solder mask opening. Requested by a client that wants to simulate 3Di data generated by Cadence SIP.
Fixed a bug which was causing 3D-VU to crash when processing barrel objects.
Updated the 3Di2XT translator to v1.0.12.
Updated the 3Di2STEP translator to v2.0.31.
3DVU is now available in 64 bit.
Updated the 3Di2XT and 3Di2STEP (Parasolid and STEP) translators to handle small geometries generated by Extract3D for IC designs.
The parasolid (XT) output was not using enough places of accuracy when units were set to INCHES. The resulting snapping of arc definition coordinates resulted in errors when importing parasolids into SolidWorks. The accuracy has been increased and the problems resolved.
The 3Di2XT converter to parasolids has been updated (to v1.0.7) to add the barrel entity. Prior versions of the parasolid output did not support barrels.
The 3Di2STEP converter has been updated (to v2.0.26).
Updated the 3Di2XT translator to v1.0.6; Updated the 3Di2STEP translator to v2.0.25
Modified the progress bar for 3Di files passed on the command line so that it becomes the top most windows. This ensures it is visible when launched from another application.
Both 3Di2STEP and 3Di2XT were modified to fix a problem with command line processing: namely, that executing the engines from the input file directory wa not working. This has been fixed. Both engines prepend the current directory to the input and output file names if needed.
XT (parasolid) circular output fixed3Di2XT now fully supports 3Di poly arcs in the translation. No longer are geometry or topology errors flagged in SolidWorks due to polyarcs. There was also an issue of the Boolean arc recovery function potentially re-introducing small segments. This requires re-filtering for close segments after arc recovery.
This version adds a menu option for the standard 3Di2XT translator (no FEA features).
Adds a new 3D output format: parasolid. Currently the dialog only supports the FEA version of parasolid. SolidWorks (and other tools that use parasolid as their modeling kernel) should import large files 25X faster and more robustly than using STEP. This does not apply to 3D modeling programs that use other kernels such as AutoDesk Inventor and ProE.
The parasolid output is licensed separately.
The STEP out module of 3DVU crashed on client 3Di files generated by Cadence.
The problem had to do with symbol outline that had a flat extrusion. Our program now assumes the same height as the rest of the layer.
Added an option to export DXF file from the 3DVU command line.
3dvu.exe -script:test.scr
Sample Script
open S:\0011-Block.3Di export dxf S:\0011-Block.dxf open S:\0012-Block.3Di export dxf S:\0012\Block.dxf exit
Updated the 3Di2STEP engine to v2.0.18.
No Net Objects on Conductor LayersAdded support for unionizing objects on conductor layers which do not have a NET attribute defined.
Input Data Checkchecks if a 3Di file meets the requirements for exporting to STEP for FEA. If the 3Di data has not been "FEA" conditioned, the user may choose to have the 3Di file automatically processed to be compatible.
This includes:
detecting which layers are CONDUCTOR and which are DIELECTRIC;
adding BOARD objects to the dielectric layers;
unionizing conductor layers;
moving symbol and solder ball objects from the conductor layer to their own layers.
This is in support of 3Di data exported by Cadence SIP.
MM ScalingAdded an option to both 3DVU STEP export dialogs to support converting the 3Di units to MM and scaling data appropriately. This avoids problems with SolidWorks 2016 when importing data in units of microns.
Unit ScalingAdded a -units:units option to support converting the data into another unit and scaling appropriately. This avoids problems with SolidWorks 2016 treating micron data values in STEP data as exceeding the allowable design extents.
Bug Fix - dummy conductor netsFixed a bug where dummy conductor objects were causing vias to be mistakenly identified as interfering and were incorrectly removed.
Fixed a problem where a partial 3Di file (for instance, exported from 3D-VU) would have phantom negative dielectric data generated for conductor layers which were defined but contained no data.
FEA Dielectric Processing Bug FixFixed a bug where dielectric boundary holes were not always being added to the correct negative dielectric polygons.
Improved the progress bar display during Boolean operations to make it clear that progress is being made.
Improved the Boolean operations so that the Layers dialog and Z-Scaling dialog are correctly synced after the operations complete.
Select Multiple ObjectsAdded a new Select multiple objects option to the Info dialog. This permits selecting and highlighting more than one object by repeatedly clicking. The objects selected in this manner can be exported to a new 3Di file.
Previous versions of 3DVU/3Di2STEP included a filter to remove vertices that were very closely spaced. This was put into the program for SolidWorks users because SW would "crash" when fed import data with the vertices very closely spaced. The hardwired default = 1 um.
Some of our simulations users (Ansys users to be specific) wanted to simulate semiconductor layouts with critical dimensions that were submicron and this data was not being output to STEP. In order to support both the existing SW base and the Ansys semiconductor users we have made the minimum spacing a user controlled parameter.
This parameter is now available in the STEP output dialog. It defaults to 1.0 um but could be set to a value such as 0.1 um. We don't recommend setting it lower than necessary because it is impossible to know when a simulator will have problems with extremely small dimensions.
A prototype ACIS output converter has been added to 3DVU (3Di2ACIS); There are two options -- one for basic ACIS and one for FEA applications where additional processing is done to the 3D model to make it useful for Ansys tools such as Maxwell. Requires a separate license.
NOTE: the ACIS output was removed later as it was of no special value to any of our end users.
Via Drill in STEP Output
This version checks if a via drill intersects with a conductor. If it does, it will issue a warning message and remove the via.
3DVU STEP Output Update for FEA
Added a new command line option -expand_dielectric:[d] option to 3Di2STEP and a new GUI element to support it in 3D-VU.
This is a new FEA option (similar to the one we have in Read3Di), will expand dielectric board objects by the specified distance before calculating negative dielectrics. This is needed in case the data is part of a clipped board with conductor flush to the edge. Without board expansion, this leads to negative dielectric where the holes are touching the parent.
Since this function was already a part of the 3Di engine (in use by Read3Di) it already supports a polygonal board outline and uses BoolDll for true sizing. Therefore there are extra vertices at the board corners for a simple input rectangle.
3DVU STEP Output Updates
3D-VU has an updated Export STEP dialog to support the new 3Di2STEP features.
Updated the 3Di2STEP engine to v2.0.11.
Modified the Export STEP dialog to support the latest 3Di2STEP options.
Added an Export STEP for FEA menu item and dialog to support advanced 3Di2STEP FEA options.
3DVU STEP Output Updates
3D-VU has an updated Export STEP dialog to support the new 3Di2STEP features.
3Di2STEP has added support for replacing circular vias (and dielectric board holes) with a low resolution regular polygon with the specified number of sides.
3Di2STEP has also added support for adding drill holes to vias by specifying the wall thickness. These two options can not both be used at the same time.
Software Updates
Added code to explicitly hide the progress dialog in a second location.
Fixed a problem where text was not displayed properly in layer dialog.
Scrolling through the net names in the Info Dialog using arrow keys now displays info for each net in the Info window.
Arc Recovery
Added arc recovery to 3Di output by upgrading ASC23Di module of Netex-G.
STEP out crash
3DVU crashed while exporting a STEP file. This problem was fixed.
Software Upgrades
This version provides a more accurate STEP model for barrel objects.
New Attribute support
This version can handle 2DPA GEOM attribute (boundary with arc segments) found in customer file.
Software Upgrades
This version fixes the problem with respect to badly oriented holes.
It also adds support for the -hierarchy:[attributeName] command line option to control how the STEP data is
structured.
This option can be controlled through a new dialog control in the 3D-VU Export STEP dialog.
Software Upgrades
New VS2008 Build.
VTK 5.10 3D engine.
3Di2STEP v2.0.5 support.
Adds support for 3Di v2.1.1 which supports polyarcs.
Tool to filter SYMBOL and BALL objects to their own layers.
Crashing Error
This version limits the convexing vertex count so that 3D-VU does not crash when loading the file.
Registry Problem
Fixed a registry problem which caused the 3di2step.exe to fail in floating mode.
STEP Output Update
This version supports the latest changes made to 3Di2STEP. Specifically, all combinations of step export including unionization/cicularize produce wires/spheres/barrels in the STEP output.
Misc Updates
Updated the 3Di2STEP engine to v2.0.3. This version improves the modeling of curved surfaces and holes.
It also supports unionization and arc recovery of extrusions. This results in a faster export and reduced STEP file size.
New DXF Output
This version adds an option to export a 2D DXF file. 3Di Objects are translated as follows:
The layer structure is preserved.
Extrusions
2D polygons are converted to ZWCP.
2D circles are converted to circles.
2D paths are internally converted to 2D polygons, so translated to ZWCP. AWR path preservation is not supported since this will primarily be used for polygon analysis
Wires are converted to polylines with width. All vertices are preserved, but the z-values are dropped.
Spheres are converted to circles.
Barrels are converted to circles using the largest radius. The smaller radii are dropped.
All other attributes: NET, OBJECT, COLOR etc. are dropped.
Fixed a bug in the 3Di2STEP translator.
Incorporated the 3Di2STEP converter into the 3D-VU product. A separate license is still required to export a 3D STEP format, but a separate install is not required.
Updated the Export Step dialog to support the latest features of 3Di2STEP.
Removed the Export|ACIS menu item.
Added a new Export Step dialog to support the latest features of 3Di2STEP.
Added support for the latest 3Di2STEP features, specifically, an option to export AP214 STEP format which supports color.
Added an Export STEP option to the file menu. This option requires that a license for exporting STEP is present and the 3Di2STEP translator is installed and licensed.
Fixed a bug where the new Layers dialog was not correctly initialized when a 3Di file was opened from the command line or by double-clicking a 3Di file.
Added a new Layers dialog with better control over layer and object visibility. Layers can also be renamed and saved.
Added an option to export only selected objects to a new 3Di file.
Added an option to export only visible objects to a new 3Di file.
Added support for selecting multiple nets simultaneously to the Info dialog.
The boolean engine used by 3DVU was occasionally generating illegal polygons. When these were passed to the 3D rendering engine the engine incorrectly computed the extents of the polygon with the result that the desired data was extremely small compared to this bad polygon. This has been fixed.
The progress bar is now visible when 3Di files are opened by double-clicking or by being launched from a shell within another application.
Added support for 3Di v1.7 which includes support for paths with different endcaps: round, flush and 1/2 width extended.
Modified the size of some dialogs based on changes in Windows 7.
Added the X, Y, Z co-ordinate of the current mouse position to the status bar.
Modified the 3D-VU installer.
Improved complex solid rendering using internal boolean operations.
Added support for AWROut special entities and tables.
A new element has been added to the 3Di database - a path with constant width. 3DVU 2.04 supports this new element. The element was added for use with simulation tools that prefer to use paths when possible instead of the previous conversion of each path to a boundary.
Added an option to toggle the 3D axes symbol on/off. (this can be useful if you don' want them showing during snapshots.)
Window PlacementWindows size and placement is now stored/restored in a new way which should be more stable. Previous versions sometimes corrupted the window position resulting in full screen only sizing.
DRC LicensingDRC functionality is now licensed separately - this enable us to offer a lower cost basic viewer without the 3D DRC.