Cutting Plane

Working with a 3D model can quickly turn complex, especially if many parts are spatially stacked. ProSteel offers a command to hide parts in front of and behind the current work plane – the cutting plane.

This facilitates the design process since only those objects are visible that are close to the same work plane and prevents the accidental manipulation of stacked shapes. When selecting one of the defined views or an object view, such objects are automatically hidden, provided that you have not turned off this command globally.

Sometimes it is however also reasonable to look at all component parts of the model in the depth – to have an overall orientation. This is the reason why this function can be switched on and off.

Principle of Cutting Planes

When the function ‘Cut Plane’ is active, only those parts of the work frame are shown that are located within the limits of the cut plane distance. The cut plane distance is the distance between imaginary delimitation in front of and behind the active UCS plane.

Setting	Description
Off	The cut plane command is deactivated. All component parts are shown. When switching to another view, the command is activated again, provided that it has not been turned off globally.
On	The cut plane command is activated. Only those component parts that are located within the delimitation are shown. If the command has been turned off globally, it is turned on again when switching to another view.
Flip	The cut plane command is alternately switched on or off globally. This command makes sense when you do not want to work with the cut plane command for a long time.
Distance	Input of the cut plane distances First enter the rear distance and then the front distance. When you enter the distance 0, no cut planes are created. When switching to one of the standard views, these values are overwritten.

	3D-model of a stage construction in the global view
	(Object-) view on the upper stage frame with switched on cut plane command (standard setting)
	(Object-) view on the upper stage frame with switched off cut plane command