Preparing Scenes for Use in Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Virtual Reality

Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Virtual Reality operates on existing scenes that you define within Simcenter STAR-CCM+.

To prepare scenes, use any of the displayer types in constructing scalar or vector scenes. To introduce certain visualization features in real time within the virtual environment, you must first prepare a scene with an appropriate displayer that includes a resampled volume derived part:

  • For releasing particles, a vector displayer is required.
  • For adding a plane section or an isosurface, a scalar displayer is required.

These scenes can be exported to .sce files.

Some features are not currently supported, including:

  • Advanced rendering
  • Depth peeling (Transparency Mode option)
  • Line integral convolution
  • Isoline labels
  • Scene grid annotations
  • Uniform Screen setting for vector glyphs
  • Simcenter STAR-CCM+ volume rendering plane sections—these are not supported in that they may visually conflict with those that are interactively created and manipulated in a Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Virtual Reality session, and they cannot be edited through the virtual reality controllers.

    It is recommended to interact in Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Virtual Reality to create isosurfaces or plane sections, just as in previous releases.

Scenes in which you intend to release particles, or add a plane section or an isosurface, require a resampled volume part for the regions of interest.
  1. To create a resampled volume part:
    1. Right-click Derived Parts and choose New Part > Resampled Volume.
    2. Set Input Parts to one or more regions whose solution you wish to view.
    3. Define a bounding box for the volume. Either activate Snap to part or set the properties directly (Origin, Size, Rotation Axis, Rotation Angle).
    4. Click Create.
  2. To apply the resampled volume part in the scene, do either of the following depending on what you want to add:
    • To release particles, select a vector displayer in the scene and set Parts to the resampled volume part. Set the Function of the Vector Field, for example to the Velocity vector.
    • To add a plane section or an isosurface, select a scalar displayer in the scene and set Parts to the resampled volume part. Set the Function of the Scalar Field, for example to the Velocity Magnitude scalar.

To improve default performance of volume rendering, Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Virtual Reality automatically reduces quality by half. ("Quality" in this context refers to the accuracy with which the resampled volume is processed during raycasting.)

Before exporting, you can adjust the quality manually in Simcenter STAR-CCM+ with the Quality property of the Volume Rendering Settings sub-node of the scene displayer that includes the resampled volume.

  1. To export scenes for use in Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Virtual Reality standalone:
    1. Right-click on the scene node or the scene display, and select Export to Viewer File.
    2. In the Save Viewer File dialog, you can set the Title and Description of the scene.
    3. Set Compression (for a reduced file size). For more information, see Compression in Scene Export.

    Other quality and performance notes:

    • If your scene includes a 2D annotation, such as a plot annotation, its foreground has an aspect ratio of 4:3. To avoid distortions, set the Aspect Ratio property of the scene node in Simcenter STAR-CCM+ to 4:3.
    • To prevent graphical artifacts, Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Virtual Reality automatically increases line width to at least 2.0 pixels.
    • When creating a resampled volume part that is used in a scalar scene, set the Minimum Voxel Size and Cell Size to Voxel Ratio such that the final number of voxels is less than 50 million. To get the voxel count, click Preview in the in-place dialog of the resampled volume part. Beneath the Preview button, the voxel count appears.
    • Avoid using local lighting in a scene that uses volume rendering.
    • Leave the Contour Style property of a scalar displayer set at Automatic.
  2. To auto-export scenes to file while a simulation is running, (for example, scenes at regular intervals in a transient simulation):
    1. Open the node of the scene and select the Attributes > Update node.
    2. Set File Format to sce.
    3. Set the update properties to save at the frequency you require.