General Scene Properties Reference

Scenes Node Properties

Free Resources

When activated, Simcenter STAR-CCM+ does not retain graphics data in memory after you close a scene display or save scene images to files.

As a result, the memory resources that would be allocated for the caching of graphics data become available for other tasks. However, when you reopen a scene display the rendering may take more time.

Note	When you are generating scene images without having scene displays open, for example when running in batch mode, leave this option deactivated so that less time is needed to generate each subsequent image.

Enable Gamma Correction

When activated, applies gamma-corrected rendering for more accurate displays of plots and scenes, including illumination, compositing of semi-transparent elements (including annotations, color bars, and volume rendering), and interpolation (including multi-sampling and font rendering). Setting this option is global for all renderings within the simulation. Hence activating it in plots also activates it in scenes and vice versa.

This option is activated by default.

Avoid changing this property after scenes and plots have been created, as this change would require some manual fine-tuning of lights and materials that are optimized for either rendering mode. Rather, this property should be set once initially, and not changed often afterwards.

Output Verbosity

When activated, the Output window displays a message whenever scene images are saved to files during a simulation run.

Exclude from Decimation

Excludes selected representations from the data reduction caused when exporting to Viewer files with lossy compression. The Geometry representation is excluded by default. This representation usually corresponds to input CAD data, which cannot be simplified significantly.

For more information about lossy compression, see Compression in Scene Export.

Scenes Node Actions

New Scene

Creates a scene of the selected type.

Geometry
Mesh
Scalar
Vector
Empty

Open All Scenes

Opens all the scenes under the Scenes node in the Graphics window.

Test Graphics

Generates a report on the state of your graphics hardware. See A Scene Will Not Open.

New Group

Facilitates the grouping of objects by creating a group node within the manager node. See Grouping Objects.

Ungroup

Reverses the grouping process.

[Scene] Properties

Transparency Override

Overrides displayer settings for opacity in the scene.

Make Scene Transparent—makes all parts transparent so that you can see all of them from any angle, and overrides the opacity settings of all the displayers in the scene.
Make Scene Opaque—makes all parts in the scene completely opaque, and overrides the opacity settings of all the displayers in the scene.
Use Displayer Property—reverts to the individual displayer settings for opacity.

Mesh Override

Overrides displayer settings for displaying the mesh in the scene.

Show All Meshes—adds mesh lines, and overrides the mesh display settings of all the displayers in the scene.
Hide All Meshes—removes mesh lines, and overrides the mesh display settings of all the displayers in the scene.
Use Displayer Property—reverts to the individual displayer settings for mesh display.

Coordinate System Annotations

A list of the coordinate systems added to the scene. Editing the property accesses the object selection dialog to add or remove coordinate systems.

Enable Advanced Rendering

When activated, applies advanced rendering (realistic simulation of the travel of light and its contact with objects) to this scene. For details, see Advanced Rendering.

Transparency Mode

Provides a choice between visual accuracy and speed of rendering of transparent images.

Alpha Blending—renders the image faster.
Depth Peeling—provides a more accurate transparency.

Aspect Ratio

Specifies the ratio between the width and height of the scene. The available options are:

Fit Screen
16:9
16:10
4:3
1:1

Aspect ratios other than Fit Screen can leave blank space in the graphics display.

You can use this property to preview the effect of a particular aspect ratio before exporting high definition hardcopies or movies.

Orientation

Provides a choice between Landscape (default) and Portrait.

Width

Height

[scene] Actions

The following actions are available when you right-click a scene node. The available actions include refreshing the display and exporting the image to a graphics file.

Open

Opens the scene display in the Graphics window.

New Displayer

Creates a displayer of the type you select:

Surface—adds a geometry displayer to the scene, with the Surface property activated. With more than one geometry displayer in the same scene, you can show various parts in different modes. For example, a rotor blade can be shown as a solid (shaded) part with the surface activated, while the rotor hub can be shown with the mesh activated only.
Outline—adds a geometry displayer to the scene, with the Outline property activated.

Mesh—adds a geometry displayer to the scene, with the Mesh property activated.

Note	When you create a mesh scene, the default mesh displayer has both the Mesh and Surface properties activated.

Scalar—adds a scalar displayer to the scene.
Creating a scalar displayer allows you to select a different part on which to show scalar data, either the same scalar or a different one.
Streamline—adds a streamline displayer to the scene.
For this displayer, you can only select streamline derived parts.
Vector—adds a vector displayer to the scene.
Creating a vector displayer allows you to select a different part on which to show vectors, either the same vector or a different one.

Refresh

Refreshes the display.

Restore Hidden Part

Displays any parts that were previously hidden. You choose which part to restore from a submenu of this menu item.

Restore All Hidden Parts

Displays all the parts that were previously hidden.

Hardcopy...

Allows you to save a snapshot of the scene to an image file using the properties of the Save To File dialog (see Save To File Dialog Properties). Autosaving scene images is also possible, but that action is handled using the [scene] > Attributes > Update > Hardcopy node.

Report

Reports graphics hardware-related information in the Output window.

Parts Node Properties

Use the properties of the Parts node to view and control which parts appear in the displayer.

Parts: List of parts in this displayer. Editing the property accesses in-place object selector to add or remove parts. See Activating the Object Selection Dialog.

Parts Node Actions

Use the pop-up menu of the Parts node to hide and restore parts in the scene.

Hide All Parts: Makes all parts that are controlled by the displayer invisible in the scene.
Restore Hidden Part: Displays any parts that were previously hidden. You choose which part to restore from a submenu of this menu item.
Restore All Hidden Parts: Displays all the parts that were previously hidden.