Method for freezing mechanism position in drawing views is incompatible with actual exploded views

[mburlone]

The way that Creo allows you to assign a specific mechanism position setting to a drawing view is by creating a snapshot of the assembly and toggling the option to make that snapshot available in the drawing.  The problem is: applying that snapshot to a drawing view is done by setting it as the "explode state" for that view.

This means I can't make an actual exploded view where the mechanism position setting is frozen to what I want.  If I choose to apply an actual exploded state of the assembly to that drawing view, then the mechanism position is no longer fixed; i.e. the view will change (messing up notes and balloons) based on whatever state of the mechanism is applied in the assembly model.

Note that this also is a problem for section views.  The section hatching is determined by the current state of the assembly model - not the drawing view - even after assigning a mechanism snapshot state to that drawing view.

Has anyone developed a work-around for these issues?

Thanks,

-Michael Burlone

NASA Johnson Space Center

[pausob]

Hi I'm curious, yet not quite sure what your issue is.  Is it that you can't cross-section an assembly in the "exploded state"?

Mechanism snapshots that have been made available in the drawing are just auto-generated exploded states.  Once you make such a snapshot, you can further edit the position of the components using the (very) basic tools that Creo provides for editing the exploded state and the offset lines...

[mburlone]

Hi Pausob,

Unfortunately I added the mechanism functionality to the assembly after spending a few hours setting up nice exploded views showing the assembly process.  My issue is that I cannot assign a mechanism state to an existing exploded view.  Not the end of the world; just means a few hours of re-work since apparently the process is order-dependent.  The section hatching is still a mystery though.  The hatching that appears is based on the mechanism position in the model and not based on the mechanism position in the actual drawing view.

[pausob]

Ah, I see.  Yes, the explode states in Creo are rather lacking.  They are just a static snapshot.

I recall Solidworks actually assigns specific "explode movements" to the components and records the sequence of these.  As such, these sequences of movements can be re-applied after, for example, the mechanism has moved to a different position.  You don't get that with Creo - but please post a product idea about it!

There are other tools that allow for authoring of explode "animations" that PTC offers, so maybe that's why the basic explode functionality has not been updated by PTC in a long time.  Just look at the mess with the offset lines 🙂

[kdirth]

Explode does allow you to move and rotate parts and sub assemblies.  Linear and rotational movement direction can be controlled selecting a movement reference.  The distance traveled can be controlled by inputting a motion increment in the options tab.  Checking the Move with children box will drag any children with the item being moved.  You can also select many items at once to move them all the same.

[pausob]

Yes, in Creo Parametric, one can move and rotate parts and groups of parts around to change the state of an exploded state, but what if you need to show a sequence of some kind: let's say that you need to show a real life assembly sequence where you need to move the component, then move another component, and then move the 1st component again?  You have to create multiple explode states and I think you can animate between those.

But even then these prescribed "movements" can't be copied over to the assembly in a different mechanism position - you don't have such "keyframing" tools available in the basic package.