Creo Parametric Tips

Welcome to Creo Tips and Techniques Series    Main Presenters:  Ryan Butcher (Technical Specialist, Fellow) and Lino Tozzi (Technical Specialist, Fellow)   Below you will find all the related webcast recordings and recommended additional learning resources.     Webcast Title Description Learn Online Classes/Resources 1 Learn Online Classes/Resources 2 Creo Multi-Body Design   Creo: Multibody Design Class Info   Creo and Augmented Reality   Augmented Reality Class Info   Creo:  Generative Design Automated geometry creation using design criteria Creo: Generative Design Class Info Creo Generative Design Tutorials Creo:  Simulation Live Real time simulation during design Creo Simulation Live Class Info Creo Simulation Live Tutorials Creo:  Flexible Modeling Direct modeling features to edit imported data Creo: Flexible Modeling Class Info Creo Flexible Modeling Tutorials Ansys Simulation   Ansys Simulation Class Info   Harness Design Used with cabling to create harness mfg drawings Cable Routing & Harness Class Info Cable Routing & Harness Class Info Manufacturing Automation  Tools for mfg efficiencies Mfg Training  Class Info   Additive Manufacturing Design for 3D printing Additive Manufacturing Class Info   Advanced Assembly Advanced techniques for assemblies Creo Advanced Assembly Class Info   Behavioral Modeling Automated design intent Behavioral Modeling Class Info   Surfacing Tips & Techniques Core Surfacing-ISDX-Freestyle Surfacing Class Info ISDX Class Info Creo Mechanism Dynamics Creo Motion analysis Creo:  Assembling with Kinematics Connections Class Info Creo:  Mechanism Design & Analysis Class Info Mathcad Express   Mathcad Tutorials   Design Exploration & Intelligent Fastener (IFX) Explore multiple design concepts; automatic assembly of fasteners Design Exploration Tutorials Intelligent Fastener Tutorials Tool Design/Mold Analysis Mold design and flow analysis Mold Design Tutorials   High Speed Machining   Axis High Speed Milling Info   Prismatic & Multi-Surface Milling Standard mfg in Creo Creo: Introduction to Milling Class Info Creo:  Introduction to Turning - COMING SOON Creo Unite & Import Data Doctor MultiCAD design collaboration Creo Unite Technology Tutorials   Plastic Part Design   Plastic Part Design Overview   Large Assembly Management Top Down design Creo: Using Assembly Skeletons for Top-Down Design Class Info   Creo Sheetmetal Design   Creo Sheetmetal Class Info Creo Sheetmetal Tutorials Reverse Engineering Use scan data to create new part designs     Advanced Modeling Techniques Techniques for Sketcher, Selection, Sweeps, Deformation, Blends     Creo Simulate Advanced Creo based Advanced Simulation Creo Simulate Advanced Tutorials   Creo Render Studio Photo render your models Creo Render Studio Tutorials   Creo Model Based Definition 3D drawings (model centric designs) Creating Annotations using MBD Modifying & Publishing Annotations using MBD Creo Automation Creo based automation tools:  Macros, Programming, Options Modeler Creo Automation Tutorials   Creo Manikin Ergonomic studies with manikins Creo Manikin Tutorials   Creo Schematics Routed Systems design for all types of schematics Creo Schematics Class Info Creo Schematics Tutorials Creo View Interference Lightweight view of CAD designs Creo View Tutorials   Creo Clearance & Creepage Analysis Clearance and Creepage analysis for electrical designs     What's New in Creo 8 & 9   What's New in Creo 8 & 9 Tutorials What's New in Creo 8 & 9 Blog ECAD/MCAD Collaboration MCAD designer and ECAD designer collaboration Data Exchange Tutorials   PTC University PTC Creo training     Advanced Framework Extension Design of steel structures Advanced Framework Extension Tutorials Advanced Framework Ext Tutorial Creo Flow Analysis Simerics based CFD Creo Flow Analysis Tutorials   Creo Ansys Simulation Full Ansys based solution embedded in Creo Creo Ansys Simulation Class Info Creo Ansys Simulation Tutorials What's new in Creo 9   What's New in Creo 9   Piping Design 3D routing of piping design Piping Design Tutorial Get Started with Creo Parametric Piping Creo Layout & 2D Sketching Axis concentric design layout in 2D Creo Layout & 2D Sketching   Progressive Die Design Design of sheetmetal stamped parts About Progressive Die Design   Virtual Interconnect Libraries for schematic design Virtual Interconnect   Design Automation for Creo Partner automation tools CadActive   Creo Automation with Smart  Assembly Partner automation tools SIGMAXIM   DFMPro Design for mfg (Partner) HCL DFMPro   Creo Option Modeler Design optionality in Creo Assemblies Creo Options Modeler   What's New in Creo 10   What's New in Creo 10 Tutorials   Creo Ansys Simulation Full Ansys based solution embedded in Creo Creo Ansys Simulation Tutorials   Creo Composites   Creo Composite Tutorials   Creo:  Things You Might Know But Probably Don't   Creo Tutorials   Multi-Axis Milling with Creo NC   Intro to Milling   Creo Additive Manufacturing   Intro to Additive Manufacturing   Creo Patterns   Creo Patterns Tutorials   Sketcher   Sketcher Tutorials   Turning       Creo 11       Advanced Modeling       Geometry Analysis       Product Insights         You may also find similar content in our East Coast Webcast Series  series.

Creo Parametric: Multibody Home --  Start Here!   I'm creating this blog to be the central home page for anyone interested in trying out the new capabilities first introduced in Creo 7.0  that support multibody design. Below will be links to other blog posts on specific detailed topics under the general heading of multibody. I'm interested in getting your feedback on all the new stuff, but I also want to try to do this in a somewhat organized fashion. So, you can think of this blog as the top node of a tree that will have a number of branches below it for the various multibody related topics.   In parallel to the list of blog posts below, I also plan to maintain a Multibody Infos post that provides you with links to further information, documentation, presentations, and any other information bits and pieces around multibody design in Creo. To get going effectively, I encourage you to first go through the What’s new material and tutorials that you find there, so that you have an overview and high level background on the use cases and capabilities. That will allow me then to go one level deeper and include some tips, tricks etc. in the blog posted here. I hope to be able to post new information regularly and hope you tune in, find it beneficial and give feedback in return.   If you want to send me private messages, that’s fine, too. In particular if you have any suggestion on future blog post topics or questions, feel free to contact me at mneumueller@ptc.com . Enjoy…Martin   Blog posts: Multibody – Intro, Model tree interaction and What’s that default body doing? Multibody- Seven 90sec-Tipps & Tricks around Booleans & Split Multibody - So many ways to trim a body Multibody - Creo 7.0.1 Enhancements  Multibody -  Windchill 12 & Creo 7.0.1 Multibody –How to display a body parameter in the model tree  Multibody – How to display, use or call-out a body parameter – Part 1  Multibody - How to display, use or call-out a body parameter – Part 2 Multibody - Body selection, Body object vs Surface referencing Multibody - How to get rid of a body? -  Show/Hide vs Remove Body vs Delete Body Multibody - How to save out a single body to .stl or step? Multibody - How does this all work with reference parts for MoldDesign and  NC?  Multibody - What are these Construction bodies? and all the details around them…. How to create a body intersection curve and what might it be good for? Multibody - How do I >position< bodies?  Multibody - A simple body-based motion envelope cutout example Multibody - Clearance & Creepage Analysis Multibody - Model Tree Auto-locate capability: Update – Creo 7.0 vs Creo 8.0 & Creo 9.0 Multibody - External Copy Geometry (ECG) and body attribute propagation Multibody –  A "Geometry Re-use"- Use Case that became possible with new capabilities in Creo 10.0  ..... And more to come…

Applicable Releases: Creo Parametric 1.0 to 8.0   Description: In this video, we will demo how to change the default template for: solid part sheetmetal part design asm drawing

Applicable Releases: Creo Parametric 1.0 to 8.0   Description: In this video, we will demo how to change default fonts for drawing text via detail option default_annotation_font

Community Profile: Mike Lockwood If you spent any time in the PTC community over the past couple decades, you’ve likely found good answers to your software questions from @MikeLockwood especially in the Windchill Community! According to our system, this user has posted 2241 times! “I’ve carefully read pretty much all postings in my areas of interest daily for all these years – and can reply to many with useful info,” he says.   That explains the 41 community achievement badges!   At the same time, he’s finding answers to his own questions. “I’m grateful that so many people are willing to voluntarily provide such good info. Within a day, I generally receive many good answers to whatever problems I’m facing.” But just to be sure, he admits that sometimes creates a tech support case in parallel with posting questions to the community.   Who's behind this prolific account?     Meet Mike Lockwood. Mike earned a BSME in college, and then began a career as a mechanical engineer for various medical device companies, including a startup. He focused on complex automated machines early on, and found that programming those machines awakened his interest in the computer/software side of his profession. As you might guess, it didn’t take long for his career to turn to CAD and PLM work. “I trained on Pro/E 15 in 1993 and have been using some version of it ever since,” says Mike. “I fell in love with parametric CAD, and by 1998, I accepted the CAD admin role at my company.” He’s been administering and supporting CAD and Windchill ever since, first for Alcon and, most recently, for Edwards Lifesciences. Plus he’s been a member of the Windchill technical committee for the past 15 years. When he’s not troubleshooting an Oracle database issue or explaining the nuances of parent/child relationships to new users, Mike enjoys getting outdoors. Skiing, snowboarding, surfing, and, lately, lots of long walks and exercise. Then there’s the music. Mike plays piano and can even blast out a saxophone solo (but just for fun, he says). Lockwood is retiring from his full-time job early next year but plans to remain available for contract projects (and hopefully for community members here). My Creo wish list After all these years, Mike knows Creo’s strengths, weaknesses, and workarounds—especially as it relates to Windchill. And since everybody has a wish list, we asked to see his. “Creo is superb and keeps getting better,” he assured us. “But there are a few things I’d like to see.” Modelcheck, when configured from the UI, resets all the tabs and it’s hard to read the text files. Modelcheck should make it easy to sort / filter for those configured as Error / Warning / other. The naming of the various Creo apps that are not Creo Parametric (e.g., Creo View, Creo Illustrate) is confusing to users, especially when these are used with SolidWorks data. Family tables continue to be great for CAD but challenging for CAD in PLM (Windchill).  Would like to see more info and recommendation on alternatives (like maybe inheritance). Autonumbering with Windchill is the default and works for some.  It is of great value to have drawings and the model(s) on them share a root CAD Doc Number / filename.   On behalf of the whole community, thanks Mike for your efforts, insights, and help over the years. We wish you a long, healthy, and invigorating retirement and look forward to your next 2000 posts here on the community!

Well-known community member, Stephen, tells us he has two interests: Creo - and saltwater fishing with his wife in the bays along the Texas coast for red drum, black drum, flounder, and sea trout. Below, a good day with a 30-pound black drum he released. Stephen is Texas born and raised, spending most childhood summers on his grandfather’s hard-working farm.  He’s been involved in Pro/Engineer-Creo community since the mid to late 90’s, well before PTC had an integrated community.   He says:  “I enjoy helping other users learn how to use Creo but mostly I like learning things about the software I didn’t know. There is likely not a week that goes by that I don’t learn something on the Community that I can put to use.  I absolutely know that without the community, I wouldn’t be as good of a Creo user.”  We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!   Right now, Stephen makes parts/assemblies and drawings although he said that he used to do a lot with Creo’s routed systems and sheet metal capabilities. He and his team directly support manufacturing and customer integration for everything his employer builds. He kindly shared with us a photo of a project on which he works.    Here’s how he describes the photo below:  "The yellow part is a Subsea Blowout Preventor that is shipping out from our manufacturing facility here in Houston. This is ½ of the product we manufacture here in Houston. This part is about 750,000 pounds of steel. The other ½ is another 500,000 pounds and is not pictured. It ships separately but are used together for offshore drilling as passive safety devices.   It took 3 days for this trailer to get from our manufacturing facility to our port facility near Baytown TX (about 50 miles)." Thanks to Stephen for his contributions to the Community.  Better together is what it's about. 

Hello Multibody community!   Welcome to a second post on multibody capabilities added in Creo 7.0.1. What I had not yet been fully covering in the last post was how Creo & Windchill interact as it relates to the multibody concept. So, here a summary of Multibody support for Windchill & Visualization General behavior Multibody parts are managed similarly to single body parts, bodies are not exposed Windchill versions prior to Windchill 12 Body designation information is ignored when connected to a Windchill Server version not supporting body designation yet Publishing of multibody parts to Creo View is supported since Creo View 6.1 (including exposure of bodies to Creo View) Windchill 12 & Creo 7.0.1 Support of Body designation, including Transfer of Body designation information from Creo to Windchill for models containing designated bodies WT part creation for designated bodies if BOM Designation is set (.prt, .asm) IBA mapping & propagation for body materials and mass property parameters Note on Windchill configuration: those attributes have to be added to the Body (under Model Items) type definition. They need to be part of the type definition similar as typically being done for the CAD Document type.   Here is a quick demo of the above capabilities (view in My Videos)   Back to Creo 7.0 Multibody Home: Start Here!   Enjoy!....Martin      

Hi everyoneUse this link to download Creo 4.0 Sneak PeekAnd dont forget the license is embedded and will expire on August 5 2016Enjoy!!!!https://free-dl.ptc.com/spinstall/pim_installmgr_32.exe

"The way to add new materials to your library" Material used in the tutorial here.   Some more.     (view in My Videos)

Hello all and welcome to another blog post in this multibody blog series. Todays topic: How to “position” a body.   You might wonder why I put the word position into quotes. The reason for this is that when we talk about positioning, many of us start thinking of positioning component-like objects.  The fact that components have their system of reference (e.g. coordinate system including the origin) makes it natural to understand that positioning transforms that coordinate system from one location and orientation into another. Geometric bodies do represent a volume of geometry referring to the part’s reference system, therefore the positioning of geometric bodies should probably be better called “Moving” geometry. Anyway, after this introductory thought, I hope you enjoy the video illustrating how this is done in Creo. (and you won’t be surprised: we are going to use the “Move”-Feature for this workflow 😊)   (view in My Videos)       Thanks for reading.  I hope it was informative. If you liked it, give it a Kudo.   Back to Creo 7.0 & 8.0+ Multibody Home: Start Here!   Enjoy!....Martin

Dear Creo users! <<<<<Update: the test program is closed >>>> If you are one of the users that always wanted to run Creo with a very dark user interface theme, here is your chance! We are looking for test users and their feedback. If you are interested to try out an experimental version of the dark UI shown above (based on Creo 7.0), please send an e-mail to mneumueller@ptc.com with the subject “Midnight Theme”   with your name from your company e-mail account and we will instruct you how to participate to the testing. We are in particular looking for feedback on the “usability readiness” of the UI icons.   Best regards...Martin

During our B&W Webinar Week 2021, there are two sessions about " I spy with my little eye" which deal with the visibility of elements in Creo Parametric.    In the first part of this two-part webinar we analyze the different tools and methods that Creo Parametric offers to make items visible or invisible in the graphics area. The organizational layer ‚Body‘, that came out with Creo 7 also impacts the visibility of items. The webinar especially focuses on: Visibility basics of objects and items in Creo Levels of visibility Differences in assemblies, parts and drawings Functionality to drive visibility Layers and layer states Combined states Simplified representations Style states In the second part of this webinar we will discuss some practical examples of the visibility topic and show the related tools and methods. Finally we will show how SMARTUpdate can help to implement and handle the techniques to drive visibility. Have a look at the recordings now:  Part 1: (view in My Videos) Part 2: (view in My Videos)   We hope you like it!    Please feel free to ask questions here. 

Hi folks, I have created for you: REPEATABLE MAPKEY GENERATOR  By default, the program generates the Repeatable Mapkey code from the list. The Repeatable Mapkey Generator uses the existing Mapkey "4k". The Mapkey "4k" is user-defined and is repeated on every object from the list. Please do not forget to set the Close window at the end of your user-defined Mapkey, because Creo is limited that only 15 active windows are allowed to use. How it works:

Hello Multibody community!   Welcome to this new post on the multibody capabilities that we introduced with Creo 7.0. Meanwhile, the first maintenance release Creo 7.0.1 had been released and it does contain several refinements/enhancements to the initial set of capabilities. Here a list of those enhancements: Boolean Operations In Creo 7.0, the “Keep bodies” option in Boolean Merge, Subtract and Intersect features was only available during feature creation. Now it is also enabled during feature Edit-Definition workflows Curve feature  You can now select a body (in addition to the previously available object types Quilt and Surface) when checking the “Place curve on surface” option. Data Exchange The “Import multiple bodies into one part” option is now available in File/Open (Unite) and ATB-enabled Import workflows Improved Body Handling Improved body handling when a feature-owned body (e.g. a body created by split-body, import or data sharing features) gets deleted from the model Data Sharing and Reference Pattern robustness enhancements for specific multibody situations Aligned Material reporting The mass properties report uses the parameter PTC_REPORTED_MATERIAL in all places where material is reported. New configuration option for multi-material parts:   ptc_reported_material_mp_report Windchill support for designated bodies If you are interested in seeing demos of the above capabilities 1)-6), take 15mins to watch me walking through them. Beyond the new capabilities you might also find some of the multibody concept related background information useful. (view in My Videos) Note that I plan a dedicated video showing the Multibody related Windchill interaction for my next post.   Back to Creo 7.0 Multibody Home: Start Here!   Enjoy!....Martin

Workflow for creating an assembly process animation video using an explode state in Creo Parametric  

Multibody - Model Tree Auto-locate Capability Update – Creo 7.0 vs Creo 8.0 & Creo 9.0    Hello all,   As I got a few comments & questions from time-to-time about the auto-locate functionality and its behavior, I wanted to shed some light on Auto-locate configurations and related changes between Creo 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0.   What is auto-locate? Auto-locate is the capability to automatically find, show and highlight selected items in the tree. When you select geometry in the graphics, auto-locate will find the feature that created that geometry, expand nested tree hierarchy levels where required, and scroll the tree so you can see the tree node of that feature. When auto-locate was introduced, features were shown only once (e.g there was single node in the model tree representing the feature) and so there was no ambiguity as to which tree node instance of the feature to actually auto-locate to.   #1)  Creo 7.0:  With the introduction of Multi-body in Creo 7.0, we introduced the Design Items folder that optionally allowed to list the bodies in the model along with their contributing features. This led to additional feature nodes showing up in the tree. ( Note: The display can be configured within the model tree filter settings)   For Creo 7.0, the following options were available to control the body and body features display:   Note that the option “Auto locate features in body sub-nodes” allowed to control whether a feature node should be located in the feature tree as it worked in the past or whether it should be auto-located underneath the body that it contributes geometry to (e.g. locating the feature node within the contributing features list of/underneath a body)   #2) In Creo 8.0 we added more options, added the display of quilts and their contributing features in the Design Items Folder, and moved the auto-location option to a new place. It now resides together with all the other auto-locate and highlighting related tree options. To control the auto-locate behavior, you now need to go to the “Selection Priority” setting under the tree options and set it to “Feature List” or “Design Items”. As you can see in the screen shot, the round surface  selection in the graphics triggers an auto-location to the feature node in the regular feature tree list and not within the Design Items as the setting is set to "Feature List".   But there is additional flexibility: In a configuration where both trees are shown, you can now actually achieve a simultaneous auto-locate in the feature tree and Design Items tree side-by-side.       #3) In Creo 9.0 (Beta) you will find the Selection Priority in that same place underneath the Tree Options within the tree's new toolbar. In addition you will find some additional auto location related enhancements once this version releases to the public.    I hope that helps you to customize the tree display and the auto-locate behavior to your personal preferences and needs.   Back to Creo 7.0/8.0++ Multibody Home: Start Here!

Welcome to another multibody blog video in which I want to shed some light on body selection and when to reference body surfaces versus bodies as objects. The video covers:   Body Selection Model tree Selection filter Query-Select & Pick from list Select quilt or body Select from parents Autolocate & Selection Priority in Creo 7.0 & Creo 8.0 Design Items tree   Surface Selections RMB: surfaces of all bodies RMB: body surfaces Surface collection – Details dialog Geometry Search   Differences Copy-Geom Pattern FMX Move (view in My Videos)   Thanks for reading. I hope it was informative.   Back to Creo 7.0 & 8.0 Multibody Home: Start Here!   Enjoy!....Martin

Today, we’re launching the Creo edition of the PTC Community Spotlights which launched last month in the ThingWorx Community.    Here’s where we have a chance to learn a bit more about our most active community members:  who they are, the products they use, and what they like about being a member of the PTC Community.  I, Ruth Morss, am your guest host on this Creo Parametric Tips board.  Normally, I write Creo product collateral, but when Cat and Jaime Lee gave me the chance to get to know a community member, I grabbed it.   The first community member in our Creo Community spotlight series is Thom Braxton who goes by the handle @tbraxton.  He is most active on the Creo Parametric 3D Part & Assembly Design Forum.   Thom has been a member of the PTC/USER industrial design and surfacing technical committee  through 2002 and got involved again in 2019 to have the chance to influence Creo’s development. This TC is responsible for core surfacing, ISDX, Freestyle and ReStyle tools.  He currently maintains the list of open issues for core surfacing functionality.   Above, Thom enjoys his favorite hobby – cycling.  Grand Traverse trail in Vail, CO   The first non-Creo thing to know about @tbraxton is that he’s a native Floridian.  He swears you can get used to the heat but not the humidity.  Not surprisingly he enjoys the outdoors whether it’s the earth or the ocean.  One caveat: Assume any body of water has a gator in it. “Alligators invade any body of water they can swim in. There are tons of them!”    He started using Creo back in the mid-90s in its Pro/Engineer days.  He enjoys turning to the Community when he’s got a detailed technical question.  “We’ve got community members who are invaluable resources and happy to respond to questions.”     Professionally, he used to run R&D groups at Motorola – thus the magazine cover highlighting his article ‘Mapping Your Good Intentions’.  He now works as a consultant on products from medical devices to sporting goods to consumer electronics and even high-end chronometers.    A good day for him is working with people who are not technical by nature to define a problem to be solved – and then working to solve that novel technical problem. “I love the flexibility and the range of projects.  I’d get bored quickly if I were working on the same thing for my entire career.”   He continues to provide engineering and design support to a leading manufacturer of respiratory personal protective equipment (PPE). It is satisfying to see product designed and manufactured in the USA being used to fight the effects of COVID-19 globally.  Pro/E and Creo were integral to the development and manufacturing of these products.   On his wish list?  Economical 3D metal printing suitable for mass market production parts. He said Motorola had one of the first 3D printers sold commercially in the early 90s and so he had the chance to work with the technology just out of college.  “It’s evolved. It’s cool – but it’s not quite there for production parts in most applications.”           

Hello everyone and welcome to blog post #7 in this multibody blog series. This post also attempts to answer another body parameter related question: How can I display, use or call-out a body parameter? If you want to call out a body parameter then you have to use the syntax as explained in the Creo help here.   &<param_name>:BID_<body_feature_ID> Or &<param_name>:BID_<body_userdefined_name>   Note: For bodies that have the default name (body 1, body 2, etc) you cannot use the system-defined default body name but you have to use the body’s Feature ID. (The reason is that the system-defined names such as body 1, body 2, etc are localized and translated into other languages and therefore not representing stable references across languages.)   Example: Let’s assume we have 2 bodies. Here their names and parameters list.     To call out the parameter “MY_BODY_INFO” for both bodies, we can now use the following for body 1 &MY_BODY_INFO:BID_-5778   And one of the following options for the WHEEL body (which has id 6105) &MY_BODY_INFO:BID_6105 &MY_BODY_INFO:BID_WHEEL   So if you create a note and enter: You will see the resulting note text being: I think we have a preference of using body names. Therefore the system automatically tries to convert the body IDs to body names where possible. So when you go back to the call-out symbol definition, you will see it being changed to   Thanks for reading. I hope it was informative.   Back to Creo 7.0 Multibody Home: Start Here!   Enjoy!....Martin

At LiveWorx this year, we announced a partnership with ANSYS and a new technology never before available for parametric modeling: Live Simulation!   Creo Simulation Live will provide real-time simulation from within your 3D CAD modeler as you work. If you didn't get to see the live demo on the LiveWorx show floor (it was pretty crowded at times), we've got your front row seat in this short video. Watch:     To keep up with announcements about Creo Simulation Live and other CAD and PTC Mathcad news, sign up for the PTC Express Newsletter.