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| File |
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| Open |
Opens a file.
MoI supports reading in curve and surface data from 3DM, IGES, STEP, and SAT files. 2D curves can be opened from PDF and AI files, and curves and drafting entities like lines, circles, and arcs can be opened from DXF files.
3DM is considered the "native" file format that supports all MoI data.
A right click on the Open button will perform an Open template operation instead.
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| Save As |
Saves a file to a new file name.
Curves and surfaces can be saved to 3DM, IGES, STEP, and SAT formats. A hidden line drawing
can be saved to the PDF, AI, or DXF formats for printing or transfer to 2D illustration or 2D CAD programs.
Polygon mesh data can be saved to OBJ, STL, 3DS, LWO, FBX, and SKP formats.
When saving to a polygon mesh format, the Meshing options dialog will be shown to allow adjusting the mesh density.
When saving to a 2D drawing format, the Hidden line options dialog will be shown.
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| New |
Deletes all current model content and resets the current file name to blank.
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| Import |
Import is similar to Open, except the data from the chosen file will
be added to the current model instead of replacing the current model.
This could also be described as "Merge" or "Combine" files.
A right click on the Import button will perform an Import part operation which will include an additional step for positioning the imported objects.
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| Export |
Export is similar to Save As, except only the selected objects are written to the file.
This could also be described as "Export selected".
Open template is performed by right-clicking on the Open button.
When you open a file as a template file, the current file name will remain blank so that it is not so easy to save over top of the template file itself.
If you want to have a template file loaded at every startup of MoI (for example to control the default set of styles or view settings or any other properties stored in files), that can be specified under Options > General > Template file.
Import part is available by right-clicking on the Import button.
This will merge the chosen file with the current model but has an additional step for adjusting the orientation of the imported part, for example to align it to be perpendicular to an existing surface.
The base origin of the part is defined by the CPlane that was set in the saved file, or the world origin if no custom CPlane had been set.
For more information on how the orient step works, see Orientation picker.
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| Save |
Saves the model using the current file name.
Also see Incremental save for a way to save using incremented version numbers (file01.3dm, file02.3dm, file03.3dm, etc...)
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| Undo |
Reverses the most recent action.
Undo is normally used to reverse edits to objects, but it can also be used
to restore the previous selection or visibility state. So for example, if you
are building up a selection and accidentally click somewhere and mess it up,
use Undo to get your selection back. Selection undo only works for one step back,
after that further undos will switch to undoing geometry edits.
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| Redo |
Reapplies the last action that was undone.
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| Delete |
Deletes or removes an object, or certain portions of an object depending on the selection.
If a whole object is selected, that entire object will be deleted.
If faces of a solid are selected, those faces will be removed.
Control points of a curve can be removed with this command.
If all the edges of a trimming boundary (for example, a hole trimmed in a surface) are selected, then delete can be used to remove that trimming boundary and restore the original underlying surface. This is sometimes referred to as "untrimming".
| Split / 3D / Top / Front / Right |
These tabs on the bottom toolbar control the viewport configuration, switching between the split view or a maximized single view.
Clicking a second time on the Top, Front, or Right tabs will toggle back and forth between the reversed views (Bottom, Back, Left).
You can also right click on an ortho view tab to reverse it.
These controls in the middle of the bottom toolbar allow for viewing and entering exact numeric data when picking points during a drawing command.
The x,y,z edit box shows the coordinates of the current point under the mouse.
The distance edit box shows the distance between the previous picked point and the current point,
and the angle box shows the angle of the line formed between the previous picked point and the current point.
Distance constraint can be activated by entering a value in the distance edit box. This will force the next point to be
the given distance away from the previous point. This can be used for example when drawing a line to
restrict the length of the line to a certain value while allowing it to be oriented freely.
Angle constraint can be activated by entering a value in the angle edit box. This will force the next point to snap
to the given angle from the previous point.
If you want to type in an x,y,z coordinate using the keyboard, it is usually not necessary to
actually click in the xyz box before typing. Just start typing and your keystrokes will go there automatically.
The x,y,z edit box allows point entry using several different forms:
x,y,z - 3 numbers separated by commas or spaces will use that x,y,z point in world coordinates, or in cplane coordinates when a global
cplane has been set.
x,y - 2 numbers will use z as 0
0 - A single 0 character can be used as a shortcut for the origin (0,0,0).
rx,y,z or rx,y - prefix a 3D or 2D coordinate with "r" to make the new point relative to the previous picked point. This can also be used for the first point pick as well, where it will set up an offset distance from the point under the mouse.
wx,y,z or wx,yz or w0 - prefix a coordinate with "w" for it to be taken in world coordinates instead of in the current cplane coordinate system, when a global
cplane has been set.
number - a single number other than 0 activates distance constraint, so you can easily type in a distance constraint without needing to click on the distance box.
<number - a < symbol followed by a number activates angle constraint.
dist<angle a distance value followed by a < symbol followed by an angle (for example, 4<45) will plot a polar coordinate relative to the previous point. This can be prefixed with "w" to make the polar coordinate relative to the origin.
The XYZ field can also be used as a mini command line entry for typing in commands.
To use it in this way, press the Tab key first to put keyboard focus into
this control, then type a name and push Enter. That will launch any command of that
name, or select any named objects that match that name. For named object selection
you can also include wildcard characters, for example if you have some objects named
"upper deck" and "lower deck", you can type in *deck to select both of them.
Clicking on this button allows toggling grid snap on or off. The button will show with an orange highlight when grid snap is enabled.
The size of the grid can be changed under Options > Grid, or on the popup menu that can be launched by clicking the arrow that appears when you move the mouse over this button.
Clicking on this button toggles straight snap on or off. The button will show with an orange highlight when straight snap is enabled.
Different options for straight snap can be set under Options > Snaps. By default the snap angle is
set to 90 degrees, and the default can be changed under options. It is also possible to use Angle constraint
to define a custom snap angle that stays in effect for just one pick, see XYZ / Distance / Angle above.
Snapping to too many angles by default can get in the way of doing freeform drawing, so it can be a
good idea to leave the default to 90 and use Angle constraint when necessary to get other angles.
Clicking on this button toggles object snap on or off. The button will show with an orange highlight when object snap is enabled.
When you move over this button, an arrow will appear above it, and you can use that to show a menu
that allows enabling or disabling specific types of object snaps. It is recommended to leave all
the snap types enabled, and instead disable or enable Object Snap completely by clicking on the main button for it.
You can also hold down the Alt key when picking points to temporarily suppress object snaps.
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| Options |
Opens the Options dialog which allows for changing various options for how MoI works.
Also see Shortcut keys
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| Help |
Launches the help file. When moving over the help button, you can use the arrow that appears above it to open the About dialog to show version information.
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| Full Screen |
This allows for MoI to switch back and forth from full screen mode (Windows version only). When full screen mode
is enabled, MoI's window will expand past the Windows system task bar to give you a larger
working area. This button only appears when MoI's window is maximized.
Clicking on this button will hide or show the Scene Browser pane when the browser is in Adjacent or Opposite position modes.
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