By default, Trimble Connect Visualizer attempts to map the materials used in Tekla Structures to the material types used in the Trimble Connect Visualizer material catalog. You can also set material type mappings manually to
define how you want materials to look in Trimble Connect Visualizer. If necessary, you can override the materials of particular model objects,
and use another material instead.
You can currently map the
Tekla Structures materials to the following pre-defined material types in
Trimble Connect Visualizer:
- Asphalt
- Concrete
- Dark gravel
- Default: renders objects with white matte material
- Glass
- Grass
- Ground
- Light Gravel
- Steel
- Timber
- Water
Pre-defined materials and their color and transparency information are read from
the MaterialTypes.ini file saved in the
..\nt\bin\TrimbleConnectVisualizer\TrimbleConnectVisualizer_Data\StreamingAssets
folder.
You can also map to your own
user-defined materials. For more information, see Create and modify user-defined materials.
In Trimble Connect Visualizer, you can currently only render the material type of objects, not
their material finish. This means that paints or other finishes are not visible
in Trimble Connect Visualizer.
To set the material type mappings
used in Trimble Connect Visualizer:
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On the View tab in Tekla Structures, click the arrow on the right side of Visualize.
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On the menu, select
Visualizer
material type mapping.
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In the lists on the right
side of the related Tekla Structures materials, select the Trimble Connect Visualizer material types that you want to map to.
Selecting the
blank option renders the color of the Tekla Structures class as a material that is similar to plastic. The blank option can
be useful if you need to show the class colors to communicate an aspect
of the structural design.
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To override the Tekla Structures material of particular model objects in Trimble Connect Visualizer:
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In the model, select
the objects.
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In the
Override Visualizer materials of selected
objects list, select the material that you want to use
for visualizing the selected objects.
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Click
Set.
The selected override
material is stored to the model objects' VISUALIZER_MATERIAL user-defined attribute, which you can see
by inquiring the object
properties.
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Click OK to update the material type mapping.
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To save the material type
mapping as an XML file, do either of the following:
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To
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Do this
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Save the material mapping to the model folder
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The material type mapping is saved in the model
folder under the \attributes folder. The file name is
VisualizerMaterials.tcv11.
The material type mapping is saved for all users
of the model, including the users that edit the
model using Tekla Model Sharing or the multi-user mode.
Note:
To avoid issues, do not modify the colors in
the VisualizerMaterials.tcv11 file
manually.
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Save the material mapping to local application
data
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When Tekla Structures asks you if you want to save the material
mapping to the model, click No.
The material type mapping is saved in the
\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Trimble\Tekla
Structures\<version>\Trimble Connect
Visualizer folder. The file name is
VisualizerMaterials.tcv11.
The material type mapping now applies to all
projects that you are working on.
Note:
To avoid issues, do not modify the colors in
the VisualizerMaterials.tcv11 file
manually.
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