Corel DESIGNER® Technical Suite X4 has been updated with Service Pack 1 as Gérard already pointed out in his blog.

I want to direct your attention to a specific enhancement in this Service Pack: The Right Hemisphere® application Deep Exploration™ CE that has been updated to version 5.7.3 .

A major new feature in this Deep Exploration CE release is support for Solids when importing from 3D CAD systems. Solid Geometry support enables amazing results when creating technical illustrations from 3D source files with the new Deep Exploration CE version and Corel DESIGNER X4!
The "Send to Corel DESIGNER" dialog in Deep Exploration CE has been enhanced to create bezier curves on vector output.

What's the benefit of that bezier curve output?

  • Smooth curves (which means improved quality of the illustration)
  • Smaller vector files (which means increased processing speed when working with the illustration)
  • Editing of the vector illustration becomes easier

Here's a sample (CATIA V5 source file) of the illustration output as it can be created automatically (without manual rework) with Deep Exploration CE 5.7.3 and Corel DESIGNER X4 SP1:

 

Corel DESIGNER X4 SP1 with Deep Exploration CE 5.7:

Straight line segments to display curves:
>> 44 segments to display pseudo curve

Bezier curve output with Deep Exploration 5.7.3 CE and optimization in Corel DESIGNER X4:
>> Smooth curve, 4 nodes only

In order to fully exploit those benefits with Corel DESIGNER X4 SP1 you can use a collection of small macros* that further optimize the vector illustration output from Deep Exploration CE.
You can download the 3DImportOpt.zip* archive that includes all necessary files.

  • 3DImportOpt.gms: Macro file to be copied to the Corel DESIGNER macro folder (C:\Program Files\Corel\Corel DESIGNER Technical Suite X4\Designer\GMS)
  • 3DImportOpt_EN.xslt: english workspace file that contains the "3D Import Optimization" tool bar; to be imported to a Corel DESIGNER X4 workspace using the Tools > Options... > Workspace > Import... feature
  • 3DImportOpt_DE.xslt and 3DImportOpt_FR.xslt: corresponding german and french workspace files;
    German/ Deutsch: Import 3DImportOpt_DE.xslt in Corel DESIGNER X4 using Extras > Optionen... > Arbeitsbereich > Importieren...
    French/ Français: Import 3DImportOpt_FR.xslt in Corel DESIGNER X4 using Outils > Options... > Espace de travail > Importer...

There are 4 buttons in the "3D Import Optimization" tool bar.

The first 2 buttons optimize the file structure and curves of a vector illustration imported from Deep Exploration 5.7.3 CE:

  1. "Optimize object structure"
    3D sourced vector illustrations are inserted into Corel DESIGNER X4 as SVG files. There is certain SVG data which is usually not required for further processing of the imported illustration. The macro removes this unused data to simplify access to the illustration file as a group of shapes. The remaining imported group contains sub groups for the line drawing and (when used on vector output in Deep Exploration CE) the vector fill.
  2. "Optimize curves"
    Corel DESIGNER X4 includes a curve editing feature for reducing the number of nodes in a curve without modifying the shape (within a given tolerance).
    Another unique Corel DESIGNER feature is the "Join curves" option that you can use to join curves which have endpoints close enough.
    Using this macro the whole (selected) imported vector illustration will be optimized by joining curves within an "endpoint tolerance" distance, thus reducing the number of curves.
    The number of nodes of all curves will then be reduced as much as possible without changing the shape of the curves.
    As a result the drawing is streamlined to a minimum number of curves with as few nodes as possible.

    These optimization steps do not harm the object structure that preserves the original component structure of the 3D source file!
  3. "Select outlines"
    When creating a vector illustration from a 3D view in Deep Exploration CE you can select from various "Thick/Thinning methods". Boundary lines are usually set to thicker line width than the other visible lines (to highlight the boundaries in the 3D view). Once sent to Corel DESIGNER as a vector drawing those boundary lines are part of component groups together with the thin "normal" lines. Changing the style of the boundaries and/or lines altogether can be challenging as selecting them across component groups isn't that easy.
    This macro selects all curves that match the line width of a selected sample curve so that a new style (width, color, line type) can be applied to all lines or boundaries in an imported 3D view with one click.
  4. "Reduce nodes"
    This macro is part of (2.) from above. The node reduction can be applied separately from the line join operation using this button.

*Please note: There is no technical support from Corel for these macros! They are provided as is without any warranty or support.

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