Mesh colors

When interrogating large or complex models, you can quickly identify by color which entities share the same mesh, mesh collector, or physical or material properties, as well as which elements or element faces belong to a group, multiple groups, or no group. This can help you detect errors in physical or material property assignments, as well as understand how the model is set up for analysis.

In the standard view of the Simulation Navigator, the Color column shows the colors assigned to meshes and groups of elements or element faces. Physical property colors are shown in the physical properties view, and material property colors are shown in the material view.

Setting the colors

The default color to use for the meshes in each mesh collector is determined by the Simulation→Pre/Post→Mesh Display page in the Customer Defaults dialog box (File→Utilities→Customer Defaults). For example, if you create several 2D meshes using the same mesh collector, they all use the same default color.

You can optionally display each mesh in a different color. The number and sequence of colors to use are determined by the Simulation→Pre/Post→Model Display page. For example, on the Mesh Color Basis tab, you might limit the number of mesh colors to five, and specify each color in the sequence. As you create your meshes, each is assigned the next color in the sequence. However, these colors do not appear in the graphics window until you apply them by selecting Mesh from the Color Basis list in Model Colors tab in the Model Display dialog box (Home tab→Utilities group→More list→Model Display Preferences). In addition, for many of the color basis options, the displayed colors are temporary unless you click Set Mesh Colors in the Model Display dialog box.

You can also use the Model Display page in the Customer Defaults dialog box to define the number and sequence of colors to use for mesh collectors, physical and material properties, and groups of elements and element faces. You can then select the appropriate option in the Model Display dialog box to show them. For example, when you select Material Property Table from the Color Basis list, all elements that reference the same material in the material property table appear in the same color.

		Colors based on mesh collectors
		Colors based on physical property tables
		Colors based on material property tables

Setting the colors for an assembly FEM

Meshes in an assembly FEM have their own colors, which are saved in the .afm file. Changing the mesh color for an individual FEM file does not change the color of the occurrence of that FEM in the assembly FEM. To update all meshes and mesh collectors in an assembly FEM to reflect their component FEM colors, select FEM Mesh Color from the Color Basis list in the Model Display dialog box. To save the colors in the assembly FEM, click Set Mesh Colors.

Modifying the colors

You can override the default colors for various entities. For example, you can change the color of an individual mesh by double-clicking the color that appears in the Color column in the Simulation Navigator. You can change the color of all of the meshes in a particular mesh collector by right-clicking the mesh collector in the Simulation Navigator and choosing Edit Display.

Where do I find it?

Application	Pre/Post
Command Finder	Customer Defaults Model Display Preferences

How do I

Edit the attributes for multiple selected entities

Learn more

Identifying objects by color

Look up more details

Model Display dialog box

Quick links

Command reference

Pre/Post video examples

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Mesh colors, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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