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Chapter 14. Sectioning
Sectioning allows you to make up to 6 sectional cuts in any plane while still being able to navigate around
the scene, enabling you to see inside models without hiding any item. Section planes are stored inside
viewpoints and so can also be used within animations to show a dynamically sectioned model. See
Section 13.3, “ The Viewpoints Control Bar ” for more information on viewpoints and Section 15.1, “
Creating Animations ” for more information on animations.
Slices can also be created using two opposing section planes and linking them. In this way you can move
a slice through the scene in real time and can again link this to animations and viewpoints.
14.1. Sectioning a model
There are up to 6 section planes enabled at one time, but there is only one that is active. The section
plane that is active is numbered in the drop down box. However, you can link section planes together to
form slices.
The Sectioning toolbar is shown above. To open it,
• Go to View, Control Bars, Sectioning
or
• Click Sectioning on the Workspace toolbar.
Manipulating the active section plane
1. Choose the plane that you wish to manipulate using the numbered drop down. In this drop down,
there will always be one more than the number of enabled section planes in the scene, up to a
maximum of 6.
2. Set the Step Size by clicking on the step size button. This brings up a dialog box allowing a
Step Size to be enabled and set to a user-definable size. This size is then used when moving the
section planes. If the Step Size is disabled, the section planes will move at percentage intervals.
3. Switch this plane on or off by clicking the section toggle button.
4. Once switched on, choose one of the 7 planes that this section plane will cut. You have the choice of
• Align Viewpoint This will align the plane parallel with the current viewpoint.
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