cross-sections | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
To fully determine the behaviour of members, Sfere2 requires they have their material property (see the previous chapter 'materials') and their cross-section property set. creating cross-sections The creation and application of cross-sections is almost identical to the creation and application of materials. Selecting a member's cross-section can be done using the toolbar. But before cross-sections can be applied they have to be created and set appropriatly. This is done using the "Cross-section"-page on the Main Console.
adding a cross-section to the list To create a new cross-section, simply click on the "New"-button at the top-left. This will add an item to the list. This item is automatically set to "rename" so a more appropriate name can be entered.
After entering an appropriate name, edit the material properties so they best reflect the needed material. applying materials to members For applying a material to certain members, the "Cross-section Property"-toolbar ( Tools > Toolbars > Properties > Cross-sections  ) can be used.
seeing the cross-sections Depending on the detail-level of the view ( View > Settings > Detail Level > ...  ) the members are drawn giving feedback on the cross-section that is applied to them.
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![]() from left to right: detail level: Low, Medium, High and Maximum. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: the detail level also has an impact on the visual quality of non-rigid joints. the default shape If members have no cross-section applied to them, they will be drawn using the default shape. Because Sfere2 can work with any dimension-scale in mind, there is the option to set the visual size of all "scaleless" items, this affects the visual size of the joints and the size of the default cross-section shape. size scaleless To edit the size of the scaleless items, simply open the "Size Scaleless"-interface by selecting View > Settings > Size Scaleless...  .
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