PRIME MOTIONThe design tree
The design tree lists everything in the design. Open it from the menu at the upper left of Design while a design is open; the menu that shows the library when no design is open shows the tree when one is.
What is in it
The top row is the design's root component, named after the design. Under it, in order:
| Folder | Holds |
|---|---|
| Origin | The origin point O, the axes X, Y, Z and the planes XY, XZ, YZ |
| Canvases | Pictures and imported files placed on sketch planes, and the originals of imported STEP and STL files |
| Sketches | Every sketch |
| Construction | Planes, Axes and Points you made |
| Bodies | Every solid or surface body |
A component can hold child components, each with the same folders; see Components and assembly. Below a divider, Operations holds Manufacturing's tool runs and toolpaths, and Exports the programs you posted.
Showing and hiding
The eye on a row shows or hides it: a folder, a sketch, a body, a plane, a canvas, an origin element or a child component. Hiding never deletes. The folder eye hides the whole folder while remembering which rows inside were already hidden.
Prime Motion hides some things for you: the bodies of the component while you sketch, and a sketch once a feature has used it. Their eyes bring them back.
Working with rows
- Long-press a name to rename it in place.
- Double-tap a sketch to edit it, a construction plane to edit it, or a canvas to open its properties.
- + on a component adds a child component; + on Sketches starts a new sketch.
- ⋮ opens the row's menu:
| Row | Menu |
|---|---|
| Body | Export… (see Exporting bodies), Delete |
| Sketch | Edit, Duplicate, Unrestricted / Locked / Frozen, Redefine Sketch Plane, Delete |
| Construction plane | Edit, Delete |
| Imported STEP or STL original | Re-derive…, Edit, Delete |
| Canvas | Edit, Delete |
| Axis, point, child component | Delete |
| Tool run, operation | Edit, Simulate, Regenerate, Delete; see Manufacturing |
Locked and Frozen sketches
- Unrestricted — the normal state.
- Locked — your edits are refused, so a finished sketch is not changed by accident. A lock badge marks it.
- Frozen — its shape cannot change at all, even through a parameter. A snowflake badge marks it.
When a reference breaks
If a sketch sat on a face that no longer exists, because an earlier feature changed, its menu offers Repair face reference (pick the replacement face) and Re-home to XY (move the sketch to the XY plane). A body whose feature lost its face reference offers Repair face reference too.
Deleting safely
Delete asks first, and says exactly what goes with it: This will remove "Sketch 2" and 1 features, 1 solid bodies. Deleting something that others depend on removes them too, so read the count. Cancel keeps everything.
Most deletes say You can undo this.; Undo brings everything back. Deleting an export says This cannot be undone.