REPORTER 22.1

Using Capture to Create a D3PLOT Object

Using Capture to create a D3PLOT object

The easiest way to create a D3PLOT object is to use the Capture... command. If you press the button, REPORTER starts D3PLOT for you if it is not already linked. You can now open the model(s) and do whatever operations you want inside D3PLOT such as rotating, zooming, blanking, selecting the state, setting colours, and so on. Variables can be defined interactively by pressing the Show Variables button in the REPORTER panel in D3PLOT .

Once you are happy with the image and variables you have in D3PLOT , press the Capture button on the top bar of the target window. D3PLOT will automatically create a settings file, a properties file, a command file and a variables file for the current image and add them to the D3PLOT item in REPORTER . These are embedded in the template so you do not have to worry about packaging them with your template file.

The Capture tool can also be used to produce animated content in MP4 and GIF formats, as well as 3D GLB models. These can be accessed by right-clicking on the Capture button and selecting the Movie, GIF, or GLB options respectively.

All settings used when capturing a GIF or Movie (e.g. frame rate, image quality, state selection) will be taken from the Movies tab of the Images / Media Export panel in D3PLOT .

Some settings used when capturing GLB content (e.g. frame rate, state selection) will be taken from the D3PLOT Viewer tab of the Images / Media Export panel in D3PLOT. However, the File Format (compression) and Output (animation) settings are handled directly by the Capture dropdown menu.

All four of the GLB options produce content that is viewable by D3PLOT Viewer, but GLB (Current frame, Uncompressed) is the only option that is currently suitable for export to PowerPoint. Microsoft PowerPoint supports this uncompressed format in PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 or in PowerPoint 2019 or later.

From version 17.0 onwards, D3PLOT is linked to REPORTER so you can continue working with both programs open. In earlier versions (and if capturing items using the old method), you would need to return to REPORTER using the D3PLOT File menu and select => (which replaces the normal Exit command).

See REPORTER Integration for more tips about how to make the most of D3PLOT linked to REPORTER .

Once a D3PLOT item has been captured, the Job files textbox reflects the models used in the capture. See Working with Variables for more information about how to make your D3PLOT item work for different models.

REPORTER automatically assigns an Image file name for you. If required you can change this to whatever name you require. Note that the format of the file is taken from the extension you provide. By default D3PLOT will return a PNG (for Image type), a GIF, an MP4 (for Movie type), or a GLB to REPORTER . For the Image type, other valid file extensions include .jpg, .bmp, .gif, and .tif. If you wanted to create an image matching one of these formats, change the extension in the textbox accordingly.

The Command file is greyed out as it has been automatically created by D3PLOT and does not need any editing. However, if you wanted to add some extra dialogue commands to be done in D3PLOT when generating the object you can use the Edit... button next to the Command File textbox to add/edit them.

You can also specify two JavaScript scripts to run when generating the D3PLOT object; a Pre JavaScript and a 'normal' JavaScript . To explain why there are two possible JavaScript scripts we need to consider the order that D3PLOT uses when creating the image. It is:

Read the ptf files
Run Pre JavaScript (if defined)
Read properties and settings files stored in REPORTER template
Run any extra Command file dialogue commands from REPORTER (if defined).
Run the 'normal' JavaScript (if defined)
Read external data file (if defined)

For virtually all cases the 'normal' JavaScript file in step 5 will do what you want. However if you use a JavaScript to create a user defined data component then this must be run before the properties and settings files are read (as that is where the data component for the plot is stored). In this case a Pre JavaScript has to be used.

If you want to change your capture or its associated variables you can press Reload capture... again at any time. D3PLOT will start again and restore the current attributes you have set. You can make any changes that you want before pressing the Capture button as before. The old settings file, properties files and variables file will be overwritten.

As of REPORTER 21.0, D3PLOT items have two extra options: pre-blank the D3PLOT model before reading the properties file, and ignore elements when reading the properties file. These options are particularly useful when you want consistent captures when you reload the capture or generate the item on a model with parts/elements that have been added or re-numbered. These options are originally preferences, and still are (see App items), but are now also per-item options. These options will be saved to the report or template which will ensure similar captures when the report or template is shared with users that do not have the corresponding preferences set. If you open a version 21 and above template or report, the preferences are ignored and the per-item options are honoured. If you open a version 20.1 and below template or report, the preferences are only honoured as long as none of the two options are selected in the D3PLOT dialog.

Here is an example of using these options:


Original capture.	Capture without the pre-blanking option when the item is reloaded/generated with the model with additional car door parts.	Capture with the pre-blanking option when the item is reloaded/generated with the model with additional car door parts. Similar capture obtained to the original capture.

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