Triad

Overview

A Triad is a 3D scene that belongs to a project. Put a tank from a CTD, piping from a CPD, PCF or CAESAR II file, and 3D files from other programs into it, each at the position you choose, and look at them together.

• The Selection tree lists every part; the Properties window shows what is known about the one you click.
• Everything is copied into the Triad: the original documents are not changed, and the people you share with need no access to them.
• Triad is for looking. Tanks and piping keep their real size and stand upright.

The full guide is in the User Manual chapter.

Access & the Add-on

• Triad is an add-on, separate from the Free, Paid Solo, E, EP and EPC plans. The EngCoSuite team switches it on for a person or a whole organisation; until then it does not appear in your menus. Contact us to have it enabled.
• Editing needs the add-on and the right to edit the project. Looking is open to everyone who can open the Triad: the project team, the organisation admin and anyone you send a link to. Their hiding and colours are kept for themselves only.

Getting Started

1. On the project page click the + next to Triad and give it a name and description.
2. Open it (or use Deliverables → Triad), then click Add content in the bar on the left.
3. Pick a CTD or CPD from the From your projects tab, or use the Import a file tab. Choose where to put it, then Save.

Adding Files

• From your projects: a frozen copy of a CTD or CPD. When the original is saved again, a yellow i offers to update the copy.
• Imports: PCF and CAESAR II (.cii) piping, and STL, DXF, STEP (.stp, .step), IFC, DWG, IGES (.igs, .iges), OBJ and glTF (.glb, .gltf). The import dialog asks the file's units, whether its vertical axis is Y, and where to put it (X, Y, Z in millimetres, and which point of the model goes there).
• Files are read in your browser (a DWG is converted to DXF on our server, and not kept). The model is copied into the Triad; about 34 MB of 3D geometry is the most one file can take.
• A file whose name is already used gets _1, _2 and so on, whatever its type.

Placing, Turning & Scaling

Select a file's top row in the tree. In Properties, under Location:

• Change the name and the position X, Y, Z.
• For imported 3D files, set the rotation about X, Y and Z and the scale (Keep proportions is on by default); Reset turn and scale undoes it.
• The three icon buttons: Reset turn and scale, Place the file again (adds another copy beside it) and Remove (takes one out).

Looking Around & Hiding

• Measure: the ruler in the bar. Click two points (a green dot is a corner) to see the distance and its X, Y and Z parts in millimetres; Esc finishes. Measurements are not saved.
• Sections: the box-with-a-cut icon cuts away what is outside a box. Each axis has a from and a to limit: tick one and type a position in mm or drag the slider; Around selection puts the box round the selected parts. One limit alone is a cutting plane. It opens as a tab next to Properties. Cut parts cannot be picked; a viewpoint keeps the box; it is not saved with the model.
• Panel widths: drag the edge of the Selection tree or the right-hand panel to change its width; double-click the edge for the usual width. It is remembered in your browser.
• Search: the box above the Selection tree finds parts by name or by any property. Type several words to narrow it; Select them selects everything found.
• Viewpoints: the camera icon in the bar opens the Viewpoints tab next to Properties, with the saved views of the model. Use the speech bubble under a viewpoint to ask or answer a question about that place; anyone signed in who can open the Triad can comment. The Comments tab lists every comment in one place. Click one to go there. Editors save the current view, update, rename and delete them, and save the model to keep the change.
• Left button rotates, right button pans, the wheel zooms towards the pointer. The orange sphere is the point the model turns about. Double-click zooms to the selection.
• Orthographic / Perspective: the cube in the bar. Orthographic (button blue) shows no perspective: parallel lines stay parallel and a length looks the same wherever it is. A saved viewpoint remembers the view it was taken in.
• Plan, N, S, E, W: the buttons in the corner of the 3D view turn it to a plan (from above) or an elevation from the north, south, east or west (the +Y, -Y, +X and -X sides of the model), orthographic, keeping what you are looking at.
• Ctrl adds to the selection, Shift selects a range. Right-click (or press and hold): Hide selected, Hide unselected, Hide others, Show all, Zoom to selection.
• The colour box on a row colours it and everything below it. In a big model the smallest parts are left out while you move, and come back when you stop.

Saving & Sharing

• Save in the bar. A Saving the model window stays up until it is done (at least a second); a Triad left unsaved for 10 minutes asks whether to save.
• Send for viewing emails a view-only link (1 to 90 days, 7 by default). A Triad can also go in a transmittal as a View link.
• New revision copies the Triad to the next revision with a description; older revisions are read-only. Workflows and review comments are not available for a Triad.

Troubleshooting

• An import message names the file and the kind of problem: the file (empty, unreadable), its contents (not what its extension says, or a kind that is not supported), the reader (the file is probably damaged), the size (too big for the browser or over the limit) or the server (DWG conversion).
• The file reader could not run: reload the page with Ctrl+F5; the page was older than the files on the server.
• Quote the Technical detail line if you contact support.

FAQ

Does Triad change my CTD or CPD?

No: it takes a copy.

Can my client open a Triad?

Yes, through a view-only link or a transmittal's View link, at the revision that was sent.

Why is my Advance Steel DWG nearly empty?

The beams are Advance Steel's own objects and the DWG holds no drawing data for them. Import its IFC export (its CIS/2 export has the members but no shapes either).