Component patterns and mirrors

A row of identical parts is placed by a pattern, not by copying.

Four posts at a pitch of 22 mm — one timeline row, not four insertions by hand.
Four posts at a pitch of 22 mm — one timeline row, not four insertions by hand.

Linear pattern of components

  1. Select a part and press Linear pattern of components — or press the button and click the part.
  2. In the bar above: Copies and Direction — X, Y or Z. For a grid tick 2nd dir. (and on top of it 3rd dir.) — each with its own count of copies and axis.
  3. The Pitch of each direction goes into the fields at the geometry. Enter applies, Esc cancels.

Circular pattern of components

  1. Select a part and press Circular pattern of components.
  2. In the bar: Copies and Axis. By default the axis is the assembly's Z; with the axis button pick a datum axis, a straight edge, a cylindrical face or two points in turn. An axis taken from a part follows it on an edit.
  3. Full circle spreads the copies round the whole circle; without the tick the angle of a sector appears at the geometry. Enter applies.

One row instead of a handful of copies

A pattern is one row of the assembly timeline: the count and the pitch are edited in one place (a double-click on the row), and a delete removes all the copies at once. Deleting one copy removes the whole pattern: the pattern leads its place, it does not live on its own. Editing the source part changes all the copies.

Mirrored copy

Press Mirrored copy, pick a part or a subassembly and point at a plane — XY, XZ, YZ, a datum plane or a face. A mirrored copy appears: a left hand out of a right one. It can be moved by its gizmo; its shape follows the source — editing the original carries over to the reflection.

Interference check →