Change Co-ordinate Tools

The ‘Modify Geometry> Change Co-ordinates Tools’ sub menu provides a collection of geometry editing functions which all operate by changing the co-ordinates of the analytical node points in one way or another. When the co-ordinate of a node point is changed, all analytical members which connect to that node point are also changed in geometry. This in turn will change the geometry of the physical members.

Caution! – care must be taken when using these tools to manipulate geometry, since a change in nodal ordinates might affect the straightness of a physical member or integrity of a curved member. Where a physical member is no longer straight, it is automatically split into separate straight physical members.

Nodal Selection

In all of the Change Co-ordinate Tools functions, there is a common method/interface for selecting node points.

To ensure that you are in nodal selection mode, click on the blue ‘Nodes to [text specific to function]’ button. The text box below the button will turn cyan to indicate that this is the active text box for graphical input.

Node points are then selected graphically in an add/remove and single/window select fashion as described.

The selected node points are drawn/highlighted graphically in red and the node numbers selected are listed in the text box.

The ‘Reset’ button will clear the current selections.

The ‘Add Group’ button allows a range of consecutively numbered nodes to be selected by entering the start and end node number, then clicking the ‘Add’ button to perform the selection. This feature has limited use and is marked to be deprecated in future versions (2018 at time of writing).

Shift XYZ

Shift XYZ moves analytical node points by translationally shifting them.

Use of the Move Entity shift function is highly recommended over the Shift XYZ function. The Move Entity function operates by moving structural entities and is much more flexible and powerful than the Shift XYZ function.

This feature is marked to be deprecated in future versions (2018 at time of writing).

When the ‘Keep Physical Member Straight’ check box setting is on and the ends of a physical member are shifted it may cause the member to be out of straight, then the software attempts to adjust the geometry of other connected nodes and members to preserve the straightness.

The ‘Along Member’ and ‘Length’ inputs, provide a means by which to automatically enter Shift X, Y and Z values, calculated on the basis of the selected member direction and distance specified. The ‘Along Member’ can be specified by manually entering the member number, or by clicking the ‘Along Member’ button, then graphically picking a member. As the length/member is changed you will notice the Shift X, Y and Z values change also.

To shift analytical node points

1.Click on the ‘Nodes to Shift’ to ensure you are in the nodal select mode

2.Graphically select the nodes

3.Enter the shift amount in the global X, Y and Z directions, or use the ‘Along member’ and ‘Length’ inputs to auto complete these inputs, and/or

4.Specify a ‘Move Node’ and ‘To Node’, by either manually enter the node number, or clicking on the ‘Move Node’ / ‘To Node’ buttons, then graphically selecting the node. Note that when you graphically select the Move Node, you can immediately graphically select the To Node as the software will have automatically moved to this input. Using the Mode Node/To Node inputs, the software calculates the relative shift between the two points and applies this in addition to any values entered in the Shift X, Y and Z boxes. Hence these nodes can be any nodes in the model and not limited to those being shifted.

5.You can optionally click on the ‘Preview Changes’ check button at the bottom of window, to enter the preview mode. This shows the changes to made in preview mode.

6.To action the Shift, click on ‘Apply’ button at the bottom of the window.

Rotate XYZ

Rotate XYZ moves analytical node points by rotating them about a global axis.

Use of the Move Entity rotate function is highly recommended over the Rotate XYZ function. The Move Entity function operates by moving structural entities and is much more flexible and powerful than the Rotate XYZ function.

This feature is marked to be deprecated in future versions (2018 at time of writing). 

The two ’Retain X/Y/Z’ check boxes allows one of the two co-ordinates being changed by the rotation to be retained. For example, take some horizontal floor beams that are in global Z direction; if rotating them by 15 degrees in the XZ plane, the X and Z co-ordinate will change. If the 'retain Z' coordinate box is checked, only the X co-ordinate will be changed. In this case because the beams are in the Z axis, it would be impossible to make the rotation if the retain X box was checked. Therefore, care must be taken with the retain axis box that is checked, in consideration of the original geometry of the structure being rotated.

The ‘Rotate Beta Angles’ check box ensures that the beta angle (cross section rotation about member axis angle) value is also rotated appropriately with the rotation. For example, if rotating a column (Y direction member) in the XZ plane, the member beta angle will also change when this option is selected.

To rotate analytical node points

1.Click on the ‘Nodes to Rotate’ to ensure you are in the nodal select mode

2.Graphically select the nodes

3.Select the global plane to rotate in, XY, YZ or XZ

4.Enter an angle of rotation in degrees

5.Enter the two co-ordinates on the plane of rotation about which the frame will rotate. For example, the plane of rotation selection is XY, the software will ask for X and Y co-ordinates. The values can be manually entered, or graphically selected by click on the ‘Centre At…’ button, then graphically pick on a point to set the first co-ordinate, then picking again on a point (most likely the same point) to set the second in plane co-ordinate.

6.You can optionally click on the ‘Preview Changes’ check button at the bottom of window, to enter the preview mode. This shows the changes to made in preview mode.

7.To action the Rotate, click on ‘Apply’ button at the bottom of the window.

Set XYZ to Common Value

This function sets the X, Y or Z value of the selected nodes to a common co-ordinate value. This can be useful when you have undesired out of plane inconsistencies in the nodal co-ordinates of a range of nodes that are intended to be in one of the global planes XY, YX, or XZ.

For example, you may have range of horizontal floor beams on the XZ plane, that you wish to have a common Y value at 3.5m. Let’s say you observe an unintentional inconsistency, i.e. some nodes have a Y co-ordinate of 3.499m, while others have a value of 3.502m. Using this function, you can select the nodes and set their Y co-ordinate to the common 3.5m value.

To set common co-ordinate value to a set of nodes

1.Click on the ‘Nodes to Change’ to ensure you are in the nodal select mode

2.Graphically select the nodes

3.Select the Co-ordinate value to change by choosing one of the ‘Change X Co-ordinate’, ‘Change Y Co-ordinate’ or ‘Change Z Co-ordinate’ options.

4.In the ‘New [X, Y or Z] Value’ input box, enter the new co-ordinate in (m). You can also click inside the box, then pick in an existing node point to use its co-ordinate value for axis being changed.

5.You can optionally click on the ‘Preview Changes’ check button at the bottom of window, to enter the preview mode. This shows the changes to made in preview mode.

6.To action the change, click on ‘Apply’ button at the bottom of the window.

Scale - Multiply XYZ

This function multiplies the X and/or Y and/or Z co-ordinate values of the selected nodes using independent multiplying factor for each co-ordinate, and optionally all originating at a common node point.

To multiply the co-ordinate values of a set of nodes

1.Click on the ‘Nodes to Change’ to ensure you are in the nodal select mode

2.Graphically select the nodes

3.In the three separate ‘Multiply [XYZ] by’ inputs, enter the co-ordinate multiplying factors. If no value is entered for a co-ordinate, the factor is taken as 1 and no change is made to this axis co-ordinate. If you wish to scale all three co-ordinates equally (retain the aspect ratio), then all three inputs must be specified with the same value.

4.Optionally enter the ‘Origin Node’ node number, either by manually entering or by clicking ‘Origin Node’, then graphically picking on a node point. The origin node point co-ordinates are then used as the centre point for the scaling. If no origin node is selected the multiply origin is about the 0,0,0 XYZ co-ordinate.

5.You can optionally click on the ‘Preview Changes’ check button at the bottom of window, to enter the preview mode. This shows the changes to made in preview mode.

6.To action the change, click on ‘Apply’ button at the bottom of the window.

Swap XYZ – Flip 90 Deg on Global Axis

This function swaps two coordinate values of the selected nodes, using one of three different swaps; Swap X and Y, Swap Y and Z, or Swap X and Z. This has the effect of rotating the nodes though 90 degrees.

Use of the Move Entity rotate function is highly recommended over the Swap XYZ function. The Move Entity function operates by moving structural entities and is much more flexible and powerful than the Swap XYZ function.

This feature is marked to be deprecated in future versions (2018 at time of writing). 

You can also invert (multiply by -1) any of the global axis co-ordinate values using the ‘Reverse’ check boxes

To swap the co-ordinate values of a set of nodes

1.Click on the ‘Nodes to Swap’ to ensure you are in the nodal select mode

2.Graphically select the nodes

3.Choose from one of the three the Swap options

4.Optionally choose to invert any or all of the three global axis co-ordinates using the ‘Reverse’ check boxes

5.You can optionally click on the ‘Preview Changes’ check button at the bottom of window, to enter the preview mode. This shows the changes to made in preview mode.

6.To action the change, click on ‘Apply’ button at the bottom of the window.

Redefine Global X axis

This function rotates the selected nodes, such that defined ‘Start Node’ and ‘End Node’ points are on the global X axis. A further ’Rotation (Deg)’ input then rotates the new co-ordinates about the global X axis, hence giving complete control over the final placement.

Use of the Move Entity rotate function is highly recommended over the Redefine Global X Axis function. The Move Entity function operates by moving structural entities and is much more flexible and powerful than the Redefine Global X Axis function.

This feature is marked to be deprecated in future versions (2018 at time of writing).

To swap the co-ordinate values of a set of nodes

1.Click on the ‘Nodes to Rotate’ to ensure you are in the nodal select mode

2.Graphically select the nodes

3.Click ‘Start Node’ and graphically pick on the desired node. The software will have automatically moved to the ‘End Node’ input, therefore you should now be able to pick the end node. These two nodes form the line that will be rotated to the global X axis.

4.Optionally enter the ’Rotation (Deg)’ value to further rotate the selected nodes about the global X axis. This is done after the rotate start-end vector to X axis in order of operations.

5.You can optionally click on the ‘Preview Changes’ check button at the bottom of window, to enter the preview mode. This shows the changes to made in preview mode.

6.To action the change, click on ‘Apply’ button at the bottom of the window.

Note that you can tick the box for Rotate Beta Angles so that the orientation of the columns also rotate with the X axis rotation.

Edit Co-ordinate List

This function provides an editable list of all the node point co-ordinates in the analytical model. Changing the co-ordinate here has the immediate effect of moving the node to the new co-ordinate. New node points can also be created and existing nodes can be deleted.

Caution! – Whilst using these functions may be occasionally useful, it is not the most efficient way to change geometry or add new geometry. Using the Move Entity function geometry can be changed in much more flexible and powerful way. Using the ‘Create> Add Members (General)’, new members are added and node points are created as needed automatically.

To change the co-ordinates of a single node point

1.To select node either

a) scroll the list to the desired node point number and click in the row of the node point, or

b)click on node point in the frame graphics window

The node will be highlighted by a red dot.

2.Edit the X, Y and/or Z co-ordinates by over typing the current X Y Z co-ordinate values in the row. The node is moved immediately with each individual value change.

Alternatively, you can tick the 'Shift Node' box and enter a set of distances by which to move a node. Insert 3 values separated by commas to move the X, Y and Z co-ordinates respectively for the highlighted node number. Click on the 'OK' button to carry out this action.

To add a node

1.Click on the add  button to add a new node to end of node list, or click on the insert  button to insert a new node above the current node (selected row)

2.The node will be added with 0,0,0 co-ordinates. Enter the new XYZ co-ordinate values for the newly added node.

Nodes added in this way are not connected to any members. If a node is not connected to a member, it will be automatically deleted prior to analysis or possibly during other editing operations. After adding a node in this way, the next step should be adding members that connection to the new nodes. As mentioned, this is not the recommended way to create new geometry. Using the more powerful functions in the ‘Create’ menu, new members are added and node points are created as needed automatically.

To delete a node

1.Select the node in the same you would for editing co-ordinates, i.e. select the row or pick graphically. The node is highlighted in red.

2.Click on the Delete  button to delete the single node.

To Import a List of Nodal Co-ordinates

The import co-ordinates function imports current data from the clipboard. The data is expected to be tab-delimited for XYZ columns and have a separate line for each new node. To achieve this,

1.Prepare a list of co-ordinates as three separate columns for X Y and Z in a spreadsheet, like Excel

2.Highlight the cells in the spreadsheet and copy to clipboard (Ctrl + C)

3.In the MasterSeries Edit Co-Ordinate List, click on the ‘Import’ button. The new co-ordinates will be added to the model.

To Export a list of Node Co-ordinates

The ‘Export’ button copies the nodal co-ordinate data to the clipboard as tab-delimited Node Number, X, Y, Z data with a line for each node. This can then the pasted into a spread sheet like Excel.

To Make all Co-ordinates Positive

Click on the  to make all co-ordinates a positive value. This is achieved by shifting all nodes in each axis by the same value to ensure the minimum X, Y and Z co-ordinates are zero.