Stress colorbar, change units to MPa?

[BDL42]

The stress color bar legend is hard to read. Is is possible to display in MPa? If so, how? (Then the numbers would be integers and not so large.) Can the font be changed? On my screen it is not very readable. For that matter, can the color bar be moved? It always seems to run into the navigation cube.

color bar legend.png (339.69 KiB) Viewed 1245 times

[NewJoker]

Unfortunately, units of the legend can't be changed at the moment: issue #6922. The font can't be changed either. And you can't move the legend (but the navigation cube can be hidden or repositioned using Edit --> Preferences --> Display --> Navigation). Those are again the limitations of FreeCAD FEM postprocessing when compared with ParaView.

[BDL42]

Unfortunately, units of the legend can't be changed at the moment: issue #6922. The font can't be changed either. And you can't move the legend (but the navigation cube can be hidden or repositioned using Edit --> Preferences --> Display --> Navigation). Those are again the limitations of FreeCAD FEM postprocessing when compared with ParaView.

I voiced my opinion on github. This really makes the display look amateurish. The legend has far too many digits to be useful. Compared to other FEA displays, the FreeCAD FEM legends do not look good at all. It's a little difficult to comprehend (could be I am oversimplifying) that dividing the current stresses by 1e6 to convert from Pa to MPa takes very much effort. Once the number of digits are reduced, one could afford to modify the font, because there would be more room! Having displays in units that are useful is what makes a tool useful. Being able to read the fonts, is indeed also what makes a tool useful. Why have a legend if you can't read it?

Don't think FreeCAD should be dumbed down and neutered, just because ParaView exists. FreeCAD shouldn't have to force you to use Paraview just to view simple FEA results.

[user1234]

I voiced my opinion on github.

You seems to get some things pretty wrong. First off all on your comments, how can a CAD automatic know, which units you expect, that seems not really logic, at least how you described it in your comments on gh, besides not everyone uses that pressure area. Also about the paraview and units, paraview is damn capable, there is a good reason to use it. But for that you need SI units, like N/mm² (Pa), since different solvers gives different units as output. So they got forced harmonized, else it is not manageable anymore on a certain point without issues/errors.

The thing is, that the next step, to view units like someone wants, is not done yet, that is all.

Greetings
user1234

[BDL42]

I voiced my opinion on github.

You seems to get some things pretty wrong. First off all on your comments, how can a CAD automatic know, which units you expect, that seems not really logic, at least how you described it in your comments on gh, besides not everyone uses that pressure area. Also about the paraview and units, paraview is damn capable, there is a good reason to use it. But for that you need SI units, like N/mm² (Pa), since different solvers gives different units as output. So they got forced harmonized, else it is not manageable anymore on a certain point without issues/errors.

The thing is, that the next step, to view units like someone wants, is not done yet, that is all.

Greetings
user1234

Sorry to have ruffled anyone's feathers. I have been struggling with this FEM Workbench all day, and this minor detail has irked me. I have several similar models, some of which mesh, and others simply generate a dozen errors and fail to mesh at all. Sorry, that's a different topic, but it's background.

Some of that frustration has spilled into this units/fonts/legends issue. What makes it frustrating is that one cannot magnify the legend or zoom into it. That combined with the small font and excess number digits makes the display rather poorly executed.

Perhaps CAD would not know which units to display, which is all the more reason for a configurable setting.
Paraview is a fine tool and a steep learning curve too. I consider Paraview as a tool for big data, and at least to me, a 115mm long hollow tube doesn't qualify as big data.
Maybe I am spoiled by other software packages that are simply user configurable to display in sensible units appropriate for the domain. I have seen both Fusion360 and SolidWorks FEA outputs with perfectly sensible units, and wondered why FreeCAD didn't do it. The FreeCAD FEM legend poorly compares with either, it simply looks unprofessional. Too many insignificant digits, too hard to read.

The request was made 50 weeks ago, naively, this seems like a long time, for a units change. Unit conversions are merely a multiply, or at least that is all I have ever had to do to change units. If using Numpy, it's just AxB, where A is a scalar. One line of code. Perhaps this is a matter of triage, and the patient isn't dying from silly units, so other more sick patients got more attention. If it's way more than a scalar multiply, my apologies for misunderstanding the nature of the solution.

This is not a personal attack on anyone, merely an observation to make a superior user experience. A nice clean display is a good way to gain additional users. Especially users that are unfamiliar with FreeCAD or its capabilities. People have asked me, you can do that with FreeCAD? A poor, cluttered display tends to turn off users, and perhaps makes them wonder how unpolished or unfinished the rest of the software is. I want FreeCAD to improve its usability and be able to gain more traction in the community.

[johnwang]

FreeCAD shouldn't have to force you to use Paraview just to view simple FEA results.

I agree with this.

[johnwang]

sel.jpg (56.59 KiB) Viewed 969 times

how can a CAD automatic know, which units you expect, that seems not

I think when you choose to show displacement, FreeCAD assumes it is in Meter. There should be a 'M' letter along the color scale. Even better a label of 'Displacement (M)'. So all the information is on the graph.

Which file host this part of code?

[NewJoker]

There should be a 'M' letter along the color scale. Even better a label of 'Displacement (M)'. So all the information is on the graph.

Exactly, I suggested this here:

It would be also great to have field name and units displayed above the legend but I understand that it might be a bigger change that needs to wait.

It would be necessary to take the name of the currently displayed field and add a proper unit to it. And it would have to be done for all the available outputs to make sense.

Which file host this part of code?

I'm not sure but I've found those files that might be relevant:
https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/blob ... Legend.cpp
https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/blob ... radient.ui