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Get Started
New to Inspire Studio? Learn the basics here.
Adjust the View
Change the view in the modeling window using the mouse or view controls.
Set Up Grids
The application has four different grids, each with successively larger spacing. Grids are drawing aids used to place and align points and objects with precision. They do not appear in rendered images.

Welcome
What's New
Discover new features and enhancements.
Get Started
New to Inspire Studio? Learn the basics here.
- Altair Inspire Studio Overview
  Learn about Inspire Studio, the workspace, and the system requirements.
- File Import and Export
  Learn how to import geometry and export results.
- Select and Edit
  Review techniques for selecting and editing objects.
- Construction History
  The software saves versions of your objects as you create them, enabling you to return to an earlier stage of an object, and modify or reuse the object from that stage.
- Adjust the View
  Change the view in the modeling window using the mouse or view controls.
  - View Controls
    The view controls are in the bottom left of each modeling view.
  - Configure the View
    Configure a single view, configure the multiview layout, and change the view detail.
  - Pan, Zoom, Orbit, Rotate, and Look Around
    Pan, zoom, and orbit in the 2D orthographic views and the 3D perspective view.
  - Show, Hide, and Isolate
    Show, hide, and isolate objects in the modeling window.
  - Add and Edit a Camera
    By adding cameras to your scene and customizing their position, angle, rendering image resolution, and rendering image quality, you can view and render your models from multiple perspectives and create a more distinctive scene.
  - Change the Projection
    When displaying 3D objects on a 2D plane, you can use perspective projection or orthographic projection.
  - Change the Display Mode
    Select a display mode for the scene.
  - Change the Visual Properties
    Adjust the view detail for the Shaded and Real-time display modes and final rendering. You can also adjust the ambient occlusion for the Shaded display mode, as well as ambient occlusion and global illumination for the Real-time display mode.
  - Set Up Grids
    The application has four different grids, each with successively larger spacing. Grids are drawing aids used to place and align points and objects with precision. They do not appear in rendered images.
  - Fit Selected Objects or Points
    Fit selected objects or points in the modeling window.
  - Create a Section Cut
    Create and view 2D section planes of your model. This function is particularly useful when you want to see inside a model.
  - Animation Mode
    Edit object animations with the animation timeline.
- Take a Snapshot
  Capture an image of a model. The background is white by default, but you can make it colored or transparent. Arrows on curves are automatically turned off.
- Move and Snap
  Translate, rotate, and scale objects using the Move tool. These tasks can be accomplished with greater precision by using grids and snaps.
- Browse and Organize
  Browse and organize the objects, layers, lights, materials, and drawings in your scene using the Model Browser.
- Help and User Assistance
  Learn about the forms of help and user assistance available from the product.
- Units and Measurement
  Change the default units and measure geometry features.
- Tool Belts
  Inspire Studio has four different tool belts to help you quickly access the tools you need for 3D modeling, sketching, creating PolyNURBS, and rendering. You can use the tool belts with the default configuration of tools or you can customize the tool belts by adding and removing tools as required.
- Preferences
  Modify the workspace display, default keyboard shortcuts, and other settings.
Tutorials
Start using Inspire Studio with our interactive tutorials.
Sketching
Create and edit a 2D sketch curve. A sketch curve is any "wire" entity such as a line, rectangle, circle, or arc.
Curves
Create and edit 3D curves by extending, rebuilding, intersecting, splitting, and projecting the shapes.
Surfaces
Create and edit 3D surfaces and solids by creating primitives or editing existing curves and surfaces.
PolyNURBS
Create polygonal surfaces that can easily be converted into NURBS surfaces.
Modify
Create new objects by manipulating and modifying source objects.
Direct
Quickly modify objects that are not a part of Construction History.
Deform
Deform one or more objects with respect to an axis.
Analysis
Analyze curves and surfaces, import simulation data, or access the Design Table and Variable Manager.
Dimensions
Dimension a line, edge, bounding box, angle, and radius/diameter in order to create objects which must fit predefined dimensions.
Drawing
Create detailed 2D drawings of the selected parts of a complex 3D model from multiple perspectives.
Rendering
Adjust the materials, environment, and properties of objects in the scene to create a photorealistic image.
Animation
In Inspire Studio you can animate an object or group and the camera. There are two methods of animation: key frame animation and path animation.
Die Design
Create a draw die in Inspire Studio that you can export to Inspire Form to perform a stamping simulation.
Custom Plug-ins and Scripts
You can use C++ and Python to add custom operations and file formats.
Keyboard Shortcuts and Mouse Controls
Learn keyboard shortcuts and mouse controls for common operations.
SpaceMouse Support
Inspire Studio supports 3Dconnexion's SpaceMouse.

Set Up Grids

The application has four different grids, each with successively larger spacing. Grids are drawing aids used to place and align points and objects with precision. They do not appear in rendered images.

Change the Grid Settings

Change the spacing, appearance, and color of the four grids.

On the File menu, click the Preferences button.
Under the Category of Inspire Studio, click Snaps.
The application has four different grids, each with successively larger spacing. You can define the following:
- The spacing between grid lines in the x, y, and z direction.
- The appearance of the grid: Points, Crosses, Continuous.
- The color of the grid.

Show or Hide the Grids

Show or hide the grids in all modeling views, the perspective view, or the orthogonal views.

You can do the following:


To	Do this
Show/hide grids in all modeling views	In the view controls, click Grid On/Off .
Show/hide grids in the orthogonal views	On the File menu, click the Preferences button. Under the Category of Inspire Studio, click General. Next to Grid in ortho views, select or clear the check box.
Show/hide grids in the perspective view	On the File menu, click the Preferences button. Under the Category of Inspire Studio, click General. Next to Grid in 3D views, select or clear the check box.