Table of Contents
PyroSim provides four editors for your fire model: the 3D View, 2D View, Navigation View, and the Record View. These all represent your current model. If an object is added, removed, or selected in one view, the other views will simultaneously reflect the change. Each view is briefly described below.
Navigation View: This view lists many of the important records in the model. It allows you to organize your model geometry into groups such as room or sofa. Locating and modifying records is often faster and easier in this view.
3D View: This view shows a 3D representation of your current fire model. You can explore the model using different view controls. You can also control the appearance of the model with options like smooth shading, textures, and object outlines. Geometric features can also be changed.
2D View: This view is useful for quickly sketching geometry such as walls and furniture. You can choose from three viewing planes and perform many useful geometric manipulations.
Record View: This view gives a preview of the FDS input file that will be generated for the simulation. It also provides a way to add custom records that will not be processed by PyroSim, but will be sent to FDS.
The navigation view is a tree-like view on the left side of the PyroSim main window. An example of this view in use is shown in Figure 2.1. When you right-click on an item in this view, a list of the functions PyroSim can perform on that item is shown. To rearrange objects in the Navigation view, make a selection and then drag the object(s) to the new location.
Use the 3D view to rapidly obtain a visual image of the model. View navigation options include typical computer-aided drawing (CAD) controls, Smokeview-like controls, and game-type controls for walking through the view.
To activate the 3D Orbit Navigation controls, select 
. In this mode the controls are similar to those used in many computer-aided drawing (CAD) programs.
To spin the 3D model, select
then left-click on the model and move the mouse. The model will spin as though you have selected a point on a sphere.To zoom, select
(or hold the ALT key) and drag the mouse vertically. Select
then click and drag to define a zoom box.To move the model, select
(or hold the SHIFT key) and drag to reposition the model in the window.To change the focus of the view, select an object(s) and then select
to define a smaller viewing sphere around the selected objects. Selecting
will reset the view to include the entire model.At any time, selecting
(or typing CTRL + r) will reset the model.
To use the Smokeview-like controls, select View->Use Smokeview-like Navigation. In this mode:
Horizontal or vertical mouse movement results in scene rotation about the Z or X axis, respectively.
With the CTRL key depressed, horizontal mouse movement results in scene translation from side to side along the X axis. Vertical mouse movement results in scene translation into and out of the computer screen along the Y axis.
With the ALT key depressed, vertical mouse movement results in scene translation along the Z axis. Horizontal mouse movement has no effect on the scene while the ALT key is depressed.
To use controls that present the view from the perspective of a person
moving through the model, select 
on the toolbar.
You can move your eyes to look around in the model, with separate
controls to move your body. This mode can take some
experimentation, but once mastered, it can provide unique views of the
model. In Roam mode:
To look around the 3D model, left-click on the model and move the mouse. You are looking with your eyes in the direction of the mouse.
With the CTRL key depressed, vertical mouse motion moves you forward (or backward) into the model. Horizontal mouse motion moves you to the left or right.
With the ALT key depressed, vertical mouse motion moves you up (or down) relative to the model.
the Scroll Wheel increases or decreases your field of view. If you do not have a Scroll Wheel, use the Zoom tool
.
Figure 2.2 shows the view of a model from outside, and Figure 2.3 shows the view after going into the model and looking up towards the roof (PyroSim model by John McKinney).
The 2D view provides a projected 2D view of the model. The 2D view controls are similar to those in the 3D View.
The 2D model viewing direction can be changed by selecting: top
, front
, or side
views. The default 2D View is the top view.To zoom, select
(or hold the ALT key) and drag the mouse vertically. Select
then click and drag to define a zoom box.To move the model, select
(or hold the SHIFT key) and drag to reposition the model in the window.To change the focus, select an object(s) and then select
. Selecting
will reset the display to include the entire model.At any time, selecting
(or typing CTRL + r) will reset the model.
Images of the current display can be saved to a file by opening the File menu and clicking Snapshot.... The user can specify the file name, image type (png, jpg, tif, bmp), and the resolution. A good choice is the Portable Network Graphics (png) type and Medium resolution.
Several options for running of PyroSim can be set in the Preferences dialog, Figure 2.4. These preferences will be recalled the next time PyroSim is started.
The Format FDS file for easy reading option is used to control the format of the FDS input file written by PyroSim. By default, the file is formatted to be easily readable. However, this means that some precision is lost. The full precision can be obtained by unselecting this option.
The FDS Execution options allow you to specify the FDS and Smokeview executables that are used by PyroSim.
The Run Smokeview when FDS simulation completes option is used to automatically show results after running an FDS simulation.
The Parallel Simulations Use option selects the FDS executable used when you click Run Parallel... on the FDS menu. The MPI option uses a separate process for each mesh in the simulation. The OpenMP option attempts to process loops in parallel and can improve performance on simulations that use one or many meshes.
The Hardware Drawing Options give control over the amount of graphics card hardware acceleration used when drawing the model. If there are display problems, the user should disable the two Hardware acceleration options.
The Autosave option instructs PyroSim to periodicly create a backup of the current model. The default setting enables this feature and saves every 10 minutes. In some cases, when working with large models, this can cause unexpected delays during the save and some users prefer to disable the feature and save manually.
The Record Preview adds a preview pane to many of the dialogs in PyroSim. This preview pane shows the text that will be produced for the FDS input file. This can be helpful for users that want to understand exactly how PyroSim options correspond to FDS input.
Models can be created in either English or Metric units. To select a system of units, on the View menu, click Units, then click the desired unit. PyroSim will automatically convert your previous input values into the unit system you select. The Record View will always display values in the appropriate FDS units, regardless of what unit system you choose to work in.
To select a Default, Black Background, White Background, or Custom color scheme, on the View menu, click Color Scheme. The custom color scheme is defined in the PyroSim.props file in the PyroSim installation directory (usually C:\Program Files\PyroSim).
To define a custom color scheme:
Close PyroSim
Edit the PyroSim.props file
Change the following default colors to the colors you wish:
Colors.Custom.axis=0xffff00
Colors.Custom.axis.box=0x404040
Colors.Custom.axis.text=0xffffff
Colors.Custom.background=0x0
Colors.Custom.boundary.line=0xffffff
Colors.Custom.grid=0x4d4d66
Colors.Custom.group.highlight=0xffff00
Colors.Custom.heatDetector=0xff0000
Colors.Custom.obst=0xff0000
Colors.Custom.obst.highlight=0xb2b200
Colors.Custom.origin2D=0x737373
Colors.Custom.smokeDetector=0xff00
Colors.Custom.snap.point=0xff00
Colors.Custom.snapto.grid=0x404040
Colors.Custom.snapto.points=0xc0c0c0
Colors.Custom.sprk=0xff
Colors.Custom.text=0xffffff
Colors.Custom.thcp=0xffff00
Colors.Custom.tool=0xff00
Colors.Custom.tool.guides=0x7c00
Save the edited PyroSim.props file
Restart PyroSim