DELL.CO.UK/WORKSTATION-SOLUTIONS FIREPROGRAPHICS.COM TECHNICAL REPORT SOLIDWORKS VISUALISATION

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1 DELL.CO.UK/WORKSTATION-SOLUTIONS FIREPROGRAPHICS.COM TECHNICAL REPORT SOLIDWORKS VISUALISATION A guide to getting the most out of real-time rendering and physically-based rendering with SOLIDWORKS RealView ENGINE CASING MODEL RENDERED IN AMD RADEON PRORENDER TECHNICAL REPORT SPONSORED BY DELL AND AMD DELL.CO.UK/PRECISION PRO.RADEON.COM/WX PRODUCED BY DEVELOP3D.COM

2 2 DESIGN VIZ: KEEPING IT REAL ENHANCED REAL-TIME LIGHTING A mbient Occlusion (AO) is a real-time lighting effect designed to better simulate the way light radiates in the real world. In SOLIDWORKS it can be enabled on top of RealView to further increase the SOLIDWORKS places a big emphasis on real-time rendering with RealView playing a key role in its powerful design visualisation toolset D esign visualisation can act as a powerful communication aid, especially to a non-technical audience. It can lead to faster approval and better images for product literature and manuals. Marketing can start before a product is manufactured, accelerating time to market and orders. Importantly, it can also directly support the design process, allowing designers and engineers to make informed decisions at every stage of a product s development. Visualisation doesn t have to interrupt offered by RealView. This is through technologies such as Ambient Occlusion for more realistic lighting and Order Independent Transparency for rendering semi-transparent objects (see right). RealView requires a workstation-class Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), such as AMD FirePro. As more effects are switched on a greater load is placed on the GPU so more powerful graphics cards help designers maintain full interactivity with the model. RealView is great for instant, interactive visualisations but, for even more realistic results, designers should use a physicallybased renderer, which simulates how light reflects off and refracts through objects. Physically-based renderers have traditionally been a premium product. For example, PhotoView 360 is only included the natural flow of design. Real-time with SOLIDWORKS Professional and rendering makes it possible to get instant SOLIDWORKS Premium. feedback on new design iterations. However, AMD is now making Designers and engineers can explore new physically-based rendering available to all forms and materials in tandem. Feedback SOLIDWORKS users with a free plug-in from participants in design / review called. Unlike sessions can be investigated interactively. With SOLIDWORKS, real-time rendering PhotoView 360, which relies on CPUs to perform the complex calculations, AMD is enabled through RealView, which delivers realistic interactive models directly Radeon ProRender is optimised for GPUs. The software is fully integrated inside inside the viewport. SOLIDWORKS and is very easy to use. The Each new release of SOLIDWORKS raises the bar in terms of the visual quality results can be stunning (see below). A GPUs in particular AMD FirePro GPUs. Once installed, AMD Radeon ProRender is deeply embedded inside the SOLIDWORKS environment and has its own tab in the SOLIDWORKS UI. The software automatically maps all of the different SOLIDWORKS appearances to AMD Radeon ProRender, so there is no need to apply special materials before rendering a scene. Users simply orient the model within the SOLIDWORKS S OLIDWORKS features a display technology called Order Independent Transparency (OIT) that uses the GPU to render semi-transparent objects faster and more accurately. OIT helps ensure that overlapping transparent faces blend properly, resulting in a much more accurate rendering of the model. As everything happens in real-time inside SOLIDWORKS, it can help support better decision-making throughout the product development process. Prior to OIT, the CPU was used to sort transparent objects into order, but this could be slow and prone to errors. Every time the view changed the calculation needed to be redone. With OIT, objects don t need to be sorted before they are rendered and, because everything is done on the GPU and less information needs to pass between viewport, apply a scene, then click render. Rendering times vary from a few minutes to tens of minutes. This depends on a number of factors including the complexity of the SOLIDWORKS model, the output resolution, the image quality settings and the performance of your workstation s GPUs. can be download free from radeon.com/pro is also available for Autodesk 3ds Max, Rhino, Autodesk Maya and Cinema 4D. surfaces of solid colours and it is important to go easy on the lighting as too many lights can reduce the impact of the shadows. As with RealView, a professional graphics card such as AMD FirePro is needed to enable AO. FASTER, MORE ACCURATE TRANSPARENCY Transparency (OIT) turned OFF CPU and GPU, the performance is better. To get the best out of OIT, AMD recommends a GPU with at least 2GB of on-board memory, such as the FirePro AMD RADEON PRORENDER - GPU ACCELERATED PHYSICALLY-BASED RENDERING MD Radeon ProRender for SOLIDWORKS is a new no-cost physicallybased renderer. The plug-in is available directly inside SOLIDWORKS and is designed to be easy to use. Even non-experts can produce great results. Unlike most physicallybased renderers, which only run on Central Processing Units (CPUs), AMD Radeon ProRender can use CPUs or Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to carry out the complex ray trace rendering calculations. However, the software is optimised for realism of models inside the viewport. AO controls how ambient light impacts shadows in hidden (occluded) areas. More sheltered corners appear darker than those that are more exposed. AO delivers the best results on non-reflective is embedded directly inside SOLIDWORKS Digger rendered in AMD Radeon ProRender W500 or above. Since SOLIDWORKS 205 the software has had the ability to use OIT as a part and assembly preview from the feature tree. This Transparency (OIT) turned ON provides the user with useful information without having to enable all the parts. As the information is stored on the GPU performance is fast. 3

3 4 5 ANATOMY OF A SCENE - AMD RADEON PRORENDER Time spent setting up a scene in SOLIDWORKS can pay dividends when looking to bring models to life with PERSPECTIVE RENDERING WINDOW Orthogonal views are great for precise design, but they don t match how a product would look in real life. Switching to perspective view makes for a much better visualisation. For even more realism investigate the camera functionality (see right). Launch the rendering window from the Radeon ProRender tab, then click start. As Radeon ProRender needs to import the data from SOLIDWORKS at the highest quality (tessellation) levels there will be a short pause before your rendering starts to appear. The initial image will be quite rough but, as Radeon ProRender is a progressive renderer, the quality will increase with each pass. As the rendering window renders exactly what you see in the viewport, it is possible to adjust the viewpoint to get the perfect angle, without having to manually restart the render. Hit the save button to capture output images as the render progresses. CAMERAS Models can be moved into position using standard SOLIDWORKS navigation (pan, zoom, rotate etc.) but cameras offer more control and can make the rendering look more dynamic. SOLIDWORKS cameras are analogous to physical photographic equipment and there are controls for aspect ratio, focus and camera position. ANIMATIONS can also be used to render animations. First, set up a standard SOLIDWORKS motion study (a turntable, for example). will then render each frame in turn and output the animation as an AVI file. Users have control over the number of frames per second and the output quality. AMD RADEON PRORENDER is available directly inside SOLIDWORKS and has its own tab. With a emphasis on ease-of-use, the software only has a small number of settings to control output. This includes resolution, the number of anti aliasing samples (the higher the number, the smoother the curves and less jagged the edges) and overall image quality. APPEARANCES When a SOLIDWORKS part is given a physical material it is also assigned a default appearance which emulates the look of the material. All of the different SOLIDWORKS appearances have been mapped to AMD Radeon ProRender, so what you see in RealView should give a good approximation of what to expect in a Radeon ProRender rendering. Appearances can be changed by dragging and dropping them onto faces, bodies or parts. This can be useful when parts are painted or have different finishes. SCENES SOLIDWORKS comes with a number of pre-set scenes to help visualise designs in terms of lighting and context. Basic scenes offer a variety of colour backgrounds and lighting conditions. Studio scenes are designed to replicate photography studios. Presentation scenes add real world backgrounds. HDRi-based environments and scenes can also be imported from externally sourced HDRi libraries to better match your requirements and the context for your product.

4 6 7 COMPARISON OF VISUALISATION MODES There are a number of ways SOLIDWORKS users can visualise their models: interactively inside the viewport or, for the best quality results, with a physicallybased renderer. Below we show an engine casing viewed in four different ways. SHADED WITH EDGES VIEWPORT VISUALISATION (GPU): INSTANT (REAL-TIME) AMBIENT OCCLUSION VIEWPORT VISUALISATION (GPU): INSTANT (REAL-TIME) Shaded with edges is a popular rendering mode for 3D modelling. It helps highlight the topology of a model, how geometry is constructed and gives visual clues to form and how parts interact with each other. In this engine casing model users can get a very good understanding of the different surfaces. Depending on model size most modern professional GPUs, including the AMD FirePro W400 and FirePro W500, coupled with a CAD workstation such as the Dell Precision Tower 3620, should deliver good performance in this mode. REALVIEW VIEWPORT VISUALISATION (GPU):INSTANT (REAL-TIME) REALVIEW WITH Ambient Occlusion (AO) can be switched on in addition to RealView to add more realism to models through enhanced shadows. With our engine model the shadows cast as a result of AO add more drama to the scene. This is particularly noticeable around the holes and cavities where darker shadows appear in more occluded (hidden) areas. Turning on AO puts bigger demands on the GPU so a higher-end card, such as the AMD FirePro W700, is recommended, which is available in the Dell Precision Tower 580 workstation. AMD RADEON PRORENDER PHYSICALLY-BASED RENDERING (GPU) RealView delivers more realistic effects inside the viewport. This helps bring SOLIDWORKS models to life in an interactive 3D environment ideal for presentations or design / review. RealView supports environment reflections, floor shadows, and multi-coloured effects such as car paint. It excels when rendering coloured plastics and paint, so this engine casing model does not really do it justice. However, shiny metal and copper is rendered more accurately. RealView requires a professional GPU, such as AMD FirePro. 3D performance should increase with higher-end cards, such as the AMD FirePro W700, housed inside a Dell Precision Tower 580 workstation. Render time: 837secs (Image Quality High, 32 AA samples, Rendering Passes 200,,280 x 720) TEST MACHINE: DELL PRECISION TOWER 580, INTEL XEON E5-680 V3 (3.2GHZ) (QUAD CORE), AMD FIREPRO W800, 64GB RAM, 5.30 DRIVER, WINDOWS 0 PRO TEST DONE BY DEVELOP3D - NOV 206 is used to produce higher quality visuals for presentations, design review or marketing. It is a physically-based renderer, which means it simulates how light reflects off or refracts through objects. With this engine casing model the materials and shadows appear much more realistic than when rendered in real-time. The downside of physically-based rendering is that it is computationally intensive and can take minutes or tens of minutes to render a scene at high resolutions. It will benefit greatly from a high-end GPU such as the AMD FirePro W800, available inside the Dell Precision Tower 580.

5 8 SOLIDWORKS: WORKSTATIONS To get the best 3D performance in RealView and faster render times in, you need to choose the right GPU for the job Rally Car model from SPECapc SOLIDWORKS benchmark SOLIDWORKS 205 interactive graphics test Relative performance: SPECapc SolidWorks 205 benchmark (bigger is better) Shaded with edges, RealView and shadows Shaded with edges, RealView, shadows and Ambient Occlusion FirePro W FirePro W700. FirePro W800.5 FirePro W FirePro W FirePro W SOLIDWORKS 206 test Digger model from SPECapc SolidWorks 205 benchmark (time) (smaller is better) 6 x AA 200 passes medium quality,280 x 720 resolution FirePro W500 FirePro W secs FirePro W secs 62 secs 32 x AA 200 passes high quality,280 x 720 resolution FirePro W500 FirePro W700 FirePro W800,50 secs,594 secs 2,690 secs In basic SOLIDWORKS viewing modes, such as shaded with edges, engineers and designers should be able to navigate models smoothly with a professional GPU with 4GB or more of on-board memory. However, when working with large assemblies or when RealView, shadows and Ambient Occlusion are switched on, frame rates may slow down with lower-end GPUs. For physically-based rendering using, more powerful GPUs will produce stills and animations much quicker. The charts above show the comparative performance of three different AMD FirePro GPUs, which are available in Dell Precision desktop workstations. The AMD FirePro W500 is a good choice for mainstream 3D modelling, whereas the AMD FirePro W700 can handle more demanding 3D workflows. The AMD FirePro W800 delivers the fastest rendering times in Radeon ProRender. TEST MACHINE: DELL PRECISION TOWER 580, INTEL XEON E5-680 V3, 64GB RAM, 5.30 DRIVER, RADEON PRORENDER , WINDOWS 0 PRO,. TEST DONE BY DEVELOP3D - NOV 206 Recommended Dell Precision workstations for SOLIDWORKS visualisation Dell Precision Tower 3620 workstation Mini tower desktop for SOLIDWORKS users with interactive design viz workflows. AMD FirePro W500 or W700 GPU. Intel Xeon E3-270 v5 CPU 6GB 233MHz DDR4 memory 256GB SATA SSD + TB SATA HDD Microsoft Windows 0 Pro 64-bit Dell Precision Tower 580 workstation Tower desktop for SOLIDWORKS users with physically-based rendering viz workflows. AMD FirePro W800 GPU Intel Xeon E5-630 v4 CPU 32GB 2400MHz DDR4 memory 256GB SATA SSD + 2TB SATA HDD Microsoft Windows 0 Pro 64-bit Dell Precision 770 mobile workstation Powerful laptop with 7.3 display for SOLIDWORKS users with demanding design viz workflows AMD FirePro W770M GPU Intel Xeon E3-575M v5 CPU 32GB 233MHz DDR4 memory 256GB M.2 SSD + TB SATA HDD Microsoft Windows 0 Pro 64-bit CONTACTPRODUCED BY DEVELOP3D Dell Precision Call Dell now: Dell Products, c/o P.O. Box 69, Bracknell, Berkshire RG2 RD, United Kingdom Radeon Pro Mark Andrews, Workstation Graphics E: mark.andrews@amd.com M: +44 (0) The magazine for product development technology. Available FREE in print, in PDF and on the ipad/iphone. Subscriptions available in Apple s app store and at DEVELOP3D.COM/REGISTRATION