3DPlay vs 3D Navigate Positioning and Major Differences

PR 2022-08-08

Introduction

This post is intended to highlight the positioning, major capabilities and differences between the two viewers, namely the 3DPlay (Available with the Collaborative Business Innovator {IFW} role) and the 3D Navigate (Available with the Collaborative Industry Innovator {CSV} role). This shall be helpful in choosing the appropriate viewer while exploring and navigating through your content.

The 3DPlay app (Often also known as the “Universal viewer” or “Previewing app”) allows you to visualize your content and scenarios. The 3D Navigate app, as its name suggests, allows you to view and navigate through the 3D geometries (Only). This app allows you to use advance-filtering options to filter your structure based on the attributes or configurations.

Notes:

From the R2022x FD03 release, the 3D Navigate app is available as a stand-alone app. This means that you can access this app from the compass and you can also transition to it from the 3DPlay app if required.
Both apps are optimized for better navigation experience of large data models such as airplanes and boats. The 3D geometry data is loaded based on your viewpoint. It means, the minimal amount of data is requested from the server and hence it reduces the out-of-memory failures while loading large data models.

Major Capabilities and Differences

While the 3D Navigate supports only the 3D geometries, the 3DPlay is more of a universal viewer that allows you to view and navigate through number of 2D objects, 3D objects, and documents. In addition, there is a difference between the file formats supported depending on your environment (Cloud/On-Premise) type. You can refer to the following pages that clearly lists the supported file formats in the 3DPlay and the 3D Navigate.

The following table lists some of the major capabilities in these apps:

Capabilities	3DPlay	3D Navigate
Standard Capabilities:
Fly or Walk Navigation: Allows you to seamlessly navigate through a 3D scene using a first-person/third-person view. This is helpful in seamlessly navigating through big geometries such as shops, buildings, parks, or cities.	Available	Available
Sharing: Publish a screenshot of the current view to the 3DSwym Communities or Conversations	Available	Not Available
Screenshot and Printing: Capture a screenshot of the current viewpoint and save it on local Print your current viewpoint	Available	Available
Presentation Mode: Displays the following content in the full-screen mode: Slides in the 3D Markup or Design Review, Interference Simulation, 3D Tolerancing & Annotation scenario	Available	Not Available
Viewing Capabilities:
For 2D Content (For example: PDF Document) Zoom-In/Out, Previous Page, Next Page, Rotate, Scrolling – Continuous/Page-by-page, Navigation tool, Search within the document	Available	Not Available
For 3D Content (For example: Physical Product) Fit all In, Pan, Rotate, Zoom-In/Out Standard View: Lets you use arrows to easily switch to Left, Right, Top, Bottom view of the product View Modes: Lets you change the appearance of the model using preset, shading, edges, and materials options. Also, lets you change the background/ambiance	Available	Available Note: Standard views can be selected from the drop-down and NOT using the arrows.
Swap Visible Space: Displays the hidden objects (If any)	Available	Available
Point of Interest (POI) and Zone of Interest (ZOI): Displays the layer panel that lets you access and navigate the geometry based on the POI and ZOI	Available	Available
Tools and Annotation Capabilities:
For 2D Content (For example: PDF Document) Pen annotation and Highlighter with color options Note: These annotations are transient. You must take a screen capture before closing the document	Available	Not Available
For 3D Content (For example: Physical Product) Pen annotation and Highlighter with color options Note: These annotations are transient. You must take a screen capture before closing the document	Available	Not Available
Hide/Show specific parts, Exploded view, Sectional view, Measurements: Objects or distance between objects	Available	Available
Annotation Tour: Allows you to easily move from one annotation to the next one.	Available	Not Available
Volume Query: Allows you to define the volume and then filter objects based on it	Not Available	Available
Relations: Allows you to explore and view the related objects	Available Note: Available in the Side Panel	Available
Advanced Filter: Allows you to filter structure based on attribute or configurations	Not Available	Available