When I rotate a model in wireframe mode the display changes to shaded whilst rotating and then it returns to wireframe when the rotation stops.
Is this normal? I am new to ViaCAD... do I need to change some preferences? I expected the model to remain as wireframe the whole time.

Thanks for that Steve.

It does seem to be that I can't have my shade options set to wireframe rotation when in wireframe mode and simultaneously have shaded rotation when I click over to shaded mode, which is a bit odd.

Didn't they use to say "it works the way you think" :rolleyes:
Or am I thinking of some other CAD package?

"It works the way it likes !"

Well, it can be quirky software - I don't think that helps new users, but you soon get used to the quirks.

That said, I dont really want to defend such ambiguities - they shouldn't be there.

A shaded silhouette with highlights takes less computation to approximate in movement than a complex wireframe with lots of curves and vertices. Using unsophisticated onboard graphics, Shark/VC 3D navigation is much smoother than TurboCAD's. TC's 3D navigation takes a redraw hit in draft render that PunchCAD doesn't.

I'm not defending anything. I have VC on an older laptop and Shark on a more recent desktop with onboard and card, and various versions of TurboCAD on both and I've got the opportunity to make the comparison. lol

all [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL"]OpenGL[/URL] based 3D CAx applications are relying for quality of output (= avoiding display glitches and artefacts) on the OGL support of the used video driver and for output speed of display transformations (move, rotate, zoom, orbit etc.) on the used [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPU"]Graphics Processing Unit[/URL] (GPU).

lame, so called 'shared' video solutions as e.g. the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_GMA"]Intel GMA series[/URL] built in low-end note-/netbooks are typically not the type of video solution elaborated above but optimized for internet/office purposes.

because of this, major graphics card makers are providing specialized solutions optimized for CAx purposes as e.g. the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadro_FX"]nVidia Quadro FX series[/URL] (made by PNY) or the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firegl"]ATI FirePro series[/URL] (formerly FireGL).

because Shark/VC's limited OGL requirements often do work well w/ the OGL driver stack of (dedicated) consumer cards too, buying a medium/big GeForce instead of a small Quadro FX will result in a better price-performance ratio.

htc,
Norbert

Not sure if this will help, as it doesn't exactly flip things the way that you would like.

You can program keyboard shortcuts under:
File / Shortcuts / Render for
Wireframe / Gouraud
Wireframe / GouraudEdges
Wireframe / Phong
Wireframe / PhongEdges

I played with them a bit and they do appear to change the dynamic and static settings but are a little slow.

Generally I like to have dynamic render set to to either Gouraud or Phong shaded mode as I find it easier to see what I am rotating than when I am in wireframe mode - my preferred mode for modeling.