Parts: 0D, 1D and 2D

Every product in Atrium is built from parts. A part is 0D, 1D or 2D depending on where its size comes from: the part itself, a path, or a shape you draw.

#Which kind to use

A quick rule: if it comes in one size, make it 0D. If it's cut to length, make it 1D. If it's cut from a sheet, make it 2D.

#0D parts: solids

The 0D editor is a solid modeler with exact geometry. Use it for anything that has a fixed shape and size.

#Shapes and Push/Pull

• Shapes: rectangles (two corners, from center, rotated, rounded), circles (center, two points, three points), arcs, regular polygons and slots. Click to draw, or type sizes. You can draw on the face of an existing solid.
• Line: lines, three-point arcs and splines in one path.
• Push/Pull: pull a closed shape drawn on a face to make a boss, or push it in to make a recess. A shape drawn on empty space becomes a new solid.

See Drawing tools for every shape and option.

#Booleans and edges

Combine solids with union, subtract and intersect, and round or chamfer their edges. A part can also hold several separate solids without merging them; in an assembly it still counts as one component.

#Text

Use the Text tool (T) and Push/Pull to raise or engrave all the letters at once. On a vertical face, the text stays upright and reads correctly from outside. See Text, labels and callouts.

#Import geometry

• STEP and IGES: drag files onto the 0D editor. You can drop several at once. Each solid becomes a separate shape, placed with its lowest corner at the origin.
• From Rhino: copy in Rhino with Ctrl + C and paste in Atrium with Ctrl + V. Solids and surfaces arrive as exact NURBS geometry, not meshes.

See Rhino and STEP files.

#Control points

A control point is a named point on a part. Every part needs at least one, and exactly one is the default, marked ★.

• Click + Control point, then click in the scene. Each click adds one point.
• When you save, the part moves so that its default control point sits at the origin. It moves only; it never rotates.
• In an assembly, the part is placed by its default control point. While placing, Ctrl + Tab switches to the next one.
• All control points act as snaps in assemblies.

#Mirror part

Hardware often comes in left and right versions. In the part's properties, set its Mirror part to the matching left or right version. When you mirror the part in an assembly, Atrium swaps in that counterpart.

Atrium detects symmetric parts on its own, so a symmetric part simply mirrors. A part that isn't symmetric and has no mirror part set only has its position mirrored.

#1D parts: a cross-section along a path

A 1D part is a cross-section. In an assembly, you draw the path it runs along, and the length comes from that path. Placed 1D parts are called profiles.

#The cross-section editor

Draw the cross-section on a 2D canvas with lines, arcs, splines and shapes, and refine it with offset, join, trim, mirror and dimensions.

• Hollow sections: two closed loops make a section with a hole. It stays hollow in the assembly.
• Import: drop a STEP or IGES file to bring its lines into the cross-section.
• Control points: like 0D parts, a cross-section has control points. The default one sits on the start of the path.
• Closed shapes only: an open cross-section still saves, but it doesn't appear in the library or the pickers until you close it.

#Grooves along the part

Add a groove to the cross-section and set its position, width, depth, rotation and the offset at each end. In an assembly, the groove is cut along the full length of the profile into the part beneath it. The profile itself isn't cut.

#Place it along a path

In an assembly, pick the cross-section and draw the path with lines, arcs and splines.

• A light wireframe follows the mouse, and the full solid appears when the mouse stops.
• Click the first point again to close the path, for example a frame around a door.
• To run a profile along the edges of a part, hold Ctrl + Shift and click the edges. Ctrl + Shift + double-click takes every edge around.
• While drawing, Ctrl + Tab puts the next control point of the cross-section on the start of the path.
• Rotating a profile, even around its own length, rotates the cross-section with it.

#End angles and offsets

Each end of a profile has a start/end angle (cut) and a start/end offset. Enter numbers or formulas. Set 45 and 45 on four members and you get a mitered frame. The profile's length in the BOM data includes the offsets.

Profiles that meet also join on their own: corners are mitered and T-joints are butted. You can change each joint with one click. See Profiles and joints.

#Replace

Use Replace to swap the cross-section for another one from the library. The position, formulas and processes stay.

#2D parts: boards

A 2D part is a board. You define it once, then draw it in any shape inside an assembly.

#Thickness variants

One board can come in several thicknesses. Each thickness has its own code, weight and price. A board also defines:

• the materials it can be made of, and the default one
• whether you make it or buy it
• the allowed range for length and width

#Draw it in any shape

Pick a board and draw it. The rectangle tool starts by default; after that, the last tool you used. If the board has several thicknesses or materials, Atrium asks which one. Pick it from Recent and it uses the same thickness and material without asking.

#Thickness side

The thickness sits on one side of the line you draw: top, center or bottom. Edge banding follows the side you choose.

#Edge banding

When you draw a board, edge banding goes on every edge automatically, using the band you last used for that thickness. You can switch each edge on or off and set the band's edge profile. See Boards and edge banding.

#Replace

Use Replace to turn one board into another, for example MDF into glass. The position, formulas and processes stay.

#Processes on parts

Holes, grooves, pockets, chamfers and rounds go on parts in the same way across Atrium. See Holes, grooves and pockets.