Support: Frequently Asked Questions
- General Questions
- What are the requirements to run Orca3D?
- Orca3D is a plug-in for Rhino. You must have Rhino installed prior to
installing Orca3D. If you do not, please
download Rhino from the Rhino web site
and install it before installing Orca3D. Specific requirements:
- Rhino Version 4, SR 3 or higher
- Hardware:
See Rhino hardware requirements
- Operating Systems tested: Windows XP, Vista
- Operating Systems not tested: Windows 2000, 64-bit XP
- Operating Systems not supported: Windows ME,
98, 95, NT
- Mac: The Intel Mac with Bootcamp or Parallels has not been
tested
- Microsoft .NET (the Orca3D installation will install it if it is not
already on your computer)
- Valid license key (without this, Orca3D will operate as a 30-day fully
functional evaluation copy)
- Why is Rhino required?
- Orca3D is written as a plug-in to Rhino, to complement Rhino's
already exceptional modeling capabilities. This gives the user the best
of both worlds; a powerful, easy-to-use, and well-known CAD system,
enhanced with marine-specific functions.
- Where can I get help with questions or problems?
- There are a number of resources for assistance; please see our
Support page for details. If you cannot find an answer to your question
there, please send an email to
support@orca3d.com.
- Licensing Questions
- My trial period has ended. How do I get a license?
- The trial period is a 15-day, fully-functional evaluation license.
If you feel that you need more time to evaluate the software before
purchasing,
please contact us. If you're ready to purchase, please visit our
Order page.
- Why won't some of the Orca3D functions work on my computer?
- Orca3D is licensed by module; you will not be able to run a function
that belongs to a module that you have not purchased. If you would like
to purchase another module, please visit our
Order page.
- I want to move my copy of Orca3D to another computer. How do I
transfer the license?
- Refer to the section entitled "To Move a License from Computer to
Computer" in the Licensing Help file, available from the Orca3D menu.
- My computer has crashed, was lost/stolen, or I no longer have access
to it. How do I transfer the license to a new computer?
-
Contact us with details of the situation, and we will enable your
license for another activation.
- Hull Design and Fairing
- When I edit control points, why don't the sections update?
- The sections will not update unless you use Orca3D's custom control
points. Turning the standard Rhino control points on and editing will
change the shape of the surface, but you'll need to update the sections
manually, using the Orca3D Sections command.
- In the Hull Assistant, why do some input values create crazy shapes?
- The equations that are used to generate the 3D hull shapes
degenerate with certain conditions, such as various values being set to 0.
- Hydrostatics and Stability
- I get an error when I try to run hydrostatics. Why can't I get
results?
- This usually results from Orca3D not being able to find an
equilibrium. Often the cause is a surface edge becoming submerged, such
as the deck edge when the vessel heels. If this is the case, add a deck
(or other surface) to your model to seal it. If you do not expect an
open edge to become submerged, you should check your VCG to be sure that
it is correct.
- Why is the displacement value too low?
- Possible reasons for this include:
- If you have modeled only half of the hull, but not checked the
"Mirror About the Centerplane" box, your values will be half of what
they should be.
- Orca3D computes most of the hydrostatic data from a surface mesh,
not with the traditional approach of integrating stations. The user has
control over the density of this mesh, just as you do with Rhino's
display or analysis mesh. If the mesh is too coarse, your values will be
low. If they are too high, it will slow down the computations without
adding appreciable accuracy. The settings may be adjusted using the
OrcaProperties command. You should experiment with different
settings, and see their effect on your results. As you increase the
density of the mesh, you will reach a point of diminishing returns.
- Surfaces in Rhino have the concept of an "inside" and an "outside."
The outside should be the side in contact with the water; if not, the
volume of that surface will be computed to be negative. If your model
consists of multiple surfaces (not joined), and some of them have the
outside direction incorrect, they will deduct from the total. There are
two ways to visualize the outside direction of a surface; first, you can
select the Direction command from Rhino's Analyze menu.
Arrows will be drawn in the outward direction, and so should point into
the water (note that for surfaces such as bow thruster tunnels, this
means that the arrows will be pointing into the interior of the
cylinder). If you find a surface whose direction is incorrect, use the
Flip option in the Direction command to flip it to the
correct direction. If you have many surfaces, this can become tedious; a
more effective way to quickly see the directions of the surfaces is to
use Rhino's Backface Settings. Select the Perspective viewport, and
change to a shaded rendering. Right-click on the viewport title
(Perspective), and select Display Options from the menu. Go to
Rhino Options/Appearance/Advanced Settings/Shaded, and select Shaded.
For the Backface Settings option, select "Single Color for all backfaces,"
and then select a color that stands out in your model. Now, as you
rotate the model, you can quickly visualize the backface (inside) of
each of your surfaces. You can now use the Flip command to flip the
direction of any surfaces that are incorrect.
- Why is the displacement value negative?
- Surfaces in Rhino have the concept of an "inside" and an "outside."
The outside should be the side in contact with the water; if not, the
volume of that surface will be computed to be negative. If your model
consists of multiple surfaces (not joined), and some of them have the
outside direction incorrect, they will deduct from the total. There are
two ways to visualize the outside direction of a surface; first, you can
select the Direction command from Rhino's Analyze menu.
Arrows will be drawn in the outward direction, and so should point into
the water (note that for surfaces such as bow thruster tunnels, this
means that the arrows will be pointing into the interior of the
cylinder). If you find a surface whose direction is incorrect, use the
Flip option in the Direction command to flip it to the
correct direction. If you have many surfaces, this can become tedious; a
more effective way to quickly see the directions of the surfaces is to
use Rhino's Backface Settings. Select the Perspective viewport, and
change to a shaded rendering. Right-click on the viewport title
(Perspective), and select Display Options from the menu. Go to
Rhino Options/Appearance/Advanced Settings/Shaded, and select Shaded.
For the Backface Settings option, select "Single Color for all backfaces,"
and then select a color that stands out in your model. Now, as you
rotate the model, you can quickly visualize the backface (inside) of
each of your surfaces. You can now use the Flip command to flip the
direction of any surfaces that are incorrect.
- Why aren't the Cp (prismatic coefficient) and Cx (maximum section
coefficient) reported?
- Although Orca3D uses a mesh to compute most of the hydrostatics,
certain quantities can only be computed from stations. These include the
prismatic and maximum section coefficients, and of course the sectional
area curve. Orca3D uses the stations that are defined in the
OrcaSection command to compute these quantities. In order to get
accurate values, you should be careful to use a reasonable number and
distribution of stations. The ends of the hull, and any areas of
distinct section change should be captured in order to get an accurate
sectional area curve, and you should have stations near the station of
maximum sectional area in order to get an accurate Cp and Cx (note that
you don't need to find it exactly; Orca3D will interpolate, using a
quadratic function over three stations, to find the maximum).
- Why is there a spike in the sectional area curve?
- If you have two
surfaces joined in a station plane that coincides exactly with one of
the station locations that you have defined, Orca3D will compute
stations on both surfaces, so the sectional area there will be double
what it should be. One case where this can happen is with a hull that
has a planar, vertical transom, and the transom surface is modeled. Simply move the station location slightly forward or
aft, so it doesn't coincide with the joint between the two surfaces.
- Incorrect sectional area data can also result from
including non-wetted surfaces in your selection when you compute
hydrostatics. For example, if you have modeled interior surfaces, and
include them in the calculations, Orca3D will include their areas in the
sectional area curve (as well as their volumes, so your displacement,
and all of the other hydrostatics values will be incorrect).
- If you have a loose absolute tolerance setting, equal
to or greater than your section spacing, Orca3D will not be able to
distinguish successive stations from one another, resulting in incorrect
values.
- Check to be sure that you have correctly specified
whether to "Mirror About the Centerplane" when setting up your
hydrostatics calculation. If you have modeled the entire hull (port and
starboard halves), and you check the "Mirror About the
Centerplane" box, your sectional area values (and displacement) will be
double the correct values.
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