All of the above transformations are visual only and are much like moving the position of a camera or visually changing the geometry only. That is, they occur only on the client and don't change the actual geometry values in EnSight. There are several other different methods for transforming coordinates described below as follows.

If you want to deep scale model parts with a scale factor or translate using a variable with server-side scaling and displacement (where the actual coordinates are changed, both visually AND calculational) then look for Adjust Part Coordinates under Model Parts. This is different from the rotate, zoom, and translate in that it is part by part and the modification will be reflected in calculations, for example, calculated length, area, and volume will change.

If you want to displace by a vector, for example a Displacement Variable Vector, then click the displacement icon at the top. The resulting displacement is updated each timestep using the chosen vector variable and can be visual only (on the client) or computational (on the server) and can be scaled (see Display Displacements). This is different from the rotate, zoom, and translate in that coordinates are changed using a scalable vector and they can be changed visually on the client or for use in deep on the server and used in further calculations.

If you want to scale, translate, or rotate a number of parts visually only consider grouping them and doing a group transform. Also if you have coincident geometry in two parts and need to offset them slightly from each other use a group transform (see Part Group Visual Transformations ). This differs from rotate, zoom, and translate in that you can do it only for a select group and not for all parts globally. This method is very similar to Frames discussed below except it operates on a group.

If you need to define the rotation or translation of a part over time at a deep (computational) level, then consider rigid body translations (see EnSight Rigid Body File Format ). This is different from rotate, zoom, and translate in that you can defined precise translations and rotations over time, and they are deep on the server for use in computations.

If you need precise control of the visual (client only) rotation and translation of parts separately for animation purposes, consider attaching a separate coordinate frame to each part and manipulating them separately (see Create and Manipulate Frames). This is different from rotate, zoom and translate in that you can do these transformations on a part by part basis rather than globally.