Workflow: Building a Simulation Report

After a simulation has run, a report communicates the result: what the finished part looks like, how the machining loads evolved over the program, and whether the run was clean. This workflow covers how to turn a completed player session into a focused set of report captures — keeping the panels that carry result information and leaving out the navigation chrome.

flowchart TD
    Build["Build project<br>(equipment, job, options)"]
    Run["Run simulation"]
    Capture["Capture focused views<br>(canvas · strip charts · messages)"]
    Assemble["Assemble report"]

    Build --> Run --> Capture --> Assemble

1. Build and Run

Stand up and run the project first — see Basic Machining Simulation for equipment, job, options, and the Play* run commands. A report is built from a completed run: the workpiece geometry is final and the strip charts span the whole program.

2. What to Capture — and What to Leave Out

The player screen carries more panels than a report needs. A good report keeps the panels that hold result information and drops the navigation chrome:

Panel	In a report?	Why
Main 3D canvas	Keep	The finished part — the headline image
Strip Charts	Keep	Machining loads / availability over the whole program
Session Messages	Keep (optional)	The run log — proof the run was clean
Control Tree column	Drop	Navigation only; no result content
Selected-Step Info column	Drop	Single-step detail; not a whole-run summary

Use the three region quick-toggles in the top toolbar to collapse the columns you are not capturing, so each kept panel gets the full width/height.

3. Main 3D Canvas — Several Views

Capture the finished part from several angles. Use the View menu on the Rendering Canvas Tool Bar to switch between the orthographic and isometric presets (Isometric, Front, Back, Left, Right, Top, Bottom).

Isometric + Top are the most informative for most parts.
Add Front / Right for thin or shallow parts, where the side profile carries the wall thickness.

Tip

The tool-path overlay carries information too — capture both. The machined tool-path overlay (the CL strip) shows the machining coverage and the retract/plunge motion, but it can be dense enough to obscure the part shape underneath. It is worth capturing each view both ways: with the tool path on (machining coverage) and off (clean part). Toggle it with the Tool Path button on the Player Extended Rendering-Canvas Tool Bar (and Path Points off with it). The workpiece geometry is a separate display flag, so it stays visible when the tool path is off.

4. Strip Charts — Capture Wide

The strip charts read best wide: at full width the whole-program time axis is legible and the per-series peaks are distinct. Before capturing, widen the right dock (drag its divider, or collapse the Selected-Step Info column so the charts fill the dock). See Strip Charts for the chart types (Availability, Roughness, Color-Index) and their legends.

5. Session Messages — the Run Log

The Session Messages panel's Shell / NC / Step tabs are the run log. Zero errors across all three tabs is the single strongest piece of report evidence that the run was clean. Use the panel's Export action to save the full log alongside the report.

6. Assemble

Combine the captures into the report: a multi-view montage of the finished part, the wide strip charts, and (optionally) the session log. Pair each with a one-line caption stating what it shows (part geometry, load history, clean run).

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