View Menu

The View menu provides the following options.

Toggle Easy Mode Cycles to Easy Mode and Normal Mode.
Toggle Render Modes Cycles through the render modes of Preview, Fast, and Accurate.
Toggle Denoiser Turns the Denoiser on and off.
Pause Rendering Stops raytracing in the Viewport. Unpausing resumes raytracing in the Viewport.
Show HUD Shows/hides the Heads-up display, which shows the following data (depending on the current mode):

Passes

(Fast and Accurate render mode only.) Displays the number of passes that have accumulated.

Progress

(Accurate render mode only.) Estimates in minutes and seconds until a certain quality level is attained.

Passes/Frames per Second

(Passes is shown in Fast and Accurate render mode, Frames is shown in Preview mode.)

Passes per Second displays the number of render passes that are accumulated in one second. It is a measurement of the render performance. It tells you the average frame rate (passes), which are iterations on the final image that progressively get more refined and less noisy.

Frames per Second is a measurement of interactivity. Frames are still 2D images. In computer animation, the term “frames per second” (fps) is a measurement of the number of still frames displayed in one second to give the impression of an interactive image.

Resolution

Displays the resolution (in pixels, width x height) of the 3D Viewport and output snapshots. Resolution is the size of the final image in pixels when rendering a scene. Higher resolution renders contain more detail but take longer to complete.

Polygon Count

Displays the number of actively used polygons in the project. A polygon is a geometric element formed by connecting three or more points. A triangle, or three-point polygon, is the simplest form of polygonal geometry and is an optimized format for visualization of 3D models.

Focal Length

Displays the focal length (in millimeters) of the virtual lens for the camera used for the rendering. In real cameras, a lens is a curved piece of glass or other transparent material that focuses light onto the film. 3D software simulates optical distortions created by imperfections in real-world lenses, adding realism to the rendered output.

GPU Only, CPU Only, or Hybrid

Indicates the current rendering hardware. Hardware rendering gives a preview of a 3D scene within the viewport of 3D software. It provides realtime on-screen feedback about the effects of changes made to that scene.

Status Icons

Buttons in the top right of the Heads-up display.

  • Automatic Supersampling (Preview)
    The Automatic Supersampling preview feature is available only in SOLIDWORKS Visualize Professional.
  • Active Camera Locked
  • Denoiser . Indicates the Denoiser is on.
Show Palette Shows/hides the Palette.
Show Camera Panel Shows/hides the Camera panel.
Enter Full Screen (F11) Maximizes the software window and hides the menu bar, borders, and tabs. Press F11 to return to the windowed mode.

Available only in SOLIDWORKS Visualize Professional

Multi Viewport Lets you show one, two, or four Viewports simultaneously, with each Viewport referencing a potentially separate camera, model set, and environment. This feature is useful for presentations and setting up animations.
Show Timeline Shows the animation timeline and controls.
Show Queue Displays the Queue panel, where you can configure and initiate the off-line queued rendering of images and animations.
Enter Presentation Mode Switches the screen to Presentation mode.

Presentation mode is optimized for the real-time presentation of existing scenes, not for editing scenes. In presentation mode, the Viewport fills the screen. A floating Presentation toolbar lets you control the presentation of the loaded scene.

To exit Presentation mode, press CTRL + M or press Esc.