3D gerber viewer

[Medo]

Again I messed text mirroring on my board.

Is there any gerber viewer out there that would enable me to view multiple gerber layers as one board and to rotate it freely. Something like old eevblog intro (obviously without components).

I currently use GC-Prevue for checking gerbers but I am getting annoyed with checking bottom layer properly.

P.S. Of course, since I am cheap bastard, freeware would be great.

[Bambur]

I have been using this Gerber-files viewer http://gerbv.sourceforge.net

You can change the order of layers drawn, switch them on/off and see the drills as well, do different kinds of measurements manually to ensure the Gerbers are OK. The only disadvantage I can see is that it runs under Linux.

[donkm]

there is a free (beta)  real 3D gerber viewer here:  http://www.zofzpcb.com/

[gregariz]

there is a free (beta)  real 3D gerber viewer here:  http://www.zofzpcb.com/

I tried this the other day and it crashed on me - maybe something in my gerbers that it didnt like i guess. I've tried a heap of them but am still on the lookout for a 3rd party gerber viewer that can display slotted holes (g85's) as I havent found one yet.

[zofz]

There is a new version of  zofzPCB viewer (0005), more gerber commands are accepted.
However drill-cmd G85 will give "unknown G-code" error. please send me some examples of how g85 is used. would be great to get at least a part of your design, I need some data for debuging and testing. use zofz@zofzpcb.com

[gregariz]

There is a new version of  zofzPCB viewer (0005), more gerber commands are accepted.
However drill-cmd G85 will give "unknown G-code" error. please send me some examples of how g85 is used. would be great to get at least a part of your design, I need some data for debuging and testing. use zofz@zofzpcb.com

Here is a small example of an excellon drill file using G85.

M71
M48
T01C1.100
T02C1.500
%
T01
X197500Y101200
X52500Y151200
Y126200
Y101200
X197500Y151200
T02
X135000Y196200G85X120000Y196200 X135000Y56200G85X120000Y56200 M30


A pic of the board is below

[zofz]

Thanks for the files.
I will implement the G85 in the next version (0006)

[zofz]

G85 is ready, (ver 0.0.0006)
http://www.zofzpcb.com/Download/ZofzPCB.zip

[senso]

I have been using this Gerber-files viewer http://gerbv.sourceforge.net

You can change the order of layers drawn, switch them on/off and see the drills as well, do different kinds of measurements manually to ensure the Gerbers are OK. The only disadvantage I can see is that it runs under Linux.

It is also available in the SourceForge page a binary/compile windows version, runs sweet under Windows 7.

[zofz]

http://youtu.be/RbRanKRQP5A     

[mikeselectricstuff]

Just gave it  aquick try. Nice idea -  a few comments:

The net colouring looks totally horrible - iThere are typically so many nets that it looks like a milticolour mess.
It may sometimes be useful but should be disabled by default, with a keypress to turn on/off. Clicking 'Net colour' button seems to have no effect.

The colour options you typically want, in order of usefulness :
One color per layer, with ability to highlight one selected net at a time.
One colour per layer type (copper, resist, silk etc.), to look like the actual PCB
Colour per net.

It seems to only be possible to peel a layer all the way off - it would be useful to be able to seperate the layers slightly and fly around inside, e.g. to look at inner layer connectivity

User interface is a bit non-intuitive - I absolutely hate software that deviates from Windows conventions for no good reasons. Any supposed advantage is outweighed by annoyance at being different.

Esc key quits program - AARGH!

[zofz]

It took me some time, there is a new version of the software.
Mostly I took your advice - Mike - thank you for your review!
 
little background: The program is written for DirectX. 
Therefore I had to decide my line: either 
1. I have full featured 3D or
2. I can use windows GUI (based on GDI, not DirectX).
Direct3D full screen excludes typical windows user interface widgets.
 
I decide for 3D quality - now I have to crate my own GUI, at least for some basic tasks.
That is like in most of the 3D games.
 
However, now, I have made a big step towards expected menu system, little step in open-file dialogs, and
also, I have systematized the GUI.
 
colors: 
There is still this ugly random generator for net-colors, but now you can adjust amount of ugliness using color mixer.
and here are several color presets, to start with.
(under View menu)
 
distance measurements:
that is what I was missing the most.
easiest access via right mouse click menu.
I invite you to try hovering and pressing keyboard buttons - see right-click-menu or F1
 
layers separation, enabling layers on/off
still pending
but you can have a car ride inside the board anyway:
go inside there, choice direction (L-drag and Pg-Up), level-up (space or tab) Pg-Up to drive, 'A'/'D' is left/right.
There is also single layer mode and you can peel layers from both sides of the board.
All under mouse wheel and wheel click.
 
esc - is not closing the program !
 
now I go to look on some pick-and-place files, 
- however debugging, is very important to me - throw me some bones (is that right expression?)
there is an anonymous tool to simplify your decision of firing a bug report.

more info: http://www.zofzpcb.com/help.html
or download button: http://www.zofzpcb.com/

[free_electron]

I will play with this today. Looks very interesting. Here is a couple of things that may or not be implmemented

- ability to select a number of nets and have the others 'dimmed' ( grayscale 50% ). This allows for analysis of loop in the board. While in this mode : clicking one one of them hghlights in pure white. Clicking on another reverts the white one to a color and makes the clicked one pure white.

- colorblind people.... I for example do not see green. I have only a 'luma' receptor but no 'chroma detector for green.
So , if you show me 10% red and 10% green... They are identical. Of course i know grass is green nad where the green traffic light is, but if you play with intensity ( especially low contrast rates... ) it becomes a nightmare...

So have mode where you restrict you color palette to high contrast colors...

- support for a spacenavigator ? That would be really cool !
- ability to set the distance between layers ( realistic so you see the real boardstack , and an 'exploded view' mode so you can go 'inside'. This is good to check buried vias or counterdrilled pads.

[andersendr]

@ free_e, He already has the ability to set the layer thickness.  When the layer is imported it was an option.  Also you can fly around the inside of your board.  just zoom in until you are between two layers then turn and start driving the space highway.  I will to have to check out the new version.j

[zofz]

I thought so too, but when I made the board simply very thick, deeper layers turned to be very fuzzy.
The fuzziness is implemented because it helps visualizing deepness in PCB volume.
So I need to correct for this.
It will be implemented under mouse wheel, as third option.
(simplest way to see this is by Stackup / DsplayEdit, select layer:BoardOutline, set new thickens,
 press [Set Equal Spacing])

[free_electron]

That's not what i mean ! i want to set a distance from layer to layer . for each hop there needs to be a distance. boards ar enot always made with uniform distances. i wan tot give top to inner 1 5 mils ,inner 1 to inner 2 : 30 mils , innrer 2 to bottom : 7 mils.
If i now want to an exploded view all these distances need to scale proportionally. ..

[zofz]

The proportionality coefficient could be varying from 1 to e.g. 20, setable by the mouse wheel.
Clicking mouse wheel will select one of 3 modes of layer separation:
1-peel
2-single layer
3-spread (proportionally)
Also, the "fuzziness coefficient" have to be adapted in this new 3rd case. If not - see the picture.

[andersendr]

@Free_E,  Yes each layer thickness can be set.   When you click the compose button, then load in your layers, each one has a "thickness" value associated with it.  Have a look at the screen cap below.

[zofz]

http://youtu.be/3VZUVkK4ZNc?hd=1

[gregariz]

http://youtu.be/3VZUVkK4ZNc?hd=1

The program is looking good. I've been using the following recently but its an online viewer;

http://mayhewlabs.com/3dpcb

Would you be able to set a solid board rather than a transparent board?.  The solid board allows you to inspect your silk screen easily.

[zofz]

There are still things to be done to close this release, but I have a preview:
http://youtu.be/wY0nheNj8oQ

[free_electron]

it's looking good. I've loaded some massive boards (half a meter by 1/3 ) , 8 electrical layers. works without a hitch.you still havent got the 3d mouse correct : it's close , only 2 functions need swapping. you use push forward/pull backward to zoom. that should be pull up , push down

i'll send you a PM wth details

[Chyn2000]

Wow. This is looking really useful.

If I might make few suggestions:
1. When loading new Gerber files, please do not reset the color scheme.
2. Put your preset colors into a config file like you did with the Gerber extension import mapping. That way users can create their own custom color schemes.
3. On a normal mouse, can you map the zoom function to the scroll wheel? This is very standard in 3D tools. If there is some debate about preferences, you might think about letting the user map functions to the keys and buttons that work best for them.

I must say that this program is very cool as is. Thanks for the effort and sharing your tool with us.

[zofz]

About 3D-Mouse (free_electron):
I have been looking in the 3D mouse profiles - it is adjustable there.
It seems that I have to keep the axis arrangement in the program, and create/modify the profile.
(otherwise the description will not match)
I will try to add a ZofzPCB-default-profile to the 3dmouse profiles during the gerber viewer instalation.
Now, of course, it is possible to adjust axes by hand.
Thank you for your effort and help!

[zofz]

Chyn2000, thank you, and all of you, for positive feedback! 

I absolutely agree, color schemes need save/restore.
Layer colors e.t.c. will be done shortly.
I will wait with a particular net colors settings, until I have implemented pick&place/soldermask  -> real netlist "management".

I also agree that the first "gesture" you try to do to zoom is the mouse wheel.
I do not want to disappoint anybody in this moment, OK.
Now when I have a PCB volume (in next version) - I need to be able to change the transparency quick.
Peel layers, especially after obscuring the PCB volume, also need o be done quick.
What is then intuitive and quick?
I like the mouse wheel: ctrl-Wheel=volume transparency,  shift-Wheel=peel layers, alt-Wheel=spread layers, Lclick-Whell=zoom.
and simple-Wheel will be adjustable, defaulting to zoom.
Menu to change this will help to recall what is what.
I need also a new option for every layer: -Invisible, -solid, -sparse,  (now all is sparse).
This could be in right-click menu, for topmost layer, plus additional layer list with radio-buttons.
Does it fit together, or I am again drifting away?