We are proud to introduce VIC-3D 10 - the latest version of the flagship 3D digital image correlation software from Correlated Solutions. Building on iris, the graphics engine introduced in version 9, the all-new VIC-3D 10 delivers an unparalleled DIC analysis workspace with a range of new features designed specifically to facilitate 3D data analysis and visualization.

This series of short videos is designed to provide an overview of the various changes that have been made to VIC-3D 10 and to acclimate our current customers to the new features and user interfaces.

The most noticeable changes are to the user interface in the analysis workspace itself which has seen a wide range of enhancements to plotting, visualization, and customizability. This is the result of a completely revised graphics engine which utilizes the iris renderer for all plots. In other words, the controls for how data gets manipulated, displayed, and exported in the analysis workspace now mirror the controls in the iris workspace. This structural change will make DIC research more effective and efficient, but it may take a little getting used to for those long-term VIC-3D users who haven’t yet become familiar with the iris visualization engine.

To demonstrate the UI updates, let’s look at this data from a recent test measuring the impact of a small caliber projectile into a block of ballistics gel. First, there are a few ways to move the image on the page. Click and drag outside the image to move the whole page and use the mouse wheel to zoom. Click once on the image to move the image around the page. Double-click and notice the red outline. When you see this, click and drag to adjust the image within the frame. Just double-click outside the frame to unselect. Right-click on the image to switch to the 3D view. From here, we’ll go over the new tabs in the expanded plot tools panel which is located on the right in VIC-3D 10, by default. Familiar with the panel being on the left? You can easily change the layout in the global preferences.

Let’s start with the SEQUENCE TAB, which provides the ability to show the speckle pattern as well as a show, hide, and customize a wireframe mesh directly on the 3D plot. This will prove useful to customers who are interested in comparing DIC and FEA data at the node level. Also notice here the functionality provided by the all-new range sliders – which appear in several of the tabs and which can quickly adjust variables to refine the look of the plot. Just click here to adjust the numbers more precisely.

Moving to the VIEW TAB, we’ve added an optional 3D axis along with the ability to show, hide, or customize the coordinate system. Also, especially for those users who work in inches, notice the new options under the LENGTH UNITS drop down. Double-click on the image to adjust the 3D orientation by clicking and dragging.

Under the CONTOUR TAB, find more control over the look and feel of the data you’re presenting including the new ability to create custom color contour maps in global preferences. We’ll go over how to do that in a later video.

Right-click again and switch back to a 2D view. The tabs and corresponding options are similar to the 3D view, but we’ve added a SCALE TAB that allows you to add a custom scale to the plot. To illustrate the scale change, double-click to bring up the red outline and zoom by scrolling.

Right-click again and take particular notice of the new export options. VIC-3D 10 now enables export of the highest quality media – images, pdfs, and up to 4K, extremely high-quality video - directly from the DIC analysis workspace. This is the main reason for making the underlying change to the basic user interface because it means users can now quickly share stunning DIC visuals for instruction and collaboration or prepare data for publication more efficiently and professionally.

And if you are interested in juxtaposing and animating DIC data for a more complex presentation, we’ve also made significant UI updates to the iris workspace. We’ll take a look at some of those updates in the next video.