PMI data visualization

1. A computer implemented process for creating a visual representation of PMI data in a three dimensional representation, comprising:

within a rendering engine that executes on at least one processor of a computing device:

defining a camera point in a camera view plane;

defining an object point in an object plane;

calculating an opacity factor based on an angle formed between the planes; and

adjusting the opacity of an annotation in the object plane.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the object point defines a point in a plane containing an element of PMI data.

3. The process of claim 1 further including step of determining the camera plane as including the camera point normals to a ray defined from the camera view point and the object point.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein the object point is a position in 3d space on which the camera is focused.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein the object point is selected as the middle of a three dimensional bounding box encompassing a PMI element.

6. The process of claim 1 wherein step of calculating includes calculating the dihedral angle between the planes.

7. The process of claim 1 wherein the step of calculating the opacity factor includes calculating the cosine of the dihedral angle.

8. The process of claim 1 wherein the opacity is full when the dihedral angle is 0 degree.

9. The process of claim 1 wherein the opacity is fully transparent when the dihedral angle is 90 degrees.

10. A computer implemented method of presenting visual information for a three dimensional object including one or more elements of product information, comprising:

within a rendering engine that executes on at least one processor of a computing device:

determining a view position with respect to the three dimensional object;

determining a relationship of an instance of the manufacturing information relative to the view position; and

rendering the opacity of the instance of the manufacturing data based on a plane containing the manufacturing data.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of determining a view position comprises:

determining a camera point and a camera plane.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the camera plane is determined relative to a ray from the camera point to a point selected in the plane containing the instance of manufacturing data.

13. The process of claim 12 wherein the object point is selected as the middle of a three dimensional bounding box encompassing the PMI element.

14. The process of claim 11 wherein the step of determining a relationship includes calculating the dihedral angle between the camera plane and the plane containing the manufacturing data.

15. The process of claim 14 wherein the step rendering the opacity includes rendering the opacity relative to the value of the cosine of the dihedral angle.

16. The process of claim 15 wherein the opacity is full when the dihedral angle is 0 degree.

17. The process of claim 15 wherein the opacity is fully transparent when the dihedral angle is 90 degrees.

18. A method of presenting a three dimensional representation of an object including a plurality of PMI elements associated with the representation, comprising:

within a rendering engine that executes on at least one processor of a computing device:

(a) determining a camera position;

(b) determining a point on a plane containing an element of PMI;

(c) determining a ray from the camera position to the point;

(d) calculating a plane containing the camera position normal to said ray;

(e) determining the plane containing said element of PMI;

(f) calculating a dihedral angle between the camera plane and the object plane; and

(g) adjusting an opacity of the PMI element in the plane relative to the dihedral angle.

19. The method of claim 18 further including the step of repeating each of steps (b) through (f) for all PMI elements associated with the three dimensional object.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein step (g) is performed by adjusting the opacity relative to the cosine of the dihedral angle.