Leverage the diagnostic capabilities in Forma

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while its diagnostic capabilities automatically help you avoid errors along the way.

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This is because 3D Sketch has built-in diagnostics

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that can help identify when there are issues with the objects in your model that make them not solid,

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or when there are extra pieces of geometry not contributing to the solid.

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The two most useful built-in diagnostic capabilities are Non-Watertight Edges and Backfaces.

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These diagnostics are enabled by default,

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but you can control them by using the Visibility Menu at the bottom of the canvas.

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The Non-Watertight Edges diagnostic is designed to highlight structure edges that do not contribute to a watertight/manifold solid,

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in red.

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To turn it on, from the Visibility Menu, click Model Diagnostics.

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In the Display Options dialog, hover your cursor over the cube on the left.

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When “Non-watertight edges D W” appears over it, click the Cube to select this diagnostic tool.

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Another useful diagnostic is Backfaces, which helps illustrate the orientation of faces by painting the back sides of your structure red.

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You access Backfaces the same way you access Non-Watertight Edges,

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by clicking the Model Diagnostics tool.

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In the Display Options dialog, hover your cursor over the cube on the right.

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For this example, when you see “Backfaces D B” appear, click the Cube.

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With Backfaces now selected, keep in mind that you only see the red faces in your model.

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That is because you are looking at the inside of the cantilevered 3D shape,

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but the remaining faces are oriented correctly.

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It is also possible to mistakenly have a solid with a face flipped the wrong way,

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and this diagnostic helps to illuminate that as well.

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If you do ever see a structural face flipped the wrong way,

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you can right-click the face and choose Reverse face.

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Leveraging the default diagnostic capabilities of the 3D Sketching tool in Autodesk Forma helps you create structurally sound designs easily.