A Creo Elements/Direct Modeling Simplification is a simplified representation of a part or assembly. Simplifications are especially useful when a company wishes to maintain intellectual property rights by suppressing internal model details when sending designs to external sources (for example, subcontractors and equipment catalogs) or to improve system performance when working with simplified representations of large assemblies (for example, when generating digital mockups, making assembly layouts, or performing clash tests).

A simplification definition is like a recipe that contains the parameters needed to execute the simplification. Creo Elements/Direct Modeling stores the simplification definitions as part of the model.

You can apply multiple simplifications to the same model. Some companies create naming conventions for simplification names. For example, a company might define a Level 1 simplification for low-level clash tests, a Level 2 simplification for sending to a mold builder, and a Level 3 simplification for a catalog.

Creo Elements/Direct Model Manager's Load dialog allows you to select a simplification name from a list of all simplification names in the database. The same simplification name will be used for all parts. If a part does not have a simplification with the selected name, the original part will be loaded.

Creo Elements/Direct Manager Server stores the simplification definitions as part of the original model and the simplified geometry models as separate files related to the original model.

You must save the model with its simplification definition before you execute the simplification. Creo Elements/Direct Modeling will display an error message if you attempt to execute a simplification before saving the model. You must also save the model with the simplified geometry after executing the simplification.