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Get Started
Learn the basics and discover the workspace.
Selection
Select and deselect entities to modify with other tools. Selected entities are outlined to indicate their selection state.
Keyboard Shortcuts & Mouse Controls

Welcome
What's New
View new features for Altair HyperWorks 2025.
Get Started
Learn the basics and discover the workspace.
- User Interface
  Explore the user interface.
- Adjust the View
  View controls enable you to control the view and display of your model in the modeling window.
- Find and Search for Tools
  Quickly find and open the tools and browsers that are available from the ribbons, as well as create entities and solver cards.
- Selection
  Select and deselect entities to modify with other tools. Selected entities are outlined to indicate their selection state.
  - Entity Selectors
    Use entity selectors to specify which type of entity you are able to select.
  - Select Entities
  - Append and Remove Entities From a Selection
  - Graphical Selection (Idle Mode)
  - Select Entities from the Entity Editor
  - Perform Extended Entity Selection
    Use extended entity selection to find, filter, and select subsets of entities. Extended selections can be added to, removed from, or intersected with existing selections, and previous selections can be also saved and retrieved.
  - Quick Advanced Selection
    Use quick advanced selection to associate a preferred advanced selection method to different entity types. The advanced method becomes instantly accessible while holding the Alt key during any selection action.
  - Select Mesh Faces and Edges
    Direct selection of mesh faces and edges is available in some tools, as well as their individual selection modes which are called Facets and FE Edges, respectively.
  - Keyboard Shortcuts & Mouse Controls
- Snaps
  Use snap points to help align geometry.
- Move
  Translate, rotate, and align the model.
- Define Orientation
  Several tools require you to define a plane or a vector direction to perform a certain function, such as dragging geometry along a vector, spinning it about an axis, or splitting it with a plane. The Plane and Vector tools are used to define and edit planes and directions.
- Measures
  Use the Measure tool to measure length, angles, radii, areas, volumes, centers of gravity, and bounding boxes.
- Working with Entities
  Learn how to manipulate entities.
- Undo-Redo
  Undo and redo actions.
- Keyboard Shortcuts and Mouse Controls
  Default keyboard shortcuts and mouse controls.
- SpaceBall/SpaceMouse Devices
  Supported SpaceBall or SpaceMouse devices.
Tutorials
Learn more about the Altair HyperWorks suite of products with interactive tutorials.
Startup Procedures and Customizations
Start and configure the applications.
Tool Finder
View a list of deprecated panels and their newer, equivalent workflows.
Manage Files and Data
Create, open, import, and save models.
Sessions and Report Templates
Set up sessions and create report templates.
Interface with External Products
Solver interfaces supported in HyperMesh.
Entities and Solver Interfaces
A solver interface is made up of a template and a FE-input reader.
Browsers
Browsers provide a structured view of model data, which you can use to review, modify, create, and manage the contents of a model. In addition to visualization, browsers offer features like search, filtering, and sorting, which enhance your ability to navigate and interact with the model data.
Sketching
Create and edit 2D parametric sketch geometry.
Topology
Create, edit, and cleanup geometry.
FE Geometry
FE geometry is topology on top of mesh, meaning CAD and mesh exist as a single entity. The purpose of FE geometry is to add vertices, edges, surfaces, and solids on FE models which have no CAD geometry.
Meshing and Elements
Explore the different types of mesh you can create in HyperMesh and create and edit 0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D elements.
Model Build and Assembly
Create, organize and manage parts and subsystems.
Composites
HyperMesh composites modeling.
Connectors
Create connections between parts of your model.
Morph
Rapidly change the shape of the FE mesh without severely sacrificing the mesh quality.
Skeleton Modeling
Create a reduced ordered model to facilitate optimization at the concept phase.
Design Space
Workflow to support topology optimization model build and setup.
Optimization
Setup an Optimization in HyperMesh.
Design Explorer
Multi-disciplinary design exploration and optimization tools.
Validate
Validate the model built before running solver analysis.
Analyze
Models require loads and boundary conditions in order to represent the various physics and/or physical equivalents to bench and in-use testing.
Axisymmetry
Reduce a full 3D model with axisymmetric surfaces while accounting for imperfections.
Concept Modeling
Tools and workflows that are dedicated to rapidly creating new parts for specific use cases, or amending existing parts. The current capabilities are focused on stiffening parts.
Crash and Safety
Tools used for crash and safety analysis.
Airbag
Use airbag folder utilities and export a resulting airbag in a Radioss deck.
Aerospace
Essential utility tools developed using HyperMesh-Tcl.
Aeroelasticity
Import an aeroelastic finite element model with Nastran Bulk Data format.
Certification
Framework to plug certification methods to assess margin of safety from the model and result information.
PhysicsAI
Use PhysicsAI to build fast predictive models from CAE data. PhysicsAI can be trained on data with any physics or remeshing and without design variables.
Results Data
Results data can be post-processed using both HyperMesh and HyperView.
Developer
The Developer ribbon contains tools for automation and customization.
Plot Data
HyperGraph is a data analysis and plotting tool with interfaces to many file formats.
Multibody Modeling
MotionView is a general pre-processor for Multibody Dynamics.
Media Files
MediaView plays video files, displays static images, tracks objects, and measures distances.
Tabulate Results
Use TableView to create an Excel-like spreadsheet.
Text Files
TextView math scripts reference vector data from HyperGraph windows to automate data processing and data summary.
Publishing and Reporting
Create, define, and export reports.

View All Altair HyperWorks Help

Keyboard Shortcuts & Mouse Controls

Selection


To do this	Press
Window select	Left Mouse Drag
Append selection	Ctrl + Left Mouse Click
Deselect	Shift + Left Mouse Click
Select displayed	Ctrl + A
Select all	Ctrl + Shift + A
Select adjacent	Ctrl + J
Select attached	Ctrl + T
Select similar (based on type and config if applicable)	Ctrl + M
Reverse selection	Ctrl + R
Save selection	Ctrl + W
Retrieve selection	Ctrl + Shift + W
Advanced selection	"."
Selection	Alt + Left Mouse Click
Quick selection menu	","
Selection search (Entity Editor only)	"/"
Adjust feature angle when selecting elements By Face or By Edge	Alt + Scroll
Edit	Double Mouse Click
Suspend snaps	Alt
Clear active selector	Backspace
Clear all guide bar selectors	Esc

Entity Selector


To do this	Press
Set to components/connectors	C
Set to elements	E
Set to laminates/lines/loads	L
Set to materials	M
Set to nodes	N
Set to plies/points/properties	P
Set to segments/sets/solids/surfaces/systems	S
Set to attachments	T
Set to vectors	V
Set to all	Esc + Esc

Tip: For entity types that have the same first letter (solids, surfaces), continually press the keyboard shortcut to alternate between entity types.