# Can prepomax open up foam files? **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [May 10, 2024, 3:36am UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/can-prepomax-open-up-foam-files/2260 "2024-05-10T03:36:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lt72884](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/97f17d/32.png) [@Lt72884](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/Lt72884)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 3:36am UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/can-prepomax-open-up-foam-files/2260/1 "2024-05-10T03:36:17Z")
I just ran a 24 hour 19 minute cfd and i have the results but i have no idea how to view them. I tried paraview and that software is very strange to me. Is there something more straight forward and user friendly that can open up my 81GB file and show the results? can prepomax do this nicely or is there a better way? thanks I do not know if there is a prepomax forum and so far all the information i have learned about prepomax has come from here. I posted here first before the cfd sub forum of freecad. thanks for any advice. ---
**Author:** ![Calc\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Calc\_em](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/Calc_em)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 6:58am UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/can-prepomax-open-up-foam-files/2260/2 "2024-05-10T06:58:36Z")
Yes, PrePoMax can open .foam files as described in its manual and in the tutorial that I’ve shared with you long ago. But it would be better to decrease the file size to something more manageable by using a coarser mesh or reducing the amount of output (its frequency, number of variables or region). ---
**Author:** ![xyont](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/calculix.discourse.group/xyont/32/3553_2.png) [@xyont](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/xyont)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 10:35am UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/can-prepomax-open-up-foam-files/2260/3 "2024-05-10T10:35:44Z")
seems CGX also capable to read and mapping from OpenFoam file ![2024-05-10 17_32_49-cgx_2.21.pdf - Adobe Reader](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/calculix/original/2X/2/2440b35c8a7f5714e808de5d05e10a1844e314ce.png) ---
**Author:** ![Lt72884](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/97f17d/32.png) [@Lt72884](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/Lt72884)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/can-prepomax-open-up-foam-files/2260/4 "2024-05-10T17:12:40Z")
I have so many videos saved, i need to figure out which one you are referring to haha I think its a lot of data due to how big the flow domain is. I followed the standard-ish and made it about 4 times the size of the blade. Refinement was not working so it all gotrshed with either 10mm or 20mm cells… Hence why its so large of files. I need to learn a better workflow. Mine is terrible haha ---
**Author:** ![Calc\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Calc\_em](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/Calc_em)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/can-prepomax-open-up-foam-files/2260/5 "2024-05-10T17:16:52Z")
> [@Lt72884](#): > > I have so many videos saved, i need to figure out which one you are referring to haha This one: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76gqtkEhFwg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76gqtkEhFwg) > [@Lt72884](#): > > Refinement was not working so it all gotrshed with either 10mm or 20mm cells… Hence why its so large of files. Can you check how many elements/cells you have or share a screenshot of this mesh ? You definitely should figure out how to use different element sizes for different regions or just use a coarse mesh everywhere for now because result files of around 80 GB will likely be unusable for further postprocessing or mapping to FEA. ---
**Author:** ![Lt72884](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/97f17d/32.png) [@Lt72884](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/Lt72884)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/can-prepomax-open-up-foam-files/2260/6 "2024-05-10T23:31:00Z")
ok, so i have the file open, how do i tell how many cells it is? i have looked at the properties tab and do not see it. So i did a check mesh. Is this the fastest way? ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/calculix/original/2X/2/2e8ece86bff186c8ebacee48f9a05c08a8ea1e93.png) ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/calculix/original/2X/a/af4e1d6a48e960caaf31c18231f2164b9ee44c1f.png) I will watch some more tutorials on how to use cfdof correctly. What is the best way to view results? Paraview? Prepomax? or something else? thank you very much ---
**Author:** ![Calc\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Calc\_em](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/Calc_em)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2024, 3:02pm UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/can-prepomax-open-up-foam-files/2260/7 "2024-05-11T15:02:59Z")
Yes, the number of cells is displayed in the report view. For example: ```auto Mesh stats points: 343 internal points: 125 faces: 756 internal faces: 540 cells: 216 faces per cell: 6 boundary patches: 1 point zones: 0 face zones: 0 cell zones: 0 Overall number of cells of each type: hexahedra: 216 prisms: 0 wedges: 0 pyramids: 0 tet wedges: 0 tetrahedra: 0 polyhedra: 0 ``` But you could also check it in ParaView which is the best tool for postprocessing of OpenFOAM results. ---
**Author:** ![Lt72884](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/97f17d/32.png) [@Lt72884](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/Lt72884)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/can-prepomax-open-up-foam-files/2260/8 "2024-05-11T20:59:11Z")
Hmm, my report view from check mesh is not that organized or pretty haha But it is 22 million cells hahahaha. I’m guessing thats to many. Fiiiiine! Ill learn para view haha. Where did i go wrong because at first i tried 100mm and the mesh looked very course and i tried to do a refinment but it didnt work. So how do i do a refinment correctly? Thanks for all the help. Ill start posting on another forum about cfd once i find one that is active.