Analyse, Record, Share with Annotations

Streamlining CFD post-processing in bramble

Documenting your findings is one of the most important, yet often overlooked, parts of the simulation process. A CFD analysis is only as valuable as the insights that can be extracted and communicated to others, which is why annotations are so critical. Engineers spend countless hours running cases, generating plots, and visualising flow features, but when it comes to recording these insights the workflow often reverts to a tedious routine: copying images into reports, writing long explanatory emails, or updating shared spreadsheets.

This process not only consumes time, it also increases the risk of losing context. That “quick note” about a separation bubble or pressure distribution peak might be difficult to trace back days or weeks later. For fast-moving motorsport projects, where development cycles are short and track deadlines immovable, this inefficiency is a real handicap.

That’s exactly why we developed annotations in bramble.

What Are Annotations?

Annotations are bramble’s lightweight way to capture, document, and share important observations from your CFD results. Rather than manually compiling slides or lengthy reports, engineers can record their thoughts directly in the post-processing environment, attach them to visualisations, and save them alongside the raw data.

Think of Annotations as a digital notebook embedded in your CFD workflow. They allow you to:

• Capture flow features or performance trends as you see them.

• Annotate images with highlights, arrows, or notes to draw attention to key details.

• Comment in context, without having to open another document or application.

• Share insights seamlessly with colleagues, so everyone has access to the same observations.

Because Annotations are stored within bramble, they remain tied to the simulation run itself. Weeks or months later, you can revisit your results and instantly recall not just what you saw, but what you thought about it at the time.

The process of creating Annotations has been designed to be quick and intuitive.

Review Results as Normal
Begin in the Results view, scrolling through your post-processing as you would during any analysis.

Capture the Image
When you find an important flow feature – a vortex structure, a pressure imbalance, or a downforce distribution worth noting – copy the image (right-click → Copy Image) or take a screen grab.

Upload to Annotations
In the top-right corner of the post-processing viewer window, click the Upload Annotations button. Paste your captured image (Ctrl+V), or select a saved image from your machine.

Add Details
Enter supporting text in the description box. Then activate the annotator tool to draw lines, circles, or highlight regions of interest directly on the image.

Save
Once you’re satisfied, hit Upload. Your annotation is now stored alongside the standard post-processing outputs in the bramble database.

This workflow takes seconds, but it creates a permanent and easily retrievable record of your insight.

Once created, Annotations can be accessed in the Results view like standard post-processing.  Select your run as normal from the forces table. There should now be a new ‘Annotations’ selection at the top of the force table, alongside the plots and movies buttons.