Push Pull tool and/or 3D polygon does not work

[MGuilfoile]

In VW 2023 SP5, I create a 3D polygon. After its creation, I try to extrude it (as per the manual) using the Push/Pull tool. Nothing happens; the tool does nothing. There is a note that this can be done immediately after creation of the 3D polygon, but, if true, that is absurdly limiting. A 3D polygon should be able to be easily extruded (i.e., as easily as a 2D polygon) at any time after its creation. This tool does not work for me and is, in general, very hard to use (compared to, say, FormZ's similar tools).

 

MH Brown

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

Make sure your 3D polygon is closed.  I may be slightly off.  Select it, go tot he info menu and check closed.  Also, try shell.  If shell does not work something is wrong.

 

[MGuilfoile]

OK, thanks for the tip. I would hope if it had a problem like that I'd get an error message saying it isn't closed. The biggest problem is keeping the 3D polygon planer (as in keeping it one plane, whether the object-relative plane or the world plane). In other words: keep it flat. Is there a box to check for that? If so, I think I missed it, so it may be that the polygon is "twisted." This doesn't happen in other 3D apps I use, so I didn't think to look for it.

Thank you for the quick response!

MH Brown

[line-weight]

Set a working plane to the plane you want the polygon on. Then draw it as a 2d polygon. Then extrude it. That avoids the risk of making a non planar 3d polygon.

[Tom W.]

49 minutes ago, MGuilfoile said:

In VW 2023 SP5, I create a 3D polygon. After its creation, I try to extrude it (as per the manual) using the Push/Pull tool. Nothing happens; the tool does nothing. There is a note that this can be done immediately after creation of the 3D polygon, but, if true, that is absurdly limiting. A 3D polygon should be able to be easily extruded (i.e., as easily as a 2D polygon) at any time after its creation. This tool does not work for me and is, in general, very hard to use (compared to, say, FormZ's similar tools).

 

MH Brown

 

Make sure you are using the Push/Pull Tool in the first mode (Extrude Face Mode)

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

48 minutes ago, MGuilfoile said:

in general, very hard to use (compared to, say, FormZ's similar tools).

Just curious.  It sounds like you may have extracted the 3D polygon or picked it off from some other points.  Is that correct?  

If I can offer a bit of advice.  Many 3D programs begin with primitive 3D objects and go from there, for example Rhino 3D SubD.  That is how they are designed to work.

Vectorworks is a solid modeller (most times).  It is best to begin modelling at the lowest common denominator, 2D polygons, NURBS curves, even 3D Locus points.  

Best of luck.

[zoomer]

3 hours ago, MGuilfoile said:

VW 2023 SP5

 

AFAIK we have VW 2023 SP 7 now.

No guarantee but may be worth a try.

 

Beside I tend to @Tom W. advice above with PPT mode.

 

(I even thought Push Pull does not work with 3D Polygons,

maybe I had the same issue)

[bjoerka]

PPT works for sure with 3d polys.

Maybe it´s related to the SP5.

Try uodating to the latest SP7 as zoomer wrote.

[MGuilfoile]

It turns out my 3D polygon was not in one plane, it was a tiny bit twisted. Is there a way to make a 3D polygon stay in the plane defined by the first three points?

thanks,

MH Brown

 

[bjoerka]

You can turn on the "Snap to working plane" in the snapping tools.

Or you can define a custom working plane and then activate "Look at working plane"

Hope that is what you are looking for...

[MGuilfoile]

Yes, thanks that sounds great! I knew there had to be a way.

MH Brown