PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE;

[propstuff]

An Offset tool that produces a "clean" result. This has been asked for numerous times in the past, but I've spent the morning offsetting polylines and it's such a pain.

All of my polylines (Landscape pathways) were around 25 verticies. Their offsets had about 100 fold verticies.

From 25 to 2500!- and that was after I'd split the long ones into pieces to make them managable.

If it weren't for John Williams "Simplify Polys" script I'd be dead. And it doesn't work in the VW11 Demo. {:-(

A tool to do that would also be a boon.

I don't mind if the vertex count goes up a bit, but an offset of a polyline composed of a few lines joined to a few curves ought to yield a polyline made up of a few straight segments joined to a few curves, not 2436 verticies!

Please, please, it's time this one was fixed.

............and a polyline smoothing tool to go with it too. ;-)

N.

[ 08-01-2004, 07:34 AM: Message edited by: propstuff ]

[Petri]

The 2D Conversion Resolution preference might be of help (set to low for fewer vertices) - but really, we should get a polyline from a polyline.

VW, however, handles even large numbers of vertices quite well. I have files with millions of vertices (contour maps) and they are manageable.

[RubenH]

Offset with a clean polyline, YES!!!!!!

The 2d conversion resolution (and 3d conversion resolution) have to be a number. I remember it was that way before.

[Luis]

this is a log waited wish, i am agree, you must have a polyline as result of a polyline offset, and whit the same kind of vertex, i work whit cnc machinera and have to offset to compense the widht of the tool, so when i have to cut a curved shape it is really uspset, i used to fix this by change the smoothing status on poligons, by changing to no smoothing, the do the offset, and then resmoothin the needed vertex.... comsumpting time task, the bad new is that in VW11 there is a kind of bug in smooting command, cause many time it delete almso all the vertex and the result is an new polygon whit 3 or 4 vertex, just try this and figure yourself:

1.- draw a rectangle and convert it to polygon, take the 2d edit tool and change just one corner vertex type to arc vertex. So you now have a kind of quarter arc polyline.

2.- select the offset tool and offset outside the the polyline, now you have a polygon whit several points (just asking, why the offset tool do this, instead offset the lines just as the arcs they are?).

3.- select the resulted polygon and click edit/smoothing/no smoothing or arc smoothing or wherever

4.- the resulted of this command is a polygon whit 4 points that not represent the final desired shape.

This didnot happend in previous versions

[P Retondo]

As I and others have suggested many times in the past, this is a basic essential. An offset polyline or polygon should have the same kinds and numbers of vertices as the original. And, crossing lines that result from the operation should be cleaned up.

[RKD]

Pleeeeeeaseeeee

[jan15]

I notice that AutoCad 2004 has this same problem with offsetting Splines. So maybe there's something inherently difficult about offsetting curves.

But AutoCad Plines with arcs but not spline or bezier curve control points offset with the same number of lines and arcs.

In order to solve the problem, it may be necessary to create a new VectorWorks object type, which has only straight lines and arcs.