Snapping - Will not snap to a Point

[Michael Siggers]

Hi

 

Yet another really frustrating issue.

 

Why will it not snap to the point shown in the image? All I am trying to do is draw a rectangle on the Object on the underside of the Rafters, (Plasterboard), to create a hole.

 

I have checked all the Snap Settings, and it is set to snap to everything.

 

I find this programme so annoying and un-intuitive. This woiuld take 30 seconds in Sketchup. 30 minutes later I am still trying in Vector Works.

 

Seriously thinking of going back to Sketchup. I am trying to draw something so simple it is rediculous how long it takes me.

 

Mike

 

 

[Tom W.]

The Rectangle Tool is a 2D drafting tool so will be drawn on the active layer plane unless you've activated a working plane. The easiest way to activate a working plane is to make sure Auto-Plane is on (use \ key to toggle) with one of the 2D tools selected:

 

 

In your case you want to navigate yourself to underneath the rafters so the plane is aligned with the underside of the rafters as this is where you want to draw the rectangle. So draw it from underneath not above as per your screenshot.

 

Alternatively you can set the working plane from above using the Set Working Plane tool in Three Point Mode but I think navigating to underneath + using auto-plane is quicker/easier.

 

Or draw it from above using auto-plane then move it downwards afterwards.

[Michael Siggers]

3 minutes ago, Tom W. said:

Or draw it from above using auto-plane then move it downwards afterwards.

Annoying this is exactly what I am trying to do, but it will not select the snap point in those corners. Trying to drawing on the PLasterboard and then pull down but it will absolutely not find those corners. It find the corners on the top edges fine.

 

Mike

[Michael Siggers]

I have overcome this by hovering over one of the top corners, waiting for the line to be projected down to the surface on which I want to draw, then move the mouse to this point, (making sure I get the Auto plane in the correct place on the object on which I want to draw), when it finds that point as a point on the red dashed line it has just projected down, then I can draw the rectangle.

 

Think next time, I will just draw a separate solid box and then do a solid subtraction.

 

Long winded? Yes. Annoying? Yes? Time wasting? Yes

 

 

[Michael Siggers]

Here is a screen recording.

 

It only snaps to the point required once the Smart Edge appears.

 

Mike

[Tom W.]

Do you have Snap to Object enabled in your snap settings?

 

 

This is how it works for me:

 

 

 

 

[Michael Siggers]

2 minutes ago, Tom W. said:

Do you have Snap to Object enabled in your snap settings?

Yes.

 

Watched your video and yes, I can snap to that top edge. I have uploaded a video too, showing where it will not snap.

 

Mike

[Tom W.]

Not sure why that's happening. Have you checked your Object Snap Settings?

 

[Michael Siggers]

Yes, all checked and all ticked.

 

Putting it down to a Vectorworks quirk.

 

Mike

[zoomer]

I think the problem is that he wants to grab the lower - occluded - Auto Plane

under the beams (?)

 

This should (Auto Plane does only appear for visible object faces) work by

rotating the view to look from the under side.

 

Not sure why it shows the blue Auto Plane (like in a boundary detecting mode)

at all - but will not snap to any vertices in this case anyway.

Edited September 10, 2024 by zoomer

[Michael Siggers]

Thank you @zoomer

 

That's good to know for the future.

 

The work around I used was to snap to the point directly above until a projection line appeared, which then allowed me to snap to the point I wanted.

 

The annoying thing is, I really like Vectorworks as I can see how powerful it is, but little things like this frustrate me. I also find that settings for objects appear in a multitude of different places, and trying to find them can be time consuming.

 

I guess the answer is to make sure I use the software more, hoping that in time things like this become second nature. Unfortunately, the (very dull) freelance job I am working on at the moment does not need any design input from me. Need to get more work from my other Clients 🙂

 

Many thanks for your help, and you too @Tom W.. Much appreciated.

 

Mike

[zoomer]

For the Auto Plane in Bricscad I can press SHIFT or such key and it locks the auto plane

so I can snap to anywhere in 3D space from that.

AFAIK in VW there is no such fixation for Auto Plane (?)

 

I am not very familiar with UCS/custom Working Planes in VW.

(because so far I rather just create dummy geometries to provide Auto Plane spenders

 where I need them next, like for rotation tool and such, because that is easier for me)

But I think these might be an option for workarounds too.

 

I think in this case I would have rotated my view.

 

But offering the blue Auto Plane on one side but then not allowing to snap seems

strange to me. So maybe a support request to VW would be useful nevertheless.

[line-weight]

9 hours ago, Michael Siggers said:

Here is a screen recording.

 

It only snaps to the point required once the Smart Edge appears.

 

Mike

 

Could it be that the top surface of your plasterboard is overlapping ever so slightly with the bottom of the rafters? I can reproduce something similar if the top of the plasterboard is just 1mm too high.

 

There is a kind of cheat in this situation: press B on your keyboard which will give you a kind of X-ray zone where you can see things in wireframe. If wireframe can see the corner you want, then you can usually snap to it, even if you can't in shaded view.

[Michael Siggers]

Hi @line-weight

 

Yeah, I did wonder that and check it but it is definitely on the underside of the Rafters and not over lapping.

 

I did notice however, that when I zoomed in super close, the coloured plane that appears as part of the Auto Plane appeared to be hovering slightly above the actual face of the object. I guess this is just a graphical thing to avoid some sort of Z fighting.

 

Mike

[line-weight]

Do you have any objects set to invisible (including things like components of walls or roof faces) within the model you're looking at?

 

(By the way, when I first started using VW properly in 3d, instead of doing my 3d stuff in sketchup, I found it incredibly frustrating and came close to giving up a few times...it did get better though - stick with it.)

Edited September 11, 2024 by line-weight

[Boh]

4 hours ago, line-weight said:

There is a kind of cheat in this situation: press B on your keyboard which will give you a kind of X-ray zone where you can see things in wireframe. If wireframe can see the corner you want, then you can usually snap to it, even if you can't in shaded view.

Did you try that? Alternatively try changing the rendermode to wireframe.

[MarCur]

I second Boh suggestion

Edited September 30, 2024 by MarCur