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Position markers after extrusion?


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Again, please excuse my newbie questions, but that's what I am.

When I extrude a polyline (say, from the Right view) and then go to the Front view, I see the extruded object, and can move it. But in the Object Shape tab, the section that usually listed the position, X/Y, is not there anymore. How do I get info on the position of 3D objects (extruded) in the other views.

thanks again for any help,

Dave

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Hi Islandmon,

Yes, the Shape tab is selected, but the only numbers that are there are the width and depth values(x,y), plus the extrusion amount. I'm looking for the x,y,z Positions. When I'm creating a polyline, the positions and dimensions are both listed, plus the (sorry, not sure what to call it) reference point selector (topleft, topright, centerright, lowerleft, etc). It would be nice to not only have the positions listed along with the dimensions, but also the reference point selector, in order to align the extruded object.

Maybe there is, and I just don't kno how to access it. I appreciate everyone's help on this.

dave

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x, y, z positions of what? (No, this is not a language issue.)

You can extrude a 2D-object while in any 3D-projection. You can rotate the extrusion around any & all of the 3 axes. There is no unambigious "position" or "location" of your 3D-object or its points (in the sense I think you mean) in a 2D-projection except Top and Plan.

Nevertheless, the cursor does show the x/y/z -coordinates of any point.

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In the 2D projections (ie, when creating a polyline) the Shape tab shows not only the width and depth (x,y) of the polyline, but it also shows the position of either the whole object (x,y) in relation to the selection on the Reference Point Selector (the 8 point square with the 9th center point to reference which part of the object you wish to align).

My problem is that once I have extruded a polyline, and then look at that from one of the other views (3D views, I am assuming) such as Top, Right, Front, etc., the positional references in the Shape tab are not being displayed. Does an extruded polyline, becoming a solid object, not have a position??? Is that position not referred to with respect to x,y & z?

I have been using 3D animation programs for 10 years now, and am very familiar with the x,y,z configurations, although VW represents the y & z as opposite from the standard animation program layout.

Thanks for your continued help,

Dave

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You can snap a 3d locus onto any 3d object vertex to see the xyz of that point in the OIP. Now you can move the cursor around and still see the coordinates. Delete the 3d vertex when no longer needed.

You can also select the object and mouse to Model>Volumetric Properties which displays the coordinates of the center of mass, among other things. Click the option to place on drawing if you need the info as text.

-B

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I'm not sure what you mean by "group the extrude by itself".

It's ok for a group to contain only one object. Select the object then Modify>Group. Or use the key command. OIP will now identify the selection as a Group. You can select it and ungroup it later if needed. Added bonus, if you disable the VW preference for Show other Objects while in Groups, you can dbl click the group and see/edit all things in the group without seeing/editing other objects not in the group. Often useful if group is located in the midst of a bunch of other objects.

-B

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But I'm not sure that it's snapping to the vertex. It seems it's position changes each time I try to place it on the vertex.

Look at your snap palette to make sure the correct snap controls are enabled. You should turn off the grid snap. When placing the 3d locus, zoom in a bit and make sure the smart cursor info indicates a vertex. VW does not snap to 3d edges, so you gotta aim for a vertex. In my experience, the snap usually hits the mark. As you found out, you can check to see if the 3d Locus "hit" by swinging the view a bit with the flyover tool in Object Center mode. Use the Previous View button if you need to return to view before the flyover. Or make a saved view.

Easier way? Sure, but I don't often need to know all the coordinates. Z height is usually enough. Maybe on some future project.

-B

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Thanks again, Benson. I guess the kinds of things I'm trying to design are more furniture oriented. In fact the piece I'm working on will be sent to cut on a computer aided cutter (waterjet), so the exact locations are a necessity.

Oh, is the 3D loci supposed to lock to the object/vertex, like, when I move the object will it move with it?

Appreciate all the help,

Dave

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Hey, Dave - I do lots of waterjet from VW. There are a ton of cutters around here with different machines and different software, but all seem to abhor any curve which is not circular, so check that with your cutter. You may have to select your paths and click Modify>Poly Smoothing>Arc Smoothing. May require changing back some corner points and other edits after that. You will probably export VW file to dwg. Reimport to a new VW drawing to check shape and scale. Text labels in the drawing are risky, too. I had some text and leader lines on one dwg export file. The cutter opened it in AutoCAD and removed text and lines from the drawing. The dots at the ends of my leader lines (separate objects in AutoCad, I guess) stayed on the cut file and I ended up with unwanted holes in the parts.

The 3d locus will stay at its same coordinates until you move it, but will not "lock" to the extrusion. Changing views (with the flyover tool, for instance)will not change its locational relationship with the extrude - you should see it on the extrude vertex from all views. But if you move the extrude, the 3d locus will not move with the extrude. You can select the locus and extrusion and group them. Then they will move together. Or just delete the locus and make a new one when you need new location info.

Good luck!

-B

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Well, thanks again Benson!! This has been great info, and I'm sure that will help when I finally export & they do an import. I'll do my own check after export like you suggest to see exactly what's being exported.

I've never done waterjet before, do you have any experience with them cutting wood? I'm doing 3/4 oak plywood. Does the water affect the wood, or is the cutting fast enough to not make a difference?

Thanks again,

Dave

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I've never heard of using a water jet with wood either, usually metal. Wood grain has harder & softer areas depending on the grain structure. I don't know how you could mill furniture joints accurately with water. Plywood is likely to de-laminate from the moisture. My pre-computer experience was in the architectural woodworking industry.

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Will a CNC router do the same cuts as waterjet?

I'm not an expert, and there are many machines, but 3/4 VC will need a beefier bit, 1/2 diameter minimum I would guess. That limits tool path. You can run 1/8 dia, but I don't think it would last. IMHO, consult an expert.

PS - how do you pronounce your first name?

GHEE-tiss...like clarified Indian butter wink.gif

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The guy at the waterjet place explained that it's a mixture of water (which is the catalyst for pressure, so I'm not real sure how much, ie, the ratio) and finely ground garnets, which he showed me was more like a sand texture. So the water gives it the pressure and the ground garnets gives it the cutting ability. I also think the water is there to simply keep the object cool, under the pressure of the sand.

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  • 1 month later...

Dave,

In response to your initial question, my latest version of Reshaper (v12.5.2) displays the data you are looking for. It shows the relative 2D size (Bounding Box) and 2D and 3D position of an Extrude (also, Multiple Extrude, 3D Poly, Mesh, and CSG Solid) in ANY view.

You can use the corners, sides and center of the current Bounding Box to anchor, resize and/or relocate these 3D objects. Reshaper also gives you access to 3D Rotation Angles and the Flip State of objects that have these attributes. All fields are editable at all times, except the bounding box which is only editable when viewing the object from an orthogonal position. Reshaper (knows) when you are in such a position and allows Bounding Box edits at such times.

If you would like to try an evaluation copy of Reshaper, please contact me offline at mullinrj@aol.com.

All the best,

Raymond

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