Measuring in 3d?

[amogle]

Hello I seem to be having a little bit of a problem measuring a 3d model i have made of steel work. I have mapped out the steelwork in 3d and I have made 3d locus points at all centre points/junctions of the steel and i am looking to find the distance between these points. I tried drawing lines between each point and converting them to 3d polygons but then it doesnt tell me the length of the line.

The points are different in all 3 dimensions most of the time so i cant use standard GA drawings to find the dimensions i need all the time.

Is there a way to measure the distance between 2 3d locus points without having to rotate the drawing and doing a cos o/a calculation?

I feel i am missing something really simple but i just cant seem to find a way i have trawled the manual and this board but to no avail. please help. P.S i am not trying to dimension in 3d (although it would be nice) i just want to be able to measure.

I fear i may not have described my problem well enough but the stress is getting to me.

any ideas or extra knowledge will be greatly appreciated.

regards,

[Pat Stanford]

The only way I know of to get a real length is to align the object to the screen plane. Then you can use the 2D drawing tools to get the length.

Use the three points mode of the Set Working Plane tool to trace along one of your lines and then in one of the known axis for the third point. Then use the Look at Working Plane button of the Working Planes Palette. This will give you your 3D line running parallel to the screen. Use the dimension or line tools to determine the real length you need.

You might want to make Viewports of each of the view you set up so you can keep them dimensioned.

Pat

[Jonathan Pickup]

why dont we have tool to do this?

[Pat Stanford]

JP, you don't really want to go there do you? ;-)

Pat

[Gerrit]

The Tape Measure enhanced tool from VectorBits Donationware works great in 3D.

[amogle]

Thank you Gerrit. However working in a medium sized practice i am reluctant to buy plugins and install them on every computer.

Thanks Pat. while this is a rather long winded way of doing it it appears to be the only 'office wide' way.

And i dont believe we need a tool to do this. The tools should already be able to do this! Vectorworks knows where the 2 points are in 3d and if you create a 3d line it knows where the line starts and ends it just seems crazy it doesnt tell us how long it is.

Thanks for you help

[amogle]

Hello all. I have just discovered a very slight workaround. which is more like a hardworkaround but none the less is can make help.

By connecting the 2 3d points with a nurbs curve it shows you the hight depth and width of the curve. which makes it quick easy to perform a quick bit of trigonometry to work out the length.

[jbrhwy]

amogole

"Enhanced Tape Measure" donationware may as well have the office go back to manual drafting with your logic!

[Benson Shaw]

I am a cheerleader for this.

Are wishes in the Wish List Forum ranked for popularity by the mother ship commanders? I encourage everyone wishing for this 3d measurement capability to post on the Wish List Forum.

Go team!

-B

[orangereality]

My workaround for this problem of measuring from one 3d locus point to another is by creating a 3d sphere with the center snapped to the first locus and then snapping the radius to the other locus, thus giving the distance between the two points. As with many things in Vectorworks 12.5 the circle/sphere is the best drawing tool to have.

Edited February 29, 2012 by orangereality

[Benson Shaw]

Good one, orangereality. The sphere radius is nice. But be sure to turn off Snap to Working Plane! Otherwise it reads the projected radius.

For a quick 3d dim:

The OIP readout for a NURBS curve also shows the curve length. It's down there near the bottom of the palette below the height, width, depth, vertex count info. Just snap a straight NURBS btw two loci. But this length probably cannot be captured in a worksheet. The NURBS will snap properly - not affected by Snap to Working Plane status.

For worksheet info, use trig:

Retrieve the xyz for each pair of loci, then calc the 3d length

L^2 = (X-x)^2 + (Y-y)^2 + (Z-z)^2

Square root that.

-B

[VincentCuclair]

I've been trying to find something that cracks the slogan: 'Everything you can do in 2D you can do in 3D'.

Though I've been very unsuccessful in this(luckily) so far, this is probably the one !