Working plane

[tom kyler_dup1]

Anybody notice this beside me. I pick the 3D selection cursor, then grab a handle on the working plane to rotate the working plane (not in-plane with ground plane)...I begin to rotate the working plane, then use the tab key to numerically enter the angle. After numerically entering the angle and hitting "enter" the working plane will set, but then whenever I click another tool..say to begin drawing on it in 3D, the working plane goes back to whatever angle you just tried to rotate it from. I have to click on "look at working plane" to get it to stick. (when using numerical input, not graphical)

Here's another one...maybe it's just me. I begin to rotate the working plane in a 3D view....by graphically dragging the handles...as I'm rotating the working plane...I watch the angle in the info bar. Let's say as I'm' dragging the plane...the angle in the info bar says 28.96...and I then tab and numerically type in 30.00. What's happening is the plane is setting opposite the side I want it to. In 2D terms, it's like wanting a line at 45 degrees but having it drawn at 135 instead (cartesian). VW11 on a Mac

I notice that as I rotate the working plane, the angle shown in the info bar never goes over 90 degrees. It's more logical to show it going at least to 180, and maybe a negative 0 to 180 also. It would be nice to rotate this with global or relative values.

The more developed the 3D power pack becomes, the more I see the working plane needing to adapt also...it's becoming very imporant.

[ 07-01-2004, 07:24 AM: Message edited by: tom kyler ]

[Bart Rammeloo]

Yes, I did notice. It's not the only strange thing in the VW 3D environment.

When I start to look at the result of certain 3D commands and tools, I fail to see the logic. As an example, try the following:

(a) draw a square and "Create surface from curves".

(b) Use the protrusion tool to extrude the NURBS surface. You end up with a Solid addition.

© A solid addition has a construction history, so double clicking it should give you access to the way the shape is constructed.

This is where it starts getting awkward, because when you double click, you see that this specific

Solid addition contains:

(1) the original NURBS surface and

(2) a tapered extrude.

The tapered extrude has also a history - double click it and you'll find a rectangular NURBS curve.

So VectorWorks seems to:

(a) extract curves from the NURBS surface.

(b) use them in a tapered extrude.

© add the tapered extrude and the NURBS surface together in a solid addition.

However, for getting the correct shape, you don't need the original NURBS surface anymore, and you don't need the solid addition.

So the questions are: what is the original NURBS surface doing here? Why do I end up with a solid addition and not simply with a tapered extrude? Why doesn't VectorWorks just trash the original NURBS surface and give us only the tapered extrude with a NURBS curve as a source object?

This is just another example of the strange ways 3D is developing in VectorWorks. A pitty, because 2D is a REALLY strong point in VW. It would be nice to have the same strength (and the same logic) in 3D.

Cheers,

BaRa

[Biplab]

Tom's problem is on our bug list and has been reported by several other users. We are looking into it.

On the question of Protrusion tool producing a solid addition of a NURBS surface and a tapered extrude - because this toolof adds something to an existing object, and the object that is added is tapered extrude. One should remember that VectorWorks does not differentiate between surfaces and solids - surfaces can participate in most of the things that solids do - and the surface-solid interactions are one of the strong points.

[Bart Rammeloo]

Hi Biplab,

I see the logic, but I think we might be better of without it. After all, the solid addition of the tapered extrude and the surface seems to produce the same geometry as the tapered extrude in itself. At least, that's what the user sees. So I would prefer to have just the tapered extrude as a result of the protrusion.

Cheers,

BaRa