Trouble with slab drainage tool

[Phileas]

Hey guys me again, and again I'm having a fight with  the slab drainage tool.

 

I'm working on a flat roof, and have made a plan on how I want  the water to be evacuated from it:

 

(The left wing's roof is pitched, so ignore it)

 

This is what I get when I try to replicate my plan. Every line is attached to it's final location and height as you can see with the highlighted red one, but the tool keeps making these lines up itself, and they don't have a handle at all so I can't edit them.

 

I know I could just keep it like this, create a symbol out of my roof and redraw my plan as the 2D part of that symbol, but it'll still look wrong in section viewports. So if anyone has a solution to make the tool do what it is supposed to, please help me. I don't really have the time to create these slopes by hand with solid substractions, since I'd have to adjust all the components of that roof slab above the sloped one manually as well.

[Matt Panzer]

Hi @Phileas,

This can be done, but it's a little tricky and best explained in a video. Keep in mind that I talk about invisible valleys that are outside of the slab boundary. While they're not on the slab, they do effect how the sloped faces are calculated.

 

HTH!

-Matt

 

[Hans-Olav]

helpful!

[Phileas]

@Matt Panzer Thank you very much! solved my issue and helped me understand the mechanism behind it better :)

[Matt Panzer]

You're very welcome. @Phileas !

BTW: The lack of highlighting of "valleys" outside the slab is a known bug. I gave that but a nudge. Hopefully we'll see those highlights in a future version so it can be more discoverable (and understood). We're also exploring ways to provide better control over control of sloping faces vs sloping valleys.

[Benson Shaw]

@Matt Panzer Wow, Matt.  Many thanks for that demo!  I would NEVER have figured out all that.

 

But, Really??? Hidden Valleys???  (My old neighborhood in Colorado, and some restaurants)

 

This must be way more complex to engineer than the most likely user expectation.

I would expect something like more like Sub D or NURBS or any way that the slab perimeter is locked until user input:

 

•Establish drain in existing flat slab:

Place drain ctr(s) in top/plan and call out a z value

User draws plan projection of desired valley lines (option for vwx auto draw, but slab perimeter maintains orig z values)

Run command

Slab perimeter stays constant.  vwx forms the 3d slab faces and valleys, notes slopes, produces relevant error warnings.

 

•Edit drained slab:

Slab perimeter has points that can be moved xyz by drag or numeric

Drain ctrs can be selected and moved xyz. Associated Valley ends stick to them.

Ridges or break lines can be added

Valley ends can be moved xyz and can connect/stick to the slab perimeter or ridges - corner/end points or user choice.

 

Nice if all that could happen in 3d view, too.

 

sigh

 

-B

 

[Guest Wes Gardner]

@Matt PanzerHidden Valley...I thought you were selling salad dressing at first 🙂

 

 

[Matt Panzer]

3 hours ago, Wes Gardner said:

@Matt PanzerHidden Valley...I thought you were selling salad dressing at first 🙂

 

 

@Wes Gardner,

Shhh! I'd rather not have people knowing about me being a door-to-door salad dressing salesman. 😕

[Matt Panzer]

17 hours ago, Benson Shaw said:

@Matt Panzer Wow, Matt.  Many thanks for that demo!  I would NEVER have figured out all that.

 

You're welcome, Benson!

 

17 hours ago, Benson Shaw said:

But, Really??? Hidden Valleys???  (My old neighborhood in Colorado, and some restaurants)

 

This must be way more complex to engineer than the most likely user expectation.

I would expect something like more like Sub D or NURBS or any way that the slab perimeter is locked until user input:

 

•Establish drain in existing flat slab:

Place drain ctr(s) in top/plan and call out a z value

User draws plan projection of desired valley lines (option for vwx auto draw, but slab perimeter maintains orig z values)

Run command

Slab perimeter stays constant.  vwx forms the 3d slab faces and valleys, notes slopes, produces relevant error warnings.

 

•Edit drained slab:

Slab perimeter has points that can be moved xyz by drag or numeric

Drain ctrs can be selected and moved xyz. Associated Valley ends stick to them.

Ridges or break lines can be added

Valley ends can be moved xyz and can connect/stick to the slab perimeter or ridges - corner/end points or user choice.

 

Nice if all that could happen in 3d view, too.

 

I agree that that it should be more intuitive to use. We are aware of the problems in the interface and are exploring ways to improve them. There are a few things at play that make this somewhat challenging, but improvements can be made.