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reprosser
Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 3
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 Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2004 6:16 pm Post subject: New user DWLite - having basic problems |
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Windows user trying to work thru the tutorial, but things do not seem to work as described.
I can create a square room with the block tool and Alt-drag to pull up to form a solid, and use wallify - works fine.
| Quote: | | Experiment with drawing 2D objects on the ground plane, and then making them three-dimensional by extruding them. First draw a shape with the Polyline tool, clicking at each point along the line string, and double-clicking to end it as an open polyline. DesignWorkshop will automatically supply a missing segment if necessary to form a solid when extruding. |
I can click at each point and make a shape, but double clicking on the last point does not seem to do anything. I cannot seem to close the form to make a room with a closet indention
| Quote: | | To actually extrude the shape into a 3D solid, grab one of the handles of the polyline's bounding rectangle, and pull up on it by option-dragging. |
All I can do is move the shape - no extruding no matter what "handle" I try to grab and Alt-drag. What is the bounding rectangle? Do I have to do something to create a handle to use ?
| Quote: | | A simple but very important interface feature in DesignWorkshop simplifies getting exact three-dimensional alignments. We call it Space-Jump, and you'll want to use it almost constantly to avoid subtle alignment errors when grabbing handles. Space-Jump converts a 2D alignment of the 2D cursor with a handle into a 3D alignment of the 3D crosshair with that handle, when you tap the spacebar |
Nothing seems to happen when I tap the spacebar.
I hope I am not just being stupid, but please let me know how to proceed. |
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Mike Wheeler
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 50
Location: Eugene, OR
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2004 10:55 am Post subject: Re: New user DWLite - having basic problems |
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| reprosser wrote: | | I can click at each point and make a shape, but double clicking on the last point does not seem to do anything. I cannot seem to close the form to make a room with a closet indention |
Double-clicking is used to finish a polyline. You need to click twice in a row without moving the mouse at all after making a polyline with at least two points. You can also finish polylines by clicking once on the first point of the polyline. This will result in a closed polyline. Double clicking results in a n open polyline. When extruding open polylines will be closed automatically to make a solid object.
| Quote: | | All I can do is move the shape - no extruding no matter what "handle" I try to grab and Alt-drag. What is the bounding rectangle? Do I have to do something to create a handle to use ? |
You need to SpaceJump to a handle to grab that handle (see below). Otherwise you will just move the object. When you select a polyline you will see a rectangle around it, this is the bounding rectangle.
You can also extrude a polyline by entering a vertical dimension in the Object Info window.
| Quote: | | Nothing seems to happen when I tap the spacebar. |
You need to place the cursor directly on top of an object handle and then tap the spacebar. The effect is easier to see if the crosshair is at a different elevation than the handle you are snapping to.
There is a vector from your eye point through the handle you want to grab. There are an infinite number of points along this vector where your crosshair could be and at every one of these points it looks like you are right on the handle. SpaceJumping moves your crosshair from some arbitrary point along this vector to be at the exact position of the handle in 3D space. This point is where you need to be to extriude or resize the object. It is also where you need to be to make another object that touches that point.
Please let us know whenever you have further questions.
Best wishes,
Mike Wheeler
support@artifice.com |
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reprosser
Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2004 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the help,
| Quote: | You need to SpaceJump to a handle to grab that handle (see below). Otherwise you will just move the object. When you select a polyline you will see a rectangle around it, this is the bounding rectangle.
You can also extrude a polyline by entering a vertical dimension in the Object Info window. |
When I click on a segment of my polyline shape, only the segment is selected - not the complete shape. I can "draw" a box around the shape and select all the segments. Maybe I don't really have a poly shape, but only a bunch of segments ? I did verify that I can extrude with the vertical dimentsion on a segment. This does not work if I select all the segments at once.
If I "group" the segments, will it then have the bounding rectangle ?
How can I connect my starting point and my end point together (the last corner of the room) ? They are a little bit apart - do they "lock" together if I put them on the same point ?
I am using a laptop with a high resolution, so the details are tiny. I thought I found a Zoom feature, but I can't seem to find it again. |
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Mike Wheeler
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 50
Location: Eugene, OR
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2004 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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It sounds like you do have a bunch of individual line segments, rather than polylines. You should use the Polyline tool to make these objects. The Polyline Tool is on the left side, next to the Text Tool.
If you group them you will have a bounding box, but you won't have much more that is useful. There is no way in DesignWorkshop to join line segments into the polylines you need. Extruding individual line segments will give you planes, rather than solids. |
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reprosser
Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2004 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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Ah Ha ! That was the problem. I was using the tool BELOW the text tool. What is that ? It works kind of like the poly tool - it creates segments as you move and click also.
Now I can proceed thru the tutorial.
thanks |
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