What you see is NOT what you get

RoatanBill
RoatanBill
in 3D Modeling

Assume I'm referring to a small object, say 1-1/8" X 2-3/16", with UNITS=5 .

If I create a rectangle by mouse selecting the first point and then mouse selecting the second point by relying on the displayed X, Y dimensions, I don't get those X,Y dimensions; I get whatever the mouse click determined.

The displayed dimensions are quantised while the mouse movements are continuous. There's a large range within which the mouse can move but the dimensions remain the same.

Is there a way to select the second point that will have the dimensions as indicated in the on screen visual display, thus avoiding having to manually key in what is already displayed?

Comments

  • RSW
    RSW

    Did you try setting up a snap grid with the required intervals (i.e. 1/16" in your case given the precision you would need) and activate the snap to grid? You may have to zoom in to get sufficient separation for the snaps to work, if you are zoomed out too much you will not have sufficient snap accuracy to get those exact dimensions (because it will have too many points to snap to).

    If you are not using grid snap then you would need to have pinpoint accurate mouse movement (i.e. muscle control) and be able to hold it dead still at the correct location to get the required dimensions, which is something most people are barely able to do with such small distances because there is always some jitter and overshoot due to lag in display/reaction speed. This assuming the mouse would have sufficient resolution to do this without a snap grid.

  • RoatanBill
    RoatanBill

    Thank you for your reply.

    I work with dimensions between .065" (metal thickness) to 20' (standard length of material). Zooming in and out seems like it's the majority of what I do.

    Because of your reply I discovered a tutorial on SNAP and GRID. Although the grid would annoy me, the snap feature combined with a proper UNITS setting helps.

    Thanks for the suggestion.

  • RSW
    RSW

    You don't have to display the grid to be able to snap to it, though the grid can get in the way sometimes when you want to randomly/freely draw things.

    But yes, zooming in and out is something that can't be avoided when dealing with both small and large(r) dimensions at the same time, I'm doing that quite a bit as well and eSnap can get in the way as well if it detects too many snap points in crowded drawings.