Components visible through each other

juliangall · 25 Sept 2008, 09:54

I am creating some models with components and I've noticed that at certain levels of magnification, I can see the edges of some components even though there are other components in the way. In the attached model, there is a board component (1 cm thick) with some planks (studs) behind it. If I zoom out from the model, I can see lines across the board corresponding to the planks underneath.

I can even select components that are hidden by clicking on these lines.

This seems to me very undesirable. I can't even put a texture on the surface and hide what's behind. I don't want the hidden structure to be visible on the surface.

The behaviour is the same on a PC and Mac. It is very noticeable in Print too. Exporting to a JPG has the effect but very slightly.

Am I missing something here? Is there a setting that will turn off this "feature"? Hiding all edges is not an option.

Thanks for any help.

Julian

Component see-through test.skp

watkins · 25 Sept 2008, 10:07

Dear Julian,

See the attached file. I hid the edges of the framework surfaces touching the cladding.

This subject came up before, but I cannot find the original thread.

Regards,
Bob

Component see-through test - revised.skp

juliangall · 25 Sept 2008, 10:42

Bob,

Thanks for the solution although it seems a bit labour intensive for a large model. Does anyone know why this happens? Is it a bug or does the feature have some use?

Thanks anyway for the answer. I appreciate it.

Julian

Gaieus · 25 Sept 2008, 10:43

Hi Julian,

This is actuall a kind of "logical" (althouh admittedly undesirable) behaviour of SU. The cause is simply the fact that lines (edges) are always 1 pixel wide and from a distance, your 1cm thick board component will inevitably become "thinner" on screen than 1 pixel so the lines behind it will sort of se through.

If you are exporting images at very high resolution (so that the lines will be much thinner compared to the "size" of the image) this phenomenon may be decreased a bit but probably not totally.

I didn't download Bob's example file but I would also do what he did.

juliangall · 26 Sept 2008, 08:04

Thanks. It's always helpful to know the underlying reasons. I'll try exporting to a 2D image at high resolution when I need to print.

Julian