Clear rotation gui --?
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Hi,
I generally have a lot of trouble rotating things in Sketchup -- a really basic thing -- I can't get the right protractor to show up, and if I do it's .. sketchy .. keeps changing protractors. The Boundingbox plugin does help, but it's not ideal.
Am I alone in my troubles..?
Today, I saw a rotation screen for a plugin that looked like a compass. I can't find it anymore... It would be great if someone could make a stand-alone thing. Not exactly sure how it worked, but I figure something like three draggable bands with markers, each controlling one axis could work...?
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As you know, the rotate protractor turns the color of the axis it is aligned with. If it is not on the orthogonal it is just black. And as you know you can hold down the Shift key to lock its orientation and place the rotate protractor on say a particular vertex or edge or face whether it is a particular color or black.
Once in position you can then click on the geometry, and swing the protractor through a desired angle. If you do not like the angle shown in the VCB or whatever the little value box is called these days you can type in the desired value and hit Enter and the rotation will adjust to that value.In order to get the right protractor to show up you may have to orbit till the camera is pointed at the model and more or less parallel to one of the axes and the ground. It shows up readily in the sky when viewing parallel to the ground. Use the Q key to activate the protractor or click the toolbar button.
I am not sure if when you reset the axes to something other than global if the colored protractors show up.
I hope this can help you. -
What do you mean you can't get the right protractor to show up? The correct color?
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@agamemnus said:
The Boundingbox plugin does help, but it's not ideal.
boundingbox plugin? in relationship with rotating?
@agamemnus said:
Today, I saw a rotation screen for a plugin that looked like a compass. I can't find it anymore...
Is it SketcHups native rotation tool you refer to? http://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=94894
@agamemnus said:
It would be great if someone could make a stand-alone thing. Not exactly sure how it worked, but I figure something like three draggable bands with markers, each controlling one axis could work...?
I am working on such a gizmo for some of my plugins. Could port it to a general tool. ...but I think there might be one already.
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Here's a plugin that gives you a manipulator gizmo: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=20346
nearly identical to what I'm working on. -
@ThomThom: I think your last reply was what agamemnus might be looking for.
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@mitcorb said:
And as you know you can hold down the Shift key to lock its orientation and place the rotate protractor on say a particular vertex or edge or face whether it is a particular color or black.
Thanks. I forget all those hard to find keyboard commands.. Also: Interesting tip about rotating towards the sky, but all that machination just seems like some sort of secret combo in a Sega video game instead of a legitimate method.
@chris fullmer said:
What do you mean you can't get the right protractor to show up? The correct color?
Yes.
thomthom:
That's not the one I am referring to, but I'll check what wikii made. I don't like that the gizmos rotate with the object, though. -
I sort of understand your point about the Sega video game reference, but what I told you was partly from my search for official instructions and partly from discovery about orbiting and rotating--sort of developing a working knowledge. But this technique is a more "close to the hand" technique deliberately designed into the Sketchup application.
Did that make any sense?
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@mitcorb said:
I sort of understand your point about the Sega video game reference, but what I told you was partly from my search for official instructions and partly from discovery about orbiting and rotating--sort of developing a working knowledge. But this technique is a more "close to the hand" technique deliberately designed into the Sketchup application.
Did that make any sense?
Yes, but it would have worked better if there was some sort of info box or something similar that popped up which gave me the keyboard-only features for the particular function I was using.
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It's called the instructor -- you can launch it from the windows menu. It doesn't have all the keyboard shortcuts but most of them.
Best,
Jason.
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