Frustration
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Unbelievable frustration with the move tool.
Arrow key direction locking doesn't seem to work on the Mac.No matter what scale or perspective I can't move along the axis I need.
I am not a beginner. ( I have been using SU since AtLast still owned it)
I have built some fairly complex models.
I make guidelines and pay attention to the move handles I choose.
I understand 3d space.
And still SketchUp refuses to let me move objects from one point to another.When I've chosen a specific point on the object I'm moving and I move the cursor exactly to the point I want,
why in hell does SketchUp insist on flinging the object miles away to some random point in space.The total apparent randomness of this infuriating behaviour just adds to the overall frustration.
Some sessions movement seems predictable, precise, simple and intuitive.
Select, drag click and the object is in perfect positionOther sessions I can't place objects after multiple attempts, varying every known variable in the abortive process.
If someone can suggest what I am missing I would appreciate it. -
use the shift key to lock to an axis.. the arrow keys will help get you there but once it's on the axis you'd like, lock it w/shift.
probably won't help in your exact instance but another tip is.. using x-ray mode while moving/placing objects can come in very handy at times both in terms of where you may select the object to be moved and which point you can place it.. (instead of trying for some convoluted camera position.
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also, if you have an example scenario of when the move tool is giving you problems, attach a .skp to your reply.
maybe use the text tool to show what you'd like to accomplish in the skp.
you'll more likely than not get a few good ideas on how to handle the situation better if we can see the situation.
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Jeff -
Thanks for the prompt reply. The help is appreciated.
I'm aware of the shift lock, but find it's behaviour erratic as well.
Again, sometimes it works as advertised and demoed in tutorials...
other times it either refuses to lock -
or locks on the axis, but throws the object in the opposite direction (on the same axis) of where I'm trying to move it to.
In any case, this time I couldn't start the motion on the desired (red) axis, no matter what I did.My understanding was that the arrow keys allow you to lock direction before you move?
Whereas the shift inference lock requires you to start in the intended direction first, before locking.I was trying to move the allen bolt head in the attached file. It was buried in the part it now sits on.
I had shifted the face it was located on by 3/16 on the red axis.
I was trying to pull the bolt the same 3/16 on the same axis.
It moved only on the green (primarily) and blue and stayed stuck on the red.
I got so frustrated I deleted it, copied the bolt head from the other side and placed it without incident.Can't replicate the behaviour now as I saved the new version, but if you have any ideas why it refused to move at all on the red, I'm all ears
It's the variation in behaviour that frustrates me.
Sort of like golf...
when you think you've got everything sussed, then it all falls to hell the next swing!Also, (probably unrelated) I have an astounding number of freezes and crashes (v8.0 Mac OSX 10.6.5).
Is the windows version more stable?
More predictable in inference? (not that it should be)I do use xray mode for moves that require it - and in fact tried it on one of the attempts in order to find the handle on the back of the bolt.
Thanks again for the advice,
Doug
P.S. just realized I don't know how to attach a file!
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Didn't see the upload attachment button right in front of my face.
Here is the file.
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@db11 said:
...My understanding was that the arrow keys allow you to lock direction before you move?
Whereas the shift inference lock requires you to start in the intended direction first, before locking.Hi Doug,
For me, once I select something and start moving it in any direction, the arrow keys allow me to lock to a certain axis, and yes, the shift inference lock requires you to start in the intended direction first.@unknownuser said:
I was trying to move the allen bolt head in the attached file. It was buried in the part it now sits on.
I had shifted the face it was located on by 3/16 on the red axis.
I was trying to pull the bolt the same 3/16 on the same axis.
It moved only on the green (primarily) and blue and stayed stuck on the red.
I got so frustrated I deleted it, copied the bolt head from the other side and placed it without incident.Can't replicate the behaviour now as I saved the new version, but if you have any ideas why it refused to move at all on the red, I'm all ears
The bolt head was probably 'glued' to that plane, (its not now, but there are other bolts in the model that are). That happens if its a glued component, and once its placed, it will stick to that plane -- you can move it anywhere on that plane, but not perpendicular.
As a side note, the bolt components don't show even up in the Home (In Model) tab of the components browser...only to components do, but the Outliner shows many more
Anybody know why that is? -
what marcus said.
maybe you had the bolt glued to the plane.. look at this skp file to see if it's the behavior you're seeing..?
[to fix that behavior, right click the component then choose 'unglue'..]
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Marcus, I think the reason you don't see all the components in the In Model components library is because it was imported from another model.
Good catch on the gluing bolt heads. If a person doesn't know they are designed to have that behavior, it can be very frustrating trying to move them around.
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Marcus -
That was the problem - it was glued to the plane, so inference locking (arrow or shift) didn't work on the axis I was trying to move on.
I made the bolt head in this model (I think!), then saved it as a component in the browser.
I don't remember setting the 'glue to' attribute when I made it - by default I always have it unchecked.In any case, you've solved my problem. I was just adding some more bolt heads and having the same issue,
(which is why I checked back in on this thread). I unglued it and it's all good.Follow up question: is it possible that a component becomes glued to a plane after it is made (when the 'glue to' was set to 'none' on creation)
through some specific operation - for example I believe that I was editing the component it became glued to when I added that bolt head.
Could that glue it to the plane because entities are 'sticky' when components are in edit mode?Thanks also to Jeff for the suggestions.
My frustration with the apparent inconsistency of the locking was probably a symptom of the same cause. -
@db11 said:
....I don't remember setting the 'glue to' attribute when I made it - by default I always have it unchecked.
I don't think this is possible, to have it turned off by default.
SU checks if there is one single face/with clean loop in the selection (to create the component) that is sharing the same 3D space/plane with a larger face. If that is the case, then 'gluing to' is turned on as option at the time of creating the component. You can still turn it off.@db11 said:
Follow up question: is it possible that a component becomes glued to a plane after it is made(when the 'glue to' was set to 'none' on creation)
through some specific operation - for example I believe that I was editing the component it became glued to when I added that bolt head.
Could that glue it to the plane because entities are 'sticky' when components are in edit mode?No, editing a component in editing context does not give you this "opportunity", not by choice, nor by mistake.
You can change the components property to 'Glue to: .....' by selecting the component in the component browser and by editing its properties right there. Already placed components however will still be unglued.
(This is about native SU tools / Ruby plugins can act different.) -
@wo3dan said:
I don't think this is possible, to have it turned off by default.
SU checks if there is one single face/with clean loop in the selection (to create the component) that is sharing the same 3D space/plane with a larger face. If that is the case, then 'gluing to' is turned on as option at the time of creating the component. You can still turn it off.I guess I misunderstood the behaviour - what I should have said is that every time I make a component - and I pay attention to the 'glue to' attribute, I turn it off.... i.e. it's my default, not SU's!
@wo3dan said:
No, editing a component in editing context does not give you this "opportunity", not by choice, nor by mistake.
You can change the components property to 'Glue to: .....' by selecting the component in the component browser and by editing its properties right there. Already placed components however will still be unglued.
(This is about native SU tools / Ruby plugins can act different.)Thanks for the clarification. While SU is simple in metaphor - a 3d sketching tool - there are many aspects to its behaviour that are not simple at all, because of the multiple interaction of states and conditions of tools, entities, structures and their modifying processes.
Unfortunately the existing official documentation is extremely 'thin' is describing the more subtle aspects of SU.
As a new forum member, I really appreciate the assistance of people who have that knowledge and are generous in sharing it.So thanks to all that replied to my post. Very helpful, and a good antidote to the occasionally unavoidable frustration of working with such a powerful - and not always intuitive - tool.
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