Perpendicular lines on angled face
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Is there a method, or a plugin, that let's you draw lines perpendicular to a face that is at an angle?
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I can think of a couple of ways to do it without plugins. One would be to make a component of the face and then change its axes so they are aligned to its edges and one of them is perpendicular to the face. When the component is opened for editing, the perpendicular axis can be used for reference for guidelines place where you want the lines or you can just use SU's inferencing and get the line trailing the tool to be the desired color.
Another way would be to use Push/ Pull to extrude the face into a box and use the edges as your references.
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Didier Bur has a ProjectionTools script - search crai.......
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@hellnbak said:
Is there a method, ...... that let's you draw lines perpendicular to a face that is at an angle?
Right click on the face and select 'Align Axes'. Now draw the new line 'On Blue Axis'.
Draw a rectangle on the face. Pull this rectangular face out with the P/P tool. All four edges stick out perpendicular. Delete unwanted lines. (rectangular little opening will heal again.)
Start a line ON the face. While dragging for the second click watch the popup 'On Fcae'. Once you see that, hold down [Shift]. The rubber band will now constrain ON face's plane. While doing so, click the second point ON an endpoint somewhere "above" the face. End of created line is the projection of the used endpoint for the second click. Connect both to get your perpendicular line.
This third method may look laborious but in fact is also very fast.
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Thanks for all the input. I've enclosed an example of why I need to do this, I project lines to help in lining up the texture, makes things a lot faster and easier. This one is straightforward but many items on the cars need to be projected at crazy angles to work right, and that can take forever to get just right. I have to keep adjusting them and moving them around, and without the alignment lines it's a real pain. I've tried adding a long thin rectangle with color gradients to get it in the ballpark, it helps but it's not precise enuf. I'm probably going about this all wrong but it's the best method I've come up with. Your methods would probably get the job done, but I was hoping for something a lot simpler, I need to project lines from various points, not just alongside a box. And I do a lot of projecting.
TIG, what was the name of the plugin you mentioned? You seemed to stop midsentence "search for crai...."
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Alternatively, Didier Bur's Projection Tools, Chris Fullmer's 3 Lines Tool, specifically Normal line with length specification.
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@hellnbak said:
TIG, what was the name of the plugin you mentioned? You seemed to stop midsentence "search for crai...."
That's the place, not the plugin name (that's projection tools)
http://rhin.crai.archi.fr/rld/plugins_list_az.php -
Did not see TIG's reply when I posted. My apologies.
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Use the protractor tool. Bring it onto the face, then hold 'shift' to lock it to that plane. Click on one corner of the face, then the opposite corner, then the opposite corner one more time to draw a guide along the surface of the face. Now use the 'shift' key to lock the protractor to the red or green axis (depending on the orientation of your original face). Click once on the previously created guide (to start another guide). Click again elsewhere on the same guide. Type '90' and hit 'enter'.
Now you have a guide to use to draw your line. No plugin needed.
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