Why Is My Edit Box So Big?

fcborik

Hello,

Whenever I select a component, Sketchup conveniently outlines the extent of the component in a blue wireframe box. While the majority of my blue boxes nicely conform to the component of interest, some of them are way big. I mean huge. I notice this particularly if I have imported somebody elses model. I try to hide layers (I'm getting really good at working with layers now), and I try to see if there is any stray geometry. Are there possibly "hidden" things that I don't know about? Just want to see if there are some routines that I can use to track down what's causing the disparity in the size of the blue wireframe box as opposed to the size of the component of interest.

It's a minor inconvenience until I try to nest components in a hirearchy. Then this really starts to play havoc on relative axes locations, and thereby other components that I have constrained to specified positions.

Thanks!

pilou

You have certainly inside component some little things very tiny at the oposite of the component itself!

Dave R

Frank, it is good that you've noticed the bounding box size. This can be a useful troubleshooting tool. I would suggest turning on Hidden Geometry (View menu) and all layers. Then open the component for editing. You might be able to see the unneeded geometry and you can select it and delete it. Even if you don't see it, drag a right to left selection box around the empty space to the side of the known good geometry and hit Delete. It's possible the offender is a single tiny line segment that is so short you can't see it.

Also make sure you have the style set so guide lines will be displayed. They can affect the dimensions of the bounding box.

As to the component axis and origin locations, you really ought to be setting those to provide easy and logical insertion points for your components.

fcborik

Thanks, Dave. Turning on the hidden geometry in the view menu did the trick. It turned out that the model I was working on was in import from a CAD model I got off a manufacturer's website. I remember trying to get rid of all of the loose geometry by hand and I gave up -- ended up modeling the applicance from scratch using the owner's manual and installation manual that I got online. I guess I didn't do as good as a job as I thought I did erasing the original.

Good point about making sure your axes are always set correctly. I'm still a little confused about how to orient the axis when I change it. It seems a bit finicky to get it to align the way I want to. I probably just don't know the trick (yet).

Much appreciated.

Dave R

Clean modeling will pay off in the end.

As for setting the component axes, I've written on that subject several times on the blog. You might have a look at this to start.

It also depends upon the component and how you want to use it. I rarely find the need for it in the projects I usually draw but you might find it worthwhile to give the component gluing characteristics. This can (although not always) make it easier to insert some components.

I'm not surprised to read your comments about finding it better to draw a component from scratch instead of using the one already in the 3D Warehouse.

Gaieus

Frank,

Under the tutorials section, I also have a few which (at least at some point) deal with setting component axes.

For billboard (face me) components see this:
http://sketchucation.com/resources/tutorials/37-beginner/320-face-me-billboard-component
For gluing components, this:
http://sketchucation.com/resources/tutorials/37-beginner/317-window-cut-oopening-on-face
or this:
http://sketchucation.com/resources/tutorials/36-intermediate/321-window-cut-hole-thick-wall

Note that these are the "complex" cases mainly. In most other cases it is simpler.

fcborik

Thanks Csaba and Dave for your help. I found the Fine Woodworking article very useful. Turns out that I was in need of a good technique for accurately locating hardware on my doors and drawers. I ended up drawing a rectangle and "sticking" it to my handle component as a guide, and then deleting the guide after placement. But the axis location idea is way better and I'll do it that way from now on.

Thanks again!

trampolino

Try moving the component towards the boundaries of the edit box.
(Rectangle select everything first within the edit box of the component).
I guess three sides are origins for the edit box and won't resize automatically.