Layout Dimensioning Questions

[Krisidious]

I have and I do... I use his vector line with graphic behind process for elevations as well. I also make sure to intersect any important connection areas like wall to roof. this will help regardless of process... as it gives the dimension tools a snap to grab on to.

[sfto1]

@krisidious said:

I have and I do... I use his vector line with graphic behind process for elevations as well.

I think I understand the basic mechanics for the vector line work for plans, but how is that done for elevations? How is the line work generated for the vector overlay? I rendered the elevation as vector, which cleaned up the line work considerably, but still had the same issue of "snap" not finding the endpoint of wall to roof junctures.

@krisidious said:

I also make sure to intersect any important connection areas like wall to roof. this will help regardless of process... as it gives the dimension tools a snap to grab on to.

At first I did not have the dormer "intersected" with the gable roof, but then I did intersect them, updated the reference and still was not working. Dave R constructed an intersected model and LO still did not snap to the "endpoint" or "intersection" where there was a concurrence of foreground/background points.

@arcad-uk said:

I get these issues as well but there is usually a work around as Dave has indicated. I do hope that some of these dimensioning problems will be addressed in the next release of LO, as there are occasions where it is possible to end up with 3D dimensions in an ortho view!

I am willing to do some work-arounds, as long as I am reasonably certain that I am not missing something, or doing something wrong. But, in the meantime, I would like the SU/LO Team to give serious effort to addressing some of the snapping/dimensioning shortcomings.

I'd be really happy if the Team even acknowledged that there are shortcomings with these tools as they exist.

[sonder]

You probably do not have a hard line at the intersection of the chimney and the roof. In 2d there is then no point for layout to recognize. If you rotate the view to axonometric or perspective, it would.

[sfto1]

@unknownuser said:

You probably do not have a hard line at the intersection of the chimney and the roof. In 2d there is then no point for layout to recognize. If you rotate the view to axonometric or perspective, it would.

Hi Sonder,

Unlike Dave's model, I did have a hard line at that dormer/roof intersection. In the SU model, where the dormer and roof nested, I drew a hard line at the juncture. Yet when I imported the scene into layout, that intersection or end was not seen. I tried in raster, hybrid and vector mode. All I could get was a snap to an edge at that condition.

The same can be said where a line representing a building corner extends to the underside of a soffit. The top of the line representing the corner will not "snap" as an end or intersection, just an edge. I can understand why it might not see it as an intersection, but it should be able to at least snap to an end, since there is an actual end.

I do not often provide dimensions on elevations, so I can do some work-arounds, however, I still think it would be better if the snap feature could deal with foreground/background junctures by at least providing an "end" snap for the conditions I have been writing about.

[bmike]

Have you tried with a style that has 'back edges' turned on?

I've found for shop drawings (timber joinery) - this has helped tremendously getting to those otherwise seemingly inaccessible intersections.

Also, as Dave points out, you should be able to snap to the vertical edge of the building.

[bmike]

Have you tried with a style that has 'back edges' turned on?

I've found for shop drawings (timber joinery) - this has helped tremendously getting to those otherwise seemingly inaccessible intersections.

Also, as Dave points out, you should be able to snap to the vertical edge of the building.

[sfto1]

Thanks bmike,

I did try it with "back edges" on, and the snap feature worked the way I expected. I'm not keen on it because there are lines which I do not want to see. Also, when I use a parallel projection in SU to setup the scene in LO, within SU the endpoints snap on the orthographic view as expected. I will get a pop up that says endpoint in component or group. But this does not happen in LO, even when vector rendered.

I really think this is something that the SU/LO team should fix or add. It would certainly help make dimensioning in LO cleaner and simpler.

I have been able to snap to vertical edges. I suppose it is just a hang up to want dimensions snapped to a point instead of an edge, since that is what I am used to doing.

[bmike]

@sfto1 said:

Thanks bmike,

I did try it with "back edges" on, and the snap feature worked the way I expected. I'm not keen on it because there are lines which I do not want to see. Also, when I use a parallel projection in SU to setup the scene in LO, within SU the endpoints snap on the orthographic view as expected. I will get a pop up that says endpoint in component or group. But this does not happen in LO, even when vector rendered.

I really think this is something that the SU/LO team should fix or add. It would certainly help make dimensioning in LO cleaner and simpler.

I have been able to snap to vertical edges. I suppose it is just a hang up to want dimensions snapped to a point instead of an edge, since that is what I am used to doing.

I render in vector, so the back edges don't show.
I will test tomorrow, to make sure I remember the behavior correctly.

I have in the past dimensioned with a style that had back edges on, then we t back to SketchUp before rendering and simply updated the scene with back edges off. IIRC it worked pretty well.

[sfto1]

@bmike said:

I render in vector, so the back edges don't show.
I will test tomorrow, to make sure I remember the behavior correctly.

I have in the past dimensioned with a style that had back edges on, then we t back to SketchUp before rendering and simply updated the scene with back edges off. IIRC it worked pretty well.

Eureka!!!

Thank you Mike, Krisidious, DaveR and Sonder for the time you took to point me towards a fix.

In SU, I created a style with the back edges on. Then in LO, I applied that style to the viewport (from the "in model" styles tab in LO) and then rendered the view as Hybrid, and also as Vector. Both rendering options resulted in being able to snap to "endpoints" which was elusive any other way and the back edges did not render.

This is still a work-around in my mind, but it is simpler than adding lines and tick marks on the model for LO to reference later.

Please SU/LO team, fix or change dimensioning so orthographic views will behave like 2D.

[bmike]

@sfto1 said:

@bmike said:

I render in vector, so the back edges don't show.
I will test tomorrow, to make sure I remember the behavior correctly.

I have in the past dimensioned with a style that had back edges on, then we t back to SketchUp before rendering and simply updated the scene with back edges off. IIRC it worked pretty well.

Eureka!!!

Thank you Mike, Krisidious, DaveR and Sonder for the time you took to point me towards a fix.

In SU, I created a style with the back edges on. Then in LO, I applied that style to the viewport (from the "in model" styles tab in LO) and then rendered the view as Hybrid, and also as Vector. Both rendering options resulted in being able to snap to "endpoints" which was elusive any other way and the back edges did not render.

This is still a work-around in my mind, but it is simpler than adding lines and tick marks on the model for LO to reference later.

Please SU/LO team, fix or change dimensioning so orthographic views will behave like 2D.

I think it is more how the surfaces and geometry in SU interact. If a line passes in front of another, they don't really cross, so generating that point requires a projection from the view you are in...