Standard Camera Views Not Realigning With New Drawing Axis
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Hello,
I recently tried my hand at geo-locating and extracting a terrain contour from Google Earth. On my first attempt (many months ago), I was frustrated because the drawing axis got aligned with the Google Earth axis, but recently, I figured out that I could change the drawing axis. So things went very well, and I placed my house structure in the model and went about detailing the exterior landscape. But when I tried to generate standard elevation projections using the standard camera views, all I got were views aligned with the original (non-aligned-with-Google) axis. Plus, I saw the drawing axis jump back to the original location when I used my pre-arranged elevation scenes (based on the standard camera views). Is there something I'm missing? If not, then is there some kind of work-around so I can get dead-on elevation projections without having to approximate with the orbit tool? I tried saving, but nothing seems to have worked for me.
Thanks for your help!
Frank.
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Hi Frank,
Changing the model axes orientation does not affect the directions of the standard views, nor, for that matter, the location of the ground plane which impacts the way shadows are shown. To create your elevation views you could select a face in the model, right click and choose Align View. If the Camera is set to Parallel Projection, you'll get what you're after.
Note that by default the solid green axis is supposed to point north. Even when you turn the axes, north is still in the same place. You can change the direction of north with the Solar North toolbar.
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@fcborik said:
...... , then is there some kind of work-around so I can get dead-on elevation projections without having to approximate with the orbit tool?....
As Dave explaned, you can right click on a face and select 'Align View'.
Another way to align any view you like, a general method, (and don't forget to save views, to return to at any time later) is as follows:
Redraw the axes in such a way that red runs to left, green up (and blue towards you) in a desired view. (see * below). Now right click on an axis in emplty space and select 'Align View' in the context menu. ---> now your view will be one with green pointing to the top of your screen, red to the right (and blue towards you, perpendicular to the screen). This is, as said, a general applicable method, independend of the presence of faces and their orientations.()On an elevation this would be: red along the base of the facade, green to roof top (blue filled in by SketchUp).
()On a floor plan this could be: red along one wall, green along another perpendicular wall (blue filled in by SketchUp).
(*) in general, red along the future view base of your view to be, green perpendicular in a sensible direction (two options) (blue filled in by SketchUp). -
The plugin Extended Views (Chris Fullmer) should help...
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Hello Everyone,
All of your advice was spot on. Dave, the idea of selecting a face normal to my point of view and then selecting "align view" worked excellent for the elevation scenes. But because all faces are "normal" when looking in plan view, I used Gerrit's idea doing a rough alignment with the orbit tool, and then context clicking on one of the axes and "aligning view". Worked great. And... I DID remember to save those scenes! I will definitely check out the extended views plug-in, although what I learned about the "align view" option was extremely helpful.
I still wonder why the standard views won't work for me. Even when I re-align the drawing axis, going to the standard view seems to "reset" it (it works OK however when I try to edit all the sub components). I tried reorienting the north arrow, but that only made the sun shine incorrectly on the model. However, I have things set up the way I want them now to move forward with the design, so at this point the question borders on the rhetorical.
Thanks, again, for all of your help!
Frank
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Frank, I'm glad you got things to work. I always like to suggest native tools and if they work, great. If you need additional stuff, plugins Like Chris Fullmer's are great.
As to your question, the standard views are standard for the default orientation of the axes. They don't get changed when you change the model axes The reason they work for you when you have a component open for editing is because the orientation is then based upon the component axes. The orientation of the component axes is driven by the alignment of the component to the model axes. So, when you have the component open for editing, the standard front view would have you looking at the model with the solid green axis running away from you.
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