Docking one part to another

Alohaa · 27 May 2023, 18:00

Hi,

I often have trouble getting a part to a certain point and docking it there with another part; I think aes close and when I change perspective I see it's miles away. Is there a trick to this?

Kind regards
Alohaa

Alohaa · 29 May 2023, 15:15

What I mean:In situations like the one on the screenshot, I have problems making the two corners marked in red coincide.

Dave R · 29 May 2023, 16:18

Share your .skp file so we can see exactly what you are working with.

Alohaa · 29 May 2023, 16:49

It is so that I always succeed after more or less many shifts of a part. So also here.
As I said, this does not only apply specifically to this work, but it is a general problem that I am always confronted with.
Perhaps there is a specific procedure that is unknown to me.

I wanted to reproduce the situation just now, but I didn't succeed: now I can dock the part to the other one on the first try, but I think this problem shouldn't be unknown.

Docking.skp

Dave R · 29 May 2023, 16:59

First, turn off Length Snapping in Model Info>Units.

Next, set the Camera to Perspective. Save Parallel Projection for output.

Then get the Move tool and grab the component by the corner that needs to coincide with the other corner and move it.

By the way, you should make sure to correct face orientation as you go. There should be no exposed blue back faces. I would suggest waiting to apply materials until after the geometry is all correct and then apply the materials to the faces, not the component containers.

Alohaa · 29 May 2023, 18:58

Thank you! So there really is a procedure to respect in order to do that work correctly.

"...you should make sure to correct face orientation as you go"
What do you mean by that statement?

"By the way, you should make sure to correct face orientation as you go. There should be no exposed blue back faces."
I must admit that I do not know why this face is blue.

Your comment "I would suggest waiting to apply materials until after the geometry is all correct and then apply the materials to the faces, not the component containers." is surely pertinent, but it has nothing to do with the first one, since only the frames have been assigned a material, which in this case play no role? Is that correct?

Dave R · 29 May 2023, 19:08

@alohaa said:

"...you should make sure to correct face orientation as you go"
What do you mean by that statement?

There should be no exposed blue back faces. In 3D objects like yours, all faces should have their white front face out.

@alohaa said:

I must admit that I do not know why this face is blue.

They are blue because they are reversed so their back faces are out. It's generally caused by the way you did the modeling. You can fix the face orientation by editing the object, right clicking on a white front face and selecting Orient Faces.

@alohaa said:

Your comment "I would suggest waiting to apply materials until after the geometry is all correct and then apply the materials to the faces, not the component containers." is surely pertinent, but it has nothing to do with the first one, since only the frames have been assigned a material, which in this case play no role? Is that correct?

It was a general comment on your modeling workflow. Wait until you have your geometry constructed correctly before you add the materials and, again, apply the materials to the faces, not the component/group containers.

Alohaa · 29 May 2023, 19:47

My Sketchup is in German and you can't change the language easily

Is there a list of functions in different languages?

Alohaa · 13 Jun 2023, 08:59

Thank you for your help!