New Sketch icons "make pocket sketch, make pad sketch"

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freedman
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New Sketch icons "make pocket sketch, make pad sketch"

Post by freedman »

Not really sure how to do this yet:

There will be 3 create sketch icons. 1) The normal one, 2) Create hole sketch, 3) Create pad sketch.

The concept allows the user to create what will happen when they sketch, not after the fact. For instance I want to create a hole in a face, I click the face and select #2 above. Sketcher opens and when I draw the circle the hole will appear in the solid. This is much better for me because I normally work in 3D, the hole will appear right away. I waste a bunch of time (and clicks) needing to close the sketch, click the Pocket and then go back into Sketcher to continue to edit the solid.

This could be a new addition to FreeCAD that would make it simpler to use, if the community likes it. :)

Not sure if I can do this in a macro, time will tell.
chrisb
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Re: New Sketch icons "make pocket sketch, make pad sketch"

Post by chrisb »

For a clear concept it would need more sketches for
- revolve
- groove
- additive loft section
- additive sweep section
- additive sweep path
- additive helix section
- subtractive loft section
- subtractive sweep section
- subtractive sweep path
- subtractive helix section

I'm afraid this would lead to less clarity.
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freedman
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Re: New Sketch icons "make pocket sketch, make pad sketch"

Post by freedman »

For a clear concept it would need more sketches for
I think it's fair to say that pad and pocket are 70% of the feature additions, especially for new users and testing. Maybe there could be a pull-down menu to show your list. The GUI is never perfect so I look at what could save me time. Like my macro for a Loft, it creates a sketch on face then another sketch 10mm above the first, then creates the Loft. To me that is what the Loft button should do, take care of some of the mundane tasks.

I believe this can be implemented by macro if I create a blank sketch from a face selection, close it and pad or pocket it, then open it again for editing. The sketch will be in an error mode but it should recover with sketching additions.

Currently to work on a hole we need to create a sketch, close,add feature,what depth,close, open sketch to edit, a bunch of mouse clicks. Using this concept we have a continuous thought, we want a hole so we create a sketch and draw where the hole will be and it appears, set the depth and size right in Sketcher.
Haavard
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Re: New Sketch icons "make pocket sketch, make pad sketch"

Post by Haavard »

freedman wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 3:10 am The concept allows the user to create what will happen when they sketch, not after the fact. For instance I want to create a hole in a face, I click the face and select #2 above.
Why not:
- Click "Pad/Hole/Cut" with no sketches in the model tree
- New sketch is made automatically, and the sketch plane selector comes up
- Click on a plane, face or whereever you want to sketch, and start sketching
- When you close the sketch, the pad/hole/cut function is started automatically, and you see the preview of the result

This is how SW does it, and is wonderful. A lot less clicking and feels really smooth and intuitive. No extra icons are needed.
chrisb
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Re: New Sketch icons "make pocket sketch, make pad sketch"

Post by chrisb »

What you describe is a switch in paradigm. I will talk only about Pad, but it applies to pocket etc. too.

Your proposal means that there is only a Pad, and the pad has a property Sketch with a three-dot-button for invoking Sketcher. Such a pad would then have Placement and AttachmentOffset (with MapMode, MapPath), MapReversed etc. properties. This would indeed simplify the tree, and it would probably be nice to explain to newbies how to place a Pad, instead of explaining that the Placement is defined by the sketch.

It also bears some problems, because there are other things besides sketches that can be padded, but the main reason, why I dislike the approach is that the clear distinction of objects gets fogged Now I can easily turn a padded sketch in a master sketch, I can make them separetly visible which is needed for good attachments, ...
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Haavard
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Re: New Sketch icons "make pocket sketch, make pad sketch"

Post by Haavard »

chrisb wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 8:21 am What you describe is a switch in paradigm. I will talk only about Pad, but it applies to pocket etc. too.
Is this meant for me or freedman?

My proposal would not change any existing paradigm or workflow, and would not introduce a new sketch type ect. The only difference to current freecad, would be that if you press pad, instead of an error message about a missing sketch, a new sketch would be made as if you had pressed the PartDesign_CreateSketch button. The sketch would be placed under the pad as it would otherwise.
Bance
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Re: New Sketch icons "make pocket sketch, make pad sketch"

Post by Bance »

The point is that at the moment I can select a number of things and then pad/pocket etc. them, what happens to the newly created sketch if that is my intention?
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obelisk79
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Re: New Sketch icons "make pocket sketch, make pad sketch"

Post by obelisk79 »

I think my concern regarding such a change as proposed by OP is the addition of yet *more* icons/toolbars for users to manage. One of (in my opinion) FreeCADs challenging UI/UX problems is clutter and screen management. Adding more only creates potential confusion and takes away from usable screen space to actually work on your model.

Adding *more* should really be heavily scrutinized and considered carefully. In this particular case I'm not sure there is a tangible benefit to be had.
Haavard
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Re: New Sketch icons "make pocket sketch, make pad sketch"

Post by Haavard »

Bance wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 9:23 am The point is that at the moment I can select a number of things and then pad/pocket etc. them, what happens to the newly created sketch if that is my intention?
Correct, if a face is selected and you press pad, that face should be padded. Only if NOTHING is selected, and NO sketch is currently "free" in the tree-view is a new sketch automatically made.
Jee-Bee
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Re: New Sketch icons "make pocket sketch, make pad sketch"

Post by Jee-Bee »

@chrisb I assume that you response is @Haavard.
And i want to try to clarify things.

What haavard say is not something unique to SW (A lot of SW users think it is, but it is not). All Major CAD software have this similar workflow. Also All Major CAD software have the still have the sketch as the base. Probably the properties you are calling are quite explicit available in FC and less explicid in other packages. The only difference between FC and the others is (and i noticed today that i was already forgotten it while i earlier kicked against it) is that when no sketch is selected the create sketch start automatically.
The fun thing is that when i start with an empty document and i click on pad then i get a message that i need a body* and it create one. But then it complaint that i don't have a sketch.

I just tested if it could work. And what i noticed is that when i open create sketch when nothing is selected i am unable to select a face where i can / want to sketch on. while when i have selected one it works out well.
With an empty document this don't matter but when not starting from scratch this is helpful as well

obelisk79 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 9:29 am Adding more only creates potential confusion and takes away from usable screen space to actually work on your model.
Agree on this one.


* Is it possible to set this off and just create a body?
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