Starting a sketch, how about select plane in 3D space

[freedman]

I want to request this as a feature addition to Part Design when creating the first sketch. It will allow new users to see more of the 3D working space. Attached are 2 images; Pic (sketch1) showing a different look when a sketch starts and sketch2 when the sketch is padded.

New:
PIC (sketch1): This would have the XY plane highlighted in the pick-box which highlights the plane in the drawing window. Also change the drawing view to show the planes in 3D space.

Comments:
Pic (sketch2): shows what happens after padding the sketch. Because the initial plane selection was shown in 3D space the padding is shown in 3D instead of the 1 dimensional view we have now, the view angle is also saved. In other words, if a different view is used when picking the planes it is also used when exiting back to Part Design.

The ability to rotate the sketch plane select window is already in FreeCAD, I have never used it before on an initial sketch.

Thanks

[chrisb]

New:
PIC (sketch1): This would have the XY plane highlighted in the pick-box which highlights the plane in the drawing window. Also change the drawing view to show the planes in 3D space.

I'm afraid I don't understand, that's how it works here since 0.17; what's new about it?

[NormandC]

Well Chris beat me to it...

I have a hard time understanding what you are asking for.

Starting a sketch, how about select plane in 3D space

It is already possible.

PIC (sketch1): This would have the XY plane highlighted in the pick-box which highlights the plane in the drawing window.

This is already the current behaviour.

Also change the drawing view to show the planes in 3D space.

As opposed to what?

Pic (sketch2): shows what happens after padding the sketch. Because the initial plane selection was shown in 3D space the padding is shown in 3D instead of the 1 dimensional view we have now, the view angle is also saved. In other words, if a different view is used when picking the planes it is also used when exiting back to Part Design.

It is already possible. While in the plane selection step, you can rotate the 3D view; when you validate the selection, you enter into sketch edit mode and the view is oriented to be normal to the sketch plane. When you exit the sketch, the last viewpoint orientation you had during plane selection is restored, not the viewpoint you had before starting the sketch creation process.

[freedman]

Sorry for the confusion, I really tried to explain it.

When starting a new document, you click create Body then create sketch, the images attached show the normal view I get (plane2D), what I would like the user to see instead is (plane3D), that exact image. This gives the user a 3D view of planes that hopefully inspires thought. Rotating the planes (on a new part) also creates a saved view that freecad uses when exiting Sketch. When I exit Sketch and pad I normally see PartDesign2D when I use Sketch3D I see partdesign3D.

I think it really comes down to this: When a new document is created the view stored for Part design is the standard on axis view, I want it to pre-store an off axis view so objects appear as 3D.

Mon Sep 17, 2018 6:38 pm
PIC (sketch1): This would have the XY plane highlighted in the pick-box which highlights the plane in the drawing window.

This is already the current behaviour.

Not on my machine, no plane is pre-selected or highlighted.

Also change the drawing view to show the planes in 3D space.

As opposed to what?

The current viewing is Sketch2D, I want it to default to sketch3D, I guess call it planes off-axis.

It is already possible. While in the plane selection step, you can rotate the 3D view; when you validate the selection, you enter into sketch edit mode and the view is oriented to be normal to the sketch plane. When you exit the sketch, the last viewpoint orientation you had during plane selection is restored, not the viewpoint you had before starting the sketch creation process.

You do get, that is all correct. The difference is the default. I 'm asking for the rotated view by default. This sets everything follwing to be viewed in the rotated view i.e. you see the pad created in 3D without manually rotating anything.

OS: Windows 7
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.14709 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: master
Hash: faad5ea27301cb7af393a25d317c406d3098bafe
Python version: 2.7.14
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.2.0
Locale: English/UnitedStates (en_US)

[Jee-Bee]

I think you do some assumptions that are nice for you're workflow but are not default within FC. Check all the difference workbences like part, draft arch path etc.
I use part design quite often and understand that you like to enhance that workflow. But compared to you my default datum plane is not XY but XZ.
I choose that one when i don't know anything about a direction that a model should have. Or it should be placed in any direction (so i have kind of free choice)

[NormandC]

Ok, so you want the initial view orientation when creating a new document to be axonometric. Currently, when creating a new document, the initial view is always the top view (XY).

BTW this has nothing to do with PartDesign nor Sketcher.

This makes a lot of sense for PartDesign users though, and also for Part workbench users. But I guess some users would prefer the current default, for example in Arch/Draft it makes sense starting from XY.

So how about this: offer a setting in Preferences --> Display to set the initial view to one of the standard views (top, right, front, left, axonometric...), but change the default from top to axonometric.

Maybe we could make a forum survey.

[NormandC]

Not on my machine, no plane is pre-selected or highlighted.

Sorry, I hadn't understood you wanted XY_Plane to be preselected.

I would prefer no pre-selection.

[chrisb]

I now understand what you want, but I have to confess that I am quite happy with the way it is. The orientation is always as it was before. It would irritate me, if I have some perspective which looks similar to your default, but is e.g. turned by 90° in one or more directions. It is easy to assume that nothing has changed and select the wrong plane.

[freedman]

I now understand what you want, but I have to confess that I am quite happy with the way it is. The orientation is always as it was before.

There is a small misunderstanding, I only want this "new view" at the start of a new part where there is no before. If you start FreeCaD and start a new part then the "new view" would be used, only then.

I would prefer no pre-selection.

I too don't need a preselection.

I want to say upfront that this is for the folks that don't read all the instructions, which is by default most of us.

Both of these issues seem minor but I don't think they are to new users. Currently, the new user clicks on "Create sketch" for the first time and gets a screen that shows planes, not a sketch, they see panels and have no instructions. The screen image is 2D and nothing is highlighted to give them a clue on what to do next, the screen also shows the XY plane in 2D and it's not selected, that seems a little contrary.

Again, for the new user (first sketch) they finish creating a sketch and close Sketcher and return to Part design. Currently because there is no pre-orientation stored they get a 2D image, if they are good enough to Pad it then the image doesn't change, it might change color. In contrast, if the "new view" is used, they see their sketch in 3D and when they pad, it will display in 3D, their first 3D model. Kind of a big deal for a novice.

So how about this: offer a setting in Preferences --> Display to set the initial view to one of the standard views (top, right, front, left, axonometric...), but change the default from top to axonometric.

That's all my words in one line, thanks NormandC.

[DeepSOIC]

But I guess some users would prefer the current default, for example in Arch/Draft it makes sense starting from XY.

Actually, I don't like the default view. Not just because it's Top View, but:
* the focus of rotation is below XY plane
* the zoom is waaay to close. The whole width of the screen is about 2 mm. Suitable for designing tiniest of surface-mount electronic parts, but not much else. There probably should be a preference for that too. Someone designs electronic parts, others design legos, others 3d-printers, others cars and airplanes, then architectural stuff, and eventually maybe city infrastructure, and maybe even a space elevator. Zooming out to these large objects can get annoying. I wonder, how yorik does it?


Sketcher also has an annoying habit of setting a certain zoom when a new sketch is created, for me it's usually the sweet spot. But it certainly isn't the sweet spot for everyone.