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

Have some feature requests, feedback, cool stuff to share, or want to know where FreeCAD is going? This is the place.
Forum rules
Be nice to others! Read the FreeCAD code of conduct!
User avatar
NormandC
Veteran
Posts: 18588
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:52 pm
Location: Québec, Canada

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

Post by NormandC »

@DeepSOIC I agree on all points. Now, where do we go from here? :D

DeepSOIC wrote: Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:26 pm 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.
And it can be extremely confusing for new users. Let's say the user creates a new document, switches to the PartDesign workbench, creates a sketch and selects it from the Tasks panel. Then he enters the sketch edit mode, and zooms out the view to create his moderately large sketch. Once he closes the sketch, the 3D view is restored to the original view, which is zoomed extremely close. The result is that the just completed sketch disappears from view. That's what I call a big usability issue.

In Sketchup, creating a new document refers to a document template that you set as default (IIRC). There are metric/imperial architectural templates, and metric/imperial engineering templates. The latter obviously starts with a smaller zoom.
freedman
Veteran
Posts: 3441
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:02 am
Location: Washington State, USA

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

Post by freedman »

I was hoping some of the init data was stored in the config file. I didn't see anything in there with the exact wording, maybe one of the experts here can look.
Question:
Is it possible to add to the config file a new text statement to init other program data items for instance "view angle". I don't know how the program uses the config file but if it is executed additions would run? This could be disruptive if it works.

If this post winds down i will at least encapsulate the ideas in a feature request.
chrisb
Veteran
Posts: 53933
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:14 am

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

Post by chrisb »

NormandC wrote: Sun Sep 23, 2018 3:31 pm Once he closes the sketch, the 3D view is restored to the original view, which is zoomed extremely close.
There is a switch in Sketcher's preferences "Restore camera position after editing". It seems to do nothing. What is it supposed to do? With some experience in FreeCAD it seems sensible to restore the the old position, especially when editing some minor details, for newbies it might be cumbersome.
A Sketcher Lecture with in-depth information is available in English, auf Deutsch, en français, en español.
User avatar
Kunda1
Veteran
Posts: 13434
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 9:03 pm

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

Post by Kunda1 »

@freedman if you create a Feature Request please remember to link to it form the thread as well. Thanks
issue #3637
Alone you go faster. Together we go farther
Please mark thread [Solved]
Want to contribute back to FC? Checkout:
'good first issues' | Open TODOs and FIXMEs | How to Help FreeCAD | How to report Bugs
freedman
Veteran
Posts: 3441
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:02 am
Location: Washington State, USA

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

Post by freedman »

@freedman if you create a Feature Request please remember to link to it form the thread as well. Thanks
I had the link in my original but I took so long writing the darn thing the site timed out and I had to get my backup which didn't have the link. Those timeouts can be a pain if your slow.
User avatar
NormandC
Veteran
Posts: 18588
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:52 pm
Location: Québec, Canada

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

Post by NormandC »

chrisb wrote: Mon Sep 24, 2018 8:07 am There is a switch in Sketcher's preferences "Restore camera position after editing". It seems to do nothing.
You are mistaken. It restores the camera position to what it was before editing the sketch. While in the sketch, you can zoom, pan and even rotate the view: once you close the sketch, these view manipulations are discarded. Of course, you won't see any effect if you did not first change the view orientation, and kept it to top view, or if you did not zoom in/zoom out while in sketch edit mode.

Personally I find this behaviour very useful. As already mentioned here, there are 2 problems with the initial camera position just after a new document is created:
  • It is set to the top view - FreeCAD is a 3D CAD program, not a 2D program,it would be more logical for the initial view to be axonometric. This is what freedman suggests. That way, when starting a sketch inside a PartDesign Body, all 3 standard planes would be visible in the 3D view, not only the XY one.
  • The initial zoom level is much too close, good only if you don't zoom out or zoom in while in sketch edit mode. If your sketch profile is 10x bigger than the initial zoom level, when you exit the sketch, and the view is restored, what you just drew disappears! Because you are actually zoomed in too much. We forum regulars are so used to it that we simply use the scroll wheel or press "Fit all" without even thinking about it. But beginners will be thoroughly confused.
freedman
Veteran
Posts: 3441
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:02 am
Location: Washington State, USA

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

Post by freedman »

A good way to see the difference in a startup 3D view: Start a new FreeCAD, start a New part, click the Axonometric view icon, now go and create a box in sketcher and pad it. This of coarse sets the initial view before a sketch is created.

Also, perfect Axonometric viewing causes some portion of the planes to overlap, a little off axis from Axonometric would look better.
TheMarkster
Veteran
Posts: 5505
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:53 am

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

Post by TheMarkster »

freedman wrote: Sat Oct 13, 2018 7:29 pm A good way to see the difference in a startup 3D view: Start a new FreeCAD, start a New part, click the Axonometric view icon, now go and create a box in sketcher and pad it. This of coarse sets the initial view before a sketch is created.

Also, perfect Axonometric viewing causes some portion of the planes to overlap, a little off axis from Axonometric would look better.
I think so, too. Slightly off axonometric is better. Go to PartDesign, click the create new sketch icon, then enter this into the python console:

Code: Select all

from FreeCAD import Base
Gui.ActiveDocument.activeView().setCameraOrientation(Base.Rotation(.66,-.15,-.15,.69))
Do you like those settings? If not, experiment with the numbers until you find a configuration you like. I can setup a preference to select Axonometric, Top, Rear, Bottom, Left, Right, or Axonometric2 (open to suggestions for a better name), with Axonometric2 being the default and having those custom values. Then each time the user creates a new sketch in Part Design the view will switch to that camera orientation. The code would just be entering this same code from above into the python console when a new sketch is created in Part Design.

You can also move the camera in the Gui if you prefer and enter this to get the current orientation:

Code: Select all

Gui.ActiveDocument.activeView().getCameraOrientation()
freedman
Veteran
Posts: 3441
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:02 am
Location: Washington State, USA

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

Post by freedman »

I like this:
setCameraOrientation(Base.Rotation(.52,-.15,-.15,.69))
I just changed the first number a bit, it gives a better view of the text on the XY plane. This should be a good teaching moment for the Plane uneducated.
Then each time the user creates a new sketch in Part Design the view will switch to that camera orientation.
I think the consensus was to only set this on a fresh start of FreeCAD, after the first sketch is created the user will set their desired working view and we don't want to change that. I hope that is easier to do.

Thanks
TheMarkster
Veteran
Posts: 5505
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:53 am

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

Post by TheMarkster »

freedman wrote: Sun Oct 14, 2018 6:33 am I like this:
setCameraOrientation(Base.Rotation(.52,-.15,-.15,.69))
I just changed the first number a bit, it gives a better view of the text on the XY plane. This should be a good teaching moment for the Plane uneducated.
Then each time the user creates a new sketch in Part Design the view will switch to that camera orientation.
I think the consensus was to only set this on a fresh start of FreeCAD, after the first sketch is created the user will set their desired working view and we don't want to change that. I hope that is easier to do.

Thanks
This is for new users mainly is it not? Experienced users don't need it and can disable the feature ("Do not change" option) altogether if they prefer. Or they can also setup their own preferred custom camera orientation using the "Use current" option, which takes the current camera orientation and sets that as the default.

Here are the options:

Default (currently the .52, -.15, -.15, .69 view)
Top
Right
Left
Rear
Bottom
Axonometric
User current (sets up a view similar to Default above, but using the current camera orientation, but only does this if there is an active document)
Do not change view (leaves the view alone, which is the current behavior)

I put this in the Part Design section of Edit menu -> Preferences -> Part Design
scr 1.png
scr 1.png (109.78 KiB) Viewed 898 times
phpBB [video]
Post Reply