Techdraw - no center snap points are shown

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wandererfan
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Re: Techdraw - no center snap points are shown

Post by wandererfan »

71GA wrote: Thu Aug 15, 2019 9:34 am
We used to have an expert in technical drawing that hung around the forum. His input would be handy here.

Some of the things he taught me
- dimensioning axonometric projections is generally bad practice.
- dimensioning hidden lines is generally bad practice.
- arc centers go at the center of circular arcs. Side views of say, cylinders, don't show arcs, do don't get arc centers.
- dimensioning a hole in a side view would use a center bore line (available in v0.19). not an arc center
Just make sure you implement a snapping point in the middle of circles/elipses.
No. There is a point there for snapping (the center mark). The most I would do here would be to make center marks the same color as Vertexes.
You should make center mark optional like horizontal/vertical center lines are.
Center arcs are optional, just as View center lines are - see the View tab in the property editor.
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71GA
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Re: Techdraw - no center snap points are shown

Post by 71GA »

Never mind. I give up. But the fact remains that without help of Inkscape I could never finish drawings for 11 out of my 18 parts in an assembly (61%). And that's insufficient however you look at it. Just look at this thread for example. And this was only one simple part.

PS: If Freecad Techdraw workbench wants to become any good, programmers will have to start listening to users and not pretending that there are no problems or in this case obvious limitations. Let me dimension object how I want it and sometimes dimensioning hidden edges saves you a ton of problems! Putting a snapping point in a center of a circle is an universal solution opposed to quadrants (attachment) and crap that v 0.19 presented as a fix for the problem. Please start solving problems at their root. If you ask me v0.19 presented mediocre solutions which again fail in specific situations. And THAT is a programming time wasted...
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chrisb
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Re: Techdraw - no center snap points are shown

Post by chrisb »

71GA wrote: Fri Aug 16, 2019 2:30 pm PS: If Freecad Techdraw workbench wants to become any good, ... and crap that v 0.19 presented as a fix for the problem. Please start solving problems at their root. ...
This sounds rather demanding. If you are that unhappy with FreeCAD I offer to refund the purchase price plus 25% for any inconveniences.

Sorry for that in advance, I couldn't resist, so let's get more serious. You have "Linux coach" in your avatar, so you probably know the options quite well:

1) Live with it, many users here have proven, that FreeCAD is usable for their use cases - alas, obviously not for yours
2) Fix the issues yourself. As a Linux coach you should be able to. You will get here all the help we can offer, and would like to see your pull requests.
3) Rent a programmer who fixes your issues. Start with an offer of 5000/month, and increase it significantly, if you don't find one.
A Sketcher Lecture with in-depth information is available in English, auf Deutsch, en français, en español.
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71GA
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Re: Techdraw - no center snap points are shown

Post by 71GA »

Well I do understand how things work and I realize that Linux users are in fact beta testers. Some companies even pay beta tester to test programs and tell what is wrong.

I am exposing a problem only because I want Freecad to be usable and go the path Blender went. They listened to the users, adapted and now they are going pro in Hollywood.

One more example (attachment). I am currently unable to dimension (marked with ???) element which has diagonal holes (because there is no points in the middle of the circle as previously exposed). With one hole I had luck that seam was visible after the section, while with the other hole seam wasn't visible so I wasn't lucky and I can't dimension that hole. If you would put a point in the middle of the circle the problem would be completely gone even for diagonal sections... And that is an universal solution. The quadrant that was created in v0.19 is not. :(

The only way in which I could dimension this hole is if I could rotate the hole (marked blue) so that seam would be visible after the section... Is this even possible?

And now I have to modify my perfectly fine 3D model in order to be able to dimension it... :roll:
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saso
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Re: Techdraw - no center snap points are shown

Post by saso »

Try, Part -> Create Primitives... -> Line (Start point 0,0,0 End point 10,0,0) -> Create -> select Line -> Data view -> Property -> Map Mode -> select hole edge -> Attach mode Concentric -> set attachment offset and angle so the line will act as the hole axis ... it is sort of a manual long way, but from fully parametric workflow quite proper way to build the axis that most parametric cad programs support by default already in the sketcher and create hole feature.

Pa sporoč če bo kej pomagal ;)
Last edited by saso on Sat Aug 17, 2019 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
user1234
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Re: Techdraw - no center snap points are shown

Post by user1234 »

Hello!
71GA wrote: Sat Aug 17, 2019 2:56 pm They listened to the users
(0. The only one developer hear users to .....)
1. The cosmetic features was merged in the development version on 15.07.2019, that is one month ago. That means that features are brand new. That there are bugs, is quite sure.
2. Since that time no one has made a detailed report (with screencast, settings, models, versions, .....). (Also i, i have nothing drawn since 4 months.)
3. wandererfan is the only one developer on Techdraw. For that he made all alone, in spare time, made all features, ..... that is astonishing. Also much more people use Blender, because making 3D things for moves and games is much more accessible than a CAD program. So there are in Blender much more developer (and parts of them not in the freetime, see on their webpage). That to compare makes no sense.
4. If you need extra points, lines, .... in your drawing, that is not in the 3D model --> make them in the 3D model, that is not that hard.
71GA wrote: Sat Aug 17, 2019 2:56 pm And now I have to modify my perfectly fine 3D model in order to be able to dimension it
That is also on commercial 3D software pretty normal. Our 7k($ or €) / y software in the office also struggles with 3D-->2D.

And when i open a ticked in the commercial CAD support, they do nothing, reeaallyy nothing. And they get much of money for that they do nothing.
The support here is the finest i see in my entirety life, and they get nothing ..... .

Greetings
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71GA
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Re: Techdraw - no center snap points are shown

Post by 71GA »

Well, Blender was once a smaller project too (like Freecad). But they managed to pull the right strings and they got where they are now with right choices and with a long term vision. I personally believe that Freecad can become and will become a leader in CAD/CAM but only if right choices are made early in the project.

I respect what Wanderfan is doing and I only want to present problems in order to help the project (and myself). I really really wish Freecad all the best and I want it to become like Blender. We need CAD/CAM on Linux. :)

@saso Thanks! I will try to help myself with additional primitive lines for the time being.
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71GA
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Re: Techdraw - no center snap points are shown

Post by 71GA »

I added the primitive line in the drawing (like saso suggested), but it doesn't show in TechDraw even after refreshing. Any suggestions?
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user1234
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Re: Techdraw - no center snap points are shown

Post by user1234 »

Here a screencast.
_line_to_drawing.webm
(277.76 KiB) Downloaded 60 times
The link menu is not really user frendly, but works. Important is the direction (visibility). I would make a very small line (1mm) or a point above the hole (axis).

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71GA
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Re: Techdraw - no center snap points are shown

Post by 71GA »

I tried setting a primitive line as you all suggested (I did it like saso suggested and not in sketcher), but it doesn't work. I don't know why. Here is my screencast and my minimal (non) working example (FCStd).

Can anyone tell me how to do it. It looks like I can't figure it out by myself.
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