Hi Pilou, I would like to add some relatively basic SubD tools. That's why there's a SubD tab on the side pane that can hold more stuff.
But I'm not sure when I will be able to focus on that, probably it won't be in v5.
It's not a top priority because there are a variety of sub-d modeling programs out there that you can already use to do that and use the converter to bring it over into MoI.
Michael, I would absolutely LOVE to have some way to track what fonts were used in a drawing. I don't even care if it is simply a list with no reference to the actual text used. I sometimes need to go back and update a file I created months or years ago, and I'm left wondering "what the hell font did I use???".
A simple list of font calls for a particular drawing is my only request. Oh, and a better fillet engine as many have already stated. I'm tired of having to use Inventor to add fillets to a design I created in Moi.
Hi Chris, you can see what font is being used by a particular dimension by selecting it and clicking on the "Details..." button to bring up the detailed object properties dialog:
re:
> I meant when I use a font to create some "design" text in a drawing, not the
> dimension text. Sorry if I wasn't clear.
Currently that isn't easily accessible like it is for dimension text. At some point I hope to store a deeper history that records everything you did to construct the current model and this should then be available in there.
1 - I hope you are doing well, I am not sure if they already asked you but I wanted to know if we could expect live Booleans or other live operations (such as live filleting live chamfering) in Moi 3D?
He (Nick Kallen) creates a cylinder and then tweaks the top circle and the shape gets instant updated.
2- I wonder if this feature could be achieve by sweep method as a default I mean for example when a user creates a cylinder in Moi 3D using "Draw Solids" menu, Moi creates a cylinder using a base circle and then sweep it all the way up to the point user wants, so, when the user tweaks either circles or even at the ends the shape gets updated) What are your thoughts Michael? Could we expect such features in Moi?
I mean I think when we draw cylinder using "Draw Solids" menu the cylinder is created using extrude method (I think) . Could you change it to sweep method then tweaking it would be easier per say ?
re:
> <...> I wanted to know if we could expect live Booleans or other live operations (such as live filleting live chamfering) in Moi 3D?
I'm not sure - at some point I want to work on a deeper history mechanism that could do this type of thing but I'm not sure when that will happen. Probably not in the near term.
> He (Nick Kallen) creates a cylinder and then tweaks the top circle and the shape gets instant updated.
If you want to create a tweakable cylinder you can do that currentlly in MoI by drawing 2 circles and then doing a Loft between them. MoI's current history mechanism will update the shape as you tweak either the top or bottom circle with that set up.
But in general MoI is based more on the concept that if you want a particular shape you should construct what you want directly and not draw in some other different shape initially and then mutate it.
So if you want to make a shape that is a cone with different top and bottom radius values, then just construct a cone with different top and bottom radius circles instead of creating a cylinder first.
You can either create 2 circles and loft between them or draw in a sloped line in side profile and use revolve.
re:
> 2- I wonder if this feature could be achieve by sweep method as a default I mean for example
> when a user creates a cylinder in Moi 3D using "Draw Solids" menu, Moi creates a cylinder
> using a base circle and then sweep it all the way up to the point user wants, so, when
> the user tweaks either circles or even at the ends the shape gets updated)
> What are your thoughts Michael? Could we expect such features in Moi?
You can already do it in MoI right now, draw 2 circles and loft and tweak the circles and the loft will update.
> I mean I think when we draw cylinder using "Draw Solids" menu the cylinder is created using
> extrude method (I think) . Could you change it to sweep method then tweaking it would be
> easier per say ?
Well the draw cylinder command is what you use when you want to make a cylinder. If you don't want to make a cylinder then don't use that command, use loft or revolve either of which allows for adjusting the input curves and having the shape update.
Is it possible to draw freeform lines on the surface of objects? in perspective/orthographic views?
For example imagine there is a Sphere in the perspective view and one chooses the freeform sketch and draws the desired sketch on the surface of the sphere.
I don't know if it is asked before or if Moi already has this ability.
re:
> Is it possible to draw freeform lines on the surface of objects? in perspective/orthographic views?
Currently you can draw curves directly on planar surfaces when picking points in the 3D view, and the construction plane will automatically adjust to the object plane so things like rectangles and circles are oriented to that drawing plane.
For curved surfaces it's a little different, planar drawing commands like circle or rectangle will orient themselves to the surface normal at the first picked point that was snapped onto a surface in the 3D view but the entire drawn curve won't be on the curved surface.
When you are working inside one of the top/front/right 2D orthographic views the focus is on maintaining orientation to that view plane. So the automatic snap plane adjustment to objects only kicks in when you are working in the 3D viewport and not when picking points in the top/right/front viewports. You can relocate the entire frame of reference for the 2D views using View > CPlane though.
Usually it's best with curved surfaces to draw a 2D curve and project it onto the surface.
I understand what u said . However I meant an ability to extract some arbitrary lines or closed loops over a selected curved surface/s (and I am not talking about Iso) I just think that could be useful :)
re:
> However I meant an ability to extract some arbitrary lines or closed loops over a selected curved surface/s
> (and I am not talking about Iso) I just think that could be useful :)
Can you show an example of what you're trying to make?
Yes of course, the example attached, I wanted to be able to draw a curve like the red one u see over that object. Somehow I thought maybe there that way I could have a better control of the curve.
Note: I put more thought into it and I think with the current features of Moi achieving things like what I wanted is pretty much possible. and I am willing to take back my request :)
( I mean when I considered how much work it may require to make Moi gain the ability to directly draw on the curved surfaces; I think it may not worth it!)
re:
> Yes of course, the example attached, I wanted to be able to draw a curve like the
> red one u see over that object. Somehow I thought maybe there that way I could
> have a better control of the curve.
It's better to draw planar curves and use projection to get that result.
It's most likely that trying to draw a curve like that directly on the surface would
actually be less controllable. Part of the problem with it is that there isn't just one
single way to do it.
Something like drawing a curve in the surface's UV parameter space can tend to have
distortions especially with things like you have here where the surface is compressing
down to a point on one end.
* Small wish: an address bar in the File explorer while saving / opening files. A section to save Favorite locations for Quick Acess would be great.
* Medium(ish?) Wish: A faster and more interactive way to access / Modify Styles. like having a color cube with a hue slider on the side bar. The color cube toggles between changing the color of selected objects/faces, the background, or modifying the active style. the yellow color indicating selections would temporarily be disabled while changing styles to allow for interactively seeing the new style. Such interactivity would help with design, and open up the doors for MoI to be used for more purposes.
* Huge, huge Wish: that big fillets thingy. and all its children (I presume) like "tweak face" and "delete fillets". that would definitely make MoI the ultimate CAD software. If it's possible to implement once the license is bought, maybe crowdfunding to buy it would work? maybe there's a whale hobbyist somehere who would do it for the whole world? One can only dream.
chris_font1.jpg