@Andras - There's always at least one Autodesk hater in the crowd... :-)


"There's a command prompt and 2 input boxes floating right over top of the curve that I'm right now trying to draw, making it hard for me to actually see it...

It's the kind of thing that can work ok if you're only drawing something simple like only a line or an arc at a time, but can easily get in the way in other circumstances like the above." ~M. Gibson


That's one of my dislikes about MoI. It's actually the more complex sketches where I appreciate the HUD more. I don't draw at the bottom or upper corner of the screen, I draw in the middle-ish of the screen. I want and like the info right where the mouse is so I don't have to switch focus between the mouse and info center. I find that incredibly distracting. For me the HUD rarely gets in the way of what I am doing and if it does, a zoom and/or pan moves it out of the way usually.

The pop-up stuff would be less distracting if there was no lag/delay. This is a "beta" so I am hoping for better speed eventually. MoI is definitely way faster.

As far as the Shift+middle mouse button... it's second nature to me and is one of the first things I try with a new modeling program, but I think, in the arena of 3D navigation with a mouse Alibre has absolutely nailed it. Bar-none the best system I have ever used. A 3D mouse (3D connexion) doesn't really add much functionality/speed. They just haven't fully realized the extra uses/functions their setup can open up (time sensitive click being a major one).



Sorry no text fields (besides dimensions) that I am aware of. There is something to add "tags," but I have no idea what it actually does. I tried it, but the tag disappears when the dialog is closed. Perhaps something like photo tags? (it's still there if I re-open the tags dialog)

Sorry macray no variable arc radius. The only programs I am aware of that are capable of that are the parametric modelers (Solidworks, Inventor, Alibre, etc.).

Seems that for make boolean operations objects must be first components ! ?


From the video of the guitare at the end seems we can modify measures from enter numeric text
Is that history ?

Hi Pilou,

> Seems that for make boolean operations objects
> must be first components ! ?

A lot of "Mechanical CAD" programs don't really rely on booleans so much as you might use in MoI - instead they're generally more focused on creating a mechanical part by drawing some 2D sketches on different faces of the model and then creating a "feature" like an extrusion or a revolve that adds or removes material from the base part.

Some of these kinds of programs actually only focus on building 1 single object at a time in a "part modeler" and then you go to a separate "assembly modeler" program to bring all the parts together (although that's not the case with this particular program).


> From the video of the guitare at the end seems we can
> modify measures from enter numeric text
> Is that history ?

In this case it's not exactly history - it's more what is called a "constraint", although history can be used to make similar kinds of edits as well.

History is about maintaining the sequence of operations that went into building the model, and then when you change something those operations are recalculated to rebuild the model.

A "history free" or direct modeler like this Autodesk app works kind of differently - it makes modifications by directly analyzing the current model state (like figuring out how to extend surfaces and trim off pieces of the current model), instead of using the sequence of modeling operations.

- Michael

Hi lyes,

> Interaction to draw a line you have to enter the sketch
> mode and select a plane and come out, to many process

Yeah, that kind of more formalized process with extra steps to specifically set up which plane you're drawing in is pretty normal with Mechanical CAD programs.

Another problem with it is not just extra steps but that you are not so free to just draw a line anywhere in 3D space that you might want it, for example in MoI you can go to the 3D view and draw in lines between any points that you want like this:





But that other kind of more formalized process is well suited for a different style of modeling, where you're more focused on having every aspect of the result controlled by specific dimensions and spacing from elements and stuff like that.

- Michael

Exploring more the boolean operations can be made with or without components :)
In direct or after.

http://www.123dnews.com/storage/documents/Designing_in_Autodesk_123D_Overview.pdf

Hi Pilou - it looks like there is a "combine" command for doing booleans I guess?

- Michael

yes it was that :)

Hi Nick,

> I want and like the info right where the mouse is so
> I don't have to switch focus between the mouse and
> info center. I find that incredibly distracting.

The problem with that is that if you are just trying to draw something where you're focused just on its shape and not wanting to enter in any numeric coordinates, having all those coordinate boxes floating around by your mouse doesn't give you any benefit and instead they actually detract from being able to clearly see the object's shape on the screen.

I mean I don't see how you could not consider this to be distracting and getting in the way:



It's pretty easy for HUD "Heads Up Display" to become more like IYF "In Your Face" in this way - in MoI there is generally an emphasis on not getting into the IYF level of stuff. This helps make MoI more friendly for the kinds of uses where someone just wants to draw and not even type in any coordinates - the type in stuff is available if you need it but doesn't overwhelm the UI.

What's the point of having the "Specify next point" text floating around next to your mouse when you're drawing a curve like that, anyway? Surely there isn't any confusion that you are picking the next point in the curve...


The other thing is that kind of inputs floating around with the mouse mechanism is kind of limited to pretty simple input types because trying to put something like 5 or 6 controls floating around there would make it really bad - so it can't quite "scale up" very naturally for situations where additional options or inputs could be useful...


I can see how you could like it if you are more often drawing lines and arcs by entering in numeric input though. But to me that comes with some pretty negative side effects for the "just drawing and looking at shape" type workflow, and it just doesn't make very much sense when you're drawing freeform curves.

- Michael

"I can see how you could like it if you are more often drawing lines and arcs by entering in numeric input though."

That's exactly why I like it. I am more of mechanical guy and not very artsy with free-flowing stuff. <shrug> Really abstract things start to make my head spin. :-)

Hi Nick, so I guess the thing is that mechanical lines 'n arcs type stuff is already handled so well by MCAD programs (SolidWorks, SolidEdge, Alibre, etc...) that it just didn't make sense to me to make MoI to be in exactly the same mold as those so to speak...

MoI is trying to be more of a hybrid between CAD and 2D illustration sorta.

- Michael

The free deformation of a side line volume and direct fillets is some astonished.

Yeah I like the handle you can grab for doing fillets.

I really like the gizmo for adding draft while doing extrudes and the hole tool is pretty darn cool.

@Michael - ha, yeah I guess that makes sense. I Like MoI for really quick concepts that don't require the precision/changeability I get with Alibre plus it's fun :-)

I've tried this for some hours.
I think that 123D is not so intuitive compare to MOI, but it has somewhat good features like 'Edit edge'
Anyway it's very interesting to use a new application. :-)

http://forum.123dapp.com/123d/topics/engine_render from Support 123D !
[quote]on of the next releases will include a photo realistic real time renderer using HDRi. [/quote]
by Thomas Heermann Product Manager ADSK

Tried importing simple STEP and SAT files into 123D. Crashed each time.

I've already uninstalled it.

I'll stick with MoI and ViaCAD.

Michael T.

""""""""" I Like MoI for really quick concepts that don't require the precision/changeability""""""""""

Changeability would fit here as Alibre has parametric capabilities, But Precision??? MoI makes precise models easily without compromise... I dont think precision is an issue..

"MoI makes precise models easily without compromise... I dont think precision is an issue.."


Let me just point you here:

http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI

Hey Nick,
Your link only points to the root forum??? Maybe check the link if you intended to post to something specific.

Hi Nick, to get a link to a specific message, right-click on the link that shows up in the upper-right corner of the message body, like the one here will say 4247.58 - if you right-click that link and do "copy link location" that will get you a link to bring up that message thread starting at that message number.

If you just grab the address from the main address bar that won't work because of how the forum works as a frameset - it's kind of a collection of a few different sub frames.

- Michael