Hello Michael and all,

When using Object Snap, is there a setting somewhere allowing to snap newly created elements to X/YZ projections of existing points and curves ? Something allowing me to place the last corner of this rectangle where it needs to be :



IIRC Sketchup does that well - yet In MOI3D I find myself having to construct a lot of temporary points to compensate for the lack of such a snap feature. Or maybe I am missing something ? MOI does great things when it comes to snapping, so I find it a bit odd that this seems to be missing.

Thanks !

You can't use draw "helper lines" who have inside "Project next Point"?

Ah I see, I wasn't aware of this feature - basically click and drag to make it show up, and then a new temporary snap line gets created.

But still - it would be nice for such a guide creation it to happen automatically on all 3 axises , after hovering over a given point for a fraction of a second ...

Hi Pior, you can make a construction line for doing that:
https://moi3d.com/4.0/docs/moi_command_reference11.htm#constructionlines

When you move over the existing point you want to project, press down and hold down the mouse button while dragging off of it and a construction line will be created which will then give you an intersection snap point where you need it. Here's an example:



= Michael

Hi Pior,

> But still - it would be nice for such a guide creation it to happen automatically on all 3 axises , after
> hovering over a given point for a fraction of a second ...

Having such things appear automatically is nice when you have a very sparse drawing with just a couple of possible snap targets.

It becomes not nice at all when you have a busier area where there are a lot of potential snap points. What then happens is you get a whole lot of automatic snap points wherever you move and then it becomes difficult to freely place points. It can make things like drawing a curve with control points difficult.

So Moi is specifically designed to not make them fully automatic, but they are right at your fingertips because you can engage a construction line very quickly with a drag gesture and they disappear after the command is finished so there is no cleanup step.

With this method they stay out of your way until you trigger it with a drag gesture, just a hover of a fraction of a second triggers them too easily and you get the unwanted ones gumming things up.

- Michael

Hi pior, oh yes additionally having them triggered with a drag gesture instead of hovering over a point also unlocks a lot of powerful additional snap functions because the drag gesture forms a line with a start point and an end point that you can specify rather than only having a ray coming out from a single point.

So for example you can get the midpoint between any 2 points you want using a MoI construction line, which you would not get with a hover activated method.

There are also reflection points, divisions between the start/end, relocating and reorienting the construction lines so you can capture a distance or direction between 2 points and apply it elsewhere. It's a lot of precision drawing functionality covered with one tool and much of the additional functionality cannot be done with a hover activated single point.

Lots of details and examples here:
https://moi3d.com/4.0/docs/moi_command_reference11.htm#constructionlines

So it's much better both in staying out of your way but also in additional functionality compared to a "hover activated" method.

- Michael

Hi Michael ! That's all very true, and a whole area I still have to explore. Thank you for the pointers !
At least I won't be constructing actual lines/polylines just to serve as a reference points anymore :D