Hi Anis,

Probably the most simple way would be to start by drawing a line - use the Draw curve / Lines / Line command.

For the first point of the line, snap on to the upper-left corner of the rectangle.

For the second point of the line, type in:

r1.2,-1.1

and push enter.

That will place the endpoint of the line at a point relative (that's what the "r" part is for) to the start, with a shift of 1.2 units in x, and -1.1 units in y.

Now draw a circle snapped on to that endpoint and you will have it positioned in the right spot.


You can use that "r" relative point input method any time you are picking the second point of something.

I guess I should add some kind of "set base point" option so that it is easier to use the relative point input more directly in situations like you have here where you actually want to place the first point of something in a relative manner.

Please let me know if you have any questions on using the above line method though.

- Michael

Another method you can use is to first draw the circle around the corner point.

Then select the circle, run the Transform/Move command, pick the corner as the base point, and then type r1.2,-1.1 to move the circle by that relative amount away from the corner point.

- Michael

Hi Michael,

I can figure out your tips :


I wish in the feature you can create a special transform feature like this :


Michael, your second tips is easier for me.
But my favorites is a "special transform" command.

Any way, thanks !!! :-)

Hi Anis - I think that Offset (it's under the Construct palette on the side pane) will do the kind of special transform you want there.

To do that, select your rectangle, then maybe it is good to run Edit/Separate to break it into 4 lines instead of keeping it as one single curve.

Then select your vertical line, run Construct / Offset, type "5" and then <enter>, and then click on the side you want to offset to (to the right-side for your example).

That will create a new line 5 units to that side.

Is that the kind of transform you were looking for?


It's also possible to use "Distance constraint" with the Move command. For that one, select the vertical line, run the Transform/Move command, pick one point on the line, and then type in 5 <enter>. Now distance constraint will be activated and the second point will be set to be 5 units away from the first, just move to the direction you want snapping along the x axis.

Please let me know if you would like some illustrated examples of these.

- Michael

Hi Anis, also I have now made an improvement to the way that relative point entry works for MoI version 2.0.

In version 1.0 if you type in a relative point like r1.2,-1.1 for the first point of a circle, it will place a point at x = 1.2 and y = -1.1 - that's relative to just the origin (0,0) since there is no previous picked point in that case.

For MoI version 2.0 it will not do that - instead it will remember this as an offset amount and then still allow you to pick the point, and apply that offset to it.

So that will allow you to more easily place the first point of a circle at a relative offset from an existing point without needing to do extra steps.

- Michael

It sounds good. Anyway, we can use cline to put a centre of circle currently.
- start Cricle command
- click a "point from" and drag - don't realease left mouse button
- type r-2,-3 and hit enter key
- pick the point next to cline tag

Petr

Hi Petr, yeah that works but I kind of hesitated to recommend that method because that is somewhat of a fancy mouse maneuver to keep the mouse button down while still typing numbers in... Actually you can release the mouse if you drag it all the way off the viewport first before releasing it, but again kind of a trick maneuver.

One other interesting application for this new "offset" value thing is you can do something like start a polyline, then type r0,0,6 to set a 6 unit in z offset before placing the first point, then when you click the first point in the top view, it will be placed at an elevation of 6 units above where you clicked on and the you can draw the rest of the polyline at that elevation.

That got me thinking that maybe a syntax like "z6" would be good for doing that kind of thing even easier yet. But I'll save that one for a bit later.

- Michael

Hi Michael,

The new stuff looks nice....
What do you think about my idea below, is it possible ?


Hi Petr,

I tried your tips, work but like michael said...
Its not comfortable holddown mouse while typing.

Thanks !!!

Hi Michael,

Thats sounds very cool, I would use that a lot !!!

Keep up the brilliant work ;-)

Hi Anis,

> What do you think about my idea below, is it possible ?

It is, but that is a quite a bit of additional UI to add to end up with the same result.

Here is how you can use the "Distance constraint" with just the current move command to get that same kind of transform:



First, select the circle. Then run the Transform/Move command.

For the first point, click the "reference line".

Then type in 3 <enter> to set a distance constraint.

Now pick a target point - the "Straight snap" will help you to lock the target point perpendicular to the line.

This is how you can use the Move command to do that type of "move by a specified distance".

Is that the same thing as the Xpert Transform that you are asking about? Please let me know if you need something different from that.

- Michael

< Any body can tell me the easies way to create an object in exact location like image below in Moi ?
Why not simply use helpers lines?

Hi Pilou,

> Why not simply use helpers lines?

The construction lines work great if you want to get a point that is aligned in a straight direction from another one.

But in this case there is no existing snap points to grab along those lines - the desired end location was 1.1 units along one line, and 1.2 units along another line.

If there was a point to lock on to at those positions in the x and y axis, then a construction line would work great, that would be something like this:



Notice how in my example here there are some endpoints to grab on to - construction lines work really well and quickly to line things up in cases like these.

Now look at the original picture that was posted - there is no individual snap point available at 1.2 and 1.1 units along those lines, so you will need to enter some numeric values to get them, there just are not any other endpoints or other individually targetable points in that specific spot to grab on to which is what you would need to use a construction line.

I guess it is a bit hard to describe, the easiest answer is to just try it yourself and see why you need to have some numeric entry to get the desired result.

Please note that the original question was not just how to make a point kind of in that general area, but very specifically how to make it 1.2 units over and 1.1 units down.

- Michael

Ok :)

So the more easy seems before V 2

If corner exist (image post 1)

Draw circle at the corner
Select circle
Move
Click Center of the circle as Base Point
1.1 Enter
Draw Circle at the 1.1
Right Click
Click Center of the circle as Base Point
1.2 Enter
Draw Circle at the 1.2

et voila :)

Hi Pilou, yup that way definitely works, and it is fine to use Move to move in one direction at a time like that.

You can also type in a "relative" point for Move to handle the movement part all in one step.

To do that, you would do these steps:

Draw circle at the corner
Select circle
Move
Click Center of circle as base point
Type r1.2,-1.1 <enter>


When you enter a point using "r" as the first character that indicates that it is a "relative" point that is a shift away from the base point using the specified distances in x,y,z .

So if you know you want to shift by a certain amount in x and in y, you can use that "relative" point method to specify it all in one step if you want.

If you are not doing it very frequently then just doing it using the distance constraint and using move twice is not a problem. If you are doing this kind of thing frequently then maybe entering relative points may be more comfortable.

- Michael

yes but the for the "r", the "," and the "-" 1... you must excogitate a little :)
the other solution type only on the numeric keyboard and Enter :)
Speedy againt rustic robust :)
And have no marks on the drawing is not so frequent :)

Is there in the V2 something to move the Cline helper by enter a numeric value (as actually rotation) ?

Hi Pilou,

> Is there in the V2 something to move the Cline helper by
> enter a numeric value (as actually rotation) ?

There is now! :)

I just made a change so that the "Relocate cline" will now use a base point (using the cline's start point) for the relocation pick, which means you can now use distance constraint on it in the same way as the Move command.

- Michael

So a powerful help system!

Hi Michael, Pilou...

OK, I already understand with existing move command in Moi.

Back to my previous post below :
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=1727.9
On that post, I create an illustration of the "xpert transform" that I want.
Michael, I think you can combine this feature with Move command. What I mean is like what you have done in "offset" command.

I am aware, I come from parametric modeling software ( SW ).
Below is what I did in SW to place an object in exact location. I know, maybe its rather difficult to put the dimension directly on the model. Thats why I give you idea with the ui of xpert transfrom.

BTW, its a big work to create this "xpert transform" in Moi ?

Thanks Michael.... :-)

Hi Anis,

> BTW, its a big work to create this "xpert transform" in Moi ?

Well, anything that involves a lot of user interface can be quite a lot of work, I have to be careful about not making MoI become too heavy with so much stuff that it loses the "easy to use" ability of it. That can tend to make me take a slow approach to adding functions that add a lot of interface along with them.

I would also sort of worry a bit in this case about giving MoI the appearance of having constraints when it really does not have them.

But I'll think about it some more, at first I thought it might not really be possible to combine with Move very well because what you are showing there needs to select an "object" which is a different type of pick than a "point location" type of pick. But if I do it in kind of the reverse order from what you show - pick the center of the circle first, then that is more in line with the flow of how Move currently works so maybe that could work. I'm not sure yet though.

- Michael

Hi Michael,

Yes, i think the workflow in Moi will be :

- pick object to move, then base line / point for movement
- pick the ref line / point
- then a UI appear to input the distance

I have use SW, but I am very like the workflow and easy of Moi.
So, use Moi as supplement software is a right choice for me.

One of important thing that I want to look in Moi ( In V2 ) is how you can give me / us "a feature" that will help a Moi user to put an object in exact location without any problem and of course easily.

I wish this will be one of your focus in V2 after on drawing on surface & Object properties.
I believe, many Moi users need to put object with accuracy easily.... :-)

Keep Spirit Michael !!!!

Regards,
Anis