Hi Metriod - actually you can already translate objects just by clicking and dragging on them.

If you want to move only in one axis direction, make sure that "Straight snap" is enabled in the bottom toolbar, when it is enabled (highlighted in orange) that will make it possible to move in only one axis direction by keeping your mouse near to that axis.

Here's a quick demo of this in action:



So to do that kind of translation, just click on an object, keep the mouse button held down and drag away and you will be doing that type of translation that you were asking about.


Also a new function for v2 is an edit frame that shows up around objects in the 2D views (or in the 3D view on a planar object). This allows you to do scaling and rotation type functions, here are some demos of that in action:













One of the things that is pretty cool about this edit frame is that it allows for accurate snaps in many situations, rather than just waving the mouse around to scale things by an arbitrary amount which usually that "manipulator" style that you are showing is limited to.

For example here I scale a shape using the edit frame, and there is a snap available to make the object scaled by the exact amount to fit between the 2 other objects:



At some point in the future I'm also thinking about adding in an optional manipulator like you show there for tweaking things in the 3D view. But I don't think that it will be quite as generally useful as the edit frame when you are modeling accurate things.


So anyway, that edit frame is a major new function coming for MoI v2. You can actually use it in the current v2 beta release which you can get from here: http://moi3d.com/beta.htm

- Michael

I agree with you 100% Michael, the edit frame is marvelous!

I will say and add my vote that I think it would be nice to have a 3D gizmo for the 3D view only as you mentioned.

I wish there was a way you could get it to us quick-fast and let us see if it's worth having or not, prob is, it would then be already coded (along with the time spent) so if it was decided that it wasn't really all that useful, all time would have been wasted! :-P

I'd be surprised though if it wasn't useful to have for the 3D view...

-Will

Hi Will - well a 3D manipulator is definitely useful if you want to push and pull a cage of points around in the 3D view. That's really what is was primarily invented to do in those sub-d modeling programs.

But MoI's overall workflow is quite a lot different than those programs. Although it is possible, generally MoI's overall workflow does not involve manipulating a point cage in 3D, so there is just less of an area of work that intersects with that that kind of tool.

NURBS in general has a strong 2D profile curve element to it, so the 2D frame just tends to fit with the workflow that MoI uses a lot better than the 3D "in the middle" style one.

In the future I do want to improve MoI's "point cage" type capabilities though, it just hasn't been a focus initially since it is not one of the stronger areas of NURBS.

One big problem with those other style manipulators is that they just scale things by an arbitrary amount mapping some pixel distance of the mouse to a scale factor. Often times rotation is similar, just an arbitrary angle mapped to some amount of mouse movement. That's fine if you are just trying to mush a bunch of points around because you're sculpting a shape, but not so good if you want to accurately place objects snapped together, like scale something by the exact amount so that it touches another object at a specific location.

I still have not quite completely given up hope on possibly doing a 3D edit frame (like maybe a cube around your selection) which would give the same kind of accuracy as the 2D frame but in the 3D viewport. But so far I have not been able to figure out exactly how to make that work in a nice way yet.

- Michael

That sounds even better, Michael - hopefully you can work something out with the cube idea. :-)

The sentiment of my post was it would be nice to have a manipular unique to the 3D view - I of course understand and agree about NURBS usually requiring accuracy over artistry - again the cube sounds like it would be a nice thing to have.

-Will

Hi Will, one of the main things that I haven't really figured out how to do well for a 3D cube version is where to put the rotation handle. If I try to put it kind of in the middle of the cube that will make it sort of hang out in the middle of the screen overlapping the "meat" of the object itself.

One of the really nice things about the 2D edit frame is how it stays around the outside of your object rather than overlapping on top of it. When these controls are more out of the way like this, it makes it easier for them to be enabled all the time without them getting in the way too much.

That's actually another pretty big benefit to the current edit frame as opposed to a manipulator. Like in the original post on this thread Metriod was asking about setting up keystrokes like E,R,T,Y to enable different manipulator modes. The edit frame doesn't need those extra steps to get activated because it is just always on when you do a selection (unless you set the option to disable it completely). Having a low profile and low interference factor is basically what makes that improvement possible for the edit frame.

- Michael

Howabout the possibility to make the viewport controls to have a switch to become object controls?

Hi Burr, that's an interesting idea, but then they would be one of these "just wave the mouse around" type systems rather than an accurate one.

To do an accurate one, it basically needs to reference points in the 3D scene rather than just being attached to moving the mouse up or down.

Like for example here:



The reason why something like the above can work is because you're grabbing a point in the model and moving it to another point in the model which can then be a snap location... If scaling worked only more like the viewport zoom button where just moving up or down by some amount of pixels scaled up or down, it wouldn't be able to be connected to a specific snapped target point like the frame can do.

- Michael

Yup, not thinking. You already answered that.

So you're trying to figure out one like the NX or SolidEdge one without being so intrusive?

Hi Burr, well that is an interesting idea to maybe flip that viewport control panel to have some other alternate function. Maybe in the future there will be something else that would fit for that.

- Michael

After looking at the Solid Edge 3d Manipulator, the way they deal with it is to have it "appear" just to select what mode it will perform, then it disappears while the function is performed, Then the mode ends. It seems like it may fit.

Hi Burr, yeah if you hit a button which then triggered a mode where after that you then picked points in the viewport that could work to provide the accuracy.

But I'd certainly like to avoid needing to have extra button clicks if possible.

In MoI with the 2D edit frame you don't have to click a button to enter into "scale mode" for instance, it is something that is just automatically available to you since those edit frame grips show up after you do any selection, without you having to go to a button and trigger a "scale mode" or "rotate mode", etc...

Instead if you want to scale, you go to the scale grip and drag it. If you want to rotate, you go to the rotate grip and drag it.

It's quicker to have things available immediately rather than with additional button presses, so it would be good not to lose this advantage.

Here's an example of that in action - here I'm doing scaling, moving, and rotation all in rapid sequence without clicking any buttons or typing any keys to enter special modes, it is all done just by clicking and dragging on the various grips (or on the object or points directly for moving):



- Michael

I really like the edit frame and I suppose the issue is how to enable it on a 3d object in the 3d viewport, which is something left to you. It would be cool to have that on solids in the 3d viewport also.

It seems like the obstacle would be "whats its reference point to the selected object or group?" Which you have discussed with me before. I would think that the only real "solution" would be to have that be "definable", so like with the "hotpoint" we have discussed, It's arbitrary position doesnt produce accuracy, but having it Movable or settable, like the rotator hotpoint would make it a useful, accurate tool.

So, the 2d edit frame with an added Origin snap, could be good. I guess what would still be limiting is how the frame is applied to odd or grouped shapes. Possibly a world coords "6 sided box" although I dont know how to follow that through to find the limitations.

I guess I already get that with split view!

Hi Burr, yeah the split kind of gives that since you see multiple 2D boxes at once.

But yes it would be good to be able to have something similar that worked on objects with volume in the 3D viewport for when you want to work in just that view maximized.

Hopefully in the future I will be able to work out some of the issues but they seem pretty tough.

- Michael