Hi Rich,

re #1,
> Yes. I did not realize that Moi3d is designed with the separation between 3D
> and Ortho views as you describe.

Yeah the ortho views are oriented more for 2D work and also have some special 2D behavior activated when you use them instead of the 3D view. For example when you're in a 2D view you always will get an a 2D edit frame surrounding your selection in that view which you can use to quickly scale or rotate the selected objects. You'll only get that in the 3D view if the selected object is itself planar.

Also when you draw in an ortho view, the points that you pick will be projected on to a plane going through the first point that you pick, so that the drawn result is totally planar. In the 3D view points and snaps are freely placed in 3D which can be useful if you want to draw non-planar shapes. So anyway, things are generally set up that MoI assumes that when you're working in an ortho view that you are doing 2D work and has behavior to help that type of work out, and when you're in the 3D view it assumes that you're doing 3D oriented work and want to more freely place points and object rather than strictly forcing them to be planar.


> Since I almost always work in a single viewport, I was hoping that
> I could set my hotkeys up to duplicate my workflow from other programs,
> ie. top view to perspective to side view to parallel to front view etc.

It is possible to set up shortcut keys that switch between different maximized viewports with one keystroke, see here for some scripts that do that:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=3808.2

So if you want to just set up a shortcut key that will do the same thing as clicking on the different view modes tab buttons, the scripts shown there will do exactly that...

It would also be possible to make a combination script that would both switch to the maximized 3D view as well as set it to parallel or perspective all with one keystroke, let me know if you need help setting that up.

But yes the Top, Front, Right, and 3D viewports are all separate viewports each of which has its own settings like its own camera view and zoom factor, etc... but it's only the 3D view that can have an arbitrary view direction and can be set to a perspective projection. When you click on those buttons like "Top/Front/Right/3D", you're switching which of those viewports is the maximized one taking up the whole working area, the actual other viewports are still there but just hidden until you switch back to it or switch to split mode which shows all 4 at once.

One other note is that the Top/Front/Right ortho views can be relocated to some other frame of reference by setting a construction plane (View > CPlane) - when you set up a cplane there is an option at that time to either have the ortho views stay looking along the world axis directions, or whether they should become views that are relative to the new cplane.


> I believe what was being asked for is inherent in my request, to zoom
> to selected but not to lose rotation about selected so easily.

I thought what you were asking for previously was just a way to do the "zoom extents selected" or "zoom extents all" as different keystrokes - I'm not following this new part about differences in rotation behavior on top of that, isn't that a different thing?


> If I select something, hit reset to zoom in, rotate around the selection, make
> a pan for a slightly different view the center of rotation around the selection is
> lost and my desired selection spins out of my field of view when I again rotate.
> I then have to begin all over again.

Yeah when you pan away, the rotation pivot point pans along with you. Otherwise if it just stayed where it previously was it would be pretty easy to pan over a ways and actually have your rotation pivot point somewhere way far off of the screen from where you are currently looking at. At that point your rotation would spin really wildly since it was based off of some point that you're not even currently looking at.

Aside from using view reset, you can also place your rotation pivot to a specific location by using the Zoom Area button on the toolbar at the bottom of a viewport. That lets you pick an area to zoom into and the center point of that area can be picked with an object snap and the point you pick there will become the new rotation pivot point.

- Michael

Good day, a new day, Michael,

I spent some time last night rereading your last reply. I feel that I have not expressed myself
clearly and that we are to some extent talking to cross purposes. I know all of what you explained,and
am worried that I am causing you to waste your time that would be better spent elsewhere.

Let me try to simplify my requests, starting with the following:

>It would also be possible to make a combination script that would both switch to the maximized
>3D view as well as set it to parallel or perspective all with one keystroke, let me know if you need
>help setting that up.

Yes. I would like to set up two hotkeys. One that would both switch to the maximized 3D view as well
as set it to parallel. And another that would both switch to the maximized 3D view as well as set it to perspective.

And second:

>I thought what you were asking for previously was just a way to do the "zoom extents selected" or "zoom extents all"
>as different keystrokes....

Yes. Two separate hotkeys: "zoom extents selected" and "zoom extents all".

If these requests are possible, bless you.
If not, bless you anyway; your software is a marvel and I thank you for it and you time.

Rich

Hi Rich, here are some scripts that you can assign to shortcut keys that I think handle what you are asking about:


Sets maximized 3D view and sets the 3D view's projection to perspective:

script:/* Set perspective 3D view */ moi.ui.mainWindow.viewpanel.getViewport('3D').projection = 'Perspective'; moi.ui.mainWindow.viewpanel.mode = '3D';


Sets maximized 3D view and sets the 3D view's projection to parallel:

script:/* Set parallel 3D view */ moi.ui.mainWindow.viewpanel.getViewport('3D').projection = 'Parallel'; moi.ui.mainWindow.viewpanel.mode = '3D';


Zoom extents to select objects only (will not switch to zoom all if triggered a second time):

script:/* Zoom extents selected */ var vp = moi.ui.getActiveViewport(); vp.zoom( 0.9 ); vp.reset();


Zoom extents to all objects only (will not switch to zoom selected if triggered a second time):

script:/* Zoom extents all */ var vp = moi.ui.getActiveViewport(); vp.zoom( 0.9 ); vp.reset(); vp.reset();



Let me know if you have any problems with those.

- Michael

...slightly related...

Michael, was there ever an update that you know of for the "FullScreen" script that allows for the UI to be toggled on and off?
The one I have doesn't work for V3.

Oh happy day!

Installed. They work beautifully. So simple, so precise; yet incomprehensible and impossible to achieve for
a script-illiterate like me.

Btw, in regard to my UI color request: there is a color picker in Moi3d. Options>View>Color>click on any color
window and you have an RGB color picker. Select your color modification, copy and paste the readings into the .ini file.
Saves the trouble of going to Photoshop etal.

Thank you.

Rich (a happy moier)

Rich,

Here are two different flavors of "parallel" view:

Here is Parallel view at that 30/60 degrees thing... "Dimetric"

 script:var vp = moi.ui.mainWindow.viewpanel.getViewport('3D'); vp.projection = 'Parallel'; var as13 = Math.asin(1/3); vp.setAngles( 90 - (Math.asin(Math.tan(as13)) * 180/Math.PI), as13 * 180/Math.PI ); 

Here is a Parallel view at 45 degrees... "Isometric"

 script:var vp = moi.ui.mainWindow.viewpanel.getViewport('3D'); vp.projection = 'Parallel'; vp.setAngles( 90 - (Math.asin(Math.tan(30 * Math.PI/180)) * 180/Math.PI), 45 ); 

And to get things back in Perspective...

 script:var vp = moi.ui.mainWindow.viewpanel.getViewport('3D'); vp.projection = 'Perspective'; 

Really good for when you're trying to get that "old school" look.

Hi Mike - re: FullScreen for V3, check out here:
<....> Note -

And Rich - you're welcome and I'm glad those scripts are working for you!


EDIT: note - the full screen version linked to previously didn't work quite right if you had the scene browser in "inside" mode, see the updated one a bit further down in this thread for a fixed version:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=5141.17

- Michael

Thanks Michael,

Found out that V3 doesn't seem to like the ".js" on the end of "FullScreen.js" for a key command.
But I don't know why or why not it was there. I'm guessing it didn't care in V2.

Okay, noticed a problem with FullScreen.js - on first activation it adds a large blank area to the left of my command pane (which is on the right).
The next activation clears the UI and does what it's supposed to do. The next activation still comes back with the added panel.
You have to re-load MoI to get get rid of it.

Hi Mike,

> Found out that V3 doesn't seem to like the ".js" on the end of
> "FullScreen.js" for a key command.

What are you putting in for the shortcut? Are you maybe starting it with script: at the front of it? That prefix script: is actually only meant to be used when the script code itself is directly in the shortcut, when it refers to a separate .js file don't put script: in the front, just put the whole path to the .js file like: c:\scripts\FullScreen.js . It will also try to automatically add the .js when it checks to see if that shortcut is actually a file that can be loaded though too.


> Okay, noticed a problem with FullScreen.js - on first activation it adds a
> large blank area to the left of my command pane (which is on the right).

It's probably something to do with the scene browser pane - over here I don't get a blank area but it does show the scene browser pane even though it's supposed to be turned off.

Do you get normal operation if you turn the browser pane on before doing FullScreen ? Or do you maybe have the browser in "inside" mode?

- Michael

Hi Mike, so it looks like FullScreen did not work quite right with the scene browser in "inside" mode.

I've attached an updated version of FullScreen.js which I think should fix that up.

Copy the FullScreen.js somewhere on your system and then for the shortcut key put in the full path (and only the full path, no "script:" at the front) to the file, like: c:\scripts\FullScreen.js

- Michael

Thank you very much, Michael!

Yes, I keep the browser inside.

It works again! ...kind of...
So it does hide the UI, effectively enlarging the current window scheme to full screen, however:

On the first activation it will not hide the UI, but only closes up any expanded open tool options.
On the second activation it will hid the entire UI.

Then after that will will then both hide the UI and close any expanded tool option simultaneously.

Hi Mike, could you describe a bit more exactly what you mean by "expanded open tool options" ?

Do you mean options for a command that is currently running?

Are you running it under version 3 or version 2? I've been testing it under v3 and I can't seem to get the behavior you are describing, does it only happen to you in v2?

- Michael

Using V3's beta.

It's the sub-palette that carries more tools. Life for "Boolean" you get the layout that has the icons for "Diff", "Union", "Isect", & "Merge"

Even when not it use and last open. They close up too (along with the whole UI) when the FullScreen.js is activated. Except during the first event upon after program start, only the sub -palette closes.
FS has to be activated again.

Hi Mike, hmmm weird - I can't replicate anything like that over here.

But it sounds like you have an easy solution for it, just trigger full screen again when you see that anomaly and things are ok for the entire session after that?

- Michael

Hi Mike, also maybe double-check what you have put in as the shortcut key for full screen.

Have you possibly copied it to the commands sub-folder? If so move it out from there, you can put it into a scripts folder somewhere, and then in the shortcut key put the entire path to the script file like "c:\scripts\FullScreen.js", and _not_ just the name FullScreen like is done for commands.

Does that then solve this start-up anomaly for you?

My guess is that maybe you were getting it launched as a "command" instead of as a script, which are managed in slightly different ways - commands have some other things that happen for them part of which is handling that sub-palette stuff.

- Michael

Thanks!

Yup, cool! It now works in one shot and the open palettes stay open.
All I did was move the script to the "scripts" folder. Didn't need to say anything by "FullScreen" in the shortcuts.

Hmmm, guess it wasn't go in the "commands" folder. :-)

Mike

Hi Mike, yeah if you put it in a "scripts" folder that you put as a sibling to the commands folder, it will find it in there.

Basically a command is a kind of script that is set up to have things like sub palettes and options UI and stuff like that, and for this particular function you don't want it to run with those other things getting involved.

- Michael

Magic,

Thank you. A few more reasons not to need using ViaCad.

Rich

I have done as above but when it returns from the full screen it mangles the right hand side , it comes back as double width
If I go into options general and change the scene browser position from inside to opposite and back again it fixes it
Any ideas
thanks
shayne

Hi shayne, there's an updated version posted a bit later down in the thread, make sure you're using the newer one as it should be tuned up to fix that problem you're showing there. Grab the one from here:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=5141.17

- Michael