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blowlamp  
#1 Posted : Monday, April 27, 2009 5:30:20 AM(UTC)
blowlamp

Rank: Senior Member

Joined: 6/28/2008(UTC)
Posts: 648

Draw a straight line, and then use Opposite Point Circle to snap its first point to an end of this line. Extend the circle to roughly the size you're after, and click to create the circle. Now change its diameter to the exact size you require, and you should see that its first point is no longer on the end of the line. It seems after initially creating the circle from its diameter, VC reverts to working from its centre point and radius, and when you change its size, this loses (the much needed) location of the first point. Does anyone agree that this behaviour needs changing, as I find it counter intuitive?

Thanks.
Martin.
unique  
#2 Posted : Monday, April 27, 2009 1:55:36 PM(UTC)
unique

Rank: Senior Member

Joined: 6/24/2008(UTC)
Posts: 591

IMHO I think the current behaviour is correct. Most CAD work this way from my knowledge...you may need Shark in order to apply constraints and lock down certain points :p
blowlamp  
#3 Posted : Monday, April 27, 2009 2:24:29 PM(UTC)
blowlamp

Rank: Senior Member

Joined: 6/28/2008(UTC)
Posts: 648

Hi Paul.
Thanks for your reply, but I just can't get it into my head that it's right for the reference starting point to move at the time I apply the exact diameter in the text entry box. It seems pointless defining something for it to be simply ignored 2 seconds later. I would have thought the start point should be retained and the diameter changed along the line from the first to the second point of the circle. Perhaps this option could be made available?

Thanks again.
Martin.
NickB  
#4 Posted : Monday, April 27, 2009 3:43:43 PM(UTC)
NickB

Rank: Senior Member

Joined: 2/19/2007(UTC)
Posts: 501

Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)
Martin,
Totally agree with you.

Because of the behavior you describe I have always found the tool to be almost useless. What's the point of defining your start point if you have to move the circle latter to get it where you want ? Might as well stick to the more logical center point circle and have a more predictable behavior.
Shark FX 9 build 1143
OS X 9.5
3.6 GHz Core i7, 8GB, GTX 760 2GB

matter.cc
blowlamp  
#5 Posted : Wednesday, April 29, 2009 2:45:57 AM(UTC)
blowlamp

Rank: Senior Member

Joined: 6/28/2008(UTC)
Posts: 648

The thing that makes characteristics like this problematic for me, is that when the circle is altered in size by a small amount, the intersection between curves becomes lost, but may not be apparent. It's when you start to do other things and discover the errors in the geometry that makes this sort of thing quite troublesome at times and time consuming to correct. Any chance of a comment from the management on this please, even if it's to say it can't be changed?

Thanks.
Martin
Tim Olson  
#6 Posted : Wednesday, April 29, 2009 11:31:39 AM(UTC)
Tim Olson

Rank: Senior Member

Joined: 2/2/2007(UTC)
Posts: 5,447
United States

Was thanked: 499 time(s) in 353 post(s)
Hi Martin,

This is working the way it was orignally designed. The data entry and object info UI's modify circles through the center point and diameter parameters. So in the case of a two point opposite circle, it's modifing the center. Perhaps we should have Center X, Center Y, Center Z to avoid confusion. Same for arcs except is center and radius.


Tim
Tim Olson
IMSI Design/Encore
NickB  
#7 Posted : Wednesday, April 29, 2009 12:31:06 PM(UTC)
NickB

Rank: Senior Member

Joined: 2/19/2007(UTC)
Posts: 501

Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)
Or a tick box that says keep anchor point.
Having to think about moving X,Y or Z (or combination) by half the distance of the change in the controling dimension (diameter) is just bound to create errors and confusion.

Example:
I want to change a opposite point circle from 12.54 to 13.33 assuming I know which plane I am working in, your asking that I enter the 13.33 in the diameter box, and then increase or decrease one of two the dimension planes zero points by (12.54 - 13.33) / 2.

If that was the solution, I would not bother and would revert to changing the diameter and then using the translate tool to move the circle back to where I wanted it.
Shark FX 9 build 1143
OS X 9.5
3.6 GHz Core i7, 8GB, GTX 760 2GB

matter.cc
blowlamp  
#8 Posted : Wednesday, April 29, 2009 3:01:11 PM(UTC)
blowlamp

Rank: Senior Member

Joined: 6/28/2008(UTC)
Posts: 648

Nick.
The best solution I can come up with, is to stretch a line out and micro-adjust its length to equal the diameter of the intended circle. Then use that lines centre point for the centre of the circle, and the endpoint of the line for the radius. Then delete the line. It works well enough but is longwinded and doesn't allow for easy editing later. This matter does seem to be of concern to only a few people, (me and you really :D), which I find very surprising. I need this kind of functionality all the time and often find myself trying to find solutions around such problems. I really, really like ViaCAD, but I do think that some of the 2D draughting tools need a bit more muscle, so we don't need to find these work-arounds.

Thanks again.
Martin.
unique  
#9 Posted : Thursday, April 30, 2009 3:54:35 AM(UTC)
unique

Rank: Senior Member

Joined: 6/24/2008(UTC)
Posts: 591

Originally Posted by: blowlamp Go to Quoted Post
Nick.
I really, really like ViaCAD, but I do think that some of the 2D draughting tools need a bit more muscle, so we don't need to find these work-arounds.

Thanks again.
Martin.


Here..here:)
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