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3D dimension lines plugin
This plugin brings to SH3D the capability to draw 3D dimension lines that will snap to floors, walls and ceilings, directly in the 3D view. This could be useful to give precise directives to installers.
In order to use this plugin you have to install Pan3dView plugin version 1.7 or later. Please note that this plugin conflicts with the Wirings plugin versions prior to 1.2; if you are using it be sure to update to the latest version.
The plugin comes with an integrated user guide available in english and italian under the Help > Draw3D dimension lines help menu, please take a moment to read it to learn how to use the plugin.
Features
dimensions can be placed on floors, walls and ceilings;
the measurement can be done in any direction, not necessarily the same of the endpoints;
dimensions can be edited after they have been placed;
intelligent snap cursor: snaps to other dimensions' endpoints, and wall corners;
measurement labels can be correctly seen from both sides, i.e. from above or below in case of ceilings, and from back in case of transparent walls. (1)
Joined: May 18, 2021
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Re: 3D dimension lines plugin
It's very cool to be able to do this dimensioning, but I'm struggling a bit. In virtual viewpoint, trying to move a point causes the view to jump around on me. It is like it is resetting to a previously stored position. It also yanks the point you are moving to your new viewpoint, making a mess of the dimension.
Something somewhat similar happens in aerial view, but the snap to the previous view happens when releasing the mouse button after moving a point.
Nothing important in the log.txt. I can do another mini-video if you want to see the issue better than I'm describing it.
Joined: May 18, 2021
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Re: 3D dimension lines plugin
Another "Huh?!?!" moment. I can't use shift to draw a measurement on the ceiling as described. Nothing appears. If I try to use shift elsewhere (i.e. a wall) the elastic mouse following of the initial line simply doesn't start. I might get a "?" in a diamond at the start point, but no elastic in-motion line until after I release shift. That happens if I can press shift and the mouse button at the same time, but often no line is even started. If I start the line on a wall without shift, then press shift, the in-motion line freezes till I release shift. Again, videos can be recorded on request if I'm not clear, or you can't reproduce. (For anyone else: I've been assisting Daniel find issues in the Pan3DView plugin. I'm being helpful, not a dick, by reporting these.)
Italy
Joined: Nov 17, 2021
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Re: 3D dimension lines plugin
@sjb007 Thank you for your feedback. About your first post, the problems are clear and I can reproduce them. I've added fixing them to the roadmap.
About your second post, here some considerations when drawing on the ceilings:
you need to have a room (i.e. a floor) on both the start and end points (I could remove this requirement in the next release).
both points and offset must reside on the ceiling (i.e. you have to hold SHIFT during the whole drawing); although the plugin allows you to have the 2 points on different surfaces, doing so will break the math calculations bringing to unexpected results. I could consider enforcing this by code in the future, but for now it's up to the user.
If you need to place one or both points on the edge of a room, in order to avoid clicking outside of the room, it is easier to place the point a bit far from the edge, and move the point later close to the edge while holding the SHIFT key.
The "?" symbol is shown when the line is zero length, which in pratice happens just after you have placed the first point, and the cursor hasn't moved away yet. If you hold SHIFT and you haven't a room where the cursor is, moving the mouse doesn't trigger any change and the line length stays zero. Be sure you're respecting the above points, if doing so doesn't resolve the problem maybe I misunderstood it.
Italy
Joined: Nov 17, 2021
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Re: 3D dimension lines plugin
Version 1.1 released!
Summary of changes:
Fixed drawing on ceiling when no room is defined
Fixed the question mark bug
The length label is never show upside down
The length label orientation is guessed during line creation
Notice: though not strictly required, it is highly recommended you also update Pan3dView to version 2.0. This is required to solve the annoying bug occurring when moving points in virtual visitor mode.
France
Joined: Nov 7, 2005
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Re: 3D dimension lines plugin
Thanks for this plug-in. I sent you a video showing some other issues when creating horizontal dimension lines. Hope you can find how to fix them.
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Emmanuel Puybaret, Sweet Home 3D creator
Italy
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Re: 3D dimension lines plugin
Hi Emmanuel, your last video put me on a long dark road. It seems the picking system from Sun Microsystems has some bug which happens on partial surfaces of complex geometries. I will definitely find a workaround, but this will require some time, maybe days. It was my fault, after I have read the PickTool.pickAllSorted method description I wrongly assumed even PickIntersection.getIntersection would have returned the intersections sorted by distance. The fix won't take too much and will be included in the next release.
In the meanwhile you can see what the next release will be able to do:
Italy
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Re: 3D dimension lines plugin
Hi Emmanuel, I've released the version 3.0 which solves the problem you faced when placing the line close to edges. First of all, I've fixed a bug which was randomly picking the bad face of the clicked wall. Moreover with this version, after you place the first point, all the subsequent points are forced to lay on the same surface the first point belongs to. This way if you place the start point on a wall, even the end point must reside on the same wall, it will never snap to the inner faces of the window or other surfaces. This behavior could sometimes be unwanted, so I've implemented a way to disable it holding the ALT key. Now dimension lines can be drawn on any kind of surface, even on furnitures and - with some trick - even in the air! The system is quite powerful, but explaining in the detail how to use it for each needs would require a small book, the better option is to experiment, or ask me for specific intents.
Here some examples of what can be done:
Moreover there is a new feature that allow to precisely set the line length by clicking on the line while holding the ALT key. If you click on an end point the line wil be strech on the selected side; if you click in the middle the line will be strech on both sides:
Here the summary of changes:
Reduced the line surface offset to prevent parallax error
Replaced the surface normal guessing algorithm with normal picking
Removed the constraint on specific surfaces
Added a function to manually set the line length
Added drawing aids
Corrected the surface normal sign (this affects the way data is stored in the home files, once the file is saved it cannot be opened with previous versions of the plugin)
This version requires to update Pan3dView to version 3.0 or later!
