Auto CPlane align to Block?

[martinsiegrist]

I think I understand how to use the Auto CPlane and it seems it does not orient itself to blocks.

It would be great if it did. Auto CPlane to block plane please

Another really usefull option would be Auto CPlane to Gumball…

[Gijs (Gijs de Zwart)]

@martinsiegrist

Auto CPlane to block plane

Do you in this case mean the ‘transformed plane’ of the block instance?

@martinsiegrist

Auto CPlane to Gumball

I’m having a hard time understanding the use of that, can you elaborate?

[martinsiegrist]

For the block I’d expect the CPlane to snap to the transformed plane, yes.

Let’s say I wanted a CPlane offset and tilted, not directly on a face of a polysurface. I can copy and drag a face and re-orient it to my needs, then deselect and select again so it is my new Auto Cplane (Object).

Now if the Auto CPlane snapped to the Gumball, I wouldn’t need to use a surface or curve or anything to have a selection for the Auto CPlane to have an input.

I have a macro to set the CPlane to Gumball so I know how to set a CPlane to whatever origin and orientation I need but I thought it could be part of the new Auto CPlane functionality.

Auto CPlane does’t work for Mesh or SubD faces… Would be great if it did. However, instead of adding all object types as options in the Auto CPlane settings, let’s imagine Auto CPlane could snap to the Gumball. Instead of choosing between Align to Object / World / View in the Auto CPlane settings, F4 could be used to toggle the gumball orientation and after a small pause, the CPlane snaps to the Gumball.

Command: CPlane
CPlane origin <0.000,0.000,0.000> ( All=No Curve Elevation Gumball Object Rotate Surface Through View World 3Point Undo Redo ): gu
Command: _GumballAlignment
Gumball alignment ( CPlane Object World View Cycle ): _Cycle
Command: _GumballAlignment
Gumball alignment ( CPlane Object World View Cycle ): _Cycle
Command: CPlane
CPlane origin <-66.808,372.224,354.937> ( All=No Curve Elevation Gumball Object Rotate Surface Through View World 3Point Undo Redo ): g
Command: CPW
Command: _CPlane
CPlane origin <-66.808,293.014,177.657> ( All=No Curve Elevation Gumball Object Rotate Surface Through View World 3Point Undo Redo ): _World
Choose world CPlane ( Back Bottom Front Left Right Top ): _Top

[Joshua_Kennedy]

@martinsiegrist

For the block I’d expect the CPlane to snap to the transformed plane, yes.

@martinsiegrist

Auto CPlane does’t work for Mesh or SubD faces

I think it’s reasonable that it would align to those objects. I opened and issue here.

As for tying it to the Auto CPlane to the gumball I think it on some level makes sense but I can imagine situations (they may or may not be real) where you may not want them to. It could potentially be another alignment mode for the Auto CPlane in addition to the ones that currently exist.

[martinsiegrist]

@Joshua_Kennedy

It could potentially be another alignment mode for the Auto CPlane in addition to the ones that currently exist.

I’d like to see that maybe as a test to see if it really makes sense

[Czaja (Jakub Czajczynski)]

I second that wish, please make it work with the Block object faces the same as it works with the polysurface faces. While using VisualARQ all elements are blocks and Auto CPlane is useless in these conditions. It’s a shame because it’s a good feature.

For example, a very common usecase would be to use Auto CPlane on VisualARQ Walls.

[wim (Wim Dekeyser)]

Hi Jakub -

@Czaja

please make it work with the Block object faces the same as it works with the polysurface faces.

RH-74183 CPlane AutoAlign: Works with blocks, mesh faces and SubD faces
→ Apparently, this ticket was implemented in Rhino 8.0. Which version are you trying this on, and can you post an example that fails?
-wim

[Czaja (Jakub Czajczynski)]

Hi, it boils down to that I can’t select the face of the block.

Block Auto CPlane.3dm (84.8 KB)

System Info

Rhino 8 SR5 2024-2-27 (Rhino 8, 8.5.24058.13001, Git hash:master @ eaa901528453bac5a3cfc23321bdf4d767238d34)
License type: Commercial, build 2024-02-27
License details: Cloud Zoo

Windows 11 (10.0.22631 SR0.0) or greater (Physical RAM: 64GB)
.NET 7.0.11

Computer platform: LAPTOP - Plugged in [100% battery remaining]

Non-hybrid graphics configuration.
Primary display and OpenGL: NVIDIA RTX A3000 12GB Laptop GPU (NVidia) Memory: 11GB, Driver date: 5-24-2023 (M-D-Y). OpenGL Ver: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 535.98
> Integrated accelerated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- Windows Main Display is laptop’s integrated screen or built-in port
Primary OpenGL: NVIDIA RTX A3000 12GB Laptop GPU (NVidia) Memory: 11GB, Driver date: 5-24-2023 (M-D-Y). OpenGL Ver: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 535.98
> Integrated accelerated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- Windows Main Display is laptop’s integrated screen or built-in port

Secondary graphics devices.
Intel(R) UHD Graphics (Intel) Memory: 1GB, Driver date: 6-15-2023 (M-D-Y).
> Integrated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- Secondary monitor is laptop’s integrated screen or built-in port

OpenGL Settings
Safe mode: Off
Use accelerated hardware modes: On
Redraw scene when viewports are exposed: On
Graphics level being used: OpenGL 4.6 (primary GPU’s maximum)

Anti-alias mode: 8x
Mip Map Filtering: Linear
Anisotropic Filtering Mode: High

Vendor Name: NVIDIA Corporation
Render version: 4.6
Shading Language: 4.60 NVIDIA
Driver Date: 5-24-2023
Driver Version: 31.0.15.3598
Maximum Texture size: 32768 x 32768
Z-Buffer depth: 24 bits
Maximum Viewport size: 32768 x 32768
Total Video Memory: 11520 MB

Rhino plugins that do not ship with Rhino
C:\ProgramData\McNeel\Rhinoceros\7.0\Plug-ins\Datasmith Rhino Exporter (d1fdc795-b334-4933-b680-088119cdc6bb)\DatasmithRhino7.rhp “Datasmith Exporter” 5.3.2.0
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\Tibidabo\VisualARQ.rhp “VisualARQ”
C:\Users\Czaja\AppData\Roaming\McNeel\Rhinoceros\8.0\Plug-ins\Bella (813de3fb-18eb-405f-bfcd-b0b4d3da91fb)\24.2.0.0\bella_rhino.rhp “Bella” 24.2.0.0
C:\Users\Czaja\Desktop\Rhino_7_Win_2023.0417\HDRLightStudioTexture.rhp “HDRLightStudioTexture”
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\Tibidabo\Tibidabo.rhp “Tibidabo”
C:\Program Files\Common Files\McNeel\Rhinoceros\8.0\Plug-ins\Crayon (39629248-4fa6-47b8-83c7-745a7efea259)\1.2.0.0\Crayon\Crayon.rhp “Crayon” 1.0.0.0
C:\Users\Czaja\AppData\Roaming\McNeel\Rhinoceros\packages\8.0\VisualARQLABS\1.4.0\VisualARQLABS.rhp “VisualARQLABS” 1.4.8571.26036

Rhino plugins that ship with Rhino
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\Commands.rhp “Commands” 8.5.24058.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\rdk.rhp “Renderer Development Kit”
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\RhinoRenderCycles.rhp “Rhino Render” 8.5.24058.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\RhinoRender.rhp “Legacy Rhino Render”
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\rdk_etoui.rhp “RDK_EtoUI” 8.5.24058.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\NamedSnapshots.rhp “Snapshots”
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\MeshCommands.rhp “MeshCommands” 8.5.24058.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\IronPython\RhinoDLR_Python.rhp “IronPython” 8.5.24058.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\RhinoCycles.rhp “RhinoCycles” 8.5.24058.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\Grasshopper\GrasshopperPlugin.rhp “Grasshopper” 8.5.24058.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\RhinoCode\RhinoCodePlugin.rhp “RhinoCodePlugin” 8.5.24058.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\Toolbars\Toolbars.rhp “Toolbars” 8.5.24058.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\3dxrhino.rhp “3Dconnexion 3D Mouse”
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\BlockEdit.rhp “BlockEdit” 8.5.24058.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\Displacement.rhp “Displacement”
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\SectionTools.rhp “SectionTools”

Hoovering mouse cursor over the polysurface (white object) and holding ctrl + shift highlights polysurface face which after clicking becomes a “base” for the CPlane

Hoovering mouse cursor over the block (red object) and holding ctrl + shift highlights highlights the whole object and setting up CPlane doesn’t work

[martinsiegrist]

Please also take a look at my file in this linked topic:

Auto CPlane inconsistency with blocks

I’m experiencing a weird problem with Auto CPlanes. The white blocks in the attached model have their origins on the black perimeter. Depending on how I rotate the view, the Auto CPlane sometimes goes into the opposing direction. Another useful improvement would be a Block Plane option in the Box Edit panel. problem_block_auto_cplane.3dm (61.4 KB) [image]