There are a couple of display issues I’m experiencing. One of them has been ongoing since the earliest days of the v6 WIP. The other, I’m not so sure whether it is a new problem or not.
1- Often when using tools across different viewports, viewports fail to ‘activate’ by simply moving the cursor over them. For example, a tool such as moveEdge, you might select the edge in one viewport and then use a second viewport to control the actual transformation. When doing this, often (~50% of the time) the second viewport fails to become active until I click on the viewport title.
I’ve been trying to capture this on a video, but it seems that when activating the screenshot screen recording that the problem does not occur. I’ll keep trying, but this is really weird.
2- When using clipping planes to reduce visual clutter when modelling (for example, limiting to only seeing the middle floor geometry on a 3 storey building), snapping aids do not display in the viewport if using the ‘project’ snapping option. I assume this is because the cursor snapping is taking place on a CPlane that is outside of the clipped view. Whilst I understand what it’s doing, it is definitely undesirable. For example, there might be a column that extends from ground floor all the way up a building. The top and bottom of it might be clipped, but the geometry still exists in the visible parts of geometry. Perfectly reasonable to snap to it. But then the snapping UI doesn’t appear.
I’d say that snapping UI cues / aids should be visible regardless of clipping planes. I appreciate that this could be resolved with setting up multiple CPlanes, but I prefer not to work with these. And it doesn’t get away from that when the cursor is snapping that it should have the UI to show it is.
It seems to me that this 2nd point is perhaps linked a bit to this topic in that it is about displaying sections / snaps correctly for effective and easy modelling: Rhino v6 selected edge display issue
Both of these seem to me to be really basic fundamental requirements for effective modelling across multiple viewports.
All of these problems are essentially viewport related.
Having now spent even longer trying to capture this, I’ve narrowed down when the bug occurs and when it does not. Interestingly, the apparent effect of it not happening when I was screen recording was actually that I was doing the precise order of clicks sightly differently when recording vs normal use.
Here is a screen recording showing the problem.
What has become clear to me now is that if you, for example with moveFace, select the face(s) you wish to move and confirm the selection in one viewport, then snapping / control works immediately in any other viewport.
If however, you select a face and only confirm the selection (spacebar, return, right click etc) when the cursor is in a different viewports to where the original selection was made, you then have to force the viewport to become active.
I’m wondering if anyone is interested in this? I’ve been mentioning this issue for well over a year
At least some acknowledgement that this is broken would make me confident that a fix will come one day. Otherwise, what’s the point in reporting broken stuff if it is ignored for 1.5 years?
The active viewport does not change by only moving the cursor over a viewport. You need to click in the viewport (in a blank space or to select an object) or click on the viewport name. That has been the behavior since at least V4.
a- the behaviour is different between v5 and v6
b- the behaviour is different depending on whether you make and then confirm the selection in the same viewport vs moving the cursor to a new viewport before confirming
This one is tough to reproduce here, no luck so far and I did see your updated steps about which view is active when you accept the selection before moving it. Here, the viewport titles highlight as I move from view to view after confirming the face selection. Are you on 6.29? Post the results of your SystemInfo command from Rhino 6 if you can.
I think you mean the Smart Track guide lines when you say snapping aids. If so, try this, tap the Cmd key when you are over an Osnap and using Project for Osnaps. This will highlight the point you’re over and provide Smart Track guides.
Regarding the lack of Osnap highlights that you showed in those other two forum threads from last year, they seem connected to what you reported here as 1. There’s something impacting the activation of your views based on cursor position by the looks of it. I’m wondering if it is hardware or configuration related. Post the SystemInfo from Rhino 6 and hopefully we have an identical Mac to test this on. Also please provide a sample 3dm file. This will help reduce the variables we might get different in mocking it up. The simpler the better.
The steps you have to follow for the problem are as follows (using more than 1 viewport):
1- in an active viewport, start a tool such as moveface. Select a face that you want to move.
2- move cursor to another view port
3- confirm face selection
4- try to use second viewport
You’ll be able to zoom in and out in the second view port but no UI for osnaps so accurate control over where you’re clicking for the first reference point for moving the face.
Same happens with extruding curves or surfaces.
The only solution is to click / hover over the viewport title.
I mean any UI relating to snapping. In this case, primarily osnaps.
Ps, I should add that I’ve used various versions of v6 on Mac since it started WIP. This problem has existed since the very beginning and across 2 different macs and various versions of macOS.
I do not think this is specific to my set up. I think it has more to do with the way I work colliding with this peculiar bug.
Did you try Cmd when using Project and the clipping plane set up you described? This allows Osnap highlighting for SmartTrack use in conjunction with projection of that location to the Cplane. If this isn’t what you’re looking for, please provide more info with a video capture and 3dm.
Hi, if you’ve managed to reproduce the problem of viewports being inactive then once that’s fixed my problems will be resolved. The issue about the snap UI stuff is all resulting from the viewport not being active.
Will give the command thing a go. I’ve never tried it but been aware of it and suspect it could be quite helpful. Thanks.