Moving to new topic since this will get lost in a 300+ long thread.
What other attributes do you need? The section styles were designed to get the basics in for a start with the expectation that they would be extended in the future.
Section colors per section style, please, for a start (hatch foreground and background).
Decouple the display mode from this. Itâs really too cryptic otherwise, UI-wise.
If there is an understandable logic behind the given design, I did not get it.
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I can understand the request for a background fill color and Iâll investigate what it would take to add this. As far as the foreground color Iâm trying to understand the case where this would need to be different than the source objectâs color.
What display mode settings are interfering? Iâm sure youâve posted about this so my apologies in advance for not seeing this.
(Will take a careful look when Iâm back at the computer. Please donât run away in the meantimeâŚ)
Letâs play the newbie role.
I create some object and a clipping plane through it, so that I get a hatch pattern at the section, for which I want to tune:
1 - background color
2 - foreground color (the hatch lines)
3 - line color and thickness for the section border
1:
Objectâs section style is set to âby layerâ. So I open the object layerâs section style, but only find settings for the hatch itself. No colors, no thicknesses.
So, is it maybe a property of the clipping plane? Letâs select it.
In the clipping planeâs properties, thereâs a Section Style parameter, too. A litte bit confusing. Are these the settings for the objects this clipping plane clips? No, itâs for itself. A clipping plane can be clipped? Doesnât make much sense.
(Also, clipping planes can have a material. Strange, too.)
Since Iâm an advanced user, I know that the display mode plays a role in what is rendered in the viewport. Letâs say as a newbie, after a while, I figured that it might, and open the display mode âShadedâ.
Under Objects > Clipping Planes thereâs a âShow Fillsâ checkbox. I turn it off, and the section hatch background disappears, but not the hatch lines. Strange again.
Aha, there are 3 options for that parameter:
but none of which caters to having a specific hatch background color per-object.
3:
Section border color. Same 3 parameters under âShow edgesâ in the display mode, same problem.
At least the option âPlaneâs colorâ means, if the clipping plane sits on another layer, the section border gets that layerâs color. Testing, works. Still, this is not a per-object color.
Oh, thereâs an edge thickness param, too, but in pixels. What if I want to set the border thickness in mm, for print? (Couldnât figure. Any hints?)
1 again:
Testing the âShow fillsâ parameter âPlaneâs materialâ⌠must be what the clipping planeâs material is for!
So, Iâm tweaking itâs material, and nothing happens. Section hatch background color does not change.
2:
The objectâs outlines and the section hatch line color seem to be coupled, and given by the layer color.
No setting for these in the display mode. Canât seem to find it anywhere.
Giving upâŚ
But in answer for your question
these would be the complete set that make up the looks of a section, right?
Hatch foreground color, hatch background color, hatch line thickness, border color, border thickness, border linetype.
Next to whatâs already there (hatch type, angle, scale).
Thanks!
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I think attribute for hatch should be added as well. Display Color, Print Color, Lineweight for hatch should be also available through Section Style.
Thanks.
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Yes. Thatâs what I meant with hatch foreground color and background color. Agreed to Lineweight for hatch lines.
âNormalâ hatches already have these params (except line weight):
Section hatches are hatches, too, right? â Same params.
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You want to be able to have thicker lines in the hatch patterns? Currently they are drawn at 1 pixel thickness.
Yes, why not.
How thick would a hatch line be in printing? Hairline? Why should it not be possible to adjust it, for whatever graphical reason?
But ok, if this is a problem, all the other params are more important.
Thanks!
Every attribute needs to carefully considered, this is why I ask. These affect the file format and user interface.
The only attributes that really arenât available are background fill color and a toggle for boundary visibility when comparing sections to hatches.
Thanks, Iâll see what can be done to add new âBy Objectâ display mode settings in this area that would be the new defaults.
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In other programs (ACAD and Revit), I would make a concrete hatch. The foreground and background would both be shades of grey (but different shades). It ends up looking really good.
I used VARQ sections extensively. Played around with sections A LOT. They work good but the settings are scattered all over the place. They also donât work with certain display modes. I had the time to play around (I was unemployed at the time hehe) but most users wonât. Even after figuring everything out it was next to impossible to remember what settings affected what. I have to second the opinion that having all the settings closer together would be much better.
It might have been mentioned above but being able to set the cut sectionâs material display to a different material for that object (or layer) would be a big plus. You can make a single object like this using the âplanes materialâ setting, which produces cool results. But for multiple objects it gets tricky.
I understand the concerns with cluttering the interface with lots of different settings. My own personal preference would be to have the attributes in the layer properties, with the option to have the ability to override an individual objectâs.
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Hello Everyone,
Will this property (section style) be added in the command prompt _-Properties _object _section style _âŚByClippingPlane? or something similar. Meanwhile, can anyone think of a strategy to set this setting in a rhino macro?
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Hi there,
A side note about blocks and section style : currently, the style applied is the one assigned to the blocks. Thereâs no way (or at least, I didnât find the appropriate tweaks) to get the style based on each element of the block (which should be default imho).
Right is the same content as Left, in a block on another layer with another style.
I believe itâs already in the list, but just in case.
I would be happy to have independent settings (linetype, lineweight, color) for clipping curves.
With possibility to set âBy layerâ.
So different settings for hatch and clipping curves.
Thank you.
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Wouldnât it make sense to be able to set the section style âBy Materialâ as well? Or have a section style setting for each material? For those who set all their materials per object and not by layers, this is crucial.
Also I was wondering whether or not section styles are applied to clipped non-closed polysrfs as well? (Rhino 7 user, so I wouldnât know, thanks)
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Hello,
please consider the following regarding the section styles. I tried going through the big 400+ posts thread, hopefully i did not miss something, and my suggestion adds to the discussion.
If the section styles, named styles as suggested or otherwise, allowed for separate layer selection for each hatch and boundary, then the majority of the settings would move to layer manager, thus simplifying the section style settings UI, and giving full control to how the sections would look like.
So lets say a bunch of geometry is in a âMainâ layer named Main Geometry, its attributes like display color, print color, print width etc would control everything that is projection when not cut by a clipping(section) plane.
Editing the section style of Main Geometry layer, given the above suggested option, would need two user created layers, named for example Main Geometry Sect and Main Geometry Hatch, to be set to section style options for section boundary and hatch respectively.
If these styles are named, they can be used to other âMainâ layers, and if there is an option to set specific layer for section boundary or hatch, these layers could be used in multiple âMainâ layers section styles, or named section styles, thus allowing for mass and speedy adjustments.
best
alexandros
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Hi Alexandros -
Can you make a mock-up sketch of what this would look like? I have a hard time followingâŚ
-wim
Hello,
yes, actually i think its simple and my initial description makes it hard to follow.
i will try to explain this better.
sect styles.3dm (129.1 KB)
In the screenshot print preview is on and I have set up the layers as if the options i suggest were available (as if boundary width scale is controlled by selected layer etc.)
Layers 1, 2, 3 and 4 have geometry that is sectioned by a clipping plane and we go to each of these layers to set their section style.
Imagine when the section style window pop ups, that we can set for Hatch to have a specific layer. Then everything regarding that hatch is according to this layer, in this case Layer 01 Hatch. So Pattern color is no longer needed, the colors both viewport and print, will be according to set layer [Layer 01 Hatch]. Pattern, Pattern rotation, scale and background stay in this dialog to be set as wished. With this approach it is also possible to control the pen width of non solid hatches according to selected hatch layer, hatches could be turned on/off etc.
For boundary, if we have the option to set a layer, then no other option is needed, since everything is controlled by the set layer, in this case Layer 01 Sect.
Similarly, for Layers 03 and 04 instead of using sublayers, if the option to use specific layers in sections styles exists, we could set for both in Hatch the Hatches layer and in boundary the Sections Layer.
I believe this approach simplifies the UI, adds more control, speeds up changes and is compatible with already existing functionality.
Best,
alexandros
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