Hi guys.
This is probably my longest standing wish for Rhino.
Direct manipulation of surfaces while they are a polysurface, without distorting the surrounding surfaces.
I made a set of proof of concept tools to show you what I wish for and why it is important. I know you know SpaceClaim, Sketchup and how other CAD programs do this, and it is really handy when working on files with draft angles or surfaces that needs to be fixed, but seeing is often better than just words, so here we go:
Hope you like it and that it can inspire the big brains to start working on something like this.
Hi @Holo
Fully agree - I’ve been dreaming of CreateSolid with history enabled for a long time; even just as some sort of display trickery, that enables you to see the result but still have the ability to adjust the surfaces (and then some sort of “Commit” button).
-Jakob
Shrunk surfaces needs to be extended and in many cases that will cause some issues, so when it fails it fails and we have to rebuild manually.
And when a surface is moved beoynd the rest of the solid so it no longer “exists”, then the move has to be Ignored or the surface Deleted and I think the user could be presented with the options, with an “use this every time” toggle to make the dialog go away.
If this is built into Rhino I think the way of handling the case where the user drags an object (subobject) out range of Rhino’s ability to make sense of the move the object should just stop, turn red and flash (for example) without losing the dragability so the user can just drag it back into range. In addition, as you suggest, while it is blinking red a popup menu could provide a list of options (or “good idea” suggestions). A reasonable gesture at this point might be to allow the user to move to the popup to select an item from it but also allow a return to the object for subsequent dragging back into the “range of possibility”. Neeedless to say, each of the popup menu selections must allow for providing it’s own appropriate re-positioning of the dragged object.
Two other important considerations, I feel, are snapping and accurate positioning of a specific feature of the object. Snapping might require some rethinking to ensure the new capabilities work harmoniously with what we have now. Accurate positioning and sizing will remain as important or moreso than it already is.
Here’s another little test I made a while ago, using the curve boolean processing to allow topological changes of the surfaces so it can stay a valid solid even when faces are moved so edges pass or cross. pushpull_test.gh (29.5 KB)
That was just for planar faces though. I hadn’t thought much about if/how this could work also with curved faces.
if i could i would donate mcneel one billion to make it the best cad possible and available these features would be so great mentioned in original post and by Daniel Piker.
Imagine this combined with grasshopper 2 + parametric blocks + constraints + better annotations + dynamic sections + third party developers… infinite possibilies and i could finally be happy with technology.
I want Rhino 8 to be truly next gen product.
Hi Daniel - can you select more than one face at a time, to drag them together in the same direction? For example, to move a wall or feature with a thickness that needs to be preserved?
Just used the tool on a project I am working on.
Rotating these surfaces the old way would require a lot of manual work in Rhino, so I hope you guys can consider adding it. (My script fails all the time unless I extract surfaces and extending them before joining them back into a solid)
If Rhino would allow to edit faces of polysurface on the fly, similarly as in SpaceClaim, or like Holo shown above, it would open a lot of new possibilies. Less custom plugins would be made trying to provide such tools.
Go Holo, nice feature that should be part of Rhino. Perhaps even a V7 update release could include editing polysurfaces as easily as you show. Sure would beat the heck out of cageedit!
It’s very interesting how far you can push this tool forward before real headaches start.
All the tools in Rhino has their limits (e.g. filleting, texture mapping) and we try to accept that.
Proof of concepts like yours are very exciting - even if they are limited.
Some solutions will answer 80% of use cases for architects working in Rhino and 50% for product designers, who are usually dealing with more sophisticated geometries.
Luckily, I’m in inside this less demanding group and I would take this not yet perfect tool. For me, biggest benefit would be the ability to use it with some good UX and widgets. I can use it and in the meantime look as it develops and solves more scenarios.
these features would be so great mentioned in original post and by Daniel Piker.
