Precision Woes

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mtgstuber
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:32 am

Precision Woes

Post by mtgstuber »

I'm new to high design, so if I'm doing something wrong, please let me know.

I have my grid set to 1/4". I also have my precision set to 1/4". I go to draw a framing member (rectangle) that butts up against another framing member. Regardless of whether I snap to other objects, or snap to grid, I end up with objects that are just "a little bit off."

That is, I can tell they aren't quite the right length by the way HighDesign renders them. When I dimension them, they are a 1/64 or a 1/32 off in one dimension. When I click on the object properties, they claim to be the correct dimensions, but if I multiply them, the fraction of an inch difference adds up and quickly becomes a major error.

If I edit the object properties, and change my 1-1/2" width, to 1-1/2" inches (I know it sounds silly, but work with me), it actually makes it 1-1/2", where before it was not. I can verify this by measuring, or creating a dimension, as well as visually, and by seeing the effects when multiplying.

In my mind, if I've set the drawing precision to 1/4", I shouldn't be able to draw anything other than values that land on 1/4" increments. For example, this is the behavior I get out of SketchUp. If setting precision to 1/4" just means that the dialog boxes misrepresent things, it doesn't seem terribly useful.

This all having been said, maybe there is some simple subtle thing I've not set right, or that I'm doing wrong. Please Note: I know that I can always type in lengths, or X and Y for putting things in. I do use that feature. For somethings though, I'd prefer not to do the math -- that's what the computer is there for.

Is anybody else having issues with precision? Is it just me?

mtgstuber
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:32 am

Re: Precision Woes

Post by mtgstuber »

Wow. I really, really frustrated at this point.

It seems, in proximity to other objects, the only way to easily draw things, is to just turn off object snapping. (If I don't, when I get something lined up and click, *poof*, it grabs a different corner of the object I'm lined up with and my new object is the wrong size). Yet if I turn off snap to object, I can't select anything at all. Personally, I fail to see the advantage of tying the select mechanism to the snap mechanism.

Not having spent the money on the "professional" version, I can't even assign a keyboard short cut for turning snaps on and off, and I can't find one listed in the reference manual. Which means I have to constantly navigate back and forth across the screen to turn the snaps on and off.

I'm a bit reticent to shell out another $200 for additional features, when some of the basic features of CAD that I expect, don't seem to be working correctly.

Is there something I'm missing? I'm happy to have this all be user error, but I can't figure out why it's doing what it's doing.

macitect
Posts: 618
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 10:52 pm
Location: California

Re: Precision Woes

Post by macitect »

I feel for you. Getting into any new software is not necessarily fun when we are so accustomed to the way another program works to do the same or similar tasks. The snapping in HighDesign is not the best there is, but I've not had the amount of frustration that you seem to be having.

Here are some general tips...
Snapping always works better when you have your drawing in hairline pen weight.
Object order affects snapping, so if you aren't getting the point that you want, make sure the desired object is at the front.

I've never toggled my snaps... but I don't think there is a shortcut to do that anyways. Perhaps someone can correct me. I wonder if snapping to grid is causing you problems? I never have snap to grid on and my snaps work generally pretty well.

I am really anal about precision... I have made it a habit of just always keying in my values. For lines/polylines just hit L for length when drawing your line, and for rectangles you can hit either W (width) or H (height) for the first value and then tab to the next.

On a slight side note when I worked for a large architectural firm a while back the snapping in acad - although looking good - didn't work either. Anyone who has had to add hatches to drawings will know that... We had an agreement among out little team to never use snaps, but rather to always use extend, trim, join, etc to make sure that things remained accurate. I've kept this habit.

kohledfusion
Posts: 207
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:14 pm
Location: Pahoa, Hawai'i. Yes, where the lava is.

Re: Precision Woes

Post by kohledfusion »

Also experiment with "snap range" in Preferences->Drawing. Mine got reset a few months ago and I was tearing my hair out. I don't use snap to grid, but the combo of snap range 5 & snap to intersections/end points meets most of my needs. Holding down shift while I draw is the big one too, which forces lines to 90 or 45 degree angles.

Another fast way to draw a line a straight line a specific length is with the 'L' (length) command.
* start your line, click cmd-L, type in the length you desire, say it's 5'6", hit enter.
* to set which direction the line goes, use cmd-A (angle) & enter 0,90,180 or 270.
OR
* simply hold down shift while you drag the cursor in the desired cardinal direction (or 45 degree increment)
cmd-L is a few less keystrokes than the X,Y method & you don't have to do math.

Hang in there. I was frustrated too when I first started out. It's a lot to learn, but once you do, HD is quite elegant and intuitive. This board has been a lifesaver & taught me most of the best tricks in my arsenal.
Pahoa, HI

* Architectural Drafting & Design * Metal Art *
* Custom Quilts * Web Design and Programming *

macitect
Posts: 618
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 10:52 pm
Location: California

Re: Precision Woes

Post by macitect »

kohledfusion wrote: * start your line, click cmd-L, type in the length you desire, say it's 5'6", hit enter.
* to set which direction the line goes, use cmd-A (angle) & enter 0,90,180 or 270.
OR
* simply hold down shift while you drag the cursor in the desired cardinal direction (or 45 degree increment)
cmd-L is a few less keystrokes than the X,Y method & you don't have to do math.
hooligal - why are you hitting +L or +A? Once you've begun a line you should be able to strike either L or A without ... that has always been the default behaviour here.

Another thing - once a line is begun, one can simply type in the numeric value. I don't use this much however, because if you then strike return the line is drawn at whatever angle your cursor is at. I like using line, L, then once I've put in the length I hold shift and click in my desired direction.

kohledfusion
Posts: 207
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:14 pm
Location: Pahoa, Hawai'i. Yes, where the lava is.

Re: Precision Woes

Post by kohledfusion »

BAH, you're right. I just watched myself & don't use the apple key. DUH. sorry about that.
Pahoa, HI

* Architectural Drafting & Design * Metal Art *
* Custom Quilts * Web Design and Programming *

peatle
Posts: 160
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 4:39 pm
Location: Vancouver

Re: Precision Woes

Post by peatle »

Have you tried performing the same functions that you was having problems with but with the precision set much finer. 1/4 " precision seems huge to me but I use decimal inches in the engineering field. 1/4" might be perfectly alright for what you are doing but would it be a problem if it was finer.

Also, 'Snap to Grid' should probably be turned off almost all the time. In fact do you really need the grid ? I started out in HD using it automatically but then questioned it's usefulness ( for my application only of course ) now I never bother with it.

Keep asking the questions ....... often the solution comes up on this forum. Alternately, the tech support at iLexsoft is very responsive.

Peter

mtgstuber
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:32 am

Re: Precision Woes

Post by mtgstuber »

I think the grid is what got me into trouble in the first place. If my grid is set to 1/4" and my precision is set to 1/4", I would figure that when I click on something, it would go the nearest 1/4". It seems, as it turns out, the precision setting, rather than enforcing a particular precision, simply changes what is presented to the user. While I find it frustrating and deeply counter-intuitive, now that I understand it, I'm changing my behavior.

Thank you all. I appreciate the tips. On some of the other CAD programs I use, I don't use the grid at all. I guess I got called away by its siren song. Silly me.

On a somewhat related note, is it possible to trim/extend a rectangle, or do I just have to go back to discrete lines?

macitect
Posts: 618
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 10:52 pm
Location: California

Re: Precision Woes

Post by macitect »

I think this should be a request. I don't like the way the snap works either in this regard. You are right - if working in 1/4 inch precision, I shouldn't change my precision only to find that things are off between 1/8 and 1/64 everywhere. It drives me nuts! Everything should snap to the nearest 1/4.

Rectangles... the best way to change these is in the object info palette. You can set the exact height and width in there. You can also grab any of the vertices and eye-ball it, but I would imagine that appeals to you as much as it does to me... If, however, you use the mid point of any of the boundary lines you can change the height OR width in just that direction.

They can be used to trim and/or extend other objects though.

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