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jfc1068  
#1 Posted : Friday, July 31, 2009 10:57:43 AM(UTC)
jfc1068

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Why does Viacad work opposite of the Cartesian coordinate system. It make no sense at all that up is a negative direction, or that righ is also a negative direction.
blowlamp  
#2 Posted : Friday, July 31, 2009 11:40:06 AM(UTC)
blowlamp

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I wasn't aware that it does. You haven't Flipped the view or something, have you?

Martin.
jfc1068  
#3 Posted : Friday, July 31, 2009 11:43:06 AM(UTC)
jfc1068

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Nope, have not flipped a view. just trying to offest a line, and had to enter negative numbers to offset to the right and up.
blowlamp  
#4 Posted : Friday, July 31, 2009 11:50:47 AM(UTC)
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I've just used Translate to move a line up and right without using minus signs.

Martin
Tim Olson  
#5 Posted : Friday, July 31, 2009 12:51:32 PM(UTC)
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>> just trying to offest a line

An offset value is independent of the coordinate system. The direction of the offset is based on the direction of the curve.

Tim
Tim Olson
IMSI Design/Encore
jfc1068  
#6 Posted : Friday, July 31, 2009 2:42:13 PM(UTC)
jfc1068

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Originally Posted by: Tim Olson Go to Quoted Post
>> just trying to offest a line

An offset value is independent of the coordinate system. The direction of the offset is based on the direction of the curve.

Tim


What curve? It was a straight line.
ZeroLengthCurve  
#7 Posted : Friday, July 31, 2009 5:45:40 PM(UTC)
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hehehehe... Sorry, i have to chime in... i was confused about "curves" vs "lines", too. I hope everyone has picked themselves up off the floor by now.... But, i've seen other products use the term "curve" as well, but didn't pay attention until i actually started USING ViaCAD. When you create surfaces you can use the CTRL key (on windows, but in MAC it's another key... I think the command key) or lines, you can flip the direction. When you thicken a surface a solid, that key will present arrows showing the direction.

Anyone else is welcome to chime in and clarify or fix any misstatements on my part....
Tim Olson  
#8 Posted : Friday, July 31, 2009 6:17:29 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: jfc1068 Go to Quoted Post
What curve? It was a straight line.


Lines, arcs, circles, conics, ellipses, splines are all considered curves.

Tim
Tim Olson
IMSI Design/Encore
jfc1068  
#9 Posted : Saturday, August 1, 2009 12:08:14 PM(UTC)
jfc1068

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A straight line is the shortest distance between two points. A curve is not.
jfc1068  
#10 Posted : Saturday, August 1, 2009 12:11:13 PM(UTC)
jfc1068

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This software is so confusing. I have used CAD products for 26 years and this has been the hardest to learn. Calling a straight line a curve is part of the problem.
blowlamp  
#11 Posted : Saturday, August 1, 2009 12:41:31 PM(UTC)
blowlamp

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No, I'm not sure why a straight line is a curve either - it must be some convention though. But don't give up, just post a file, or show us the thing you're struggling with, and someone here will be able to sort things out for you.


Cheers.
Martin.
jfc1068  
#12 Posted : Saturday, August 1, 2009 12:51:22 PM(UTC)
jfc1068

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I guess I'm just frustrated because I seem to have to do everything twice. Copy an item, THEN move it where it needs to go. Draw a little crappy line, THEN give it a length. Draw a polygon, THEN give it the size.

This is like buying a hammer, putting it down on my work bench, THEN picking it up to put it away. The intermediary steps are getting old.
billbedford  
#13 Posted : Sunday, August 2, 2009 2:54:20 AM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: jfc1068 Go to Quoted Post
I guess I'm just frustrated because I seem to have to do everything twice. Copy an item, THEN move it where it needs to go.

Or hold the Alt key when using any of the translation tools, unless you want a copy with a history or an instance of a solid
Quote:
Draw a little crappy line, THEN give it a length. Draw a polygon, THEN give it the size.

The size is displayed in the tool bar as you draw. Though it is often quicker to draw and then enter dimentions ( especially if you work in metric)
Quote:
This is like buying a hammer, putting it down on my work bench, THEN picking it up to put it away. The intermediary steps are getting old.

The hard part of learning any software is unlearning what worked in other programs.
ttrw  
#14 Posted : Sunday, August 2, 2009 3:10:50 AM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: billbedford Go to Quoted Post


The hard part of learning any software is unlearning what worked in other programs.


I'll second that. I came from Solidworks, as I needed cheaper, Mac friendly alternative, but I also brought all my "bad" habits too. It took a good couple of years to unlearn then relearn. It was definately worth the effort.
ianjkirby  
#15 Posted : Sunday, August 2, 2009 5:18:23 AM(UTC)
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I know it probably doesn't help the matter under discussion, but a straight line is a curve (circular!) of infinite radius. The term 'curve' is probably the best generic word to include all types of curves, including straight ones! I guess it is used when a describing a particular operation on all curves, such as the 'direction' parameter.
Regards, Ian.
Ian Kirby
Wollongong Australia
jfc1068  
#16 Posted : Sunday, August 2, 2009 10:38:29 AM(UTC)
jfc1068

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Originally Posted by: billbedford Go to Quoted Post


The hard part of learning any software is unlearning what worked in other programs.


After having learned five different CAD systems, including two you've never heard of, I am well aware of that.

There are just some very simple and logical concepts that should have been included that are missing. Like being able to point to the side of an entity you want an offest to go, or being able to pick a reference point for moving or copying an entity, then pick a relative point where it should be copied or moved to.

Finally, I bought this program so I could get work done at home, then take it into work where our detailers could incorporate what I created into their drawings. While I know it takes time to get used to a new program, my production is so bad now that I am able to work faster with a pencil and paper. One of the main selling points that made me choose this one was the fact that it was supposed to increase productivity. Have not seen the increase yet, and I've been trying to make it work for 6 months.
Tim Olson  
#17 Posted : Sunday, August 2, 2009 11:30:33 AM(UTC)
Tim Olson

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>>Like being able to point to the side of an entity you want an offest to go,

Try the Offset by Point tool. The side of the curve your point is on determines the offset direction.

>>or being able to pick a reference point for moving or copying an entity

Try the Translate tool. You specify the from and to point.


Another useful tool I use a lot is the parallel lines tool which is interactive with the mouse.

>>Calling a straight line a curve is part of the problem.

This is not a unique concept to ViaCAD. This is also the same for ACIS and was our convention in our in house CAD system at Lockheed Ft Worth in the early '80s.

For more information on curves in ACIS see:

http://doc.spatial.com/index.php/Curve


I find it useful to think of the three primary geometry types as:

Curve = entity with length
Surface = entity with area
Solid = entity with volume



Tim
Tim Olson
IMSI Design/Encore
jfc1068  
#18 Posted : Sunday, August 2, 2009 12:37:00 PM(UTC)
jfc1068

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It doesn't matter. You guys keep telling to use options that don't exist. I bought this software new less than 6 months agon, and now I find out it is old.

Guess I look elsewhere for software that doesn't hit the shelves already obsolete.
Tim Olson  
#19 Posted : Sunday, August 2, 2009 12:52:17 PM(UTC)
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>>You guys keep telling to use options that don't exist.

Those tools (offset, translate, parallel line) above are all in V5. Here is a quicktime movie showing where they are located.

http://www.csi-concepts.com/Demo/videos/v2d.mov


Tim
Tim Olson
IMSI Design/Encore
jfc1068  
#20 Posted : Sunday, August 2, 2009 1:04:29 PM(UTC)
jfc1068

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Sorry, don't do quicktime. It is an apple product.

But I say again, you tell me to use options that don't exist, like the "page Format" with is NOT in my version. I have a Print format" that is similar, but it does not show the options you called for.
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