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10 Black Belt Moves in Alibre!

Ex Machina

Ex Machina

Senior Member
So, here's a compilation of various little tips and tricks I use daily in Alibre. Some you can find in older videos of mine, some are updates from those videos and some are new.

Let me know what you think guys and if you have any other little tips and tricks you use and you'd like to share with us!!!
 
gwbruce

gwbruce

Senior Member
Another great video. A great refresher and of course I learned some new things. That Ty-tab move was awesome. I saw his video for the spring open but I missed that move. Thanks for point it out. Keep them coming.
 
Ex Machina

Ex Machina

Senior Member
Thanks a lot, man! I think I might even have enough material for a second one. But these are definitely the important ones.
 
Stu3d

Stu3d

Senior Member
Just found time to carry on watching this video and got to the Shift Tab tip in Extrude Cut, amazing.
I have programmed one of the macro keys on my shortcut keyboard with the following... H (Extrude Cut), Shift>Tab, Down Arrow, Enter, Down Arrow
A Through All Extrude Cut with one key press!
The last Down Arrow deselects/unselects the extrude cut so it isn't highlighted, it always annoys me how the last part feature is left selected. Sketches left selected is useful.
I am sure this could be achieved without a keyboard with macro keys by using AutoHotKey if you have a keyboard shortcut set to Extrude Cut.
This is an absolute game changer as I use Through All a lot, thank you :cool:

Edit. I should point out that the one key press Extrude Cut is from within 2D Sketch as I had already picked up on the tip of not having to close 2D Sketch prior to selecting a Part Feature.
 
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Stu3d

Stu3d

Senior Member
I have tried to apply the same principles to Project to Sketch, my pet subject :rolleyes:

I select a face on a part.

My macro key is then set to the following:

1 - 1 key is my shortcut for Project to Sketch.
Tab - this highlights Output Options.
Down Arrow - changes setting from Create sketch figure to Create reference figure.
Tab - highlights Maintain association to source entitiy but the box is not ticked.
Spacebar - change box so it is ticked. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<EDIT Spacebar is the answer!
Enter - applies everything above and closes the Project to Sketch window.

I am now stuck as no matter what I press on the keyboard I can't get the box to be ticked, does anyone have any ideas please? If I could tick that box with something on the keyboard I would have a one key press way of activating a 2d sketch, projecting a face as a reference figure with association maintained and then closing the dialog.
I set a macro key up without the penultimate line and I get the above result but without maintain association, so close! EDIT Penultimate line is Spacebar to enable maintain association, thank you Harold.
Again, I am sure this would be achievable in AHK.
 
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Stu3d

Stu3d

Senior Member
HaroldL said:
Space bar. It also works for reversing the direction of and extrude cut/boss.
Click to expand...
Holy mackerel, space bar works, thank you so much, I am sure I tried that before.
I can now select a face, press one key on my keyboard and that activates a 2d sketch, projects a face as a reference figure with association maintained and then closes the dialog.
By combining the two macro keys above I can now produce an Extrude Cut>Through All in a specific location on a face in very few seconds, I just did a 1" hole through the centre of a cylinder in well less than 10 seconds. :)
I am sure this could be achieved with AHK too.
 
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Stu3d

Stu3d

Senior Member
Here are the AutoHotKey scripts for the above.

This one activates a 2d Sketch, Projects to Sketch a face as a reference figure with Association Maintained and then closes the dialog, select a face before using it. Can be changed to project a sketch figure instead.
The Sleep lines are just to slow it down to see what's happening, remove all the Sleep lines and it will run instantly.

+a:: ;set hotkey to Shift A. This can be set to a key combination of your choice, Shift is +, Ctrl is ^, Alt is !
Send, {1} ;Project to Sketch, my keyboard shortcut for PTS in Alibre is 1
Sleep, 1000 ;this pauses for 1 second to see what is happening, remove all Sleep commands to run at full speed
Send, {Tab} ;tab to output options
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Down} ;change setting from sketch figure to reference figure, remove this line to project a sketch figure
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Tab} ;tab to Maintain Association
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Space} ;change setting to Maintain Association
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Enter} ;apply changes and close dialog
return

This one will do a Through All Extrude Cut, select a closed sketch figure before using it.

+z:: ;set hotkey to Shift Z. This can be set to a key combination of your choice, Shift is +, Ctrl is ^, Alt is !
Send, {h} ;Extrude Cut, my keyboard shortcut in Alibre is H
Sleep, 1000 ;this pauses for 1 second to see what is happening, remove all Sleep commands to run at full speed
Send, +{Tab} ;shift>tab to move from Depth to Type
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Down} ;change from To Depth to Through All
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Enter} ;apply changes and close dialog
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Down} ;deselect last feature EDIT: this line may not work, I have the Down Arrow key set to Generate To Last Feature
return
 
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Ex Machina

Ex Machina

Senior Member
Stu3d said:
Here are the AutoHotKey scripts for the above.

This one activates a 2d Sketch, Projects to Sketch a face as a reference figure with Association Maintained and then closes the dialog, select a face before using it. Can be changed to project a sketch figure instead.
The Sleep lines are just to slow it down to see what's happening, remove all the Sleep lines and it will run instantly.

+a:: ;set hotkey to Shift A. This can be set to a key combination of your choice, Shift is +, Ctrl is ^, Alt is !
Send, {1} ;Project to Sketch, my keyboard shortcut for PTS in Alibre is 1
Sleep, 1000 ;this pauses for 1 second to see what is happening, remove all Sleep commands to run at full speed
Send, {Tab} ;tab to output options
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Down} ;change setting from sketch figure to reference figure, remove this line to project a sketch figure
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Tab} ;tab to Maintain Association
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Space} ;change setting to Maintain Association
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Enter} ;apply changes and close dialog
return

This one will do a Through All Extrude Cut, select a closed sketch figure before using it.

+z:: ;set hotkey to Shift Z. This can be set to a key combination of your choice, Shift is +, Ctrl is ^, Alt is !
Send, {h} ;Extrude Cut, my keyboard shortcut in Alibre is H
Sleep, 1000 ;this pauses for 1 second to see what is happening, remove all Sleep commands to run at full speed
Send, +{Tab} ;shift>tab to move from Depth to Type
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Down} ;change from To Depth to Through All
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Enter} ;apply changes and close dialog
Sleep, 1000
Send, {Down} ;deselect last feature
return
Click to expand...
Wow, really cool approach Stu. Very interesting solution. And of course, I agree that Ty's trick is amazing. Genius in its simplicity
 
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