3D Sketch Planes

[simonb65]

Is there any way to automatically select the correct sketch plane (i. Lock depth movement) when selecting Front, Back, Top, etc views? Also, when rotating around a model, is it possible to just move nodes, etc in the plane of the screen view, i.e. lock the depth vector? I'm finding wiring and pipe work (using spines) that isn't on an xyz plane an absolute nightmare to create/edit!
If the answer to these is you can't, how do I add it to the suggestions for improvement (as I can get on the suggestions page of the forum!!).

 

[bigseb]

You can cycle through the sketch planes using the 'cycle sketch plane' button. It works just fine although it doesn't tell you which one is current, you have to tell by which way the line snaps (not ideal).

 

[simonb65]

You can cycle through the sketch planes using the 'cycle sketch plane' button. It works just fine although it doesn't tell you which one is current, you have to tell by which way the line snaps (not ideal).

Thanks @bigseb, thats what I do at present, its not easy to tell (other than the colours of the axis guide lines!). I've added a suggestion to add an option to automate that based on the users current view ... which would make it more frendly and intuative (plus less/NO switching back and forth between sketch planes!!)

 

[batejosh]

Something I find helpful to figure out which plane I'm sketching on is orienting the view to the active sketch plane. I have this mapped out to my 'N' key, but you can click . You can then 'Cycle Sketch Plane' and 'orient to sketch plane' until you're on the right one. I hope that helps!

 

[simonb65]

Something I find helpful to figure out which plane I'm sketching on is orienting the view to the active sketch plane. I have this mapped out to my 'N' key, but you can click View attachment 24230. You can then 'Cycle Sketch Plane' and 'orient to sketch plane' until you're on the right one. I hope that helps!

Thanks, but I think the whole manual selection is just flawed! If you select split views, sk the screen is 4 sections ... Top, Left, Front and 3D, you should be able to just move a sketch node in each view and it uses the plane your looking at (freezing the depth element). If you've ever used MOI, you'll understand where I'm coming from (@bigseb will relate to that). I've just accepted over the last few days that its painful to be productive as-is, so I've made a feature suggestion that hopefully will get reviewed and seriously considered by the Alibre team.

 

[bigseb]

... bigseb will relate to that)...

I do.

 

[simonb65]

... as an addition to my comments on 3D sketching, the same auto selection of movement plane could also be applied to assembly part placement and exploded views instead of using the triad and having to manually select the movement plane. Especially in Spilit view mode !