I wish Alibre had an easier way to dimension a 2D drawing, maybe as easy as the method used in Shaper3D.

[HaroldL]

Harold,

2 things

1. your section line was not in position called for in the exercise.
2. your section view was not a removed section views as called for - not really sure why that should make such a difference, a 'standard section view' looking in the opposite direction does allow dimensioning.

Well this is weird. I just opened my drawing and checked that the section line was at 1" per the tutorial. (I recall that I moved it to see if a different location would make a difference as well as added another reference plane and profile to the model at the location of the moved section line.) I then deleted the section view and recreated it as a Removed section and now am able to apply the dimension. ( I thought I did create a Removed section at one time but could not dimension it. )

REMOVED SECTION VIEW


I'm just guessing here but I think that the Removed section will only create the geometry at the cutting plane line while the standard section will create the geometry at the cutting plane line as well as all that is viewable in the direction of the section arrows. Because the loft is not perfectly straight there may some circular geometry that is projected into the view and is confusing Alibre and thus cannot figure out what to dimension.

This is something worth remembering the next time there is a section view that cannot be dimensioned.

STANDARD SECTION VIEW

 

[NateTheOkay]

I take it that you are not watching the new videos on the Alibre YouTube channel.

Let me add that using design dimensions in a drawing is something that I have never used in all my 25+ years as a CAD designer/dafter using various systems including SolidWorks and Alibre. I prefer the manual method selecting those items and features on the drawing that need to be dimensioned for clarity of design and manufacture.

That looks super handy, I had never seen the reproject design dimensions button before. It seems it doesn't work from section views. Bummer. Not being able to dimension diameters in sketches for revolutions would mean all the dimensions would come in as radii, so maybe not that useful for round parts anyways.

 

[danwrnr11]

Don't get me wrong, I prefer Alibre for most of the design aspect of creating parts, assemblies, setting constraints, and how 2D dimensions look, ... BUT I find selecting features and placing their dimensions sooooooooooooooo onerous in Alibre. I much prefer the dimensioning method in Shaper3D. That said, the options of how dimensions are displayed in a Shaper3D -> 2D drawing are limited. Could you please come up with a better dimensioning process?
Kind regards

Shaper3D is not a parametric system Alibre is

 

[stepalibre]

Shaper3D is not a parametric system Alibre is

Shaper3D is based on Parasolid kernel which is parametric. Shaper3D is not yet feature or history based in the way Alibre is.

Same Shapr3D experience. Plus Design History. Download Now.

Try History-Based Parametric Modeling pre-launch and start adjusting your models not just directly, but through feature parameters.

www.shapr3d.com

 

[Ex Machina]

The Shaper3D web site has almost nothing on 2D drawing dimensioning - the little they have looks very similar to Alibre.

You'll have to explain exactly what it is that you find onerous, and how it's better in Shaper 3D. Before anyone considers changing anything, they first need to understand what it is you are asking for, or at least what you find problematic....


[EDIT - I found another video about 2D drawing dimensions in Shaper 3D

. If anything it looks more complex to me than Alibre, as you have to select dimension type before placing the dimension - Alibre works out what type is needed based on your selection. Will be interested to hear what aspects of it you prefer.....]

Yeah, I just saw another video on how to make 2D drawings on Shapr3D. I seriously prefer Alibre's way.

Hit D, click on the thing(s) you want dimensioned, place the dimension. Done.

All of the rest is wasteful. Plus, it seems when Shapr3D adds the three views in the drawing it does not keep them aligned. Which is against any drawing standard I know and could make it really hard to annotate complex parts.

Also, I saw no distinction between Assemblies and parts. Can a BoM be added and referenced in assemblies?

 

[eric.alain.dufresne@gmail]

The problem is that I can't do that on my MS Surface. Dimensioning works fine on my desktop, but my Surface will have none of it, other than diameters and radii. When it comes to linear distances, nada, rien, nothing, nichts. Anyway, I have a trouble ticket in and the team at Alibre is troubleshooting.

As a side note, I have had no issues keeping the three views aligned in Shaper3D.

Of the two, I prefer Alibre. But I need to have dimensioning working on my Surface.

All the best.

 

[eric.alain.dufresne@gmail]

Just a quick update on my dimensioning issue.

After a zoom call with Christina from the Alibre help desk, here is what we came up with as a partial solution. In "System Options -> Drawings -> Sketching" we set the "Snapping" threshold to 3mm. It was set to 0mm on my tablet by default.

I can now place most linear dimensions. I'd say I have a 90% solution to the problem. Christina is still thinking about the other 10%.