discuss@lists.openscad.org

OpenSCAD general discussion Mailing-list

View all threads

displaying coordinates in 3d preview

W
whosawhatsis
Fri, Mar 6, 2015 6:28 PM

I was discussing the difficulties of OpenSCAD for new users the other day, and had an idea that I think might make it a lot easier to use for some purposes while still being feasible with the way the renderer works. There have been a lot of requests for dimensioning, and I understand the difficulties there, but I realized that it should be simpler to just show the coordinates of the spot under the mouse cursor.

The idea would be to identify the "closest" point to the user where a line extending through the view area away from the "camera" intersects the surface of the rendered object, and display those coordinates as an overlay in the corner of the preview pane. This would be particularly useful, for instance, to manipulate features on a imported height map data, and it would also make it much easier to gauge the scale of an object being displayed. I think it would be easier to implement than previous suggestions because it requires only the data output from the rendering libraries rather than messing around inside them (and OpenGL might have a function that would make it really simple). I've done almost nothing with on-screen 3D rendering, so I'm not sure exactly how hard it would be, but it seemed simple (compared to other requests) and useful enough that I though it was worth suggesting.

I was discussing the difficulties of OpenSCAD for new users the other day, and had an idea that I think might make it a lot easier to use for some purposes while still being feasible with the way the renderer works. There have been a lot of requests for dimensioning, and I understand the difficulties there, but I realized that it should be simpler to just show the coordinates of the spot under the mouse cursor. The idea would be to identify the "closest" point to the user where a line extending through the view area away from the "camera" intersects the surface of the rendered object, and display those coordinates as an overlay in the corner of the preview pane. This would be particularly useful, for instance, to manipulate features on a imported height map data, and it would also make it much easier to gauge the scale of an object being displayed. I think it would be easier to implement than previous suggestions because it requires only the data output from the rendering libraries rather than messing around inside them (and OpenGL might have a function that would make it really simple). I've done almost nothing with on-screen 3D rendering, so I'm not sure exactly how hard it would be, but it seemed simple (compared to other requests) and useful enough that I though it was worth suggesting.
TD
Tim Deagan
Fri, Mar 6, 2015 8:20 PM

Have you had a chance to try any of the recent releases that provide
coordinate values on the axis markers?  I don't suggest that this fully
addresses the concern you're discussing, but it does give the general scale
of the object being rendered.  I've personally used it (with a union of all
objects allowing me to translate the whole model,) to move the model points
of interest to the 0,0,0 point and then determine the dimensions from the
axis.

It's definitely cumbersome for  fully dimensioning a model, but it does
provide an easy 'determine' an object's scale' capability.  I'm curious how
or if it changes your thinking about the point you raise (if at all.)

On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 12:28 PM, whosawhatsis whosawhatsis@gmail.com
wrote:

I was discussing the difficulties of OpenSCAD for new users the other
day, and had an idea that I think might make it a lot easier to use for
some purposes while still being feasible with the way the renderer works.
There have been a lot of requests for dimensioning, and I understand the
difficulties there, but I realized that it should be simpler to just show
the coordinates of the spot under the mouse cursor.

The idea would be to identify the "closest" point to the user where a line
extending through the view area away from the "camera" intersects the
surface of the rendered object, and display those coordinates as an overlay
in the corner of the preview pane. This would be particularly useful, for
instance, to manipulate features on a imported height map data, and it
would also make it much easier to gauge the scale of an object being
displayed. I think it would be easier to implement than previous
suggestions because it requires only the data output from the rendering
libraries rather than messing around inside them (and OpenGL might have a
function that would make it really simple). I've done almost nothing with
on-screen 3D rendering, so I'm not sure exactly how hard it would be, but
it seemed simple (compared to other requests) and useful enough that I
though it was worth suggesting.


OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org

Have you had a chance to try any of the recent releases that provide coordinate values on the axis markers? I don't suggest that this fully addresses the concern you're discussing, but it does give the general scale of the object being rendered. I've personally used it (with a union of all objects allowing me to translate the whole model,) to move the model points of interest to the 0,0,0 point and then determine the dimensions from the axis. It's definitely cumbersome for fully dimensioning a model, but it does provide an easy 'determine' an object's scale' capability. I'm curious how or if it changes your thinking about the point you raise (if at all.) On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 12:28 PM, whosawhatsis <whosawhatsis@gmail.com> wrote: > I was discussing the difficulties of OpenSCAD for new users the other > day, and had an idea that I think might make it a lot easier to use for > some purposes while still being feasible with the way the renderer works. > There have been a lot of requests for dimensioning, and I understand the > difficulties there, but I realized that it should be simpler to just show > the coordinates of the spot under the mouse cursor. > > The idea would be to identify the "closest" point to the user where a line > extending through the view area away from the "camera" intersects the > surface of the rendered object, and display those coordinates as an overlay > in the corner of the preview pane. This would be particularly useful, for > instance, to manipulate features on a imported height map data, and it > would also make it much easier to gauge the scale of an object being > displayed. I think it would be easier to implement than previous > suggestions because it requires only the data output from the rendering > libraries rather than messing around inside them (and OpenGL might have a > function that would make it really simple). I've done almost nothing with > on-screen 3D rendering, so I'm not sure exactly how hard it would be, but > it seemed simple (compared to other requests) and useful enough that I > though it was worth suggesting. > > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > Discuss@lists.openscad.org > http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org > >
PF
Peter Falke
Fri, Mar 6, 2015 9:27 PM

In a way this problem has already been solved:
The F6 is in principle only a .stl viewer (The data is not organized yet in
.stl form.)
And there are .stl viewers that allow reassuring, and dimensioning of the
.stl.
So just marry OpenSCAD with an .stl-viewer and all is peachy.

Is there an open source .stl viewer around?

2015-03-06 21:20 GMT+01:00 Tim Deagan tim@deagan.net:

Have you had a chance to try any of the recent releases that provide
coordinate values on the axis markers?  I don't suggest that this fully
addresses the concern you're discussing, but it does give the general scale
of the object being rendered.  I've personally used it (with a union of all
objects allowing me to translate the whole model,) to move the model points
of interest to the 0,0,0 point and then determine the dimensions from the
axis.

It's definitely cumbersome for  fully dimensioning a model, but it does
provide an easy 'determine' an object's scale' capability.  I'm curious how
or if it changes your thinking about the point you raise (if at all.)

On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 12:28 PM, whosawhatsis whosawhatsis@gmail.com
wrote:

I was discussing the difficulties of OpenSCAD for new users the other
day, and had an idea that I think might make it a lot easier to use for
some purposes while still being feasible with the way the renderer works.
There have been a lot of requests for dimensioning, and I understand the
difficulties there, but I realized that it should be simpler to just show
the coordinates of the spot under the mouse cursor.

The idea would be to identify the "closest" point to the user where a
line extending through the view area away from the "camera" intersects the
surface of the rendered object, and display those coordinates as an overlay
in the corner of the preview pane. This would be particularly useful, for
instance, to manipulate features on a imported height map data, and it
would also make it much easier to gauge the scale of an object being
displayed. I think it would be easier to implement than previous
suggestions because it requires only the data output from the rendering
libraries rather than messing around inside them (and OpenGL might have a
function that would make it really simple). I've done almost nothing with
on-screen 3D rendering, so I'm not sure exactly how hard it would be, but
it seemed simple (compared to other requests) and useful enough that I
though it was worth suggesting.


OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org

--
stempeldergeschichte@googlemail.com karsten@rohrbach.de

P.S. Falls meine E-Mail kürzer ausfällt als Dir angenehm ist:
Ich probiere gerade aus kurze Antworten statt gar keine Antworten zu
schreiben.
Wenn Du gerne mehr lesen möchtest, dann lass es mich bitte wissen.

P.S. In case my e-mail is shorter than you enjoy:
I am currently trying short replies instead of no replies at all.
Please let me know, if you like to read more.

Enjoy!

In a way this problem has already been solved: The F6 is in principle only a .stl viewer (The data is not organized yet in .stl form.) And there are .stl viewers that allow reassuring, and dimensioning of the .stl. So just marry OpenSCAD with an .stl-viewer and all is peachy. Is there an open source .stl viewer around? 2015-03-06 21:20 GMT+01:00 Tim Deagan <tim@deagan.net>: > Have you had a chance to try any of the recent releases that provide > coordinate values on the axis markers? I don't suggest that this fully > addresses the concern you're discussing, but it does give the general scale > of the object being rendered. I've personally used it (with a union of all > objects allowing me to translate the whole model,) to move the model points > of interest to the 0,0,0 point and then determine the dimensions from the > axis. > > It's definitely cumbersome for fully dimensioning a model, but it does > provide an easy 'determine' an object's scale' capability. I'm curious how > or if it changes your thinking about the point you raise (if at all.) > > > > On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 12:28 PM, whosawhatsis <whosawhatsis@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> I was discussing the difficulties of OpenSCAD for new users the other >> day, and had an idea that I think might make it a lot easier to use for >> some purposes while still being feasible with the way the renderer works. >> There have been a lot of requests for dimensioning, and I understand the >> difficulties there, but I realized that it should be simpler to just show >> the coordinates of the spot under the mouse cursor. >> >> The idea would be to identify the "closest" point to the user where a >> line extending through the view area away from the "camera" intersects the >> surface of the rendered object, and display those coordinates as an overlay >> in the corner of the preview pane. This would be particularly useful, for >> instance, to manipulate features on a imported height map data, and it >> would also make it much easier to gauge the scale of an object being >> displayed. I think it would be easier to implement than previous >> suggestions because it requires only the data output from the rendering >> libraries rather than messing around inside them (and OpenGL might have a >> function that would make it really simple). I've done almost nothing with >> on-screen 3D rendering, so I'm not sure exactly how hard it would be, but >> it seemed simple (compared to other requests) and useful enough that I >> though it was worth suggesting. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> OpenSCAD mailing list >> Discuss@lists.openscad.org >> http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > Discuss@lists.openscad.org > http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org > > -- stempeldergeschichte@googlemail.com <karsten@rohrbach.de> P.S. Falls meine E-Mail kürzer ausfällt als Dir angenehm ist: Ich probiere gerade aus kurze Antworten statt gar keine Antworten zu schreiben. Wenn Du gerne mehr lesen möchtest, dann lass es mich bitte wissen. P.S. In case my e-mail is shorter than you enjoy: I am currently trying short replies instead of no replies at all. Please let me know, if you like to read more. Enjoy!
PF
Peter Falke
Fri, Mar 6, 2015 10:12 PM

reassuring -> measuring :)

2015-03-06 22:27 GMT+01:00 Peter Falke stempeldergeschichte@googlemail.com
:

In a way this problem has already been solved:
The F6 is in principle only a .stl viewer (The data is not organized yet
in .stl form.)
And there are .stl viewers that allow reassuring, and dimensioning of the
.stl.
So just marry OpenSCAD with an .stl-viewer and all is peachy.

Is there an open source .stl viewer around?

2015-03-06 21:20 GMT+01:00 Tim Deagan tim@deagan.net:

Have you had a chance to try any of the recent releases that provide
coordinate values on the axis markers?  I don't suggest that this fully
addresses the concern you're discussing, but it does give the general scale
of the object being rendered.  I've personally used it (with a union of all
objects allowing me to translate the whole model,) to move the model points
of interest to the 0,0,0 point and then determine the dimensions from the
axis.

It's definitely cumbersome for  fully dimensioning a model, but it does
provide an easy 'determine' an object's scale' capability.  I'm curious how
or if it changes your thinking about the point you raise (if at all.)

On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 12:28 PM, whosawhatsis whosawhatsis@gmail.com
wrote:

I was discussing the difficulties of OpenSCAD for new users the other
day, and had an idea that I think might make it a lot easier to use for
some purposes while still being feasible with the way the renderer works.
There have been a lot of requests for dimensioning, and I understand the
difficulties there, but I realized that it should be simpler to just show
the coordinates of the spot under the mouse cursor.

The idea would be to identify the "closest" point to the user where a
line extending through the view area away from the "camera" intersects the
surface of the rendered object, and display those coordinates as an overlay
in the corner of the preview pane. This would be particularly useful, for
instance, to manipulate features on a imported height map data, and it
would also make it much easier to gauge the scale of an object being
displayed. I think it would be easier to implement than previous
suggestions because it requires only the data output from the rendering
libraries rather than messing around inside them (and OpenGL might have a
function that would make it really simple). I've done almost nothing with
on-screen 3D rendering, so I'm not sure exactly how hard it would be, but
it seemed simple (compared to other requests) and useful enough that I
though it was worth suggesting.


OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org

--
stempeldergeschichte@googlemail.com karsten@rohrbach.de

P.S. Falls meine E-Mail kürzer ausfällt als Dir angenehm ist:
Ich probiere gerade aus kurze Antworten statt gar keine Antworten zu
schreiben.
Wenn Du gerne mehr lesen möchtest, dann lass es mich bitte wissen.

P.S. In case my e-mail is shorter than you enjoy:
I am currently trying short replies instead of no replies at all.
Please let me know, if you like to read more.

Enjoy!

--
stempeldergeschichte@googlemail.com karsten@rohrbach.de

P.S. Falls meine E-Mail kürzer ausfällt als Dir angenehm ist:
Ich probiere gerade aus kurze Antworten statt gar keine Antworten zu
schreiben.
Wenn Du gerne mehr lesen möchtest, dann lass es mich bitte wissen.

P.S. In case my e-mail is shorter than you enjoy:
I am currently trying short replies instead of no replies at all.
Please let me know, if you like to read more.

Enjoy!

reassuring -> measuring :) 2015-03-06 22:27 GMT+01:00 Peter Falke <stempeldergeschichte@googlemail.com> : > In a way this problem has already been solved: > The F6 is in principle only a .stl viewer (The data is not organized yet > in .stl form.) > And there are .stl viewers that allow reassuring, and dimensioning of the > .stl. > So just marry OpenSCAD with an .stl-viewer and all is peachy. > > Is there an open source .stl viewer around? > > 2015-03-06 21:20 GMT+01:00 Tim Deagan <tim@deagan.net>: > >> Have you had a chance to try any of the recent releases that provide >> coordinate values on the axis markers? I don't suggest that this fully >> addresses the concern you're discussing, but it does give the general scale >> of the object being rendered. I've personally used it (with a union of all >> objects allowing me to translate the whole model,) to move the model points >> of interest to the 0,0,0 point and then determine the dimensions from the >> axis. >> >> It's definitely cumbersome for fully dimensioning a model, but it does >> provide an easy 'determine' an object's scale' capability. I'm curious how >> or if it changes your thinking about the point you raise (if at all.) >> >> >> >> On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 12:28 PM, whosawhatsis <whosawhatsis@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >>> I was discussing the difficulties of OpenSCAD for new users the other >>> day, and had an idea that I think might make it a lot easier to use for >>> some purposes while still being feasible with the way the renderer works. >>> There have been a lot of requests for dimensioning, and I understand the >>> difficulties there, but I realized that it should be simpler to just show >>> the coordinates of the spot under the mouse cursor. >>> >>> The idea would be to identify the "closest" point to the user where a >>> line extending through the view area away from the "camera" intersects the >>> surface of the rendered object, and display those coordinates as an overlay >>> in the corner of the preview pane. This would be particularly useful, for >>> instance, to manipulate features on a imported height map data, and it >>> would also make it much easier to gauge the scale of an object being >>> displayed. I think it would be easier to implement than previous >>> suggestions because it requires only the data output from the rendering >>> libraries rather than messing around inside them (and OpenGL might have a >>> function that would make it really simple). I've done almost nothing with >>> on-screen 3D rendering, so I'm not sure exactly how hard it would be, but >>> it seemed simple (compared to other requests) and useful enough that I >>> though it was worth suggesting. >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> OpenSCAD mailing list >>> Discuss@lists.openscad.org >>> http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> OpenSCAD mailing list >> Discuss@lists.openscad.org >> http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org >> >> > > > -- > stempeldergeschichte@googlemail.com <karsten@rohrbach.de> > > P.S. Falls meine E-Mail kürzer ausfällt als Dir angenehm ist: > Ich probiere gerade aus kurze Antworten statt gar keine Antworten zu > schreiben. > Wenn Du gerne mehr lesen möchtest, dann lass es mich bitte wissen. > > P.S. In case my e-mail is shorter than you enjoy: > I am currently trying short replies instead of no replies at all. > Please let me know, if you like to read more. > > Enjoy! > -- stempeldergeschichte@googlemail.com <karsten@rohrbach.de> P.S. Falls meine E-Mail kürzer ausfällt als Dir angenehm ist: Ich probiere gerade aus kurze Antworten statt gar keine Antworten zu schreiben. Wenn Du gerne mehr lesen möchtest, dann lass es mich bitte wissen. P.S. In case my e-mail is shorter than you enjoy: I am currently trying short replies instead of no replies at all. Please let me know, if you like to read more. Enjoy!
YS
Yvette S. Hirth, CCP, CDP
Fri, Mar 6, 2015 11:39 PM

On 03/06/2015 01:27 PM, Peter Falke wrote:

In a way this problem has already been solved:
The F6 is in principle only a .stl viewer (The data is not organized yet
in .stl form.)
And there are .stl viewers that allow reassuring, and dimensioning of
the .stl.
So just marry OpenSCAD with an .stl-viewer and all is peachy.

Is there an open source .stl viewer around?

i use Meshlab.

yvette

On 03/06/2015 01:27 PM, Peter Falke wrote: > In a way this problem has already been solved: > The F6 is in principle only a .stl viewer (The data is not organized yet > in .stl form.) > And there are .stl viewers that allow reassuring, and dimensioning of > the .stl. > So just marry OpenSCAD with an .stl-viewer and all is peachy. > > Is there an open source .stl viewer around? i use Meshlab. yvette
TD
Tim Deagan
Sat, Mar 7, 2015 12:30 AM

http;//www.glc-palyer.net is a nice relatively lightweight model viewer
that does STL bounding box dimensions.  It's opensource (GNU license).

For point to point measure dimensioning, I confess to relying on NetFabb
Basic.  http://www.netfabb.com/downloadcenter.php?basic=1  Free, not open.
But it does great measurin, repairs and other highly useful features.  It
is the default app for STLs on my box.

On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 5:39 PM, Yvette S. Hirth, CCP, CDP <
yvette@dbtgroup.com> wrote:

On 03/06/2015 01:27 PM, Peter Falke wrote:

In a way this problem has already been solved:

The F6 is in principle only a .stl viewer (The data is not organized yet
in .stl form.)
And there are .stl viewers that allow reassuring, and dimensioning of
the .stl.
So just marry OpenSCAD with an .stl-viewer and all is peachy.

Is there an open source .stl viewer around?

http;//www.glc-palyer.net is a nice relatively lightweight model viewer that does STL bounding box dimensions. It's opensource (GNU license). For point to point measure dimensioning, I confess to relying on NetFabb Basic. http://www.netfabb.com/downloadcenter.php?basic=1 Free, not open. But it does great measurin, repairs and other highly useful features. It is the default app for STLs on my box. On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 5:39 PM, Yvette S. Hirth, CCP, CDP < yvette@dbtgroup.com> wrote: > On 03/06/2015 01:27 PM, Peter Falke wrote: > > In a way this problem has already been solved: >> The F6 is in principle only a .stl viewer (The data is not organized yet >> in .stl form.) >> And there are .stl viewers that allow reassuring, and dimensioning of >> the .stl. >> So just marry OpenSCAD with an .stl-viewer and all is peachy. >> >> Is there an open source .stl viewer around? >> > > i use Meshlab. > > yvette > > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > Discuss@lists.openscad.org > http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org >
PF
Peter Falke
Sat, Mar 7, 2015 7:33 AM

Maybe one could use an alternative .stl viewer like one can use an
alternative editor, now:
OpenSCAD pushes the .stl-file áutomatically after an F6 to an stl-viewer.

2015-03-07 1:30 GMT+01:00 Tim Deagan tim@deagan.net:

http;//www.glc-palyer.net is a nice relatively lightweight model viewer
that does STL bounding box dimensions.  It's opensource (GNU license).

For point to point measure dimensioning, I confess to relying on NetFabb
Basic.  http://www.netfabb.com/downloadcenter.php?basic=1  Free, not
open. But it does great measurin, repairs and other highly useful
features.  It is the default app for STLs on my box.

On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 5:39 PM, Yvette S. Hirth, CCP, CDP <
yvette@dbtgroup.com> wrote:

On 03/06/2015 01:27 PM, Peter Falke wrote:

In a way this problem has already been solved:

The F6 is in principle only a .stl viewer (The data is not organized yet
in .stl form.)
And there are .stl viewers that allow reassuring, and dimensioning of
the .stl.
So just marry OpenSCAD with an .stl-viewer and all is peachy.

Is there an open source .stl viewer around?

--
stempeldergeschichte@googlemail.com karsten@rohrbach.de

P.S. Falls meine E-Mail kürzer ausfällt als Dir angenehm ist:
Ich probiere gerade aus kurze Antworten statt gar keine Antworten zu
schreiben.
Wenn Du gerne mehr lesen möchtest, dann lass es mich bitte wissen.

P.S. In case my e-mail is shorter than you enjoy:
I am currently trying short replies instead of no replies at all.
Please let me know, if you like to read more.

Enjoy!

Maybe one could use an alternative .stl viewer like one can use an alternative editor, now: OpenSCAD pushes the .stl-file áutomatically after an F6 to an stl-viewer. 2015-03-07 1:30 GMT+01:00 Tim Deagan <tim@deagan.net>: > http;//www.glc-palyer.net is a nice relatively lightweight model viewer > that does STL bounding box dimensions. It's opensource (GNU license). > > For point to point measure dimensioning, I confess to relying on NetFabb > Basic. http://www.netfabb.com/downloadcenter.php?basic=1 Free, not > open. But it does great measurin, repairs and other highly useful > features. It is the default app for STLs on my box. > > On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 5:39 PM, Yvette S. Hirth, CCP, CDP < > yvette@dbtgroup.com> wrote: > >> On 03/06/2015 01:27 PM, Peter Falke wrote: >> >> In a way this problem has already been solved: >>> The F6 is in principle only a .stl viewer (The data is not organized yet >>> in .stl form.) >>> And there are .stl viewers that allow reassuring, and dimensioning of >>> the .stl. >>> So just marry OpenSCAD with an .stl-viewer and all is peachy. >>> >>> Is there an open source .stl viewer around? >>> >> >> i use Meshlab. >> >> yvette >> >> _______________________________________________ >> OpenSCAD mailing list >> Discuss@lists.openscad.org >> http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org >> > > > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > Discuss@lists.openscad.org > http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org > > -- stempeldergeschichte@googlemail.com <karsten@rohrbach.de> P.S. Falls meine E-Mail kürzer ausfällt als Dir angenehm ist: Ich probiere gerade aus kurze Antworten statt gar keine Antworten zu schreiben. Wenn Du gerne mehr lesen möchtest, dann lass es mich bitte wissen. P.S. In case my e-mail is shorter than you enjoy: I am currently trying short replies instead of no replies at all. Please let me know, if you like to read more. Enjoy!