Subject:
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Re: Rotating and Aligning Elements in MLCad
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.cad.mlcad
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Date:
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Fri, 13 Sep 2002 05:15:44 GMT
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Viewed:
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3769 times
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thanks for the great headsup...
-tk
"richard marchetti" <blueofnoon@aol.com> wrote in message
news:H2CKpt.DLy@lugnet.com...
> Hey Y'all:
>
> I know this is answered elsewhere, but it's a hassle to look for. As • great
> as MLCad is (for me it is "THEE" CAD tool for LDraw action), the
> documentation is just not there in some ways.
>
> Recently I had cause to mess with an angled element like 6044.DAT, "Slope
> Brick 53 3x1x3 1/3 with Studs on Slope." If you wanted to set an element • on
> that sloped angle, say a 1x4 plate going down the slope lengthwise; • normally
> this would be a pain because the default rotation setting is 15 degrees • and
> that slope is 53 degrees (probably very close to it anyway). You will have
> the problem of a mismatch of 8 degrees.
>
> Instead of just slopping it, as I once might have done, here is the real • way
> to do it quickly and easily without messing with the rotation matrices (no
> Algebra required):
>
> 1) Go to "Settings" on the menu bar.
> 2) Hover on "General", then click on "Change".
> 3) Click on the "Step, Grid, Snap" tab in the resulting popup window.
> 4) For this job, we concern ourselves only with the bottom row: "Default • for
> Grid Off"
> 5) Note the values for each text box (by default they should be as • follows):
> X Step Units = 1
> Y Step Units = 1
> Z Step Units = 1
> Rotation Angle = 15
> 6) Those values aren't going to help if you need finer moves for your
> elements. Look at the "Rotation Angle", change the value from 15 to 1 and
> click the "OK" button. Now instead of moving the element by 15 degrees • with
> each click of a rotation tool, you will move it only by 1 degree. This is
> going to take more clicks this way, but it will enable you to do precisely
> what you need to do. If you are ahead of this game you might have set the
> value to 8 instead realizing that if you moved 45 degrees already in the
> default setting, you need 8 degrees more to get the 53 degrees.
> 7) To set everything to default again, simply do as before and change the
> values back again. Easier still, you would click on "Settings", hover on
> "General", and click on "Default." It's done -- the drawback is that this
> sets EVERYTHING back to default, now you have to go back in and tweak
> everything you had changed in everything else -- for example I like to
> change the grid to "fine" rather than "coarse". That's probably more • hassle
> than it's worth. For me, it's easier to just change the settings in "Step,
> Grid, Snap" tab.
> 8) Okay, if you followed these instructions and actually tried what I have
> written above, you are looking at the results with a funny expression. I
> know, the elements will not now match up quite correctly, everything is • just
> a little off by a teeny bit. Here's the fix...
> 9) You need to go back into "Settings" --> "General" --> "Change" --> • "Step,
> Grid, Snap" and mess with the X, Y, and Z Step Units -- I'd recommend 0.5
> (Zero-Dot-Five) instead of the 1 there. At this finer level, you will end
> up being able to position the element tightly enough to make a nice set of
> instructions are even a POV-Ray render later on. Obviously, you can
> optimize your visit to the "Step, Grid, Snap" tab and do everything in one
> go -- I kept repeating the steps only to highlight what it takes to
> accomplish each unique function.
> 10) The end results of your labors will look like this:
> http://www.ozbricks.com/blaktron/misc/53slope.jpg
>
> That's perfectly adequate for your needs, trust me. I didn't need this • much
> before, but I am glad to know of it now.
>
> -- Hop-Frog
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Rotating and Aligning Elements in MLCad
|
| Hey Y'all: I know this is answered elsewhere, but it's a hassle to look for. As great as MLCad is (for me it is "THEE" CAD tool for LDraw action), the documentation is just not there in some ways. Recently I had cause to mess with an angled element (...) (22 years ago, 12-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad.mlcad)
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