mgajewski

Thanks, Mike, "snap to geometry points" worked like a charm. I had the snap set to "any" so I thought that would include geometry points... Mark

Hi, I'm struggling with dimensioning a rounded slot so that the leader lines extend to the ends of the slot instead of the end circle centers. Also, I don't seem to be able to show an M5 thread according to the ISO convention even though the part has the thread on it. Also, is there a dimensioning tutorial available for XG? Your help would be appreciated. Please take a look at the attached image. I'm using XG. Thanks. Mark

Thanks, Kevin and Tom - the video and link are both very helpful. Mark

Hi, Realistic rendering in previous versions of IC seemed quite simple and intuitive to me. I find realistic rendering in XG a bit unclear. Is there a tutorial for or a simple and clear explanation of the realistic rendering settings and process available? Thanks. Mark

Hi Cary and Kevin, Thanks for the reply. BTW - I could not find a really powerful ultraportable with XP - I wish I could. I need to have an ultraportable with IronCAD around with me at all times so I can design when inspiration strikes. I'm looking forward to May/June. Best regards, Mark

I really feel very strongly that Ironcad should run on Vista. I've been delaying the purchase of a laptop because I cannot install Ironcad on a new laptop as the best ones are only available with Vista. And I really need a new laptop. Vista is THE mainstream operating system. I pay my Ironcad Advantage subscription dues regularly and I love Ironcad but if this continues for much longer I might have to look elswhere. I used to love Apple a long time ago but when CAD and other engineering software became thin on the ground for Apple I switched to Windows. Ironcad may force me to do the same if it does not get updated to work with the current mainstream operating system. I sincerely hope this does not happen as in general Ironcad is a lot of fun, pleasure to use, and a very useful tool. Mark

Tom, I don't think this will work if I follow you correctly. Only the blocks on the centerlines of the dome would behave correctly. Thanks! Mark

Bernd, I could not get this to work. It got reimported without well-defined facets. Thanks! Mark

I take it back, Robert - your idea worked pretty well. Thanks! Mark

I've tried the STL export/import trick but that did not produce square facets. I'd like square facets as shown in my attached picture. This is for a rendering/appearance purposes only so I do not really need perfect dimensional accuracy but just a convincing picture at 300dpi at 8.5 x 11 inches. Mark

Hi Kevin, Sorry I don't mean to be ungrateful but that solution seems pretty close to self-flagellation to me I was hoping for some devilishly clever trick. I know this is a real challenge. Mark

Hi I'd like to model a surface or a solid with square facets on a slice of a sphere as shown in the attached picture. I am not sure how to best approach this and would appreciate any help. Thanks! Mark

Robert, I really appreciate your comments - very helpful. BTW - IronCAD does not seem to give you the option of selecting how many frames per second to save in the .avi fromat... All I see is a "key frame frequency" box? Mark

Hi, I have just tried exporting ICAD animations in Tiff and Jpeg formats and got strings of pretty nice quality images. However - how do I stitch them together to actually get an animated movie? I've also tried an .avi export with Video1 compression but the movie came out with some jerkiness in it. The Indeo 3.2 compression does not seem to work at all - I get a message saying that the "file cannot be opened" - whatever that might mean... BTW - if I do use the .avi format, what key frame frequency should I use? The explanation in ICAD's Help does not seem to answer that question. For example, if I have 300 frames total, what key frame frequency should I use for the best quality movie? I am not that concerned about the size of the movie file, I'm more concerned I get a nice quality movie for an important presentation. Any tips would be appreciated, including getting some third party software (if not too expensive and hard to use Thanks! Mark

How much does the processor speed really matter? And the graphics card? Mind I won't ICAD and Photoshop open simultaneoulsly... Mark

Hi, I intend to buy a new computer in March 2007. Id appreciate advice what configuration would work for fast IronCAD modeling and rendering and Photoshop work. I am reasonably knowledgeable about computers but not a highly technical person so please keep the wording and concepts simple Also is it possible to get a pretty good set up for the above for about $3000? (computer only, I already have a nice LCD monitor). If $3000 is not enough, how much should I budget? Is getting two processors worthwhile? Are there any preconfigured computers that would do a good job? Thanks! Mark

Hi I wonder if there is a way to copy or move shapes from part to part (just like copying/moving parts between assemblies)? I don't think it can be done directly (it would be awesome if it could) but does anyone know of a workaround that accomplishes essentially the same thing? Even if the resulting part becomes "dumb" after the operation... I am working with a complex imported part that I have applied some shapes to and now I have another imported part which I'd like to modify the same way but do not want to go through the process again and anyway I am not sure I could duplicate it exactly... Mark

Cary, Thanks for the tip. I'll have to try this - I want to see if the sine curve will wrap itself all the way around the cylinder (360 degrees) without getting distorted. I thought that projecting curves worked like slide projection (parallel)... or am I missing something from your suggestion? Mark

Thanks, Alex - that is a clean and elegant solution - I'm going to experiment with it. You might want to check out http://www1.kcn.ne.jp/~iittoo/us27f_mobi.htm - they explain formulas that describe the edge and surface of a Mobius strip. I've also found this: A parametric representation of a Mobius strip, with its centre-line a circle of radius r in the xy plane, and with a width of (2 * w), is as follows: x = ((r + (t * cos(u / 2))) * cos(u)) y = ((r + (t * cos(u / 2))) * sin(u)) z = (t * sin(u / 2)) 0 ≤ t ≤ w (0 ≤ u ≤ (4 * π)) r = 5 and w = 1 draws a pretty good Mobius strip. The parameterisation also works with the intervals: -w ≤ t ≤ w (0 ≤ u ≤ (2 * π)) Mark

I'd like to model a wavy ring - just picture a sinusoidal wave that you then bend into a perfect circle such that the side view is a wave and the top view is a circle - as shown in my attached (clumsy) sketch. Any tips would be greatly appreciated

That's a terrific and really powerful tip. It worked like a charm. Thanks, Beat!

I wonder if anyone knows how to quickly (and without effort model a RANDOMLY multifaceted object - similar to the crystal in the attached picture. Any tips would be appreciated (including those for how to model a regularly faceted object, and converting a smooth model to a real (and not just appearance-wise) faceted model. Thanks

When I define a custom color in Scene Properties / Background / Colors / More Colors and put it in the Custom Colors palette, that color is gone from the palette next time I launch IC. Does anyone know how I can make the colors stay put in the palette?

Ctrl + Tab will toggle between open IC windows (just like in Photoshop): very useful

Thanks for the tip but I still think the situation is not "robust". I do not mind workarounds when I'm trying to accomplish something unusual or complex but to be forced into jumping through hoops while performing basic operations seems a bit off to me. I think that the fundamentals should be made really robust before moving on to the bells and whistles. Just as with the Triball in the greyed-out mode not being able to be oriented to global with one axis locked - this is a fundamental that is not working and it's costing me in productivity. I understand that there are many things being worked on by the IC team and it's a matter of priorities. There are so many things working so well in IC that I just wanted to cast my vote for continuing to make sure that the fundamentals are solid (no pun...).