PD 2023: missing features/options

About the development of the Part Design module/workbench. PLEASE DO NOT POST HELP REQUESTS HERE!
Forum rules
Be nice to others! Respect the FreeCAD code of conduct!
Post Reply
Piero69
Posts: 473
Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2019 1:22 pm
Location: Parma - Italy

PD 2023: missing features/options

Post by Piero69 »

i would create a post to really enhance FC and take it like all other 3D cads. All are welcome with a constructive spirit (independently if you use or don't use a feature or if you like or not a comparison with commercial cads) and abandon the idea of messy or complex workaround or annoying trips around WBs to simulate a feature that should be done by a click in the main modelling environment.

i tested what (imo) FC-PD still misses compared to other Cads, yet i don't kwon if some of them are under development

1) Revolve: missing more options: two angles/up to first/up to face/offset from face
2) Loft: missing options to guide the feature by curves to manage how a section turns into another one
3) Fillet: missing option for a variable radius
4) Thickness: missing option for a variable value for different faces to create a shell with different thicknesses
5) adding surface modelling (open sketches)
User avatar
NewJoker
Veteran
Posts: 3017
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2020 7:49 pm

Re: PD 2023: missing features/options

Post by NewJoker »

Piero69 wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:06 am 1) Revolve: missing more options: two angles/up to first/up to face/offset from face
There's already a PR for that but it seems that the work was stopped for some reason: https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/pull/7193

@jnxd Do you plan to continue working on that in the future ?

Piero69 wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:06 am 2) Loft: missing options to guide the feature by curves to manage how a section turns into another one
Guide curves for the loft operation have already been requested a few times. Here's a GitHub FR: issue #8754

Piero69 wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:06 am 3) Fillet: missing option for a variable radius
Also requested several times. It's already possible in the Part workbench.

Piero69 wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:06 am 4) Thickness: missing option for a variable value for different faces to create a shell with different thicknesses
The thickness tool barely works properly with constant thickness.

Piero69 wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:06 am 5) adding surface modelling (open sketches)
Surface modeling is already handled by the Part workbench and it would be hard to integrate it with Part Design.
User avatar
jnxd
Posts: 951
Joined: Mon Mar 30, 2015 2:30 pm
Contact:

Re: PD 2023: missing features/options

Post by jnxd »

NewJoker wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 8:09 am
Piero69 wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:06 am 1) Revolve: missing more options: two angles/up to first/up to face/offset from face
There's already a PR for that but it seems that the work was stopped for some reason: https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/pull/7193

@jnxd Do you plan to continue working on that in the future ?
...
Piero69 wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:06 am 5) adding surface modelling (open sketches)
Surface modeling is already handled by the Part workbench and it would be hard to integrate it with Part Design.
I don't recall what's holding back that PR. We can talk in detail in the PR itself.

What does "open sketch" mean here?
My latest (or last) project: B-spline Construction Project.
User avatar
NewJoker
Veteran
Posts: 3017
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2020 7:49 pm

Re: PD 2023: missing features/options

Post by NewJoker »

jnxd wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 10:43 am I don't recall what's holding back that PR. We can talk in detail in the PR itself.
Yeah, it would be great to revive that PR for the next release.

jnxd wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 10:43 am What does "open sketch" mean here?
The OP is talking about sketches like this:

sketch.png
sketch.png (12.34 KiB) Viewed 2008 times

that can be only extruded as a surface in the Part workbench but can't be extruded as a solid in the Part Design workbench.
Piero69
Posts: 473
Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2019 1:22 pm
Location: Parma - Italy

Re: PD 2023: missing features/options

Post by Piero69 »

open sketches that generate surfaces instead of solids so you can have a complete surfaces modelling in PD. Often modelling only the skin is easier than a complete "mass" and at the end you solidify the object by closure surfaces, allowing it in PD would be great

NewJoker wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 10:54 am
jnxd wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 10:43 am I don't recall what's holding back that PR. We can talk in detail in the PR itself.
Yeah, it would be great to revive that PR for the next release.

jnxd wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 10:43 am What does "open sketch" mean here?
The OP is talking about sketches like this:


sketch.png


that can be only extruded as a surface in the Part workbench but can't be extruded as a solid in the Part Design workbench.
User avatar
adrianinsaval
Veteran
Posts: 5541
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 5:15 pm

Re: PD 2023: missing features/options

Post by adrianinsaval »

Surface modelling in PD would require a major refactor I think so it's not happening any time soon. Extended revolve and fillet options are possible and likely going to happen in the next dev cycle, multiple guide curves for lofts unfortunately is not possible using the occt functions we use today, it might be possible to do it outside of occt though but that's evidently harder so might not happen in a long while or not at all. Thickness is very fragile as is already and I don't know if occt offers the possibility of individually setting a thickness so I don't expect this is going to be implemented.
User avatar
onekk
Veteran
Posts: 6144
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2015 7:48 am
Contact:

Re: PD 2023: missing features/options

Post by onekk »

Piero69 wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 12:05 pm ...

Not so easy, as some surface creation methods, are not easy to manage.

Probably you know that I'm modelling with scripting, and very often I have to use some dirty tricks, to make surfaces match, think as example of the BREP paradigm.
  1. You create surfaces
  2. You create a Shell
  3. You create the solid from the shell
It is very easy on paper, (it is like a medieval recipe, ten lines of text, but first line say, "hunt a deer" :D )

Some surface creation methods, create a surface that is approximate from the original curves, so as example if you create two surface that must match at the "common edge", one of them could not reuse the same edge, as this edge is not the original edge anymore but an approximate copy.

Sometimes it is easy to get the edge, as example using the vIso() or uIso() methods, (I have had some success in adding "gordon surfaces" with this technique), but it is not always easy to get "mating edges", and even the created surface could be approximated too, so you could end in a circular dependencies problem.

So probably some work has to be done in code in "surface healing" to produce "mating edges", and probably this will involve even some OCCT coding, for something that go beyond surfaces generated from "regular curves" using methods like "ruled surfaces" that usually don't alter "boundaries curves".

Regards

Carlo D.
GitHub page: https://github.com/onekk/freecad-doc.
- In deep articles on FreeCAD.
- Learning how to model with scripting.
- Various other stuffs.

Blog: https://okkmkblog.wordpress.com/
User avatar
FBXL5
Posts: 979
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 8:45 pm

Re: PD 2023: missing features/options

Post by FBXL5 »

It would be nice to be able to create open profiles with constand thickness from open sketches, like SheetMetal Add Base Wall does, but without automatically inserted bends between straight lines.
If thickness is involved such a feature would add/remove a solid shape to/from the PartDesign Tip feature, not just faces as in Part WB.
Post Reply