[TechDraw] Too large bounding box around detail view

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broxtor
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[TechDraw] Too large bounding box around detail view

Post by broxtor »

Hello,

I'm making a drawing in TechDraw in which I need a detail view. That is working, but I get a very big bounding box around the view that takes up a lot of space on my drawing. Is there a way to crop this box?
An image of what I mean:
Image
So what you see there is the circle in which the detail of the model is drawn. Then a very big rectangle (the green one) around the circle that could have been much smaller in my opinion.
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wandererfan
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Re: [TechDraw] Too large bounding box around detail view

Post by wandererfan »

broxtor wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:02 am That is working, but I get a very big bounding box around the view that takes up a lot of space on my drawing. Is there a way to crop this box?
What version are you using? The matting around the detail has been shrunk a couple of times in the last year. In v0.21 it is barely perceptible.
Even in v20.2 it is much smaller than your image.
DetailMatting.png
DetailMatting.png (16.91 KiB) Viewed 1622 times

Code: Select all

OS: Ubuntu Core 20 (X-Cinnamon/cinnamon)
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.20.2.29177 +426 (Git) Snap 517
Build type: Release
Branch: tag: 0.20.2
Hash: 930dd9a76203a3260b1e6256c70c1c3cad8c5cb8
Python 3.8.10, Qt 5.15.5, Coin 4.0.0, Vtk 7.1.1, OCC 7.6.3
Locale: English/Canada (en_CA)
rich61
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Re: [TechDraw] Too large bounding box around detail view

Post by rich61 »

I haven't used detail view much, but use sections quite a bit. I notice that bounding box around sections includes the parting line which is correct. When I want to use the View XY property to align two views, it is the bounding box not my drawing that aligns, so I manually position, its OK. A right click allows toggle frames which shows what the print will look like.
BoundingBox.png
BoundingBox.png (17.03 KiB) Viewed 1545 times

In View properties, there is a parameter "On Top When Selected" that I thought might alleviate the problem described by the OP a bit. That way if you select the view you want, the bounding box would be behind. I've never used that, but it seems to not work they way I had expected. Maybe I should read the manual.

I intentionally overlapped these two views. If that property did put the Selected view frame on top, then the big view frame would not obscure the view that is overlapped.

Here both View002 and Section view have the property "On top when selected" set to true. Section is selected, but View002 is on top.
Overlap.png
Overlap.png (29.12 KiB) Viewed 1545 times

Maybe this doesn't relate to this post directly.
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wandererfan
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Re: [TechDraw] Too large bounding box around detail view

Post by wandererfan »

rich61 wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 6:17 pm In View properties, there is a parameter "On Top When Selected" that I thought might alleviate the problem described by the OP a bit.
I've seen this property, but I don't know what it does. It isn't used in TechDraw.

In v0.21 views have a stacking order that adjusts which view is on top.
broxtor
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Re: [TechDraw] Too large bounding box around detail view

Post by broxtor »

Sorry, I forgot to include version information. Here it is:

OS: Linux Mint 21.1 (X-Cinnamon/cinnamon)
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 2023.131.26244 +5365 (Git) AppImage
Build type: Release
Branch: LinkDaily
Hash: 73c4ca254c5de8849d104973482e98399fb24863
Python version: 3.10.8
Qt version: 5.15.4
Coin version: 4.0.1
OCC version: 7.6.3
Locale: Dutch/Netherlands (nl_NL)

This is the realthunder link appimage.

The bounding boxes around the section views are nice and tight. Only the ones around the details are huge. If the background would be transparent then it would not even be a problem, but unfortunately it isn´t. The property "On top when Selected" doesn´t seem to do anything with me.
But in the mean time I'm facing a lot more issues with techdraw. Centerlines don't stay where I put them and dimensions are also all over the place. So I guess I'm going to have to find an alternative.
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wandererfan
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Re: [TechDraw] Too large bounding box around detail view

Post by wandererfan »

broxtor wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 2:05 pm This is the realthunder link appimage.
AFAIK, the version of TechDraw in that fork is way behind master.
broxtor
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Re: [TechDraw] Too large bounding box around detail view

Post by broxtor »

That is a pity. I switched to the realthunder fork because of issues with modeling in the main branch.
rich61
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Re: [TechDraw] Too large bounding box around detail view

Post by rich61 »

I've seen this property, but I don't know what it does. It isn't used in TechDraw.

In v0.21 views have a stacking order that adjusts which view is on top.
Now that I look more closely, I see the 'On top when selected' property everwhere. I think it is a fundamental object property, so not related to techdraw.

Thanks for mentioning stacking order. I'll check that out more.

The View Boundary box in stacking order seems to be transparent. If I used it, making it opaque so I can't see the part behind it, might sometimes be useful, I have to explore it more.

I also notice that although the View box expands to include a section line, it doesn't seem to encompass a balloon.

However if you move a view box,

All in all, I'm pretty happy with Techdraw as is. Its true that completing a drawing, then going back to Sketcher making changes causes a lot of dimensions to 'forget' what was being dimensioned. Maybe you'll have a new version using ChatGPT that will see 'where they should have been'. lol My solution to that is just fix it up again. My drawings aren't super complex, and I'm not billing by the hour.
rich61
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Re: [TechDraw] Too large bounding box around detail view

Post by rich61 »

broxtor, I hope you don't leave FreeCAD, altogether. The progress between 5 years ago and today is enormous.
But in the mean time I'm facing a lot more issues with techdraw. Centerlines don't stay where I put them and dimensions are also all over the place. So I guess I'm going to have to find an alternative.
I'm probably the only one, but I like seeing complaints.

I wish I knew all the internal details about how techdraw works, then my comments would be more respectable.

If you want a center line on a part, you can use the cosmetic system in techdraw or midpoints in techdraw. As far as I can see, the cosmetic system is anchored to its own techdraw elements, not to the sketcher elements. However you could create a vertex in Sketcher that will make its way into the model, and so it will show up in techdraw. Use the use the split-edge tool in sketcher, but think of it as 'Insert Vertex'. The cosmetic system is good for a final drawing, once you are completely finished with the model. The problem I have, is that I seem to never be finished with the model Techdraw gives me another view of the model, at which point I discover something I should fix in sketcher.

Also, if you need a point somewhere to show up in techdraw, use a very tiny circle, so small it doesn't actually show up in the 3d model, but does show up like a vertex dot in techdraw. This is a good substitute for the sketcher 'point' which isn't a geometric point and does not go into the 3d model and so never shows up in techdraw. Sketcher-point is more like a 2D bookmark, just a reference. If you pad or extrude a real point, it would be a line. That is exactly what happens with the 'Insert Vertex' and also the tiny circle, an extrusion of those elements go all the way through the part if you want them to.

I use these so called workarounds quite a bit specifically for techdraw display.

At one time I thought I wanted a 3D point, which has zero dimensions. But I just wanted a way to communicate between sketcher and techdraw.

I guess techdraw uses a projection from the model, and not the specific elements we create in sketcher. There is information loss.

I suspect, but not sure, that the TNP changes will not fix the sketcher to techdraw issues.
rich61
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Re: [TechDraw] Too large bounding box around detail view

Post by rich61 »

Here is an example of a centerline created in Sketcher. It will stay in the center no matter what since it is centered by a Sketcher constraint.

In TechDraw 'view properties' you have to set Hard Hidden to True.
In TechDraw Preferences you'll want to assign hidden line type to dashed

The dot you see on the face is the end of the center line. Of course it is created as a centered circle, that is very very small diameter.
ModelCenterline.png
ModelCenterline.png (5.52 KiB) Viewed 1246 times
This is very quick and easy, and makes no work for Wandererfan.

If you want to mark just a face, just create a second sketch attached to the face, and make a tiny diameter pocket with a tiny depth. These all show up as a vertex

These crazy workarounds might be 'religiously' incorrect, but so far work fine for me in TechDraw.

How small should dimensions be ? If there is any problem with small numbers in FreeCAD, that would answer that. I think you can make 100 nm and freecad works fine.
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