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Basic Wall Fails
Posted: Thu May 25, 2023 8:10 am
by nelsonic
Hi FreeCADers,
I'm trying to transition from Closed CAD to FreeCAD but keep hitting weird quirks/issues.
While attempting to follow
@yorik's "Presentation of FreeCAD Arch Workbench":
https://youtu.be/CH_io4MHJ4U?t=100
and create a basic wall in the Arch Workbench based on a Rectangle I get the following strange result:
Appears to be a prism. But the should be rectangular.
Did a screen recording an uploaded to YouTube:
https://youtu.be/2n_JjEguOGw [71 seconds]
Really don't understand what is going on here. It happens every time and I'm beginning to think I'm cursed.
Any help very much appreciated. Thanks.
Version details:
Code: Select all
OS: macOS 10.16
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.20.2.29603 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: (HEAD detached at 0.20.2)
Hash: 930dd9a76203a3260b1e6256c70c1c3cad8c5cb8
Python 3.10.8, Qt 5.15.4, Coin 4.0.0, Vtk 9.1.0, OCC 7.6.3
Locale: C/Default (C)
Installed mods:
* BIM 2021.12.0
Re: Basic Wall Fails
Posted: Thu May 25, 2023 9:35 am
by yorik
I think it's just because your view is truncated because the camera is too close. Try right-clicking the 3D view background -> Fit all
Re: Basic Wall Fails
Posted: Thu May 25, 2023 1:06 pm
by nelsonic
Hi
@yorik thanks for the quick reply.
If I right-click and then "Fit all"
This is what I see:
It's definitely a peculiar shape for a "Wall" ...
Uploaded the file to GitHub:
https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/issu ... 1562656627
LMK if I should try re-installing FreeCAD without the BIM add-on to have a "cleaner" install for debugging this.
Re: Basic Wall Fails
Posted: Thu May 25, 2023 2:31 pm
by Syres
Surely the root cause is the rectangle isn't on the X-Y plane but on a slightly bizarre one. Even if the building is on a hill the walls need to go straight up in Z unless we're talking leaning tower of Pisa???
Re: Basic Wall Fails
Posted: Thu May 25, 2023 4:28 pm
by nelsonic
@syres that makes sense. But why would creating a Rectangle in a brand new document/file be in an incorrect plane?
My interpretation, as someone very new to FreeCAD but experienced in AutoDesk/SketchUp/etc. is that the act of selecting the tool would automatically default to the logical work plane.
And if itβs the plane thatβs the problem, how do I fix that?
Re: Basic Wall Fails
Posted: Thu May 25, 2023 5:53 pm
by hko
nelsonic wrote: βThu May 25, 2023 4:28 pm
@syres that makes sense. But why would creating a Rectangle in a brand new document/file be in an incorrect plane?
We can see in your screenshots/video, near the top-left corner, that the working plane is "Auto", which is the default (unless changed in the preferences).
The documentation says "Press the Automatic button to automatically align the working plane with the current 3D view whenever a Draft or Arch command requiring point input is started.
As shown in your video, when you click the rectangle tool, grid (which is on the working plane) changes but the navigation cube near the top right corner doesn't. So it's the plane that is changed and not the camera orientation/position, which matches the documentation.
You should change the working plane to "Top" before using the rectangle tool. You can also change the default in the preferences.
Re: Basic Wall Fails
Posted: Thu May 25, 2023 6:17 pm
by hko
Sorry, my brain wasn't running when I replied.
While I still suggest changing the working plane, it has nothing to do with the actual problem of weird wall shape. You should get a normal looking wall even if the working plane is changed when you begin drawing the rectangle. The problem of the odd wall shape happens even if you change the working plane to Top.
The size of your rectangle is very small, about 70x200mm. The default width of the wall is 200mm. Reduce the width or increase the rectangle size and the problem disappears.
Edit: If you mainly do architecture work, I suggest changing Grid spacing setting in the Draft preferences to something like 100mm.
Re: Basic Wall Fails
Posted: Fri May 26, 2023 6:20 am
by paullee
nelsonic wrote: βThu May 25, 2023 8:10 am
Appears to be a prism. But the should be rectangular.
Please post your model file, easier for others to find the problem
Re: Basic Wall Fails
Posted: Fri May 26, 2023 6:21 am
by nelsonic
@hko that's some fine attention to detail! Thanks!
Opened: Preferences > Draft
And updated "Default Working plane" from "None":
To "XY Top":
Then in a
new document, created a fresh Rectangle with the dimensions I waned 3m x 4m
and when creating a wall based on the Rectangle get the desired result:
I can't help but feel that someone
new to FreeCAD might not intuitively know to set their "Working plane"
and might rightly or wrongly expect it to just default to XY?
Either way, thanks very much everyone for helping me get "unstuck" on this.
Hope the Search Engine Bots index this answer,
to help the
next struggling n00b find it when they hit the same issue.
Re: Basic Wall Fails
Posted: Fri May 26, 2023 6:42 am
by nelsonic
Follow-up note: In the Wall properties the
Length is listed as
14.00m:
The Wall is based on a 3m x 4m Rectangle:
Therefore my assumption is that the "Length" of the wall is in fact the
perimeter.
i.e.
3 + 4 + 3 + 4 = 14m ...