Another seemingly low hanging fruit enhancement request…
It would be very handy to be able to specify the size of a circle using the Circle tool in the Measurements box by prefixing it with a “d” to indicate the value is a diameter versus the default radius.
Since drill bits are specified by diameter, not radius, I’m reasonably sure people think “diameter” when specifying a hole (woodworking, construction, machining, etc), not “radius”.
I realize it’s relatively easy to translate something like a 7/16" diameter hole to a 7/32" radius (double the denominator). But, not so much for a 1-13/16" diameter, which is a 29/32" radius. Why not have SketchUp do the “divide by 2” for a diameter to radius conversion versus making the human do it —right Aaron ?
Also, for the metric minded people, specifying circles by diameter versus radius using the “d” prefix can still help a lot (37.35mm diameter versus a radius of 18.675 mm).
This is a feature request to have the option to enter and retrieve circle diameters. The Dimension tool can give circle diameters already so the information is there.
You’re imagining it wrong.
Replication of Circle tool is possible and enter radius or diameter can be achieved in a several different ways. Have you heard of the mathematical operations of multiplication and division?
And yes, SketchUp will even do this job for you (the user). Enter any desired value as radius. Then apply the ‘Scale’ tool on that circle with factor 0.5 to have your value as the diameter.
Even works with inches, feet, … yards fathom, elbows, … or whatever units.
Bottom line: let SketchUp do the job.
p.s. this can all be done in a separate environment: in right click > (context menu) make group > create circle etc. … scale > close group
By the way, the Circle tool asks for the radius quite logically. You start at the center and end at the perimeter. This length is the radius.
If two points of the diameter were the starting and ending points, then it would be more logical to enter the diameter…
… and yes, still the request makes sense
I know how circles are created. OP wants to enter diameters instead of radii.
It makes sense yes, with the (say) d_value (optional units). But as it is now you’r still able to create circles to exact diameter without worrying about any math.
The problem is its 18 steps when if could be (should be) one. No different than math in the dialoge box should be (14.3125*3 enter) like any other cad/design program.
Been SU since 08 and all these things that can be done in SU have to be done multitudes of steps. The limitations of Ruby are well and good but defending a several step process that should be far fewer, if not one, isnt getting things any better. The solution will be left to an extension developer as usual
Wow, 18 steps, that’s a lot. I myself count only something like 2 steps.
I’m not defending anything and was hoping not to frustrate developement of the program. Just saying that you can enter radii and scale down by 0.5 instead of (what might be in future) entering diameters as ddiameter) That is one step against typing d or whatever.
In OP’s example I entered 1 13/16" and scaled down by 0.5 resulting in diameter 1 13/16"