Does anyone know if there is an extension that deals with this problem?
Sometimes when manipulating geometry or groups, things end up slightly off axis, say off vertical. It can be quite a task to correct this when the degree of movement is very small. What I am after is a tool that will allow you to pick a line, say, that you know is off axis and then rotate about a selected point to bring the line on axis. In a group, the whole group would then be correctly aligned.
There is an extension called Align but I am not sure it does quite what I want.
I think you are right about Align. I doubt its what you want. I had a poke around to see if I can find something that might work for you. No joy. Alignment can be fixed with native tools, of course.
I do wonder, though, what it is that you are doing that causes these slight misalignments. I can’t help but think that a change to your process might help to eliminate the problem. Just have to sort out what it is you’re doing when the misalignment occurs.
@DaveR You are of course right that the problem almost certainly occurs because of poor drawing technique. Trouble is, it’s often difficult to identify where something went wrong. It tends to occur when things are being duplicated and/or moved in off axis directions. So, for example, you might have a bunch of basic window geometry, each window a group within a larger group. Then you rotate the whole lot on the XY plane an irregular amount. Then you mirror them by copying and scaling by -1. Normally, all the upright parts of the window would be aligned parallel to the blue axis. But after all the various stages, they sometimes aren’t. Then they don’t fit to a vertical face.
Anyway, many thanks for trying to help find the elusive plugin/extension. I guess I will have to correct things the longhand way!
I see a couple of problems in your description. If the verticals are vertical when you start, and you are actually rotating on the X-Y plane (or about the Z axis), the verticals should remain vertical. Is it possible that you are changing the global axis orientation so it is no longer aligned correctly with the world axes?
I think your mirroring workflow could be improved which could reduce the chances for errors, too.
Geo has a good point. If your geometry is very slightly off axis, it can be easier to rotate it even more off axis before bring it back.
Thanks @DaveR and @Geo, some really helpful suggestions here. I am quite sure the problem could be eliminated by good drafting so as not to need the later correction. I will take on your various suggestions.
Simon, I hope you are able to make some beneficial adjustments. I’ve found that the cleaner your modeling on the front end, the easier it is later on.
And don’t forget that the move tool can be used to rotate groups back to their original position, simply by rotating to 0 on all three axes if necessary.
