Has anyone tested/used the new clipping plane plugin from Daniel Tal? It is a paid plugin, so I’m wondering about its actual effectiveness before buying a non-refundable plugin.
Thanks for any input in advance.
Has anyone tested/used the new clipping plane plugin from Daniel Tal? It is a paid plugin, so I’m wondering about its actual effectiveness before buying a non-refundable plugin.
Thanks for any input in advance.
Interesting. You can see what it’s all about here: SketchUp Clipping Plane issue SOLVED - New Clipping Plane Extension - YouTube
It’s a frustrating problem that has been with us from the year dot (I think). It has always amazed me that no one at HQ has been able to solve what is surely a software defect. Whilst it is annoying to think you might have to pay for someone else to fix it for Trimble, at least there is a fix out there for something that can be truly annoying.
50 bucks BTW - but no Mac version yet.
Never seen this extension before, but as you say, amazing that a fix is possible but not one implemented by Sketchup team! Once more, plugin developers to the rescue. $50 is a bit steep though, but a one time cost.
Just found this video, which is not one button simple, but it seems to work if you check the force box next to the near and far settings under view definition, and then change to a lower value for the near distance.
I would love for this to be a native one button tool,
Thoughts?
the SU Camera Tool available on windows since @last days…
a few people have given it a button in the past, but you had to manually set the distances…
the $extension calculates that for you, and you reuse it when you zoom out to avoid the ‘far clipping’ issue…
the mac version never had the SU Camera Tool so a wrapper becomes much more complicated…
the zoomed out issue seems to be more prevalent on a mac so finding a sweet spot isn’t easy…
I have asked mac users to send me files with clipping issues and have never received any to investigate…
it’s happened to my own models so infrequently that I can picture the offending objects as I’m typing…
john
Do you think it is file related then? It happens so randomly that I assumed it was a software/video card issue. My impression is that it happens quite a lot but can be usually (always?) overcome by changing to parallel projection. I must make a mental note to send a file to you next time it happens to me.
it is model view based…
openGL renders the view from just in front of the camera and to a depth limit…
everything else gets ‘clipped’ to keep the computation required to a controllable amount…
when you have extreme depth in the view openGL can ‘over cull’ the front in an attempt to preserve the depth of the view…
switching between Perspective and PP triggers a re-draw which can often ‘fix’ the over cull…
the issue has always been worse on windows, due to mac using openGL natively [vs directX]…
john
I tested it when I made this video and it was very simple and effective on the models I tested. Switching it on and off (for the close in and the far away views) was really quick and it solved the problem. If you run into the clipping plane issue frequently it seemed to be a good solution.
Hope this helps a bit
Thanks Justin
If you want a nearly-one-click solution then this plugin provides instant access to SU camera dialogue box:
Also legacy ThomThom’s Camera Tools do the job:
https://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=43290
Just install it, go to Camera > Advanced, tick Force and type distance. Boom!
A free alternative is now available: Clipping Fix plugin for SketchUp.