I am running into a problem where when I use pp to lengthen a board and over shoot the desired length. I again try to use the pp to push it back however I continue to run into “offset limits” issue. First I am not sure how I keep creating the “offset limits” issue for myself and secondly I was thinking perhaps if I created a rectangle from the end of the dimension to the end of the board and pushed against the side it would clear… not so much… Please help!!
I have attached my file … as you can see on one end I did not have any problems achieving my desired results.
Typically hitting a limit like that with Push/Pull means you are running into a direction change in the geometry or you’re hitting the end of a triangle.
First thing you should do is can the style you’re using for modeling. It makes it very difficult to see the edges which are important. Also wait until your model geometry is complete before you start adding materials. They just work to mask your problems even more.
Set the Face style to Monochrome and turn on Hidden Geometry so you can see all the bad geometry. It looks like you’re trying hard to mimic the kind of lumber you’ll get from your local big box store. Don’t do that.
select one of the components such as TOP PLANK 8 FOOT #4 and look at the boundng box. If it was modeled correctly, the blue bounding box would fit tightly to the “board” but it doesn’t because there’s all sorts of weird geometry.
I’m not sure what you are doing when you are modeling these parts. They should just take a simple Rectangle and Push/Pull to create.
By the way, what are you using for deck boards that are over 26 in. wide? And are they really supposed to be these dimensions?
Select the face you want to move, start the PP moving in the direction you want. Then let go of the mouse and type the desired dimension in the VCB. Hit the enter key to complete the move.
Dave: Much appreciation for your expertise and time. I will do as mentioned with the monochrome and Hidden geometry. You noted the deck boards - I set them initially at 5 1/2 width. Not sure how they got to that width.i did not notice! Let’s say once the decking is reset to correct dimensions, should I make it a group and use the “lock” tool?
You also mentioned not to mimic “big box” wood sizes? Is that because that is where the geometry problems are coming int place, or is there another reason?
Thx again
Cvbs
RLGL,
Thank you for this knowledge. I have a LOT more to learn. I have watched many YouTube videos however I obviously have missed some of 5he skills to b3 learned. I am planning on going back to the beginning and learn each tool in depth. Do you have any suggestions for a web site I should go to or videos that deal with the ins and outs of each tool? Tia!
Cvbs
You could lock the components after you have them set to the correct dimensions. You could also group them. I tend to try to limit nesting, though. It just makes it more involved to get in to work on the geometry in the component when it is deeply nested.
Actually I meant it looks like you are trying to mimic the shapes of the lumber you’d get at the big box store. Your long rails on top of the posts aren’t straight. We call it pretzel wood here.
This could easily happen if you drew them at 5 1/2" x something and then scaled to change the length. If you don’t grab the right “handle” on the scale tool, it will scale more than one direction. This theory is further supported by the fact that you have them at ~ 3 1/32" thickness, which is very unlikely what you wanted.
Edit: Looking around some more, I have come to wonder what workflow you are following to create the boards. For example, this looks like an incomplete board you were drawing one edge at a time. It’s better to draw a rectangle, make it a group or component, open that object for edit, and then push-pull to thickness or length.
You should start from a known accurate reference point to get correct alignment.
Finally, as the other have noted, some of the boards aren’t straight (see all the diagonal lines in the next image). That could also have resulted from drawing the boards one edge at a time without being careful about axis inference locking.
Pretzel wood… yes I did notice that, and again not sure where I went wrong !. I tried to compensate and things got uglier and uglier.
I was trying to impress the Mrs. with a somewhat real look to the process we will be undertaking this spring!
Let’s say once the decking is reset to correct dimensions, should I make it a group and use the “lock” tool?
. I tried to compensate and things got uglier and uglier.
