Layout Snap Logic - Feature Request - Grab from Center

LayOut Feature Requests
#1

In Layout, it is strangely difficult to get the center of a circle to snap to a specific point, like the intersection of two lines.

When you try to grab the circle from the center, you get the registration point. You can move the registration point anywhere and snap fine… EXCEPT the center of the circle!

Jul-03-2020 07-21-08

My workaround is to use a dummy object to shift the reg point away from the circle center.

Feature Request: Hold the “Alt” key when clicking on the center to temporarily disable or hide the registration point, allowing one to grab from the center.

#2

Hmmmm… I don’t seem to have the problem you are showing. Is it possible you have turned off Object Snap?

LO center
LO center723×654 88.3 KB

#3

I’m on OSX and I don’t have that problem either.

#4

hmmm… Definitely not object snap being off. I turn it on and off all the time while drafting. I’m on 2018… you guys are on 2020 so I wonder if other 2018 mac users see the same behavior?

#5

I’m on 2018 (and 2019) but don’t see this behaviour. However, snapping is problematic especially when fills are involved, which seem to make the snapping very jerky (object snap on, grid snap off) and often it won’t snap. I often have work around this by moving the fill away (or deleting), snapping and then moving it back.

#6

Dave,

The reason yours seems to work correctly is that your circle happens to be just the right size to appear to be snapping to the center point. Notice in your gif the small green dot in the top left just before you release the circle. That is the actual point that is being snapped to.

This issue overall stems from the fact that when the snap point is in the center of an object, it is considered in its “default” location, so we don’t include it for inferencing in some situations. This is definitely something that could be improved upon on our end.

Adam

1 Like
#7

Hi @adam. Hmmmm… Interesting new info. Thank you.

Maybe that’s a thing that should be changed?

#8

Hey @DaveR,

Yes, there are a few different complaints about our precise move dongle that we know about:

  1. It’s too easy to accidentally grab it when you’re trying to move your selection.
  2. Can’t use the precise move dongle for snapping when it’s in the default location (the issue in this forum post).
  3. It’s sometimes difficult to find it in the clutter of the selection.

I believe there are more issues, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. There’s a similar issue with how it works as a rotator as well; you can’t set an initial rotation on the dongle for it to act as a two-point rotation tool.

These are all issues that need to get prioritized along with other bugs and features we’d like to address in LayOut (e.g. performance improvements).

Adam

2 Likes
#9

If you can get these sorted Adam, I’ll very probably take you guys up on subscribing after my M+S expires… :wink:

1 Like
#10

Thanks for chiming in @adam! If you had not spotted that, I would go on thinking my setup/version was screwy. I LOVE Layout for drafting and I have tried every software you can imagine from Flash to AutoCAD to Vectorworks… So please keep on improving LO!

There’s a similar issue with how it works as a rotator as well; you can’t set an initial rotation on the dongle for it to act as a two-point rotation tool.

Yes, this would be great to get worked out!

And while we are talking pick/select/snap, I also think the selection cycling is a little odd…

When you want to select something, you need to click on it (makes sense).

But, when you want to move something, you can EITHER click/drag on the object OR click anywhere within its bounding box IF nothing is underneath.

This is NOT the case if something is underneath the bounding box, you end up moving the object below by accident…

Jul-06-2020 13-49-25

I think its confusing because it would be more natural if it was way or the other ( bounding box or object moves selected) independent of things below.

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#11

Hey @hank,

You should try LayOut 2020.1, we have made changes very similar to what you’re talking about:
https://help.sketchup.com/en/current-release-notes#improvements-lo-2020.1

Thanks,
Adam

1 Like
#12

Uh OK, I’m convinced. This would be a big help and I’ve been putting it off because the updates have not seemed major. Critical mass… its time. Thanks @adam