I need to introduce moving Axes into my workflow (basically to make my model axes match my imported point cloud axes) so I have been experimenting.
I’ve noticed that if I only move the Red & Green Axes then Orbiting from Plan View afterwards still works the same as before.
But if I move the Blue Axes then Orbiting from Plan View afterwards gets very clunky?
I don’t think I could put up with this clunkiness every time I Orbit from Plan View, so I wonder if anybody has any ideas?
I guess my first inclination would be to move the axes for the import to align with the model axes and save myself a lot of screwing around later.
SketchUp has a notion of “gravity” that tries to keep the horizon level across the screen. That may be interfering with what you are trying to do. I think there is a setting to suspend gravity, but can check now as I’m using my phone.
That’s what I used to do Dave - I always manipulated the point cloud axis to be where I wanted it, but now its much easier to make the SketchUp axis align with the point clouds axis. Everything works fine for red & green but not if I change the blue axis.
Hold ctrl while orbiting.
Suspending gravity makes orbiting a dizzying task, specially if you are used to the regular behavior, I would try to fix the model to the axis than the axis to the model, specially if the z axis is not perpendicular to the horizon.
Thanks for your reply.
To be fair my point clouds Z (Blue) Axis is always perpendicular - I was just experimenting with a hypothetical scenario where it isn’t to see if I could adjust the models Blue Axis, but it isn’t straight forward.
The real question is whether to rotate the Point Clouds Red Axis to align with SketchUp’s natural Red Axis, or to change SketchUp’s Red Axis to match the Point Clouds. I have always done the former, but the latest Point Cloud Plugin release has a problem with rotation. I have temporarily reverted to the previous plugin release while the problem is solved because changing the SketchUp Axes isn’t a great idea as suggested by both yourself and @DaveR
I’d rotate the SU axis vs. the PC axis. With drones/Pix4D if more than one model type is generated (e.g., point cloud and topo lines), those models line up with each other (when importing). Changing the PC axis would put it out of alignment with topography, etc. That always seems to result in a Humpty-Dumpty situation.
I treat the SU axis as the de facto level, plumb and square because I know where I am relative to it and I can import surveys/2d plans that align to it as well. But maybe you are treating the PC as if it is level/plumb/square?
Thanks,
Yes - my point clouds are always perpendicular. My only issue is whether to rotate the PC or the model in plan. I think I will stick to rotating the PC using the previous plugin version until rotation is sorted on the new update.
Do you being modelling before importing the PC?
No - I import the point cloud first, then I rotate it in plan as necessary to line it up with SketchUps red axis, then I begin modelling.