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Old 14th May 2006, 10:44 PM   #1
bfeaver
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Default AC3D6 Select Through and Extruding

Working with AC3D6 on a Mac using X-Plane .obj file with appropriate X-Plane plugins.

Formerly easy tasks now misbehaving. Underlaying surfaces selected even though select through is unchecked.

Extrude in direction of normal only extrudes in the X direction.

Bug, bad plugin, faulty installation? Thanks.

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Old 15th May 2006, 08:39 AM   #2
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After further investigation it appears extrude by normal does function as in version 5; I was trying to extrude an apparently more complex 3D surface. Is there a way to extrude a sphere in a single operation? I mean, to accurately make a sphere grow outward or inward enlarging or shrinking the segments to fit? I thought I had done this is V5 but I must have subdivided "my shape" into something akin to hemispheres or spherical quadrants before extruding.

In regard to "select through," it seems to work as expected for vertices, selecting the foremost vertex when unchecked and selecting all below or behind when checked. This is not the case for surfaces, I can't seem to discover any underlaying logic or consistencies, for this most basic of operations.

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Old 15th May 2006, 10:52 AM   #3
Dennis
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If I have "Select through" turned on in Surface mode (PC version), selecting a "rubber band" (click+drag) selects every surface that is completely/partially within the rubber band's bounding box. Clicking once selects only the surface closest to the camera/viewport.

If "Select through" is not enabled, then only surfaces that are not "hidden" behind other surfaces (in respect to the camera position) are selected.

Is this what you're seeing?

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Old 15th May 2006, 11:23 AM   #4
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Yes, I see exactly this if I select by using click and drag.

However, this is not the case when I single click a surface knowing that another surface is behind it. With "select through" enabled or disabled only a single surface is selected. Ex: make a cube. Single click the top surface. With "select through" I'd expect the both the top and bottom surface to be selected.

The preceeding can easily be worked around and I wouldn't be writing if this was the problem because the difficulty I'm experiencing would be fixed. But, in this case with X-Plane the X-Plane.obj is exported as two single sided surfaces very close together. I want to delete the outside "skin" but when I single click this surface both layers are selected, or only one layer, apparently at random. This is identical to the cube example above except that the layers are very closely spaced.

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Old 15th May 2006, 12:09 PM   #5
Dennis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bfeaver
But, in this case with X-Plane the X-Plane.obj is exported as two single sided surfaces very close together. I want to delete the outside "skin" but when I single click this surface both layers are selected, or only one layer, apparently at random.
Ah, that makes sense.

If the two surfaces are so close together that they're practically on top of each other, I can see this happening --- the location of the surfaces at any given point along it will be so close together that one or the other may appear mathematically closer to the camera/mouse. That may be why AC3D exhibits seemingly randomness regarding which surface is selected.

Unfortunately I don't have a solution to the problem of single-click-select-through --- perhaps performing a very small rubber-band select within the surfaces will do the trick?
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Old 15th May 2006, 12:35 PM   #6
Andy
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A single click will always select only one item.

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Old 15th May 2006, 12:40 PM   #7
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Extruding an entire sphere won't work because there are no edges (as you've discovered). The result of extruding a sphere (if it where allowed) would just be one sphere inside another - I think...
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Old 15th May 2006, 01:55 PM   #8
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A sphere within a sphere, complete with hidden connecting edges, is exactly what I'd want only the shape would be more complex - a fuselage. Oh well, there are several workarounds.

Andy, at times in my situation a single click is selecting 3 and even 4 "tri's" - X-Planes way of making the front and a back of a quad. I think Dennis is correct, the surfaces are so close together that they are mathematically the same distance away.

I've been searching for a work around and have been mostly successful. If the tri is in a curved region there is most likely a "hot spot" that can be found with several trial and error clicks close to a corner on the hypotenuse edge. If the region is mostly flat I can select and hide an unwanted surface to get at the one I want.

Like everthing in this facinating hobby we are always working our way around obstacles and learning as we go along.

Thanks all,
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Old 15th May 2006, 03:03 PM   #9
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I'm pretty sure that selecting using a click should only ever select one item. If you drag the mouse atall, i.e. make a small rectangle, then it may select more.

I'll check though...
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Old 15th May 2006, 03:14 PM   #10
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I have noticed at times I've selected two adjacent tri's at a time and said to myself, "now that's impossible." So perhaps I am making a small "drag" with the mouse. I'll check too.

Correction on an earlier statement of mine, I can often find a hot spot at a corner *opposite* the hypotenuse.

I've now one sided all but a few quads of my shape. It's getting easier towards the end 'cuz I can now approach the task from both the inside and the outside.

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