SCRIPT: Move toward

[Dennis]

The Move Toward plugin is available at:

http://supercoldmilk.com/ac3dplug/movetoward.html

Move Toward is an AC3D script that allows you to move a selection (composed of one or more objects, surfaces or vertices) toward a user defined point.

See all my plugins at http://supercoldmilk.com/ac3dplug/index.html

[Dennis]

Thanks to fellow AC3D user Eldon Brown, who has modified the Move Toward plugin to support a "Move Away" and "To" function.

Dennis

[luuckyy]

Hi Dennis/Eldon,
I consider that little script beeing kind of magic really, it's a great one.
I only have one "problem" with it, but it's maybe due to scripting limitations, I'm not sure :

if I move TO or TOWARD 100% (it has the same effect), then want to move again but AWAY this time, it doesn't move anymore, it's cruel .
Especially when you're moving vertice(s) TO vertice(s), because I can't hardly see how to select one of two "snapped" vertices ...

Is that normal ? Do you think it could be "fixed" ?

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by luuckyy

if I move TO or TOWARD 100% (it has the same effect), then want to move again but AWAY this time, it doesn't move anymore, it's cruel .

This is normal behavior.

Once you move "to", the vertex is moved to the "ref point". When you then try to move "away", and the vertex is already at the ref point, it doesn't really know which way to move (the script doesn't remember the previous location of the selection).

Think of it as drawing a line from the "ref point" through a vertex you want to move. For example, if the ref point is 0,0,0, and the vertex we've selected is at 1,0,0, then our line would start at 0,0,0 and point along the positive X axis to 1,0,0. All "toward" or "away" operations on that vertex would slide it along this imaginary line. "Toward" would move it along the negative X axis, and "away" would move it along the positive axis.

However, if both the ref point and the vertex are at, say, 1,0,0, then "toward" and "away" become meaningless --- our imaginary line from the ref point through the vertex is a zero-length line with no direction, as the line starts at 1,0,0 and ends at 1,0,0.

Hope that makes sense.

Originally Posted by luuckyy

Especially when you're moving vertice(s) TO vertice(s), because I can't hardly see how to select one of two "snapped" vertices ...

If the vertices are in the same object, then you're right - it becomes difficult to know which vertex you're selecting. At this point you simply have to single click the 2 vertices and only one will be selected --- which one is selected, of course, is anybody's guess...

[luuckyy]

Originally Posted by Dennis

Once you move "to", the vertex is moved to the "ref point". When you then try to move "away", and the vertex is already at the ref point, it doesn't really know which way to move (the script doesn't remember the previous location of the selection).

Oh yes indeed ... I didn't think of that.

Your answer completely makes sense Dennis.

And I've found a work-around for that by using the move TOWARD in combination with the native AC3D's "move to" panel.

Thank you very much for the reply !

[Sharpy]

Dennis/Eldon.
This is a perfect script for my work.
This allows me to build planked decks in half the time, and as clean as can be.

This used to take so much work, and always ended up somewhat of an imprecise mess.
THANKS!

[captainpeter]

I've been using this script a lot but since AC3D 8 it would not work anymore.

I have made some modifications and it appears to work again.

Caveat: I am not a programmer. I made this by looking at the changes Andy made to VGuide.tcl by Thierry Videlaine.

cheers
peter