The build plate screen: PLACEMENT

The PLACEMENT tab towards the top of the build plate screens right-hand pane (lower pane in narrow display mode) allows adjusting object position on the build plate (MOVE), object size (SCALE), and object orientation on the build plate (ROTATE).

The build plate screen: PLACEMENT

10.2.1 The build plate screen: PLACEMENT

The “PLACEMENT” tab towards the top of the build plate screen’s right-hand pane (lower pane in narrow display mode) allows adjusting object position on the build plate (“MOVE”), object size (“SCALE”), and object orientation on the build plate (“ROTATE”).

In the build plate screen’s left-hand pane (upper pane on narrow displays), the object(s) are schematically pictured on the build plate; see Figure 10.5. Clicking on the image of an object in the left-hand pane (upper pane on narrow displays), or alternatively clicking “PLACEMENT” in the right-hand pane (lower pane on narrow displays) and then clicking the name of the object (in a box below PLACEMENT), allows you to adjust the placement of that object; see Figure 10.6.

The default “PLACEMENT” mode when you first go to the build plate screen is “MOVE” (see Figure 10.6). In the right-hand pane (lower pane on narrow displays), below “PLACEMENT” and its list of (boxed) object names, are the placement mode choices “MOVE”, SCALE”, and “ROTATE”. You may switch between placement modes by clicking the mode name or, when hotkeys are enabled, by pressing the corresponding key: W for “MOVE”, E for “SCALE”, and R for “ROTATE”.

When “PLACEMENT” of an object is selected, three colored axes appear on the object image, (red for the x-axis, green for the y-axis, and blue for the z-axis); the exact display of the axes varies according to whether you have selected “MOVE” mode (arrow-headed axes originating from the center of the object, Figure 10.6), “SCALE mode (block-headed axes originating from the center of the object, Figure 10.14), or “ROTATE” mode (circumferences of the object, Figure 10.15).

To perform a “MOVE”, “SCALE”, or “ROTATE” of an object, (according to which mode you have selected under “PLACEMENT”), you may position your cursor in the left-hand pane (upper pane on narrow displays) over an axis and then drag the object along that axis (moving, scaling, or rotating, as selected); the selected axis will appear in yellow, as shown in Figure 10.10. If you position your cursor over the object’s center (for “MOVE” or “SCALE”) so that the center is lighted in yellow, as shown in Figure 10.11, you may move or scale the object along all axes at once; for “ROTATE” mode, a yellow, outer circumference allows rotation around an axis perpendicular to your view of the object. Alternatively, in the right-hand pane (lower pane on narrow displays) you may use the axis slider, see Figure 10.12, or the numeric input for the axis, see Figure 10.13, to move/scale/rotate along an axis. To numerically move/scale/rotate along an axis, you may either click the up or down arrows to move the value up or down, respectively, or you may type in a numeric value directly.

Thus in particular, when “MOVE” is selected, you may move your object by:

1. clicking on an axis in the left-hand pane (upper pane on narrow displays) and dragging the image of the object along that axis on the build plate (Figure 10.10), pict

Figure 10.10: Polar Cloud build plate: object MOVE, x-axis selected

2. clicking on the object origin (center) in the left-hand pane (upper pane on narrow displays) and dragging the image of the object anywhere on the build plate (Figure 10.11), pict

Figure 10.11: Polar Cloud build plate: object MOVE, object center selected

3. clicking on an axis slider in the right-hand pane (lower pane on narrow displays) and dragging the slider (Figure 10.12),

Figure 10.12: Polar Cloud build plate: object MOVE, x-axis slider

pict 4. clicking on the numeric value for the axis in the right-hand pane (lower pane on narrow displays) and clicking the up or down indicator to increase or decrease the value (Figure 10.13), or

Figure 10.13: Polar Cloud build plate: object MOVE, x-axis numeric input

pict 5. clicking on the numeric value for the axis in the right-hand pane (lower pane on narrow displays) and then typing in the desired value directly.

Tip for entering a negative location value numerically:

If you manually entirely delete a current location value, the build plate screen will assume a value of 0. So when you wish to enter a negative location value numerically, it may be more convenient to type a numeric value and then cursor left to add the negative sign after typing the numeric value.

Scaling the size of, or rotating the orientation of, an object works analogously to moving the position of an object: select the type of placement and then use the corresponding axes.

When “SCALE” is selected, see Figure 10.14, you may change the size of the object via any of the “X-AXIS”, “Y-AXIS”, or “Z-AXIS sliders under “SCALE” in the right-hand pane of the screen (lower pane on narrow displays). Or you may click on an axis in the left-hand pane (upper pane on narrow displays) and drag the object’s size. Note the “Scale all axes uniformly checkbox toward the lower right of the right-hand pane (lower pane on narrow displays): this switch controls whether all axes are scaled uniformly, vs. allowing stretching or shrinking separately along each axis. (Note that dragging on the yellow box at the center of the object always scales uniformly on all axes.)

Figure 10.14: Polar Cloud build plate SCALE object

pict

When “ROTATE” is selected, see Figure 10.15, you may rotate the object via the “X-AXIS”, “Y-AXIS”, and “Z-AXIS” sliders under ROTATE” in the right hand pane of the screen (lower pane on narrow displays). Or you may click on a circumference (colored circle) and rotate the object along the corresponding axis. In addition to the usual red x-axis, green y-axis, and blue z-axis being available, an outer yellow circumference allows rotation about an axis perpendicular to your current view of the object.

Figure 10.15: Polar Cloud build plate ROTATE object

pict

Note that (unless hotkeys have been disabled under “UI SETTINGS”) you may quickly switch between “MOVE”, “SCALE”, and ROTATE” via the W, E, and R keys, respectively.

When moving, scaling, or rotating an object on the build plate, consider enabling the “Always show selected object’s bounding box” control under “UI SETTINGS” to aid in detecting when the object is getting near the edge of the build plate or near to another object. Note that even when “Always show selected object’s bounding box” is not enabled, the bounding box will automatically be displayed in red (instead of its normal blue) to provide warning if you have moved, or scaled, or rotated an object to a position/size/orientation in which it overhangs or is in danger of overhanging the edge of the build plate.

In addition to placement of the object itself, there is also a rotate view dial with two arrows (“Rotate camera left” and “Rotate camera right”) around the outside, and a central, arrow-to-plate, Place object on the build plate” button, plus below the rotate view dial two circular buttons “+” (Zoom in) and “- (Zoom out). (Note that the presence of the rotate view dial and zoom buttons may be disabled via the “Show camera helper control” switch under “UI SETTINGS”.) The circular +” and “-” buttons zoom in and zoom out, respectively, your view of the object, and the dial rotates your view of the object. Compared to how “ROTATE” an object on the build plate rotates the object’s placement on the build plate, the rotate view dial rotates only your view of the build plate and object – as if you moved your head or swivelled the build plate around.

You may also rotate your view of the build plate by pressing the mouse and then dragging the build plate. While the “Rotate camera left” and “Rotate camera right” arrows merely rotate the build plate about the z-axis, note that dragging the build plate allows rotating through three dimensions – so in particular by dragging the build plate you may view the object from beneath or, conversely, from a “birds-eye” view directly above the build plate. And mouse or trackpad scrolling may be used to zoom the build plate display.

Note that the “Place object on the build plate (arrow-to-plate) button at the center of the rotate view dial does not perform a viewing operation; instead, it moves the object’s placement so that the object rests on the build plate.

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