A Widescreen Blender-Style Interface

kcj wrote: Chris, did you try shaded mode in the drawing? That would probably look good enough,

Cheers,
Kurt

Good Idea,, actually never tried that before. new trick!

think it may look better if the leaders are added in another software.. solidworks does alot very well, but drawings isn't one of them..lol

I can import it into draftsight and add better dimensions on it there thenn bring it into paint and save it as a PNG.. or I guess try the other site you mentioned.. im somewhat font limited in the cad software as to whats available and did not see any you mentioned though..

Chris, SolidWorks needs some tweaking out of the box to get the drawings to look good, but it is highly configurable. Attached is an example of what can be achieved with a little work. I can make the drawings if you'd like, or make a drawing template that you can use.

Cheers,
Kurt

EDIT: You got it while I was posting : ) Looks great!

kcj wrote: Chris, SolidWorks needs some tweaking out of the box to get the drawings to look good, but it is highly configurable. Attached is an example of what can be achieved with a little work. I can make the drawings if you'd like, or make a drawing template that you can use.

Cheers,
Kurt

EDIT: You got it while I was posting : ) Looks great!

the graphic quality suffers when coming out of the drawing side of solidworks for some reason.. i looked through all the settings but didn't see a way to tweak that. everything was set the same as it was in the model interface. so its a few extra steps to bring it into two other programs to get it done, but it shouldn't be that bad and it isn't like its going to need alot of maintenance i wouldn't think?

do i need to make the dimensions just have boxes to pull data into for you guys?

like this? the current tool table only has two entries for the milling gui, DIAM and Z, I am not clear how you guys are intending to interface this yet, are you planning to make entering the data available through the graphics window? or will the graphics window be pulling the relevant data from the tool table to populate it? or is the graphic simply a "help" graphic showing what the Z and DIAM refer to? need some direction from the powers that be!

I like this better..

I would rather it be kept simple, with measurements matching the tool-table variables, such as X, Y, Z, A, B, C, diameter, etc.

Having input boxes inside the graphic would seem really, cool, but that would mean that if a user had a unique tool, it would be a real problem to create it.

There are other logistical problems, as well. Input boxes may not fit in in-between some tool parts, whereas "A' would fit nicely between two arrows. The graphic can have an "B" going vertically, but you likely cannot do that with an input box.

At this point, I do not think that having input boxes in the tool graphic is worth the effort for a first roll of a new interface. It would be a time-trap.

Additionally, the graphics would have to be much larger, raising the memory footprint, slowing the program.

any given tool is only going to have a few of those designators, i looked through the wiki and it seems they are dictated by where the tool is located. currently for milling the two you see are the ONLY two used.. soo.. until the tool table gets updated, it almost seems like a big waste of realestate to even have such a big tool window display...?

I thought to include a graphic so that the user can input the dimensions without seeking outside reference material.

In the case of the lathe, the tools vary more than mill. The lathe people wanted a depiction of the tools, and I can see why.

Still, mills have odd bits such as: T-slotting, round-over, chamfering, engraving, and so forth, which would make a graphic guide handy.

~

There is an issue, while the interface design will likely be done before then, I have to be done with the interface within two months, no matter what. I likely will not be able to work on it after that. I am pretty sure the interface design, as a proposal will be done, files uploaded, and images exported by then.