NX6 Move Object & Transform

[PHayden]

As a UG user since the 80's, it was hard enough to keep from reaching for the Transform button to move or copy, but why couldn't NX keep the move/copy pick choice at the end?
Countless undo's because the last one was set for copy, or trace lines, or 12 copies when intention is a simple move etc.

The one thing I would wish to change (back) is to choose move or copy as an entry complete rather than return what ever I did the last time, and maybe default back to one copy & no tracelines.

Sorry, just venting, but a lot of time is wasted checking the list before completing a simple move or copy, then breaking my train of thought having to undo and set it up again.

-ph-

 

[JohnRBaker]

If you would like to have your dialog return to the default options, just hit the 'Reset' button after opening the dialog but before you start any selecting.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
NX Design
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[ErikvD]

I totaly agree with Phayden, NX6 has no longer the possibility on board to make multiple move's or copy's just by simple mouse clicks. This makes transform in NX6 less intuitive and it's a big step backwards in my opinion. Restyling the transform-menu was definitely necessary and now it's improved in many ways, It's just such a pity the developers did'nt maintain this valuable functionality.

Erik van Diepenbeek
Zebra-cad 3D services
The Netherlands

http://www.zebra-cad.com

 

[wmalan]

My only complaint is that many of us NC programmers do quick and dirty construction curve geometry for tool containment. The method has been something like: extract curve / control-t to where you need to boundary to be. That 3button default for Move is not as smooth (at all) that said I will create a short cut I guess.

--
Bill

 

[Alderfek]

Workaround.....AMEN ! Now to find one. And to find one for the step backwards line tool

Kirk Alderfer
Technical Cartoonist
Engineered Fabrics Corporation
Rockmart, Georgia

"Imagination continually frustrates tradition, that is its function." -John Pfeiffer

 

[PHayden]

I finally got used to choosing move instead of transform, but I still get caught with a copy 10 instances instead of a move. Can someone at least fix the edit feature in part navigator to change that copy to a move etc.?

And while you're at it, retain the geometry (like the old transform) so that I can move it again in another axis without having to re-collect the geometry?


-ph-

"Anything's possible. Just change the equasion."

 

[abboberg]

NX6 took Transform away? How depressing. It was the only quick tool left. I am starting a new company and was seriously considering NX6, but if every tool is going to be a lot of effort, then Solidworks is sounding better all the time...

 

[JohnRBaker]

Can someone at least fix the edit feature in part navigator to change that copy to a move etc.?

What 'Copy' are you talking about? The 'Copy' to the clip board or some other 'Copy'?

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[abboberg]

John,

I just got off the phone with our local support person, Rob Cohon, and he told me that to incrementally move an object you would set the snap increment and drag it. However, he did not find the generic point menu allowing one to move the object to any point using the 10-key pad. I am now worried that you have to now use the "selection intent manager" to turn on and off origin and destination point - a very cumbersome method at best! If I want to rotate that same object, it wasn't clear as to how to rotate it about some arbitrary coordinate system.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Are you talking about moving objects or components?

And what do you mean by using the 10-key pad?

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[abboberg]

I am talking about moving objects within a file. The ten-key pad allows quick access to the generic point menu, so I can quickly move an object from, say, a control point to a point on an arc. Also, in the "old" Transform, you can incrementally move an object simultaneously in X, Y, and Z directions.

 

[JohnRBaker]

NX now uses primarily the Snap Point toolbar, which you can set-up as you wish in terms of which point methods are active, when using the 'Inferred Point' method. Granted, you can't use the 10-key pad to navigate the settings, but support for the old-style PFK-like dialogs is all but gone from NX after many years of evolving away from thinking that lists of numbered options on a series of cascading dialogs makes for an easy to use interface. That might have been true 25 years ago when the alternatives were either typing text-based commands on a keyboard or selecting functions from data-tablets with hundreds of multi-colored squares, but that is not what people look for today in a modern CAD system.

As for the 'Delta X,Y,Z' method of defining how much to move an object, that is being added to Move Object in NX 6.0.2.8, which will be released very soon.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[PHayden]

I understand a little more now after playing with it...(6.0.1.5)
'Move Object' moves/copies fine when using Dynamic.
You can move in x, drag or type in value, then Y, then z without re-collecting objects.

When moving or copying with distance, you must apply each move along a vector. Once you apply, you then have to re-collect the objects to move in another direction.

The change coming in NX 6.0.2.8 is to keep objects collected after apply? (like transfom to move again in another direction)

Is there an edit parameters option to change it from a move object to a copy object or visa versa in the works?

Thanks John...
-ph-

"Anything's possible. Just change the equasion."

 

[JohnRBaker]

There already is an option to create non-associative 'copies' (if you wish to create associative copies, use 'Instance Geometry' instead).

And NO, we have NOT modified the behavior of 'Move Object' relative to retaining the selection of the moved object, except when using the Dynamic method, which covers move along an axis, rotate about an axis and move to a selected point.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[abboberg]

As far a Transform is concerned, I just brought some spline artwork into NX4 that I needed to scale to fit an area on the surface on a plastic part. Transform-scale sure worked nicely, incrementing the size by 5% with each middle mousebutton click.

It sounds like there are some radical changes to geometry manipulation in NX6, and as a result I will be getting NX6 on my computer as early as tomorrow to do an evaluation of this new functionality.

 

[ufsure]

If you want to move objects just like the old transform did use the stretch command. Hope it will not become extinct too soon.

 

[abboberg]

Stretch is a fast and wonderful tool, but it doesn't have Scale, rotate about a point (from a point and to point), reposition, etc. I am deeply concerned about the elimination of Tranform. Whatever tool that might replace it has very big shoes to fill...

I won't be getting my eval seat of NX6 until Monday, so hang tight for my feedback on this topic...

 

[PHayden]

abboberg...

NX6 has the best combination of features EVER. Transform and Move Object have seperate icons & function differently.
Transform still scales, mirrors, arrays etc., it just doesn't move or copy any longer.

Move Object is COMPLETELY different in its pick and options than Transform, but has much more options than transform had.

You'll love it... especially the Synchronous Modeling.
I blow away my parameters & keep going all the time.

-ph-

"Anything's possible. Just change the equasion"

 

[abboberg]

PHayden:

Thanks for the words of encouragement! I have been using the "dynamic modeling" method for 25 years now. History-free conceptual modeling before "locking down" sketch-driven solids has for me been the ultimate productiviy tool in design. I will still have to shake NX6 out in the demo seat (which I still haven't gotten) to be sure that something isn't left out...

 

[abboberg]

Well, I got NX6 running and just spent 40 minutes trying to move objects around. I have not found a way to Transform-move and keep the object selected - it makes me start over every time. So much for "sneaking up" on stuff with conceptual modeling. I'll also be looking for a work-around on this one. The problem will losing the selection each time you move something is compounded by the fact that there are no longer menu accelerators available to access the move criteria, such as point-to-point moves, point sub-functions - all I can find on the pallette are the extrememly slow drop-down menus. Anyone found any work-arounds for this?