plane view when starting sketch (beginners question) 1

[tomme254]

Hi to you all,

I am using SW 2008

When creating a new part,i have to select the plane to start the sketch.

Sometimes if i select the plane to make the sketch,it turns to me, but upside down.

I find this not very practical.

My question: Do i need to change some setting ?

Sometimes when i use the "Normal To" button (in general use) it's view is mirrored, but when i click the "Normal To" again it turs in the good position, Could this be related ?

Just start using SW 2008, i can remember having this in SW 2007.

thanks,
Tomme

 

[takedownca]

Planes have a front and back face. SW always defaults to orienting the front face towards you. You can see which face is front/back by looking at the color of the plane's border. I don't know if it's the same in 2008, but in 2009 under Document Properties you can select which colors to use for the front/back of a plane.

 

[tomme254]

takedownca,

Thanks for your reply,

I have followed your instructions, as i did before when i checked the help files.

But i dont see any color in my planes.

Do i miss something?

I have added some screen pictures to show you

1: plane color (for front face)
2: plane color 2 (for backface)
3: SW help file
4: My part

i hope upload of my files worked!!

thanks,
Tomme

 

[takedownca]

Maybe you have the plane transparency set so high that the color isn't visible? Either that or you missed the color on the border of the plane. By default the color isn't very different. In 2009 one is a sort of rust color and the other is a slightly darker brown.

 

[tomme254]

Next try

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/1538/steelblock.png

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7637/planescolor2.png

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/523/planescolors.png

tomme

 

[takedownca]

Hmm, that's odd. Try checking the color on another 2008 installation if you have one available. If it looks ok then it's specific to your setup. Otherwise you might have found a bug.

 

[tomme254]

Ok

Thanks for your time & knowledge

tomme

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

tomme254,

Are you using a SW approved video card and driver?

 

[tomme254]

CorBlimeyLimey

I don't know it's an NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT (512 MB)

I do know it's support open GL

tomme

 

[tomme254]

CorBlimeyLimey

Sorry for asking so many questions,

I am trying to create a part, but want to do it from a machinist view.

Z-axes pointing up

But when I start sketch on the top plane, my Z-axes is not pointing up.

Do you know how i can set the Z-axes up and my top plane connected to the Z-axes?

tomme

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The card may support OpenGL, but can SW access it with the driver being used?

Is there an nVidia setting to run the card under OpenGL?

Have you tried using the Tools > Options > System Options > Performance > Use software OpenGL setting?

I'm betting the problem is VC/driver related. Do you have access to an approved card?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

tomme254,

Please start a new thread for new questions. It makes it easier for future searches and referencing.

The axes question has been discussed here often.
thread559-172855
thread559-110857

and at

http://forum.solidworks.com/

forum/messageview.cfm?catid=8&threadid=15130&highlight_key=y&keyword1=re-orient axes

 

[tomme254]

CorBlimeyLimey

Tools > Options > System Options > Performance > Use software OpenGL setting?

Yes settings are set to use software OpenGL

tomme

 

[tomme254]

CorBlimeyLimey

You are correct to attend me to start a new thread for new questions.

Sorry about that, was not thinking clearly,

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=539

 

[tomme254]

CorBlimeyLimey

Thanks for the link ,unfortunually, my graphic card is not in the comparison list.

So i think I will not be able to Soft-Mod my card.

But thanks to your link, I now know where to look for!!

 

[ctopher]

More info:

http://yarchive.net/metal/axis_naming.html

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08; CATIA V5
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion

 

[mjcole]

I have a GeForce card at home and see plane colors fine. System Options Plane Display Front Color and Back Color.

I think what you want is to use the Modify Sketch tool
Tools > Sketch Tools > Modify Sketch this will give you the option of entering 180 as sketch rotation angle so Z-Axis is pointing up. You will see a dialog box for this but you can also right click the balls on X or Y direction of sketch to reverse direction or the ball touching both to flip both which will give a 180 rotation about sketch origin.

Flip Direction or View Normal will swap from a
Front & Back view for planes // to Front plane
Right & Left view for planes // to Right plane
Top & Bottom view for planes // to Top plane

this is why your Z axis points up when viewing from opposite direction. The xy of sketch little & big red arrow respectively is the default view shown first when choosing Normal view icon

Michael

 

[JMarv]

Sometimes if i select the plane to make the sketch,it turns to me, but upside down.

It has always done this for me, as far back as 2004. My co-workers are constantly modeling things upside down because they don't notice this.

Joe
SW Office 2008 SP5.0
P4 3.0Ghz 3GB
ATI FireGL X1