Snap Question

[lofgreenca]

I have a model created by others that I am working on. In it there are hundreds of objects that I need to reference  either in plan or elevation when creating new geometry. When using the snap tools, is there a way to lock the geometry to the first point picked other than having to create a helper plane for each object in each of the six planes? In other words, can I start drawing a shape by clicking on a point on the object and have the remaining clicks fall on the same 2D plane? That was a very nice feature of FormZ.

Thanks for responding.

Craig

[miledrizk]

Hi,

When you chose the shape and before start clicking activate the AutoGrid Feature,

Now when you move your mouse over an object, the mouse will detect the presence of polygons,

Click to start your shape, you'll notice a custom grid created on the fly, aligned with that face,

And after the first click, you will continue drawing your shape on this custom plane.

[lofgreenca]

Autogrid is useful but I mentioned that the geometry I'm referencing was built by others so autogrid isn't an option as far as I know. Is there a way to perform an autogrid-like procedure on imported geometry?

[miledrizk]

The AutoGrid detects polygons, so there is no difference between imported objects

And objects made inside Max.

[lofgreenca]

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong. I just imported an obj file, set 3D snap to vertex, opened the plan view, selected the line tool, selected autogrid and started clicking on various objects. The line snapped to the corners of each of the objects instead of snapping to a projection of that corner in the plane of the first point picked. What am I doing wrong?

[miledrizk]

I think I misunderstood what are you were asking,

Based on your last post I guess what you need is not the AutoGrid thing,

I think you want to Snap in 3D space and draw on the plan,

In this case, what you need is to set the Snap to 2.5D mode and not 3D

[lofgreenca]

No, that would require me to move the object up from the working plane to the object I'm trying to snap to. I just need to be able to snap to a point and force each subsequent point to fall on the same Z plane as the first point while using surrounding geometry as reference snap points.

[lofgreenca]

My guess is this can't be done, right?

[miledrizk]

The only way is to create a Grid helper, activate it to make it the active plane,

Place it on the point you want, and from that point, you can use the 2.5D Snap mode so that

All your geometry falls on this new custom plane. 

But I think you tried that already. besides this, you need a special script for this.

I think I can do it but it will take some time, now I'm a bit busy.

[lofgreenca]

In a way, this post was academic. I've been asking for a "lock to first snap point" feature for about fourteen years. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking something that was added to Max's toolbelt without my knowledge or to see if someone knew of an efficient work around. I appreciate you taking time to give your ideas.

Craig