Drawing a line on a flat surface... Why so unintuitive?

[craig.harrison-smith]

I want to start using FormIt as an early massing tool as part of a Revit workflow. It all seems straightforward but why is something as simple as drawing a line on a box seemingly impossible? Every time I try I get "drag the red dot". So far all I can glean from this instruction is if I hold down the mouse for a while a red circle appears and then disappears when I try and draw anything.

I'm about as 3D savvy as it gets. What am I missing and why is something as simple as this so unintuitive?

Maybe I'm missing something very obvious...

Thanks

[josh.goldstein · Accepted solution]

Hi Craig,

Are you using the Windows app? If so, could it be that Touch Mode is on?

If that icon is highlighted like the above screenshot, try clicking it in the toolbar at the top to turn Touch Mode off, and try drawing the line again. You can also use shortcut TM to toggle Touch Mode.

Let us know if this helps.

Thanks,

[craig.harrison-smith]

Yes the Windows app. Great! That fixed it. I had a feeling "it was me, not Autodesk".

I assume touch mode is for Windows Surface etc?

[josh.goldstein · Accepted solution]

Yes, we developed our Windows app to support touch-screen devices like Surface and others. We use the same touch gestures we do on iOS, which provides a great alternative way to navigate and model for machines with touch screens. Does your machine have a touch screen?

We've heard of situations like this, where the mode is enabled (could happen when FormIt determines the machine is touch-enabled, or otherwise accidentally), but the user isn't aware of it, and selection and drawing acts much differently and can be unexpected. We're looking into ways to make Touch Mode more obvious to help in situations like this!