Action Plane

Source file: action-plane-group.htm

The action plane provides a mechanism to help place points in 3D space as well as set up a convenient 2D plane to perform 2D functions on. The action plane can be widely manipulated and placed around a scene, floating in space at different angles or fixed to strategic reference points on a surface.

The action plane's appearance can be adjusted in PointStudio preferences on the View window > General tab.

Some of the functions that operate directly on the action plane include:

  • 2D line
  • 2D polygon
  • Circle
  • Rectangle
  • Offset line

Other functions benefit from the placement and adjustment of the action plane, especially when used with the snap modes.

The action plane tool group, found on both the view window tool bar and the View ribbon tab, provides many functions related to the action plane. These include:

  • Setting action plane position—several options for defining the position of the action plane using points and planes.
  • Moving action plane— several options to translate and rotate the action plane.
  • Saving and restoring action plane—save action plane locations for easy future referencing.
  • Toggling action plane visibility—hide or show the action plane.
  • Toggling action plane manipulator—hide or show the action plane manipulator. A widget allowing the user to manually translate and rotate the action plane from any chosen point on the action plane.
  • Choosing predefined views—choose between standard orthogonal views around the action plane's axes.
  • Viewing Sections—special mode for viewing strips parallel to the action plane.
Icon Description Shortcut

Set action plane position

N/A

Toggle action plane visibility

Shift+A

Toggle hide or display action plane manipulator

Shift+C

Choose predefined views

N/A
Step forwards or backwards through saved action planes Shift+B / Shift+F

Save and restore action plane

N/A

Quick Section action plane

N/A

Section view mode

/ (toggle )
Section Manager Shift + /

XY Slice (located in Position and Filter > View)

N/A

Setting an action plane

Use these commands to set the position of the action plane using various reference points or planes.

On the View ribbon tab, go to the Action Plane group. From the Set drop-down list select one of the action plane options.

Move action plane

Use these commands to move the action plane to a new position.

On the View ribbon tab, go to the Action Plane group. From the Set drop-down list select one of the Move to actions, then click in the view window to set the new position for the action plane.

XY, YZ and ZX refer to view window standard axes.

Orient from view places action plane perpendicular to camera view direction (i.e. the user's viewpoint).

Toggle hide or display action plane

On the View ribbon tab, go to the Action Plane group. Toggle Visibility to hide or display the action plane.

Toggle hide or display action plane manipulator

The action plane manipulator is a widget that can be used to move and rotate the action plane manually.

On the View ribbon tab, go to the Action Plane group. Click on Manipulator.

Initially a white sphere appears, which follows the mouse around on the action plane. Click on the desired location to activate. The translate and rotate widget will appear, allowing adjustments. Drag the manipulator's rings and axis to reposition and re-orient the action plane.

Note:  The action plane can only be translated along its normal (i.e. in the direction of the manipulator's axis).

Use manipulator to move and rotate action plane manually.

Click on the white sphere or click on the button again to close the manipulator.

Predefined views

Predefined views allow you to view standard orientations with respect to the current placement of the action plane.

On the view window toolbar or the View ribbon tab, go to the Action Plane group. From the View From drop-down list select one of the available views.

Top view

Save manage and restore action plane

Save any action plane position with a reference name, then recall it later as required.

To quick save an action plane

  1. Load the required objects in a view window.

  2. On the View ribbon tab, go to the Action Plane group. From the Saved Planes drop-down list select Save Action Plane.

    Or

    Right-click in the view window hover over Saved Action Planes then click Save Action Plane.

  3. Saved planes are listed under the Saved planes menu. Planes saved in this manner are named XY, XY 2, XY 3 etc.

Loading a saved action plane

  1. On the View ribbon tab, go to the Action Plane group. From the Saved Planes drop-down list select an action plane.

    Or

    Right-click in the view window hover over Saved Action Planes then select an action plane.

    Or

    On the View ribbon tab, go to the Camera group and select Previous Action Plane to cycle through views in reverse order or Next Action Plane to cycle through views in the forward order.

  2. The current action plane position will be changed to the new action plane position.

To manage saved action planes

  1. Load the required objects in a view window.

  2. On the View ribbon tab, go to the Action Plane group. From the Saved Planes drop-down list select Manager....

    Or

    Right-click in the view window hover over Saved Action Planes then select Manager....

  3. Enter a name for the saved action plane in the Name field.

  4. Click the button to save the Plane. The new action plane object will be added to the Saved Action Planes name list.

  5. Click the button to remove the selected saved plane from the list.

  6. Planes can be imported or exported using the buttons. Clicking the buttons brings up a browser window where the required location can be determined.

    Planes are saved with the extension *.pln.

Quick Section

Use this tool to quickly create action planes then create a section.

On the View ribbon tab, go to the Action Plane group. From the Quick Section drop-down list select one of the following options.

Quick Section Two Points in Plan is also available from the Position and Filter ribbon tab and navigating to the View group and selecting Quick Section.

XY Slice

Use this tool to quickly slice objects in a horizontal plane. The elevation is from the middle of the view's extent and the default slice thickness is 10 cm or  0.328 ft.

You will find XY Slice in the Position and Filter ribbon tab and navigating to the View group then selecting XY Slice.

Section view mode

Section viewing mode can be used to check registration errors and to compare objects (for example, compare as-built surface against design).

Section view mode provides the ability to view only a section or strip within the view window with respect to the action plane. Options allow designating reference cuts based on the front, back and centre (strip) of the action plane. Advanced options provide more control on the strip sizing and increments.

  1. Select the object.

  2. The Section Mode is available from the Position and Filter ribbon tab and navigating to the View group. From the Section Mode drop-down list and select a section view.

    Alternatively

    The Section Mode is also available from the View ribbon tab and navigating to the Action Plane group. From the Section Mode drop-down list and select a section view.

  • Back Side—to view a section set out in the Section Manager to represent the back side.
  • Front Side—to view a section set out in the Section Manager to represent the front side.
  • Strip—to view a section set out in the Section Manager that represents a strip between front and the back side.

Section Manager

The Section Manager... provides more precise adjustment of settings for each of the section modes.

 
  • Select a mode to adjust from: Front Side, Back Side, Strip or None.
  • Adjust the Total width of the action plane, these are dependant on the Mode selection type. For the Strip mode, the Total width will be divided between the Back section and the Front section. These values can be altered and updated in situ. For the Front and Back you can only change the Front and Back respectively.
  • Force sections of block models or surfaces to always have zero widths using the Zero width section buttons.
  • Assign a custom incremental step width or use the Total width value. When the step Backward or step Forward buttons are clicked, the action plane will always shift by that set amount.
  • Dragging an object into the search field limits what is visible in the tree below.
  • Select the objects to apply the action plane to.
  • Clear the field.

Viewing a horizontal section through a pit using the XY positioned action plane.