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Move Toward script

Released under the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE.

Download (Windows users, right click and "Save As")

This script is freely distributable

AC3D versions prior to version 5 have not been tested with this script.

History

2005/12/09

• Added Move Away and Move To, courtesy of Eldon Brown.

The interface options are as follows:

Ref point of the move	Establishes the target point against which you wish to move a selection . This is usually done by selecting an existing object in AC3D, then clicking the ">" button beside the x/y/z fields. Much like the AC3D "Move to" option. You may also manually enter x/y/z values here.
Move by units	Select "Move by units" if you wish to move your selection by a specific number of AC3D units toward the defined target point. NOTE: When moving at angles that aren't parallel to one of the major axes (xyz), moving 1 unit doesn't necessarily mean that a unit's x/y/z value will all change by 1. If this is confusing, experiment for a bit by moving an object by dragging with the mouse, and watch the "Distance" variable in the top left of the AC3D window that shows how far the object is moving. The distance expressed is not based on the grid, but on a spherical distance from the origination point.
Move by percentage	Select "Move by percentage" to move your selection by a percentage of the distance from the selection to your target point.
Away	Click here to move the selection away from the ref point.
To	Click here to move the selection to the ref point.
Toward	Click here to move the selection toward the ref point.

Description

Move Toward is an AC3D script that allows you to move a selection (composed of one or more objects, surfaces or vertices) toward a user defined point.

Installation

Copy the movetoward.tcl file to your AC3D scripts folder (for example, if using Windows, C:\Program Files\AC3D5\scripts) and (re)start AC3D.

You will find the "Move toward..." menu item under the "Tools" menu.

Example : Moving vertices

In this example we'll move vertices on a non-axis-aligned surface. I used this utility when modeling a roof for a house. I had a pitched surface, and I wanted to make a hole in the surface and size it to accomodate a window unit.

First, create a rectangle with the square facing the Front (xz) view. Rotate the surface -45 degrees on the X axis. Make a hole in the rectangle using AC3D's "Surface | Make hole", and you should be here:

Now I want to make the window "taller". You could manually move the vertices at the top and bottom of the "hole", but it's very difficult to keep the vertices on the exact same plane as the angled surface (try it and see). In many cases, you'll get close, but if you're going for precision, then the Move Toward utility is the way to go here.

Perform the following steps:

1. Select the "Move toward..." menu item under the "Tools" menu. This brings up the Move Toward interface.

2. Select the topmost vertices of the rectangle and click the ">" button in the Move Toward window. This makes the center of the rectangle's top edge our move-to target.

3. Select the top-most vertices of the "hole" and click "Toward". The selected vertices will move halfway between their current position and the top edge if you left the "Move by percentage" active and at 50%.

4. Select the bottom-most vertices of the rectangle and click the ">" button in the Move Toward window.

5. Select the bottom-most vertices of the "hole" and click "Toward".

If you followed these steps, you should end up with the shape below.

Example : moving objects

Here, I've created two boxes, and placed them both at x/z coordinates { 0, 0 }. Basically, one on top of another, with a gap in between. I then select both boxes and rotated them 45 degrees around the Z axis.

In this example we'll use Move Toward to move the lower box "toward" the upper one in such a way that their sides are still parallel.

1. Select the "Move toward..." menu item under the "Tools" menu. This brings up the Move Toward interface.

2. Select the "top right" box of the rectangle and click the ">" button in the Move Toward window. This makes the center of the box our move-to target.

3. Select the "lower left" box and click "Toward". The selected vertices will move halfway to the top edge if you left the "Move by percentage" active and at 50%.

You may also move surfaces in the same way as vertices and objects, of course.

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