Image plane Thickness

[Ramjet]

Hi,

I am using Wings 3d since 2009 to make objects for Condor scenery, the soaring simulator. I use Wings 3d 1.51 and 1.41.
I use it to make runways and taxiways (450 m to 2500 m), and the conversion between Wings 3d and Condor scenery is 1 unit Wings 3d = 1 meter.
To make all my runways I built flat tile of 50 x 50 m with no thickness (ie 2 faces 4 vertices, starting with a cube, flattening it and clean up to eliminate unnecessary vertices and faces.

But to import the map of the airport, I use "image plane" and I must rotate the image plane and scale this image and synchronize the image with the main direction of the runway. .
Or the thickness of the support of image plane is approximately 1.3 wings Unit with runway of 2500 m.

I can't flatten the image plane support, as I do with my tiles, and at every moment, due to this thickness, I must change the altitude, especially when I zoom in or out, of the image to look at what I built in Wings 3D, even if use the transparencies of the image plane material. this is very uncomfortable!

Because at the end of the process, I built 3 D hangars, buildings, control towers etc and add a lot of little objects, and that I must separate ground objects with no collisions from 3d objects sensible with collision it is quite impossible to scale at this end.

Mathematically, if i want to get the same precision between my objects
I will encounter the same difficulties if I am scaling at the beginning or at the end of the process.

So, if I have not miss something, I don't understand why the image plane have some thickness.

My question, can I hope that in a new release to get image plane with no thickness, in order to use efficiently transparencies and positioning of image plane and don't be embarrassed when I am zooming in or out

[attachment=318]
Many thanks for the people who animate this blog, and for your answers and suggestions about my trouble.

Xavier (Ramjet)

[micheus]

Hi Ramjet.
It's a very thin thickness (0.001) and it was not a problem until now.

You can fix that problem easily. As the Y axis is perpendicular to your image plane do this:
- unlock your image plane object;
- select all its eight vertices;
- active the command Scale Axis->Y;
- use the TAB key to access the Input Dialog, set the % value to 100.0 and hit OK;
- lock your image plane again.

Done!

[Ramjet]

Hi Micheus,

Many thanks for your quick answer.

I tried your trick, and it seems that it works well, ans certaily better than last time

Good continuation!

[Ramjet]

Hi Micheus,

I try unsuccessfully to make my image Plane's thickness to 0, By "Weld" or "Absolute Command -> Move & Clean up". I always obtain a dark picture.

But, I find an obvious manner to preserve the initial thickness of 0.001.

Instead of Using "Scale Uniform", I use "Scale Radial" with the perpendicular Axis for the global approach, and I refine the scaling with "Scale Axis", for each plane axis.
That manner doesn't change the initial thickness.

Nevertheless, It will be easier to get an Image plane object with a thickness of 0.

And again many thanks for the people who animates this blog.

My two pence

[micheus]

If all the problem is related to the image plane thickness, that is too easy to resolve: select the top face that contains the image mapped and use Extract command and accepting it without any mouse movement.

That will create a single face already UV mapped and assigned to the initial image. So, you can throw out the initial image plane.

Image plane has a thickness because - you know - Wings3D works with manifold meshes. Extract was something probably created to be used in situations like that.

[Ramjet]

Hi Micheus,

Many thanks for your answer, but it doesn't work as I want, because I get the recto image but not the verso image, even if I combine the extract of each face.

Many Thanks

[micheus]

Ah! Now I understood what you are talking about .
I was still with the image of the airport plant in my mind. So, never could imagine you would like to use one image plane with the image being viewed from the both sides.
That is something I had though to add sometime ago - after the last time I played with its code. I'm going to think about again.

From the top of my mind, it should has another way to get it too. Not sure if is faster. After extract the unmapped face, you select the other face; unwrap it; a just it's size in AutoUV window - which you uses the same image as texture - and flip the mesh. This way the back face must be equivalent to the front face.

[Fonte Boa]

I tryied the following method, but user will have to uvmap the resultant object so that the image will be visible again.

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Create a Image Plane.
Then, change to Body Mode [B],
select the Image Plane,
RMB click to open context menu,
and right click on CleanUp command.
Then specify Lengh Tolerance to 0.01 (or greater).
Certify Short Edges are marked and click OK.

You will have an object with 2 faces, 4 edges and 4 vertices.

[micheus]

You are absolutely right Fonte Boa.

I suggested without test and because I also was with the "transparencies" from "... even if use the transparencies of the image plane material..." I forget that the default Image Plane already creates two faces with the image mapped on them.

[Ramjet]

Hi, Micheus and Fonte Boa

I had to try this method, and effectively I had stopped when I get an empty "Image Plane" Object.