Manipulators and Labels in Sheet Metal Commands

During bending (after selecting the base line), auxiliary graphic elements - manipulators and labels - are displayed in the 3D scene.

Manipulators are used to change sizes directly in the 3D scene. Working with manipulators in sheet metal operations is similar to their use in other 3D operations and commands (extrusion, primitive, etc.). When you put the cursor over a manipulator the latter gets highlighted. If at this moment you start moving the cursor with the button pressed, the value of the corresponding parameter will change in the value input window.

1 - Length manipulator;
2 - Angle manipulator;
3 - Bevel manipulators;
4 - Radius manipulator;
5 - Indentation manipulator;
6 - Offset manipulator of bend line;
7 - Direction manipulator;
8 - Preview.

1 - Manipulator;
2 - Radius label;
3 - Face sequence number label.

Up to eleven manipulators can be in the 3D scene. However, depending on the sheet metal command used, some of the manipulators may be missing.

If several elements are edited simultaneously in an operation, then to edit a specific element it is necessary to move the mouse cursor closer to the desired element. All available manipulators will be displayed on the element, and the parameters window will correspond to the values of this element.

Labels are icons schematically depicting the operation parameter and indicating the parameter value. By clicking the parameter value on the label, you can call the parameter value input box. Some labels allow you to change the type of parameter by clicking the label icon. So, for example, you can use a label to change the type of overlap in the Angle operation.

Snapping Geometry using Manipulators

The direction and length of the manipulator, and, consequently, the geometry being created, can be snapped to 3D scene objects. To do this, call the contextual menu of the length manipulator and select one of the manipulator's orientation options based on 3D scene objects.

Move to Point. The length of the manipulator will be determined by the length of its projection, which, in turn, is given by the selected point. After selecting the option in the contextual menu, it is necessary to indicate a 3D node or vertex in the 3D scene.

Move to Surface. The length of the manipulator will be determined by the point of its intersection with the selected surface. After selecting the option in the contextual menu, it is necessary to indicate a face, surface or workplane in the 3D scene.

Rotate Parallel to Direction. The direction of the manipulator will be parallel to the selected direction. The direction can be specified by an edge or a normal to the plane. After selecting the option in the contextual menu, it is necessary to specify an edge, face, surface or workplane in the 3D scene.

Rotate Parallel to Plane. The direction of the manipulator will be parallel to the selected plane. After selecting the option in the contextual menu, it is necessary to indicate a face, surface or workplane in the 3D scene.

Preview

The preview schematically shows the shape and dimensions of the created operation, dynamically changing when the command parameters are changed. With invalid parameter values, the operation preview is missing. In such cases, it is necessary to override the operation parameters. If there is no preview after setting the parameters in the 3D scene, it means that the parameters were set in such a way that the system could not find a solution. In this case, the only way is to recreate the operation.