object doctor

[bluemonkey]

Have used this tool often - very useful.

 

But there's very little info on it (using it and how it works) - what does the little symbol on the right mean? Why does it appear on some items and not others? Does it mean something needs fixing or has been fixed?

[Tech]

Hi BlueMonkey,

 

The "Hammer" icon indicates that those are problems that "potentially" can be fixed (if they exist in the object).  Items without the hammer icon like Crossing Faces can not be fixed automatically, and need to be fixed manually (i.e., by deleting and replacing them, or by moving points or segments so that they no longer cross).

 

When you run the Object Doctor with the Fix option, the Results will display ONLY those things that have been fixed.  Run the Object Doctor with the Add to Selection option to see what issues actually exist in the object(s).

 

Also, not everything that is listed is an actual problem.  For example, if you Mesh a surface (perhaps you want to paint the tiles different colors), they will have Coplanar Faces and Collinear Points.  Those items can be "fixed" to restore the original surface if you don't need the mesh, but again, they are not "problems." per se.  Likewise, the Non Developable Faces are simply surfaces that curve in more than one direction (a cylinder curves in one direction, but a sphere curves in more).  Such surfaces can not be Unfolded accurately, but other than that, they are no problems.  (The other items are.)

 

Does that help?

[bluemonkey]

Thanks - I thought it might be something like that but could find no reference to it.

 

 

[Justin Montoya]

I like to think of it as the .... 'Magic!' tool.  Especially when the SketchUp files come in all broken.  In fact, I think it could be helpful if this was automatically run when it detects bad or damaged geometry on imported files.   What do you think FormZ?  

[Tech]

Hi Justin,

 

I wouldn't recommend "automatically running the Dr" on all objects all the time.  It can fix a lot of problems, but while its prime directive is "do no harm" that is not always the case with an automated process.  (Sometimes the surgery can result in a "less well" patient.)  It is almost always a huge improvement with crappy SketchUp geometry -- but with that in particular I would generally recommend turning off the Fix Missing Faces option -- unless there are specifically missing faces that you need to patch.

 

Visually inspecting the geometry before and after running the Object Doctor Fix option is probably a better practice.

[Justin Montoya]

Thanks Tech.

 

Good advice on the Fix Missing Faces option.  Unfortunately crappy SketchUp geometry will always be a necessity as long as the huge library of free models exists at 3dwarehouse.  It just saves so much time vs modeling props from scratch.