The Coordinate System

New to Shapr3d I’m impressed with what I see. But completely disoriented by the coordinate system. To me topp should show the XY plane with X growing to th right and Y growing up and Z pointing towards me. Then front should be the XZ plane with X growing to the right and Z growing upward. Etc. A right handed Cartesian Coordinate System!
With some 30 years off experience from modeling with various CAD software, Microstation, Autocad, Archicad, VectorWorks, Form-Z, Revit, etc. I find it inconvenient to ask for a front view and be presented with the left view of my model.

Have you ever considered offering an alternative coordinate system?

We could of course, what would you prefer?

I would prefer the system I’m used to. Of course. But this is for you to decide. Are your customers engineers used to cad software or illustrators?

Mainly engineers and designers. Before the first release we spent some time with @CEKuhnen to set up the coordinate system and views properly, what do you think Claas?

I agree with Harry, I find it extremely difficult to draw anything, so I don’t. I would love to use iPad Pro for sketching, but until the coordinate system gets fixed I cannot. Developer should try using sketchup pro and copy there coordinate system, very user friendly.

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Developer tried sketchup pro, and many more, and did not do that as he does not agree. However we will consider to change it.

The coordinate system we use IS right handed. The red=x, green=y, blue=z.
Only the names of the predefined views could be unusual I think, as we considered the Y direction pointing “up”. But this could be changed by default, or could be a setting indeed.

I agree with Harry. The coordinate system is a pain in the b… for me. I am also used to the system of SketchUp Pro (etc.) and I love it (and by the way, how easy it is to “grab” and manipulate existing volumes…). To understand my concerns: Just import a 3d file from another software program and see that it is always imported the “wrong way” according to the coordinate system of shapr3d. Please change it!!!

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Hi yes i agree with Harry and Croth I am new to Shapr3D, the coordinate system could cause a problem with importing from other cad packages the convention on engineering drawings and indeed CNC machines is the other way round. But saying that Shapr3D is absolutely brilliant and the tutorials are excellent. If there is an option later to draw with coordinates it might become a real headache.

OK, I think we will change it. Easy fix :wink: What do you mean by draw with coordinates?

Hi what I mean by drawing with coordinates is direct input of points ie (x-10,y!0, z-10) this might be useful in the future for putting in points to translate to and from rather than drawing construction lines etc and lining up centres. Maybe ??

Oh, yes. That’s planned, we will see how the workflow will be shaped with the next few releases :wink: