We are glad to announce a new feature that will exactly halve your efforts while building symmetric models.
Long back we had implemented a mirror tool that was used to draw cubes symmetrically. After we added support for template based geometries, we didn’t get a chance extend that functionality to new geometries. Recently we found many 3DTin users building symmetric models. It occured to us that we can make their task remarkably easier if we allow a mode that automatically mirrors all the operations that users do in the other half of the model. Thus was born the idea for this new feature. Since this feature is mainly useful for power users we are offering it as a Premium feature.
There are two different ways in which this feature can be used.
1. Symmetric Add
In the left bottom corner you have seen the mirror icon (Club). In a regular sketch you can toggle it into two modes.
When the Symmetric Add is ON, for any geometry or cubes (voxels) that you add to the model, a mirror image is automatically added for you. In the past this feature was limited to cubes, but now it is available for all kinds of geometry. The mirroring is only restricted to add operation in this mode.
2. Super Symmetry
When you create a new sketch, you will now be prompted for which kind of model you want to create – Regular or Super Symmetric.
If you choose “Super Symmetric”, 3DTin assumes that you are building a completely symmetric model and it mirrors each and every operation you perform automatically.
Here is a short clip explaining how that looks.
As you can see, not just adding of geometry, but also all the subsequent operations – moving, rotating, grouping, aligning – are exactly replicated in the mirror image.
We very much hope that this new feature will help you make more awesome models with less amount of effort.
Note that you cannot add any asymmetric features to the super-symmetric model. But that can be easily worked around. You can build all the symmetric parts of your model in one sketch, then create a fresh regular asymmetric sketch and import the symmetric sketch into it. Best of both the worlds.
You will have to be a premium user for all the symmetric effects to actually take effect. If you are not, you will see a preview of the mirror geometry being added, but it won’t be actually added when you click.
Give it a try. We look forward to your feedback.
3DTin 