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First sketch, only 1 square and still not defined
Before I go too far down the road with my new project, I would like all my sketches to de properly defined. So I start a new project and choose the top plane.
Make a square box and immdiately it is says sketch 1 is not fully defined… whatever else I add later, Sketch 1 stays undefined…
Is this a software error ? because simpler as this is impossible and there are no ambiguities that I can see…
Really wondering what the solution is to this question
Thanks and kind regards,
Jules
Best Answer
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Hi Jules,
so first, please make sure you understand what 'fully defined' means:
"a sketch is "fully defined" when its relations and dimensions have complete control of its size, shape, and position."that square you drew: when you pick a corner you can still drag it anywhere. that means it's not fully defined.
when you put a dimension on one side, and e.g. constrain the height and width of the square with an equal constraint, its now a proper square (iso a rectangle) with a defined size. however the position of it is not yet defined. so if you make the origin of the part studio visible and put a coïncident constraint on the corner and the origin, it will define the position as well. all lines will go black and the sketch will be fully defined.
sketch 2 is probably fully defined because either you didn't draw anything in it yet, or what you drew auto-constrained to existing geometry..
These are very basic things and like Micheal suggested, the onshape learning pathways will give you a better fundamental understanding of what your doing than resorting to this forum each time you run into something.1
Answers
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Have you constrained or dimensioned your square relative to the origin or two planes?
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If the sketch lines are blue, they are undefined. Meaning they need dimensions or constraints for their size as well as their position. You can constrain and dimension to entities within the sketch or outside the sketch as an external reference.
If you really want to become efficient at Onshape, complete the Onshape Learning Pathways. They are amazing.
RENDERCAD
rendercad.ai - Photorealistic product rendering.
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I have seen this description of yours before, but I am not sure exactly what you need to do, to constrain or dimension to the 'origin'.
When it gets to 2 planes… I get lost and have no idea anymore what you mean…
Mind you, when I extrude sketch1 (with just one square box) into 100 mm deep or whatever, then when I start sketch 2, that sketch2 IS fully dimensioned…
I really do appreciate your answer, but I am still not sure how to go exactly about what you describe, maybe just try yourself:
New project, choose TOP, sketch1, draw square box and click OK, immediately sketch1 is not defined…
Thanks very much for your trouble and kind regards,
Jules.
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I already wrote an answer, but it disappeared into thin air… Now I get this comment-box.
I really do appreciate your help, but am not sure exactly how to do that "dimension to the origin"…
Kind regards,
Jules.
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Hi Jules,
so first, please make sure you understand what 'fully defined' means:
"a sketch is "fully defined" when its relations and dimensions have complete control of its size, shape, and position."that square you drew: when you pick a corner you can still drag it anywhere. that means it's not fully defined.
when you put a dimension on one side, and e.g. constrain the height and width of the square with an equal constraint, its now a proper square (iso a rectangle) with a defined size. however the position of it is not yet defined. so if you make the origin of the part studio visible and put a coïncident constraint on the corner and the origin, it will define the position as well. all lines will go black and the sketch will be fully defined.
sketch 2 is probably fully defined because either you didn't draw anything in it yet, or what you drew auto-constrained to existing geometry..
These are very basic things and like Micheal suggested, the onshape learning pathways will give you a better fundamental understanding of what your doing than resorting to this forum each time you run into something.1 -
Hi Jelte and Michael,
Thank you ever so much for spending time on answering my simple questions. I have indeed discovered that a sketch cannot be overdefined; a red line appears when you have two measurements dimensioned for the same length, so Onshape does not know which one to use. Just by getting rid of the dimension of 1 measurement, the other one is now king of the hill… Sometimes I need several lines to remind me the length of things in a sketch…
I have developed some solid experience with Onshape, but that dimension to 'origin' had me baffled, but it is that small dot that appears with a new project. I immediately got rid of all that by pressing P… saw that somewhere… Now I realize that I probably should have made a measurement to that origin-point…
Anyway, thanks again for your trouble to help me. Really appreciated !
Kind regards,
Jules
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@jules_nijst You won't regret watching some of those Learning Pathway videos. It will save you tons of time.
RENDERCAD
rendercad.ai - Photorealistic product rendering.
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Hi Michael
Where do I find these pathway videos, Within Bambu Search does not find anything…
Thanks and kind regards,
Jules
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Hi Michael,
I found itLearning Pathways and 'absorbing' it…
Thanks and kind regartds, Jules.
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Hallo Jelte and Michael,
I have seen the light !!! I know what it means to 'dimension to the origin… It was just the terminology that confused me. I would have understood it easier, as a beginner, if it said: Start your drawing from the origin, the dot in the middle and draw the first lines, circles etc, by including this origin…
I am getting my way around and find out the things I need to make my design. Thanks and kind regards,
Jules.
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For the next person reading this thread: it is not necessary to start drawing from the origin, that "dot in the middle".
Here's an example. Start a new document.
Press p once or twice until the default planes appear (top, front, right planes). You'll notice they all intersect at the origin. That's what the origin means.
To get started you click on the sketch tool and then on one of the planes. For this example click on the top plane or on the words "Top plane" in the list on the left. Right click and select "View normal to sketch plane". Now you are looking at the top plane that you will be drawing on.
Now select the Corner rectangle tool (click on the down arrow by the rectangle tool and select "Corner rectangle").
Left click and drag a rectangle on the top plane, but NOT touching the origin.
Now select the dimension tool (or press d). Click on one side of your rectangle and then move the pointer away from that line and click again. You will see a number which is the length of that side. Type in a new number and click the green arrow. Now you have defined the dimension of one sid of the rectangle.
Repeat this procedure for the other side of the rectangle. Now the dimensions of that rectangle are set…they are defined.
But now you have to tell Onshape where that rectangle is located.
Still using the dimension tool, click on the origin and then on one side of your rectangle. Move the pointer away from the side you clicked on and click again. Type in a number to set that side's distance from the origin and click the green arrow.
repeat this for another side.
Now the rectangle is fully defined. It's on the top plane, with exact length sides and in a spot relative to the origin.
By the way, alternatively you can use the dimension tool to measure a distance to a point at one of your rectangle's corners. Essentially if you can select something you can use the dimension to tool to measure to something else in the same drawing.
Later, when you draw more objects you can use the origin again to define position, or you can measure from some part of the the first rectangle or from a plane…it doesn't always have to be the origin. It just has to be something that Onshape can use to know exactly where the object is relative to something else that is fully defined. The origin and the planes are fully defined by default.
With circles you can dimension using the center point or somewhere on the circumference. With circles you also define the diameter (or radius) to define the size.
Defining dimensions and locations is like nailing down a part so it won't move or change later. Imagine if you tried to build a house without nailing the walls to the floor or nailing one wall to the next. Your house could move in whacky ways at any time.
One last note, you can draw things that aren't fully defined and still make a perfectly usable 3D drawing. I've drawn all sorts of complex stuff that I then exported, 3D printed and used before I even noticed the little blue circles with the minus sign in them (that symbol means something is undefined in that sketch).
Fully defining line and arcs and points prevents accidentally changing one thing and then seeing everything else suddenly and unexpectedly change in response. Undo is your friend.There's always more to this but you'll learn as you go along.
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