Moving of Multiple Parts in Cabinet Design Software

Long ago I posted about how important it was to consider the true size of an assembly.  The issue is that using our cabinet design software – SketchList 3D – people were creating designs very quickly.  Then, as an afterthought – would say things like “Hey I need to add a face frame on the front of this thing….”  This means in most cases that every board needs to be moved back (change front value from 0 to 3/4 and adjust the back value or depth) by some amount.

Tedious I admit!   So my advice went “Consider the assembly before you start…”  But many times the message was not taken to heart.

It’s funny.  Even if I am online with someone designing an assembly I say things like “OK are you SURE the assembly is 36 inches wide?  No trim.  No moldings.  Nothing to make it ‘bigger’?   Answer I got back.  “I am completely sure this cabinet is 36 inches wide.”

Then after we reached what I thought was our final design the words would come from the other end of the line:  “How do we put the moldings on the front and sides?”   [Check the second paragraph second sentence!]   The answer then is “Let me show you how easy it is to move 120 boards to the right and to the back by 3 inches…”  Well it’s not THAT bad.  But now in V3.i of SketchList 3D it is trivial.  You just say move everything from this point to the back (or front, or left, or right, or top or bottom) by X amount.  Two mouse clicks and several keystrokes and you are all set.

In future videos I will show how powerful this feature can be.  In addition to adding size to an assembly, you can actually use it to mass move boards within an assembly.

This is a wall storage unit I designed from an existing piece my niece bought at an antique shop.

In about a minute with two mouse clicks and several key strokes, I ‘split’ the assembly just to the right of the middle divided and moved everything to the right by 18 inches.  SketchList 3D automatically moved all the boards.  The one back board was left because is exists on both the let and right of the plane that I used to split the assembly.

I cloned the middle divider and the top molding and located them as needed.  In 2 or three minutes I created a new design from my existing work resizing as necessary.

Next up on the list of V3i features  is the ability to stretch and shrink assemblies.  This feature actually re-sizes individual components within an assembly to the size you specify.  You can re-size a lower cabinet — from 12 to 36 inches — and determine if you want the drawers, face frame, hardware — whatever —  to be included or not.

A whole new way or working in SketchList 3D furniture design software.  Better designs in less time creating job winning proposals!

Any questions or comments please respond to this post.

Thanks,

Dave