Managing Fill Patterns

[Joef]

I had a bunch of .pat files and even though they were named stone01, stone02 etc, I still couldn't figure out what they looked like. If the .pat files are all in one file you can scroll through them when making a custom fill pattern and see what they look like. So I plunked all the .pat files into a directory and resorted to the old DOS copy command. Copy *.pat newfilename.pat. It isn't perfect as they are several different scales and there were one or two unruly files that didn't concatenate properly, but mostly it worked fine and now I have all my hatch patterns in a couple files and can view them easily. Perhaps this is an old trick everybody knows but just in case it helps a couple people out I thought I'd share it.

[hugh.69031]

COPY concatenation works fine but there's a gotcha if COPY tries to add the destination file to itself.

For example COPY *.pat fred.pat can generate:

...
fred.pat
Content of destination lost before copy
Content of destination lost before copy
Pantile.pat
...

With a lot of files DOS may scroll this message away before you read it :-) You can avoid this by using a different destination filename, then renaming:

COPY *.pat fred.xyz
REN fred.xyz fred.pat

or by placing the destination file in a different directory.

[zanzibarbob7]

I have lots of patterns (in pat files) I have downloaded but don't know how I can view them except in the Add Surface Pattern dialog box of the Materials. This is a tedious process. Is there a way to view them such as thumbnails.

Also, many of the patterns,such as stone (various types) and some of the roof tiles require me to adjust the Import Scale by trial and error in order to get a pattern that measures correctly in the model. Example: The roof pattern for Italian Tile when imported at a scale of one models at 4.5 inches width but the tile in manufacture is closer to 9 inches. Is there an easier way?

I would like to create several patterns of say clapboard with 4", 5", 6" reveals and am looking for a more efficient way to accomplis this.

[beegee]

LINK HERE (http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?p=96190#post96190post96190)to R and D Forum - Hatchkit Demo program.

[Joef]

I have lots of patterns (in pat files) I have downloaded but don't know how I can view them except in the Add Surface Pattern dialog box of the Materials. This is a tedious process. Is there a way to view them such as thumbnails.

Also, many of the patterns,such as stone (various types) and some of the roof tiles require me to adjust the Import Scale by trial and error in order to get a pattern that measures correctly in the model. Example: The roof pattern for Italian Tile when imported at a scale of one models at 4.5 inches width but the tile in manufacture is closer to 9 inches. Is there an easier way?

I would like to create several patterns of say clapboard with 4", 5", 6" reveals and am looking for a more efficient way to accomplis this.


There is a fair amount of tedium that seems to be unavoidable when it comes to hatch patterns. Trial and error seems to be the only way to adjust the patterns. I have not been able to find a free viewer for .pat files. If you concatenate them into one file you can view them by going to settings - fill patterns - new - then click the "custom" selection, then import. You now need to navigate to where your .pat collection is. you can open up a collection or individual .pat files. If it is a collection you will see all the different pattern names listed. You will sometimes need to adjust the scale to see the pattern.

If you want to create simple line and cross hatch patterns you can do so by going settings - fill patterns - new (remember to pick model or drafting ) - and in that window are line spacing and line angle settings for creating your own patterns. If you go to the model pattern window the line spacing settings are in real world dimensions. You can set up the spacing for your siding there. Hope this helps.

Joe

[Martin P]

I have lots of patterns (in pat files) Is there a way to view them such as thumbnails.

.

I Have a drafting view in my base files that has little squares I drew - each one has a different hatch pattern, just cut and paste :) works very well.......

[SCShell]

I Have a drafting view in my base files that has little squares I drew - each one has a different hatch pattern, just cut and paste :) works very well.......
Hi Martin,
Very elegant! I like your approach and I think I will try it. Is this in your project template? If so, did you just create the squares and then do all the fills within your template's drafting view?
If that's it, I will try do duplicate this. I like it.
Thanks for sharing this.
Steve