SkyCiv has built out a range of features that make the modelling process extremely and fast and easy. One of these great set of mouse click functions, that once used to, can allow users to mock up a model with a few clicks.
There are a range of tools that you can choose from. These can be accessed by clicking the pen icon to launch the following great tools:
Click the pen icon to access these different mouse controls
Default Tool ()
The default tool, denoted by the crosshair mouse icon, has the following features:
Click + Drag between nodes to create a member. Hold a number to create a member with that number's section ID:
With Plates menu open: Click between nodes to create a plate:
Hold CTRL + Drag to multi select:
Rotating - Left click and drag to rotate your structure.
Panning - Right click and drag to pan. Alternatively use Shift + Left Click.
Select - Left click a member/node/plate/support/load.
Multi Select - Ctrl + Left Click.
Create Member - Left click starting node, drag to ending node, and release on ending node.
Click member, node or any other object to view/edit/delete
Click member to view that result only (Post Solve Only)
Ctrl + Click: Multiple Object Select
Scroll + S: Scale Result/Loads
Quick Tip
Click and dragging in either direction will do something different! Click and drag to the RIGHT will select anything that comes in contact with the box. Click and drag to the LEFT will highlight anything that is entirely within the box. Both can be seen in the image below.
Draw Tool ()
Hover or click a node, this will become your Reference Node, from here you can use the Snap/Grid to plot a node:
With the Connect Member tickbox selected, you can both drop a node and connect the nodes as a member:
The Length box will auto display the length of the distance from the reference node (and hence the length of the member). At any point you can enter a length and hit Enter, or click, to apply that member length.
Enter a length and click the (lock) icon to lock the length. Now you can create members fixed at this length.
Grab Tool ()
Click and drag a node to move it an snap it to a point of reference
Right Click (Quick) Repairs
SkyCiv has introduced a couple of quick repair functions that allow users to easily detect and repair issues with your model. This is slightly different to SkyCiv's Repair Model functionality which will repair your entire model. This is focused on your highlighted elements that the user can easily identify. For instance, two nodes closely together can be merged using the Merge Nodes feature. Here is the full list of quick repairs that are automatically detected by the software when you highlight and right click parts of your structure.
Merge Nodes
Notice you have two nodes that are incorrereally close. It's a fairly common problem and may cause disconnects in your model. Simply highlight the nodes (CTRL + CLICK & DRAG) then right click and click Merge Nodes:
Intersecting Members
Sometimes members can be drawn over another. Although difficult to notice, these can have disastrous effects to your model, as that model will have a double up and will over estimate the strength of that member (by a factor of 2). Simply highlight the overlapping members and right click. The software will automatically detect the members as overlapping. To repar this simply click Merge Overlapping Members to merge the two members. It should look something like this:
Overlapping Members
Sometimes you want to split (and connect) members by their intersection. Remember, members are only connected if they have a common node. So if you have two intersecting members with no common node, they are not connected. Again, highlight the members and right click to repair this and add a node at the point of their intersection. To do this, simply right click and click Intersect Members. This will add a node at the intersection and separate the members into smaller elements:
Split Member
Not so much of a repair feature, but more a useful tool that allows you to add a node and split the member based on some input.
Have any other issues you'd like to have added to this list? Let us know at [email protected]
