Snapping

The snap engine in Architron is a comprehensive snapping system that overrides the native Cinema 4D snap system within the Architron toolset.
It works efficiently with the Universal Coordinate System (UCS), providing precise creation and modification operations on objects and geometry.
The UCS plane helps to restrict operations to the UCS-defined space, enabling greater accuracy.

The snapping system works with various types of geometry and constraint helpers, including:

• Polygons

• Splines (line, bezier, B-spline)

• NURBS (specific to Architron)

• UCS & Grid

• Ruler (geometry edges or projected lines)

• Projection Lines

Snapping modes can be combined, and snapping results are highlighted intuitively in the scene. A set of OGL snapping buttons is available for quick adjustments to the selection mode.

• Snap To: Offers two options: "All Objects" (snapping works with all objects) and "Selected Objects" (snapping works only on selected objects).

• Grid: Can be set to Automatic, where the snap grid distance adjusts to fit the viewport for comfortable snapping, or Fixed, where the grid distance is user-defined.

• Ruler: Snaps to a ruler placed on the nearest geometry edge, projection line, or angle-constrained axis. The ruler has two modes:

  • Divide: Snaps to edge division points based on a fixed value.

  • Grid Distance: Snaps to distances aligned with the grid snap value.

Angle Snapping is integrated into tool handles. When a handle depends on a previous handle or the pivot handle, it can be restricted using Angle Snap for precise angular adjustments. Users can set snap values to 90º, 45º, or a custom value. Angle snapping can be toggled on or off by holding the CTRL key while dragging handles in the viewport.

Geometry Snapping Modes:

• Surf: Snaps to the nearest surface.

• Edg: Snaps to the nearest edge.

• Pnt: Snaps to the nearest point.

• Perp: Snaps to the nearest perpendicular edge.

• Tan: Snaps to the nearest tangent edge (reserved for NURBS).

• Int: Snaps to intersections between edges.

• Pivot: Snaps to the pivot point of the object.

Projection:

Projection allows snapping to lines projected from projection points. These projection points can be created by the user using the Alt-A shortcut key. Projection lines can be created using several different methods, including Ortho, Perpendicular, and Tangent projections.