Repeat Inspector
Automatically Repeating Objects
With the Repeat inspector, you can do an amazing variety of repetitive tasks with surprising ease!
Okay, give me a quick lowdown
Say you want to plank a fence. You create and select a plank. Switch the view so you're looking at its face, then click on the button near the top labeled Row (illustrated below). Now, simply stretch the selected object to the right. Voila! Lots of planks, and the Materials List view shows you the total count.
What kinds of things can I create?
Actually, the list is huge. Here are a few examples:
- studs
- joists
- stairs
- panelling
- plywood sheeting or flooring
- tiling
- fencing
- fence posts
- planks on a barn
- siding
- shingling
- regularly-spaced shelving
Creating a repeater always begins by selecting an object and converting it into a repeater by clicking on one of these three repeater creation buttons.
We'll use the Row creator below to create some studs and the Stair creator to create a stair case, and the Tile creator to layout some plywood.
How do I create studs on 16 inch centers?
For a stud wall, create a stud (at the moment, the smart objects don't repeat). The length doesn't matter. Then switch your view so that you are looking at its thin edge. Then click on the button labeled Row. You can now stretch the new repeater. You'll notice, though, that the studs aren't distributed the way the ought to be.
First check the checkbox labeled Measured Center To Center (see illustration at left). In the Spacing table below it, Design Intuition has already filled in your spacing. In the right-hand column of the table, double-click in the row labeled Spacing. Enter 16 and hit Return. This will place your studs on 16 inch centers.
Now, stretch the selected object and Design Intuition will add as many studs as will fit on 16 inch centers. The 3D view should look something like the illustration below.
What about laying out plywood flooring or floor tiles?
First create a sheet of plywood (1 1/8" x 4' x 8'). Then click on the Tile button. Stretch to the size of your floor. Design Intuition automatically turns on Fill in With Partial Objects for you (see illustration at right), since you are likeliest to tile a surface that isn't a perfect multiple of the dimensions of your plywood. When full sheets won't fit, Design Intuition creates partial sheets to fill the spaces around the edges.
This same proceedure applies for sheet rock or wall paneling or exterior plywood siding. Floor tiles, however, are different in that they have grout lines.
Same Tile button, but this time, start with a floor tile object (eg, 1/2" x 1' x 1') and alter two other characteristics. First, check Fixed Gap. Then, in the text field next to it, enter the tiling gap you intend to use between tiles. In the illustration at left, this gap is set to 1/8".
The tiling layout below was done with a one inch tile grout gap.
How about a staircase?
First, create a stair tread, with the dimensions you think will be correct. For example, we'll start with 11 1/4" x 1 5/8" x 3' (a three-foot-long two-by-twelve). Then switch your view so that you are looking at the tread end on. Then click on the button labeled Stairs. You can now stretch the new repeater. You'll notice immediately, that the stairs aren't distributed the way the ought to be.
In the spacings table (see illustration at left), enter new values for Minimum and Maximum for both columns until the stairs distribute correctly. Now the stairs will get no closer than the minimum values you set and no further apart than the maximum. As you stretch and shrink the staircase, extra stairs are added or removed to fit these criteria. The staircase also will restrict its shape to exactly the size needed to accomodate the stairs it creates -- it will get neither too steep nor too shallow.
If you don't want Design Intuition to use range values, checking Measured Center to Center will let you create as shallow or as steep a set of stairs as you like.
Finally, you can tell Design Intuition how many stairs you would like, and Design Intuition will distribute them so that exactly this many will fit. Simply click on the checkbox labeled Use My Number (see illustration at right) and type in the number of stairs you would like, or use the little up and down arrows to increase or decrease the count.
Are there any limits to what I can repeat?
Objects, groups and Smart Objects repeat and respond well to all the controls in the Repeat inspector. Below, the table with mortised skirt is being repeated with a gap of eight inches. A bit ridiculous, but it illustrates the power and potential of the Repeat inspector.
At the moment, though, most of the Smart Lumber won't repeat well.
