Arch-E User Guide
Tricks and Tips
Aligning The Windows
Note, the new Add Locator To Corner command greatly speeds up this task.
All the window making tools build geometry with the lower left corner of the window frame located at or directly above the origin and neither rotate nor translate geometry to a given position in modo. To achieve this, use a locator in modo that is pinned to the bottom left corner of the window opening, in your building, with the Z+ (blue) axis facing outward, then make the window mesh a child of the locator (control-drag the mesh item onto the locator).
Polygon Part Names
Polygon part names are created for the frame, sash frame, sash seals, sash spacer (double-glazed only), sash glass, transoms and mullions in modo. This enables easy selection and material assignment; for example, you can select parts of the window using the ‘Lists’ panel via Statistics > Polygons > Part.
If you run one of the tools after assigning materials to the part names using the Add Material Groups command, then you’ll see these being actively applied by modo to the geometry while the tool is active. This is what we recommend as it provides you with a much better idea of how the final window will look, and it’s how we created the promotional images shown on this website.
UVs
The UV’s for each part of the window geometry are currently stacked in UV space and use an arbitrary UV scaling ratio rather than being ‘fit’ into [0,1] UV coords. This means a given window’s UVs are not only proportional to their own geometry, but also to that of other windows created by the same tool. This spares you from having to scale one set of ‘window’ UVs against other. However, once your windows have been created, and prior to texturing, you should use modo’s excellent built-in UV tools to pack the UVs to fit your requirements.
From MODO To The Manual
In modo, if you hit 'F1' for help and then click with the ‘?’ cursor on the tool buttons you’ll be taken directly to the online user guide page for that tool (requires web browser and internet connection).