Object designer basics – Piper software

Opening the Object designer (Ctrl+O) from the menu or icon view:

Attention! If there is any cabinet in the room and you have opened the object designer, do not return to the room without saving, as it may happen that the object designer switches to the selected cabinet upon returning, causing the work done in the object designer to be lost.

This page serves for editing any objects that cannot be directly displayed using basic elements.

This includes fronts, but also any other non-cuboid objects, from handles to faucets, as well as the insertion of models in the .OBJ format from external programs.

The construction of the cabinet when applying these is similar to that of carcass elements. Here, too, a basic element is required, but in this case, it is not the basic element itself that will appear on the drawing, but a generally designed object here, with the encompassing shape being the basic element.

You can set how the basic element should appear on the cabinet editor appearance page.

Object types

We differentiate between 9 basic types of objects, saved in .frt file format: Front, Handle, Glazing, Worktop, Plinth, Upstand, Pelmet, Cornice, Other.

Each type is saved in a separate folder, and specific settings apply to them in the furniture database.
The "Other" type is used for accessory elements, e.g., chairs, tables, pans, etc.

Points, surfaces

The structure of objects consists of two well-separated parts: Points and surfaces.

First, points need to be defined, and then surfaces are created by connecting these points.
Complex shapes defined by points, such as extrusions, revolved shapes, or spheres, are also considered surfaces.
An object can consist of multiple surfaces.
Each surface can have its own color settings.

Base points

The 27 distinguished points (corner and center points) of the bounding shape are called base points.

Points can be tied to the base points, allowing the object to dynamically follow changes in the bounding shape's size.

Front variations

Each front can have 6×6=36 variations or types. You can choose from the 6×6 icons arranged in two rows.

The upper row's elements correspond to those in the lower row.
Each variation is a completely independent object.
These are primarily significant for the front type, but it is not mandatory to use all of them.

Bounding size

The bounding sizes can be set in the lower right corner.

These settings are for testing purposes only, helping to design and check the object, but are not saved.
The real size will always be the current size of the basic element it is attached to.
The positions of the division planes can be set in the rightmost fields of the width and depth rows.

Appearance

The icons in the top row control what appears in the drawing: base points, points, surfaces, etc. For base points, it can be set to show only the 9 found on the front surface or all of them.
It can be set to show non-selected surfaces transparently or display a wireframe on complex objects like tubes, extrusions, spheres, etc.

The icon sets a combination of view icons that corresponds to the normal display of the object.
The entire object can be mirrored horizontally, vertically, or in depth.
Copy and paste. The copied object can be pasted into another type or even another loaded front.
The icons on the right side allow you to choose between different editor interfaces or tabs.
The finished element can be saved in a .frt file in a subdirectory by type under the ...\data\frontok\ directory. Except for the "Other" type, each type also requires a database entry where many additional parameters can be set on the Object database page.

Keywords: #object designer