Much better Measurement tools for curved items

Doug McLean

As designers get more comfortable with curves, we need to have better ways to measure them.
Currently, in Revu, you have to place either a Perimeter or Polylength tool and then "Convert to Arc", which is a bit inefficient tbh.
What's odd is that if you use something like the 3 Point Radius Tool, and then turn on a caption, you can get the Arc length, but that Arc length does not appear in the Markups List.
An easy way to put this in the Markups list might be to simply add an optional column like you already do with the Rise/ Drop and Slope Columns. This way, we can keep turn on or off depending on the workflow.
Bluebeam has always been a bit lacking when it comes to the Finishing Trades, including some specific columns would be a good place to start.

Luke Prescott

Hi Doug, thanks for the post. If you don't mind sharing, what type of material are you typically measuring the length of the radius? Are you only measuring the radius itself or are you also looking to measure the radius alongside an adjacent straight run?

We are making an improvement to the "Convert to Arc" functionality in Revu 21.2, which will be available at the end of June. The way in which Revu renders the arc is more intuitive and consistent with the direction of the adjacent straight runs. I'll be curious to get your thoughts on that after you've had a chance to take it for a spin.

Separately, your suggestion for additional column types is a good one. We don't have near-term plans for additional measurement column types but we'll keep this in mind for longer-term updates.

Angela Aff

@Doug McLean - I always learn from you during BUG meetings. Thanks for continuing to share your feedback and giving us insight to your work!

Doug McLean

Hi Luke

In the finishing trades we get all kinds applications where we need the length of the radius.
For example, we're working on a project right now that has radiused bench seating.

We'll get the radius both as a stand alone, and tangent to a straight section.

I'm in Architectural Millwork and we always have curved diewalls, which we need to measure. We get curved walls where we need to apply paneling to, we also get the really fun things like helical staircases which involve a lot more complicated math.

Curved work is a large part of our trade, and its only going to increase with the expanded use of programs like Revit and other 3D modeling software.

Luke Prescott

Thanks, Doug. Makes perfect sense. Let's chat after you've had a chance to use the new 'convert to arc' improvements. There are a number of other ways we can look to address this depending on how this upcoming release solves some of these needs.

Alexander McCaskill

This is related, somewhat tangentially (haha, curve humor), to the ruler marks an axes ideas I just posted this morning.

pmorwale

It was surprising to find out that the "Convert to Curve gets" disabled for perfectly Horizontal and Vertical segments of Polylength, Area, Perimeter, etc. Is this intentional?

Luke Prescott

Hi pmorwale,

If you right-click the adjacent segment, then "Convert to Arc" is available.

To convert a horizontal or vertical segment, right-click one of the two end control points and select Control Point » Convert Control Point to Curve. This will allow you to modify the curve of that specific segment.