Hi Thomthom,
I am trying to design thermoformable objects which can be stacked, destacked, nested and denested easily.
Stacking and nesting is no problem for two same objects, but destacking and denesting can become problematic if the surfaces are too close to each other.
To check this, I simulate the nesting of 2 objects in X-ray mode. I can then see the distance between the surfaces.
For days now I have been inspecting and testing every "drop" group/components plugin I could find, but to no avail.
Invariably all "drop" group/components plugins either drop part of the object through the surface or change it's orientation.
I was getting very frustrated until this afternoon, when I found your Raytracer plugin.
Using the "Drop Components by Geometry" I get a number of rays going straight down to the surface.
With the camera on Parallel Projection and in X-ray mode, and by clicking on front, back and side views, I can now try and find the shortest ray, as that is where both objects will first touch.
Then I can move the object down along that ray.
Works like a whistle.
But with complex objects there are so many rays it is not easy to find the shortest one.
When I click on a ray, the entity info only mentions "guide", but not the length of the ray.
Is there a way you could highlight the shortest ray, so I can quicky delete all others?
Would save me heaps of time.
Greetings
Frank
nestable pots test.skp