Shade structure

utiler · 16 Sept 2008, 01:43

Hey guys,
see attached shade sail structure.

I'm having trouble deciding on a way to wrap the fabric over the end of the structure. Would like to know if any of you can come up with another option...

Thanks in advance.

ShadeTest.skp

Dave R · 16 Sept 2008, 02:08

Andrew, are the triangles of fabric at the ends supposed to be extensions of the rest of the fabric?

utiler · 16 Sept 2008, 03:26

yep, that's how that do it apparently.... Not the most econimical way of doing it but that's the the manufacturer to decide...

Dave R · 16 Sept 2008, 10:23

Two ideas come to mind. The first is to create the center line for the roof support tube and use TubeAlongPath.rb to create a second tube that has a larger radius to meet the sail. The problem of course is that you don't want the resulting faces too close to the tube component because at some viewing distance you'll get the Z fighting flicker. You could hide the faces of the tube under the fabric to prevent this.

Another thought would be to draw the edges of the fabric directly in the tube component. Then the exposed parts of the tube would get painted tube color and the rest to look like the fabric.

I guess it depends upon what you have to do with the parts later.