Unfold tool for SU models

Gaieus · 16 Sept 2008, 06:20

"Waybe for Google SketchUp launches"

I was beta testing this unfold tool for a while - and finally it is out. the "announcement" says:

3D Unfolding Plug-in Now Available for Mac and PC

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts., September 14, 2008 – Waybe has released both a PC and Mac version of its unfolding plug-in for Google SketchUp 6 and Google SketchUp Pro 6. Waybe unfolds 3D models within Google SketchUp so that they can be printed, cut, and re-assembled in the physical world.

"Waybe complements SketchUp in that it gives users an easy and inexpensive way to actually bring their creations into the real world," said Justin Anderson, Waybe founder.

Waybe is a plug-in for Google SketchUp that provides a simple toolbar to aid both automatic and manual unfolding of 3D models created within SketchUp. The ability to test unfolds directly within SketchUp allows for faster design cycles, and an interactive print window can fit all unfolded components onto a minimum number of printed pages. Custom page sizes make it possible to scale folded models to any desired size from desktop printers to large plotters.

Waybe is appropriate for hobbyists creating vehicle and character papercraft as well as architects and engineers seeking a faster method of creating 3D objects for prototyping and modeling.

Availability and Pricing

Waybe 1.0 is being sold online for $49.95 in both PC and Mac versions. Visit http://www.waybe.ca for additional product information.

About Waybe

Waybe is a software company started by graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company develops software products that bring 3D digital objects into the physical world.

[flash=425,344:3p95jn89]http://www.youtube.com/v/6h41hqGYYSw&hl=en&fs=1[/flash:3p95jn89]

I hope to be using it with kids - modeling historic buildings then printing the stuff and letting them build the paper models.

sepo · 16 Sept 2008, 11:32

It does the same thing as that Japaneese software. BTW Is there a way to refold the forms after unfolding?

Gaieus · 16 Sept 2008, 12:05

@sepo said:

BTW Is there a way to refold the forms after unfolding?

Not that I know of - I bet you are thinking of a texturing possibility of it

sepo · 16 Sept 2008, 16:03

Hehe...yes ...Gai you know me too well

kwistenbiebel · 16 Sept 2008, 16:08

I am thinking the same thing

TIG · 17 Sept 2008, 14:35

How soon you all forgot Jim's Unfold script... http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2007/08/plugin-unfoldrb.html

Gaieus · 18 Sept 2008, 06:19

I've never forgotten it (what's more, when wabe came in, the first thing I remembere was Jim's script).
Jim also tested waybe and contributed quite valuably as I remember.

ton baeten · 18 Sept 2008, 21:39

Well, my first thought about 'Waybe' was alike Tig's.
Glad to hear that Jim contributed to 'Waybe'. Let's hope he was/gets payed for his contribution.
Oké, 'Waybe' seems to be more elaborated, has more tutorials and (maybe) more usefull functionality.
I have used Jim's plugin quite frequently this year, not to make papermodels, but to break SU models into parts
to make 3D polystyreen models, aswell to scale as full-size as super-oversize (A SchetchUp tutorial/workdescription
to create a real football with a diameter of more than 2 meter).
I have just downloaded the trial-version of 'Waybe'. Now I have 15 days to see if it is worth the money or whether
I will stick to Jim's free version.
At least, we have a choise between a free and a payed version.
At first site, I am not sure the new payed version will win. Jim really created a very nice and usefull ruby some time ago.

sepo · 19 Sept 2008, 09:00

Tig we have not forgotten Jim's unfold script....It is refold we are after

Psyco_BoB · 9 Oct 2008, 07:48

Looks interesting.
How effective is it with high polygon models?
Can it be used for laser cutting?

Edson · 9 Oct 2008, 13:14

@psyco_bob said:

Looks interesting.
How effective is it with high polygon models?
Can it be used for laser cutting?

it does not work if you try to unfold a whole model. you have to proceed by steps, unfolding groups and/or components.

Psyco_BoB · 10 Oct 2008, 05:09

Grouping complex models will be tedious work.
I'll give it a go anyway.

TIG · 13 Oct 2008, 18:35

@sepo said:

Tig we have not forgotten Jim's unfold script....It is refold we are after

Surely there is no difference. The model doesn't know if it was previously folded or unfolded at the point you start ?

sepo · 15 Oct 2008, 18:19

I am not sure if I understand.

xrok1 · 13 Feb 2009, 02:20

its in ver. 1.3 now i'm go'in in!

xrok1 · 13 Feb 2009, 02:24

wow, that seized sketchup pretty good. it won't even start with that plug installed, maybe its not SK7 friendly?

xrok1 · 13 Feb 2009, 02:38

try this instead, supports google earth, 3ds, obj ... http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/download/designer.html

so you can use it with all your modelers and its $38

lewiswadsworth · 13 Feb 2009, 16:19

There is a more professional piece of software available called Lamina which is also designed to unfold geometry. It allows you to input the real thickness of the material being unfolded, and then it prepares a cutting sheet with numbers and even tabs if you want them. You can save the output as a DXF cutting path for use with laser or plasma cutters or a waterjet/waterknife.

Lamina Design

Lamina Design: Software tool for fabricating free form structures from sheet material.

(laminadesign.com)

It's pricy...$395, but it's aimed at fabricators and rapid prototyping shops. I bought a copy after learning that some sculptors were using it for preparing sheetmetal for assembly...it does a nice job making complexly curved surfaces developable (not that's a situation you often see with SketchUp models...with Rhino, it's inevitable).