[Plugin] Shape Bender Beta

TIG

Chris, Ive run into trouble at my first try to bend something. I have this vertical X shaped lattice of triangular beams. I am not able to bend it in no way

It was composed of a group with subgroups inside. I exploded everything inside, so its just meshes inside a group. Still, it doesnt work

Explode all of the sub-groups etc and finally the main group. Its contents remain highlighted - immediately regroup these - it should work now...

david_h

I concur . .. however the term "Oscar" is copywrighted either by those people that make the movie awards or by the people that make the hot dogs and baloney (which are probably the same people)

so We need to come up with a different award name. . ..how about. .

oh I dunno. .. .

THE RUBY!!!

david_h

Yup . ..this is a much easier way to bend steel.

tinanne

Chris AWESOME script and thank you for the videos! Watching someone work with the ruby really helps me to understand how to use it and where it will apply to my needs. Great job and thank you again!

free agent

very cool thank you

boilingsnow

@unknownuser said:

Yup . ..this is a much easier way to bend steel.

But the model you pasted can also be created easily without shape bender.

david_h

Very true, But not as fun.

Chris Fullmer

All right, thanks for the comments so far! I've got lots to think about. That bug where it smooths the end faces if your shape lines ep exactly with the line......I'll have to think about that. Its sort of done on purpose, but that is an exception where it is not desireable. I'll see if I can think of a way for it to be smarter.

I'm working on groups and components as we speak. That is my #1 frustration with the script is that it explodes everything and it won't take components. I'd like to get that fixed and updated tonight. We'll see Thanks everyone, seriously!

Chris

BTM

Great!! 2 things: 1, why do a few random lines appear when I use it?

also, sketchup said that there were problems, and when I agreed to let it fix them, this was the message:

Results of Validity Check.

CLoop (39755) for CFace (39754) has zero area
Loop 0 of CFace (39754) is an invalid outer loop
Entity CFace (39754) should be erased - done
CLoop (39760) for CFace (39759) has zero area
Loop 0 of CFace (39759) is an invalid outer loop
Entity CFace (39759) should be erased - done
CLoop (40274) for CFace (40273) has zero area
Loop 0 of CFace (40273) is an invalid outer loop
Entity CFace (40273) should be erased - done
CLoop (40279) for CFace (40278) has zero area
Loop 0 of CFace (40278) is an invalid outer loop
Entity CFace (40278) should be erased - done
CLoop (43115) for CFace (43114) has zero area
Loop 0 of CFace (43114) is an invalid outer loop
Entity CFace (43114) should be erased - done
CLoop (43500) for CFace (43499) has zero area
Loop 0 of CFace (43499) is an invalid outer loop
Entity CFace (43499) should be erased - done

Chris Fullmer

Hmmm, very interesting.

Well, the lines appear because a face is being bent in a way that it is not able to do, so SketchUp steps in and adds the extra lines so that it can bend as needed. I'd be interested if anyone out there has a method for determining what faces are going to need that extra geometry so I can add the lines myself beforehand.

The invalid geometry actually probably has a lot to do with problem above. Invalid geometry can be fixed automatically, the worst that can happen is that it will delete a few bad faces. Ok, thats not really ideal. So hopefully I'll get it fixed

On a happier note, I got the script to work with groups and components. I've got a few other things I want to try to implement tonight before I post the update though. So far so good.

Chris

BTM

And up arrow isn't toggling orientation.

Chris Fullmer

@unknownuser said:

And up arrow isn't toggling orientation.

Really? Thats too bad. If the model is complex, it will take a second or two to "toggle". Its not necessarily immediate. It might need to think about it for a bit.

So if you've waited patiently and its still not working, that is no good. Could you open the Ruby Console and see if it gives any errors when you press the up arrow key?

Chris

jeff hammond

just a by-the-way going back to the perpendicular face/mac osx
the up arrow does work with this script on macs so it's probably something to do with the gear's geometry.

BTM

Actually, I tried it with a simple rectangle as well. It give no errors in the console, nothing happens at all. With the console opened, I selected the (rectangle) group, then shape bend, then the straight line, then curved. after I selected the curved line, I pressed the up arrow. Nothing happens at all. Am I doing something wrong?

jeff hammond

it sounds like you're doing it properly.. that did happen to me once yesterday (didn't get any response from the up arrow and i wasn't getting the green outline showing a preview bend.. (it was after i tried a super complex shape being bent to a weird 3d curve -- i was trying to break the ruby and succeeded)
i quit sketchup and relaunched and it worked again.
try that.

Chris Fullmer

Hmm, here's the order of operations:

Select a group (must be a group, not a component in the current version of the script)
Activate the script
Select a straight line - must be drawn on the red axis. It will add "start" and "end" tags to it if it was selected correctly.
Select the curve. Now the grids should appear and you should be able to press the up arrow.

Hope that helps,

Chris

Jeff, I found a better method for the up arrow key. I still need to implement it in the perpendicular face tools script though - I probably will have time for that tomorrow.

Chris Fullmer

@unknownuser said:

i was trying to break the ruby and succeeded)

I've tried hard to make it unbreakable.....but it has tried harder to remain breakable

Chris Fullmer

UPDATED! v 0.2 Beta

A few major improvements. Now you can bend a component or a group. It can be scaled or rotated however you want, no need to explode and re-group immediately before using the plugin anymore. The shape to bend can also be comprised of groups and components. The script will explode them all by necessity though.

Also I added dynamic highlighting. Now when you move the mouse over a line or curve that is an acceptable selection, it is highlighted. This should help make it easier to know what is an acceptable line or curve.

Hopefully it is more stable now. I've tweaked a few other spots in the code, but nothing major. Just those 2 things listed above. Let me know if I broke anything, or if you like what I fixed.

Chris

watkins

Dear Chris,

Many thanks for you wonderful new plugin. I should like to thank you for your generosity too. It is greatly appreciated.

I assume you meant 10 April and not 10 March.

Kind regards,
Bob

Dave R

Chris, I didn't have any trouble with the plugin yesterday when I tried it. When I woke up this morning there was an e-mail froma friend who was trying it. He sent it to me and I'm getting the same weird results. See the screen grab. The group starts out as long has the straight line. I tried it without the swirly thing at the end and get the same results. I've also tried changing the length of the curve but without luck. I discovered that it depends upon which direction the straight line is drawn. If the line is drawn from right to left, the geometry is added as shown. I also notice that if the curve is drawn from right to left the start and end points are transposed compared to the line.

Right to left-drawn line:
bend tim.jpg

Left to right-drawn line, right to left-drawn curve
bend tim2.jpg

Left to right-drawn line, left to right drawn curve
bend tim3.jpg

Is there any chance of getting the plugin to ignore the direction of the drawn lines and curves?
Edited to add, I tried it with the new version and got the same results.