[Plugin] Simple Loft alpha 0.1b -- UPDATED May-15-09

sepo · 15 May 2009, 18:50

Is it possible to make circles or elipses to be lofted?

Chris Fullmer · 15 May 2009, 19:02

Not yet. I started with open splines only. I have to rethink some pieces of the script to get closed splines to work.

Chris

sepo · 15 May 2009, 19:07

Sounds promissing....Thanks for the script...It looks like there is a less and less reason to leave SU...

AcesHigh · 15 May 2009, 19:45

@sepo said:

Is it possible to make circles or elipses to be lofted?

so far, it seems the best option is to create two halfs of the closed loop you want (be it a circle, elipse or anything else). Than you loft and join them.

If you want to loft a circle to a line, MAYBE its possible to cut the circle in two. Then you loft half the circle to the line, and then you loft the other half of the circle to the same line. Then you join the two sides.

jmmad · 15 May 2009, 20:04

Well i was thinking about leaving SU and one of those reasons where no loft support.
Until now.
You are really making Great Plugins you are very generous an talented man.
Thxs a lot Chris.

ely862me · 15 May 2009, 20:24

This is something that can improve my workflow ..Thanks a lot,for a well done job,Chris..

Elisei

thomthom · 15 May 2009, 20:24

@sepo said:

OK good news is it works on my laptop on both SU7 and SU6.
On my other XP I found culprit. It is tt_double_cut.rb.... As soon as I removed it(as this was only one which was not on all comps) loft started to work.
I know Tom's script is only alpha but it seems to clash with yours.

Double-cut should not be used in a production environment. It makes SU unstable, liable to bug-splats and interferes with the observer events. It will need major rebuilding to make it work, so I won't be looking to track down bugs in in the alpha. It is in it's current state FUBAR. I need to get my thinking-cap on first before I start on re-writing it. (I also need a minor break from it as well as my frustration level increases just by looking at it as it is now )
Sorry for the inconvenience.

Chris Fullmer · 15 May 2009, 20:41

Sorry to hear it Thom, its a plugin with a lot of potential. Hopefully the observers situation will get worked out and stabilized in future releases.

Good luck with it when you feel like getting back to it!

Chris

moujiik · 15 May 2009, 20:46

Hi Chris, and all the others (my first post)
I find the first version of your script (0.1a) is realy a good start. The loft tool in moi 3d have the same result with two curves. The bezier connection seems only necessary with tree or more curves. It makes a smooth connection between curves. Anyway. This is the tool missing in sketchup. How brave you are! Thank you for your script, and all of you who keep sketchup fascinating.
Moujiik.

Chris Fullmer · 15 May 2009, 20:53

Hey moujiik, that is a great image that clearly shows what I was asking about. Indeed it just makes straight connections from point to point with only 2 splines. Its not until you add a 3rd spline that it starts to use a bezier connection.

In the current version, I faked in a bezier curve even on 2 curves, and I think I'll leave it in place. Partially because I've also now added the ability to control the amount of curve. So if a user selects just 2 splines and wabts the straight straight connections, with multiple segments, it will be possible in the next version I release.

Thanks for the image and the kind words!

Chris

dtrarch · 15 May 2009, 20:58

Chris

It was DoubleCut all right.

Dave

AcesHigh · 15 May 2009, 21:40

I think this may already be enough to allow me to create my uplifted neo-dolphin suit!

watkins · 15 May 2009, 21:53

Dear Chris,

What I actually did to get the bowl was to:

start with a circle about the origin, and on the X-Y plane
explode the circle
delete one segment
move and copy the modified circle in the Z direction
scale the upper circle about its centre
use simple_loft
stitch the open part using the line tool

Regards,
Bob

watkins · 15 May 2009, 22:21

What happens if one tries to use two half circles to create a bowl (see image). The edges are not suitable for joining.

Chris Fullmer · 15 May 2009, 22:26

Ahh, very true. Well, someday I'll get it so that it works with circles and ellipses and all closed splines. Then it will work much smoother

Chris

Daniel S · 15 May 2009, 23:03

@watkins said:

What happens if one tries to use two half circles to create a bowl (see image). The edges are not suitable for joining.

This is for me the problem with loft.
There are other tools that creates surfaces bounded by 2, 3 or 4 curves..
It looks like a double loft.
But something like this is possible?

boundary curves.skp

Chris Fullmer · 15 May 2009, 23:10

Yeah, something like that is probably possible. Its not something I'm working on. But maybe in time. I would need to play with it in rhino or 3dsmax and figure out what its really doing to the geometry. I can't tell exactly how its making the cross splines. But I'm sure I could figure out if I played with it long enough.

Chris

sepo · 15 May 2009, 23:21

@aceshigh said:

@sepo said:

Is it possible to make circles or elipses to be lofted?

so far, it seems the best option is to create two halfs of the closed loop you want (be it a circle, elipse or anything else). Than you loft and join them.

If you want to loft a circle to a line, MAYBE its possible to cut the circle in two. Then you loft half the circle to the line, and then you loft the other half of the circle to the same line. Then you join the two sides.

Yes, but beziers overlap. Better way is to have say circle and circle losing one segment at same position and lofting remain.

sepo · 15 May 2009, 23:24

@thomthom said:

@sepo said:

OK good news is it works on my laptop on both SU7 and SU6.
On my other XP I found culprit. It is tt_double_cut.rb.... As soon as I removed it(as this was only one which was not on all comps) loft started to work.
I know Tom's script is only alpha but it seems to clash with yours.

Double-cut should not be used in a production environment. It makes SU unstable, liable to bug-splats and interferes with the observer events. It will need major rebuilding to make it work, so I won't be looking to track down bugs in in the alpha. It is in it's current state FUBAR. I need to get my thinking-cap on first before I start on re-writing it. (I also need a minor break from it as well as my frustration level increases just by looking at it as it is now )
Sorry for the inconvenience.

Thom...you should not feel bad about it. You are trying to make awesome script...hope finding that leak is help rather than hinderance for you.

pilou · 15 May 2009, 23:48

@unknownuser said:

There are other tools that creates surfaces bounded by 2, 3 or 4 curves

4 curves is Coons surface
more 4 bounded or/and crossed is Gordon surface