Weld (true / multi)

[alz]

I have the basic weld.rb plugin, but I'm encountering some odd things --

When I weld a simple line of edges to become one, then triangulate selected faces, those faces fracture along the original individual edge segments, not the weld (single) edge.

Is there some way to completely weld an edge and have SketchUp consider it a single element? Also, is there a way to weld multiple edge segments into single edges (if adjacent)?

I'm converting models back and forth and having a slew of weird triangulation issues because of these segmented edges. I'm trying to find a method where I don't have to rebuild a hundred faces and edges.

[xrok1]

when it asks if you want to "close curve" answer with no and also answer no to find "faces for curve".

[alz]

Yeah -- that's what I typically do. I just verified it again in case I was doing something weird, but it still triangulates funny. The edge is one object, but triangulation treats it as the original multiple edges.

Checking out the Context Menu, "Explode Curve" is available on welded edges, so I'm guessing the weld.rb isn't a true "make into one" function.

There's the trick to heal edges into one by temporarily drawing a new edge perpendicular from the break then erasing it (but that can be pretty time-consuming with a hundred edges or so).

[TIG]

You have to understand that Curves, Arcs, and Circles and Polygons [which are all kinds of 'curves'] are all made with segments in SUp - there is no equivalent of CAD's one-piece smooth splines/curves/arcs/circles etc - all SUp's geometry is made of edges and faces - it's just that some edges get 'welded' into groups to make polyline 'curves' - some of which have extra properties such as being an arc, circle or polygon...

The weld.rb makes selected edges into a polyline 'curve' and also the Bezier scripts make special shaped curves out of edge segments. The built-in tools only make arcs and circles/polygons [note that a 'circle' is in fact a special kind of 'polygon' that produces smoothed edges when it's extruded in 3D, whereas a basic polygon keeps defined edges in its 3D extrusion - otherwise they are the same - a circle is simply a many sided polygon with a few extra properties thrown in...].

Therefore if you triangulate a form that has a 'curve' in it then each of that curve's segments act as an edge and form a triangle - after all 'triangulation' means three-sided ???

As has been said if you answer No to the two dialogs 'weld' calls up then the resulting curve is a single thing that can be selected BUT it is made of separate segments as far as many other operations are concerned - like triangulation..

[alz]

Thanks for the explanation, Tig!

I have a better perceptive on why things were happening the way they were.