sketchucation logo sketchucation
    • Login
    ℹ️ Licensed Extensions | FredoBatch, ElevationProfile, FredoSketch, LayOps, MatSim and Pic2Shape will require license from Sept 1st More Info

    [Plugin] Shape Bender Beta

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Plugins
    1.3k Posts 331 Posters 1.7m Views 329 Watching
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • Dave RD Offline
      Dave R
      last edited by

      Bug Splat for me, too. Even after I moved the straight line so it lies on the red axis. It works with a simple long, skinny box. Perhaps there's too much geometry in the branch?

      Etaoin Shrdlu

      %

      (THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE)

      G28 X0.0 Y0.0 Z0.0

      M30

      %

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • jeff hammondJ Offline
        jeff hammond
        last edited by

        (mac)
        works in SU7.. crashes with 8


        screen 10.jpg

        dotdotdot

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • D Offline
          d12dozr
          last edited by

          Worked fine for me, the only thing I did was move the branch up a few inches so I could see the horizontal line. I didn't get the green preview wires like I usually do though.

          File is attached.


          branch-o.skp

          3D Printing with SketchUp Book
          http://goo.gl/f7ooYh

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • mariochaM Offline
            mariocha
            last edited by

            Great ! Good idea.
            I will try it in v7.
            thx a lot.
            I guess a small update of the plugin will be needed. 😄

            %(#008000)[Mario C.
            Every rule has exceptions, but some.]

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • jim smithJ Offline
              jim smith
              last edited by

              I haven't run through all the thread since 8 came on the scene, but it doen't work on my laptop with 8. V7.1, it works just fine. Attached is a screen shot of a simple bend, it seems to start and then stalls at 5%. On my V7.1, it bends in a few seconds. I don't get any error message box on startup or when I start the shape bender.


              shapebenderproblem.png

              "Out of clutter find simplicity,
              from discord find harmony,
              In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity"
              Albert Einstein

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • Chris FullmerC Offline
                Chris Fullmer
                last edited by

                Looks like I need to poke aroud in this plugin again to get it v8 compatible. I'll see what I can do.

                Chris

                Lately you've been tan, suspicious for the winter.
                All my Plugins I've written

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • gullfoG Offline
                  gullfo
                  last edited by

                  it's working OK for me on SU8 (on fairly complex shapes), but previously on SU7 i had a similar problem and i cleaned things up and removed a number of older plugins and then everything worked OK. i suggest checking to see if you can identify a plugin which may be problematic.

                  Glenn

                  http://www.runnel.com

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • mariochaM Offline
                    mariocha
                    last edited by

                    Hum... I will check.
                    In fact yes, on other shapes it worked ok in 8.
                    Won't be easy to find a non-constant problem.

                    %(#008000)[Mario C.
                    Every rule has exceptions, but some.]

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • C Offline
                      cheriyan
                      last edited by

                      Thanks for this plugins

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • gullfoG Offline
                        gullfo
                        last edited by

                        @jasper.middelberg said:

                        yet I discovered that bending will stretch the boards...
                        does anybody know how this can be solved digitally?

                        i usually pre-calculate the length of the target shape. e.g. if i have a 4' length and need to bend it in a arc, i figure out the length of the arc so the bent object is the correct length.

                        it might be simpler to use extrude tools to make the outline of the shape and extrude it. or maybe vertex tools could manipulate the grid correctly...

                        Glenn

                        http://www.runnel.com

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • Chris FullmerC Offline
                          Chris Fullmer
                          last edited by

                          @gullfo said:

                          i usually pre-calculate the length of the target shape. e.g. if i have a 4' length and need to bend it in a arc, i figure out the length of the arc so the bent object is the correct length.

                          👍 +1 Measure the line you are bending to first, and make you straight line the exact same length. (this is all funcionality I have planned to add to the next version of this tool if I ever get around to making it). Then make your board the exactly same length also. Then there should be no stretching.

                          Lately you've been tan, suspicious for the winter.
                          All my Plugins I've written

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • J Offline
                            jasper.middelberg
                            last edited by

                            Hello,

                            perhaps a shot in the dark, hopefully a suggestion or otherwise a cue for anybody that can point me in a good direction to work with this:

                            An experiment, using standard plywood boards, bolted together.
                            the idea is that if bending plywood, the structural capacity of the plywood becomes higher,
                            thus, being able to make a light weight skin roof that can support itself.

                            Now, my quest is how to bolt a bunch of plywood boards together to form a sort of
                            conics tipi roof.

                            I hoped Shapebender would get me there,

                            draw up a grid of plywood boards and being able to bend them in a desired shape,
                            in order to find out:

                            • optimum plywood pattern
                            • where to make the bolt holes
                            • where the cutlines would be for top and bottom of the roof

                            possible workflow:

                            • to bend the plywood boards around a surface,
                            • then to be able to make markings on the different boards,
                            • then to unbend
                            • and have straight boards again for scaled drawings for:
                              cut patterns and bolting positions

                            yet I discovered that Shapebender will stretch the boards...
                            does anybody know how this can be solved?

                            the idea of bending plywood I found at
                            http://conicshelter.com/

                            thank you,

                            Jasper

                            below image
                            left back: started testing bending boards,
                            front: a preferred conic shape:


                            'pace_conics_shapebender.jpg

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • J Offline
                              jasper.middelberg
                              last edited by

                              Thank you Chris and Gullfo,

                              yet, starting point is the standard size of the plywood
                              and not having to make cuts before hand.

                              Making use of standard sized plywood,
                              bend it onto a desired shape,
                              with an overlap, to be able to determine the boltpositions
                              and finally know the cutpatterns for top & bottom

                              I really don't know how this can be modeled in a way it is easy to experiment.
                              in Sketchup or any 3d software.

                              yet I guess this workflow might be a bit too much to ask from your plugin,
                              anyway, I really appreciate your work,

                              thanks again,

                              Jasper

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • Dave RD Offline
                                Dave R
                                last edited by

                                Jasper, I've been having a think about how to draw a curve of known length to make the path for Shape Bender. It occurred to me that one could draw a straight line of known length and then use the Radial Bend function of Fredo's FredoScale extension to bend it as desired. You can make irregular curves with it, too. If the line you are bending is a copy of one that you leave straight, you then end up with both of the lines required for Shape Bender.

                                Of course you could also use Radial Bend to bend the 'plywood' panel. In some cases, though, it might be easier to work on a single line and get it bent as desired and use shape Bender to do the final bend.

                                Etaoin Shrdlu

                                %

                                (THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE)

                                G28 X0.0 Y0.0 Z0.0

                                M30

                                %

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • O Offline
                                  oscarfalcon
                                  last edited by

                                  Hello, I'm new to this forum. I've been using SU for over two years now and really like how it works, specially with all the plug-ins and scripts there are for making things awesome with it.

                                  I have one problem though, I downloaded the shape bender script and the progressbar.rb file but SU7 doesn't seem to recognize them, any help here would be great. I'm using a mac as of today, I placed the files in the plug-ins folder and can't seem to find them in sketch up.

                                  Cheers, wonderful SU community.

                                  OFL

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • Dave RD Offline
                                    Dave R
                                    last edited by

                                    Oscar, go to Window>Preferences>Extensions and tick the box for Shape Bender. Then go to View>Toolbars and select Shape Bender.

                                    Etaoin Shrdlu

                                    %

                                    (THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE)

                                    G28 X0.0 Y0.0 Z0.0

                                    M30

                                    %

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • M Offline
                                      mac1
                                      last edited by

                                      @jasper.middelberg said:

                                      Thank you Chris and Gullfo,

                                      yet, starting point is the standard size of the plywood
                                      and not having to make cuts before hand.

                                      Making use of standard sized plywood,
                                      bend it onto a desired shape,
                                      with an overlap, to be able to determine the boltpositions
                                      and finally know the cutpatterns for top & bottom

                                      I really don't know how this can be modeled in a way it is easy to experiment.
                                      in Sketchup or any 3d software.

                                      yet I guess this workflow might be a bit too much to ask from your plugin,
                                      anyway, I really appreciate your work,

                                      thanks again,

                                      Jasper

                                      Reality vs Virtual Reality?
                                      Having dealt with some issues with graphic epoxy structures some questions come to mind:

                                      1. What is the max thickness can you bend;
                                      2. What plans are in work to establish knock down factors for bolt holes and when / how will structural allowables be establish and how. (Building and say it does not fall down is not acceptable);
                                      3. Plywood by spec has voids so what plans are in place to insure stress risers can be mitigated. Ultra sound is used some times and since the strength is so much processed controlled vs metal what would be done to insure each panel meets some type of spec. I would guess some plywood that is made from radial sheared layers would be very different. Some same questions about the adhesive interface stress, heat and cold flow.
                                      4. How does one handle the changes in allowables with moisture content;
                                        You have a big hill to climb to get this concept accepted for general use. And then comes the question of analysis capability especially for stress. Have not done any search for plywood to see if any has well established allowables but with its use would hope so.
                                        10/1 23:57 update Note: Did a quick search for plywood allowable stress. One of the returns was a APA plywood spec. One item would have immediate application to your effort. That is the min bend radius for various thickness and they have differnt for the cross grain ( 4 ft) and with grain ( 8 ft) evn for small thickness like 5/32 the numbers are big. ~ 3ft for cross and 8 ft with 👿
                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • B Offline
                                        bowlr
                                        last edited by

                                        I have dl the Shape Bender, but have an error
                                        "Error Loading File clf_shape_bender_loader.rb
                                        No such file to load -- progressbar.rb"

                                        when I open SU.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • Chris FullmerC Offline
                                          Chris Fullmer
                                          last edited by

                                          Hi Barry, shape bender also requires a script called "progressbar" to work. You can download it from here:

                                          favicon

                                          (www.smustard.com)

                                          Install that and hopefully that will do the trick!

                                          Chris

                                          Lately you've been tan, suspicious for the winter.
                                          All my Plugins I've written

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • charly2008C Offline
                                            charly2008
                                            last edited by

                                            Hello Chris,

                                            thank you for your wonderful plugin. It works fine except for the edge in the picture. With the previous version, there was no problem with such edges.

                                            Charly


                                            Unbenannt.JPG


                                            Unbenannt1.JPG

                                            He who makes no mistakes, makes nothing

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • 1
                                            • 2
                                            • 28
                                            • 29
                                            • 30
                                            • 31
                                            • 32
                                            • 63
                                            • 64
                                            • 30 / 64
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Buy SketchPlus
                                            Buy SUbD
                                            Buy WrapR
                                            Buy eBook
                                            Buy Modelur
                                            Buy Vertex Tools
                                            Buy SketchCuisine
                                            Buy FormFonts

                                            Advertisement