Re: [Plugin] Flatten to Plane v1.2 20101023

Soundtracker

TIG, is there a way to combine this with your Axo + Iso View plugin to export a 2D isometric view?
I thought of Work Plane but I can't seem to get it right

Soundtracker

how stupid...I just need to export a 2d graphic of course

Wildchild

Hi, I was trying to find a good and painless way to export from skp to autocad to add 2D details, maintaining groups/components and layers while exporting and I came across this usefull plugin. The problem is that it works only with edges ignoring the faces and this makes it unusable in the 3D-->2D workflow because it projects even the edges behind faces as shown in the images.

TIG do you think there's any workaround for this? I'd be thankful for the rest of my life

3D model

TIG

It's function is to project edges...
Find my CADup script beta, that makes projections with hidden lines etc... it's a w.i.p...

Wildchild

Alright, thanks TIG I'll try it out! By the way in the meantime I came up with, I believe, the perfect way to export 3D into 2D CAD drawings maintaining geometry separated into layers without flattening or anything (that's why I was trying to use this plug before) just by using colors. In case someone is interested I can make a tutorial off of it.

dbalex

@Wildchild: I'm really interested in your technique as I'm always going from sketchup to 2d cad and it's a real pain.. It would be great if you could make a very short tuto on that as I don't really understand what you mean by colors? Thanks!

Wildchild

@TIG: You wrote on the CADUP description that sketchup can't handle big models like entire buildings with furniture, therefore I don't think is going to be of any use in my case. In any case I'll keep an eye on it for when you'll be done developing it.

thanks!

dbalex

thanks! you will save me a lot of time next time!

JPMays

TIG, I seem to be having a problem with your script. I have installed it and WorkPlane, but when I select edges and faces and run Plugins>Flatten to Plane nothing happens whatsoever. I have reinstalled both plugins, with the same result.

I am importing a plan, but the lines somehow are not intersecting the plane. I tried selecting and Intersecting with Context, to no avail. I was hoping flattening them to a plane would eliminate the possibility of the lines not being co-planar, but I can't get Flatten to Plane to work. Thoughts?

TIG

CAD drawings are notorious for having tiny gaps in lines so faces won't form.
Have you tried Thomthom's Plan tools or one of the other tools written to cope with such imports?
Projecting the edges to a plane might work, much as draping them onto a big rectangle will make them coplanar... BUT if they don't form closed loops then whatever you do it won't make them 'face'... unless you 'heal' the gaps etc with specialized a script...

JPMays

Thanks for the suggestions. I checked it with Thom's EdgeTools, and everything is connected. They just won't intersect with the face. When you say projecting them to a plane, it was my understanding that that's what your plugin does. I did figure out that the reason FtP would not work is that I was trying to do it within a group. Once I exploded it, it flattened fine, but still did not intersect (I ended up with what I started with). I also tied the Sandbox>drape, but it doesn't recognize that plane as a mesh. I then drew a rectangle, deleted the face, then made a Sandbox from the remaining edges. That allowed me to drape my plan over it, but still it would not created the individual spaces of the rooms! What else can I try?

TIG

Post what you have in the SKP and we can mess on with it...

JPMays

Ok, it actually seems to be a problem that I have a lot. When I bring in a large CAD file, for example one that has a long road or sidewalk, which should be a continuous face, SketchUP doesn't recognize it, even when I run Make Faces 1.4. I have to "remind" SU that there should be a face there, by gradually connecting it.

In this example, all I have to do is connect these two points, and then a face is created. Then I can delete the line I just drew, but the face remains. In general, the Make Faces tool works really well, just not on large or complex shapes. Anybody know of another tool that might work better than doing it manually?

TIG

Have you tried my AddFaces ? [see Plugins Index]
Why not post a problem SKP and let us see what we can do ...

JPMays

Ok, will do in the morning. I'll also look up Add Faces and try that. It's quittin' time for now. Thanks.

JPMays

Ok, I tried Add Faces, which didn't work any better the first time, then locked up SU the second time. The only solution I've found so far is to manually do it, as shown in my earlier post. Feel free to mess around with the file though.

test file

TIG

Your CAD drawing has lots of edges that will never be able to 'face' - like nibs to closet alcoves etc.
The door swings are often many small segments and there's a limit to how many segments can be coerced into taking a face in one step - so the rooms won't face individually.
It's relatively quick to draw a few rectangles over the hotel[?] rooms/alcoves and force faces to form, and then erase any unwanted edges - the Style you have set helps as the end points are clearly marked...
Because most internal walls are single lines anyway, aren't you going to over draw with a centered wall anyway? Which rather removes the issue of adding faces to the imported CAD-layout as it's somewhat useless anyway - even it it did take faces to even single 'room' ??

JPMays

Well, the intent is actually to just use this a s a diagram, with no walls. I will need to color the rooms separately, so it is necessary to have faces for each room.

TIG

It'll take 5 minutes to overdraw rectangles on the rooms to force separate faces.
Then tidy up unwanted edges etc - presumably you'll want a line across doorways anyway ? which you don't have had the CAD line drawing accepted perfect faces anyway - the corridor color would spill into the room/entrance-area !

topdraft

Hi TIG
First time here. Have installed plugin "flatten" & "workplane" read all the posts above and still I am not able to get this to work. Must be missing something. SU pro8 - model component. I open the component create the work plane centered on the component select the work plane (unlocked)and the blocks within the component and start flatten from the plugin menu and..... nothing happens?
Best Topdraft