[Plugin] Scale and Rotate Multiple (UPDATED Dec 22, 09)

lapx · 8 Jun 2011, 19:36

Chris,

Thank you so much for an excellent program. I have trees as images to be exported as proxy's or instances for Kerkythea. Is there a way to random rotate images? Perjaps not if they are faceme objects which they are. Would like to know how others deal with this delima.

Lapx

Chris Fullmer · 9 Jun 2011, 04:58

If they are face-me's then they will always face the camera in SU. I don't know how kerkythea handles proxy's, does it work with face-me billboards? I think other renders just end up exporting the geometry in the location it is when the export buttin is pressed. So the trees would all be facing the same direction. I'm not really sure that rotating them with this plugin will help fix any of these concerns though.

coulteri · 8 Oct 2011, 09:04

Hello,
this is great plugin I am using every day. I think it would be much more powerfull if there was a possibility to scale randomly by all axis. One would be able to randomize e.g. stones or 3D vegetation.

Is this possible to implement?

Thanks.

coulteri

Earroyo · 16 Nov 2011, 22:36

Hello everyone,
CAN SOMEONE HELP ME LOAD THESE PLUG-INS.
THERE ARE SEVERAL with the .rb extension that my Pc does not recognize.

TIG · 17 Nov 2011, 12:05

@unknownuser said:

Hello everyone,
CAN SOMEONE HELP ME LOAD THESE PLUG-INS.
THERE ARE SEVERAL with the .rb extension that my Pc does not recognize.
Sounds like you don't understand how Plugins work at all ?

A .rb file is a text-file - often called a 'script'.
If you put it into your Plugins folder and restart Sketchup it will auto-load the tool for you.
The only time you need to 'open' a .rb file is to actually 'read' its contents - and if you are so inexperienced you don't really need to do that [just yet]! However, if you use Notepad.exe to open a .rb file you will find it's readable text [always use a plain-text editor - never use a wordprocessor as that will mess up the contents big time!]...

In the case of this specific tool... it's quite a simple one - so the .rb file just goes into the Plugins folder and you restart Sketchup; and the Usage: says

@unknownuser said:

Select the components and/or groups to be scaled and/or rotated. Run the plugin at Plugins>Chris Fullmer Tools>Scale Multiple> . There are two plugins found here. One will scale everything equally. The other will scale them randomly based on minimum and maximum provided values. NOTE: The scale factors are not percentages. They are factors. Which means if you want to scale something to be twice as large, you enter 2. If you want something to be one half the size, enter .5 . Entering 50 will not a result that is 50% the original, but will give a result that is 50 times larger than the original.

There's only one .rb file for this tool called ' clf_scale_rotate_multiple.rb' - you download it and put it into the 'Plugins' folder and restart Sketchup to activate the tool...
So what "other" .rb are you referring to in your post ?

More generally... Read the installation instructions that come with each tool - on their download page.
Some are in zipped sets and need extracting / installing into the Plugins folder, keeping the files in any subfolders etc so they work properly.
Also ensure you know how the tool is used - e.g. Some are Extensions that need activating from Window > Preferences, some appear as menu items - typically under the 'Plugins' menu... BUT some can appear elsewhere [like 'Tools' or 'Draw'], some are context-menu specific [e.g. appearing only if you select a particular type of object], some have a toolbar activated from View > Toolbars, a few are run by typing a command into the Window > Ruby Console...

Earroyo · 17 Nov 2011, 15:37

Thank you all for your response. I am new to plug-ins and one thing i did not tdo was restart the program. I will do that this morning. Thanx for your input. Looking forward to a new crew.

Jeggebis · 22 Nov 2011, 20:38

Hi Chris and the rest of ya

I have been trying out this plugin + your component stringer since i am trying to recreate my little 1:50 model in sketchup. But i cant seem to find a smart way to do it, or maybe i am missing something.

My idea was to draw a path using something like bezier curves or the free hand tool and then use different components in randomized pairs of 2 "rafts" in 1 component. These should then stack on top of each other with a random rotation. Simulating the way i glued all them sticks together in my model:

I have tried dividing the "path" for the stringer plugin in to 100mm lines connected in to one long line. That way the wood would seem to rest upon each other - as in stacks. It works great with the axes placed in the middle of the component, but I couldn't figure out how to do this on something like the bezier curve, as the components would then rotate along a wrong axis. Havn't been able to work out how to place the Axes tool to avoid this.

Also, when i just use the same component i wont get the more "spacious" look my model has + sometimes the wood would seem to through each other.

How would you guys approach this?

Thanks for your time and wonderful plugins!

caronte01 · 20 Dec 2011, 16:52

Thank you Chris for this useful plugin!

irwanwr · 6 Jan 2012, 18:27

hi Chris,
thank you for the plugin. don't know whether i am going to use it soon or not.
but this plugin obviously can help someone create a jungle with ease

vmoccia · 25 Jul 2012, 23:15

Chris,

3 years later, this is still an awesome find. So useful, thank you. In regards to using the tool to generate randomization of camera-facing components...If you make a group of components (say three copies of a tree, already randomly placed and scaled), you can then create an array of that group. Application of your tool to the array will randomly scale-rotate the group and create an even more random disposition.

You've cut my tree-planting workload by a third. thanks again.

mgeras · 2 May 2013, 03:27

thanks a lot. you are great.

popfunky · 18 Sept 2013, 09:30

GREAT

popfunky · 18 Sept 2013, 09:59

THANK YOU

HornOxx · 16 Oct 2013, 16:38

as always - a great tool again ! thank you

wat · 10 Nov 2013, 12:09

thank sir

wat · 18 Nov 2013, 13:31

Thanks

HornOxx · 30 Jan 2014, 20:29

once again THANK YOU! - A wonderful tool that I use almost daily

SUNutz · 1 Mar 2014, 19:01

Wow! this is mind blowing. For its simplicity and effectiveness. Thanks!

TommyK · 9 May 2014, 14:29

I use this plugin almost everyday. Many thanks!

As a "power" user, I have noticed performance issues when applying the script to lots of components. In a model with hundreds of components, it gets very sluggish indeed, and the memory usage of Sketchup goes through the roof, and sometimes ends in a bugsplat.

I am happy to take a look and see what optimisations are possible in the ruby script, but before I do so, I should ask if you have had a go at optimisation already? Do let me know!

Tommy

onzki · 11 Jun 2014, 09:18

Thanks for sharing this.. it will be very useful in my work. By the way, I have a similar need, this time multi-face scale plugin, to scale a multiple polygon/faces in one go. Is this possible? My screenshot:
Thanks a lot!