Looking for tool to cut non-solids along a plane
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I initially tried using solid tools but opted out because:
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each tile has to be solid and, and in my experience, solids often get unsolid, for unknown reasons, and the hunt to find the problem eats time.
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you have to make each cut tile unique, then run the solid tool for each (taking a lot of time). While most of the field tile could be instances of a component saving polygons, the cut tiles would each be unique, costing polygons. I'm not sure if there will be a net savings over my single face exploded tile method.
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It could be my graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce 750M), but when I rotate the model with a field of component tiles I get lags as the tile field redraws. Rotating a field of exploded tiles is smooth. This is only a minor irritation.
I thought I'd save polygons by using a single face on the tiles. They look okay until you zoom into tiles with exposed ends.
I'm going to give components another try though, now that I've discovered Zorro2. It has the ability to operate on nested components. I should be able to use the slice-model-at-section option to save time, then use solid tools for interior and oddball tiles. I'll report back.
Wishful thinking:
With Zorro2 you can draw a edge on a face of a component which becomes a cut through the component. Pretty cool. You then have to select and erase the parts you don't want. I wish it had the capability of erasing everything to one side or the other of the edge. That'd be very cool. -
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Kupono,
I think I understand your problem.....see attached file for an alternate (albeit) still basic option.Essentially........this method uses the "Stamp" function from the Sandbox tool set.
Create "stamps"..."cookie cutters"....errr....or "shears"...in this case I created 3 "cutters" to accomplish the task.....as opposed to a closed/single polygon (think doughnut) that will fail to "cut/shear" as necessary. (clear as mud?)
Once you create a proper "open/individual" stamp/cutter/shear....it is simply a matter of setting the Stamp "offset = zero" and extruding the undesireable geometry away from the desired geometry enough so that you can easily select/delete the same.
I have attached a .zip/SU file...hope it is not overweight.
Best,
Charlie
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@kupono said:
Cutting the tiles at the cut-planes isn't the problem. Any of the Intersect Faces options will work. It's the niggling work erasing the hairy remnants that takes time. Cotty's screen-cast illustrates the problem. Even after aligning with axis, selecting and erasing took him some time. Zorro2's Slice Model at Section options is very nice, erasing everything behind a section, but it can't handle inside areas. Checkout my first screen-cast.
Thanks for all the help.
[attachment=0:3tavikye]<!-- ia0 -->Capture.PNG<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:3tavikye]
If you first hide what must not be cut by the section plane, it works fine.
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@gilles said:
If you first hide what must not be cut by the section plane, it works fine.
That's very useful to know. Works great.
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@unknownuser said:
Kupono,
I think I understand your problem.....see attached file for an alternate (albeit) still basic option.Essentially........this method uses the "Stamp" function from the Sandbox tool set.
Create "stamps"..."cookie cutters"....errr....or "shears"...in this case I created 3 "cutters" to accomplish the task.....as opposed to a closed/single polygon (think doughnut) that will fail to "cut/shear" as necessary. (clear as mud?)
Once you create a proper "open/individual" stamp/cutter/shear....it is simply a matter of setting the Stamp "offset = zero" and extruding the undesireable geometry away from the desired geometry enough so that you can easily select/delete the same.
I have attached a .zip/SU file...hope it is not overweight.
Best,
Charlie
Charlie, I like this approach. I was able to extrude the unwanted areas down, but no matter what I did I couldn't get the offset to equal zero. I saw on a few older posts that the offset can not be zero so I tried .001 and then .1--neither worked. I always end up with the default 1' offset. How'd you get it to work?
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@unknownuser said:
Charlie, I like this approach. I was able to extrude the unwanted areas down, but no matter what I did I couldn't get the offset to equal zero. I saw on a few older posts that the offset can not be zero so I tried .001 and then .1--neither worked. I always end up with the default 1' offset. How'd you get it to work?
Kupono,
I apologise, I did not notice my input of 0" was not taking.
I now see it forces 1" offset minimum......so now this method requires one extra step per cutter.Simply offset the geometry of each cutter in 1" to compensate for the 1" added back by the stamp offest......delete one edge of the cutter to remove the face of the offset.(no need to clean up the perimeter stray lines)
Best,
CharlieEDIT: Uploaded revised model........saved in V6 for Pilou
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Charlie,
Aside the Stamp tool not accepting a 0" offset value, I've been unable to reliably change it to any value. It may be a SU-2013 bug. After some effort I've found a reliable kludge (contradiction?) (see screencast and attached model). What SU version are you using? Can anyone else duplicate this behavior?
Using the Stamp tool is a good solution for my tile trim problem. I'll be using it.
There've been a lot of great suggestions and I've learned a lot. Thanks to all.
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@kupono said:
Charlie,
Aside the Stamp tool not accepting a 0" offset value, I've been unable to reliably change it to any value. It may be a SU-2013 bug. After some effort I've found a reliable kludge (contradiction?) (see screencast and attached model). What SU version are you using? Can anyone else duplicate this behavior?
Using the Stamp tool is a good solution for my tile trim problem. I'll be using it.
There've been a lot of great suggestions and I've learned a lot. Thanks to all.
Kupono,
I am using SU 2013 Pro/Windows 7Pro.I looked at your screencast.........Try selecting the Stamp tool from the toolbar....and before clicking the mouse on anything....enter a value....6....."....enter.
Now select the entity you wish to stamp....and then of course the surface to which you want to stamp.
This works reliably for me.
FYI:
Also....after fooling with this just a bit more I can almost set a value of zero.By entering .001...."....enter......the stamp offset value displays as ~0"
Best,
Charlie -
Yup, that does indeed work--and offset = .001 is close enough for govt. work.
Thanks again.
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Remember that if you apply Slice Model at Section inside a group, the rest of the model is not affected.
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Thx for the V6!
Seems the Apply Section right click / Slice Model at section is not in V7, V6 ?
I have only Create Group from Slice
and so no Aplly Section itself ! Volume trimmed can't be copied as itself trimmed! -
Slice Model at Section is a feature of Zorro2, I don't know if it is V6 V7 compatible.
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@kupono said:
- you have to make each cut tile unique, then run the solid tool for each (taking a lot of time).
Not an answer to your problem at hand but I noticed your statement about using the Solid Tools. You don't need to make the components unique prior running the Solid tools. The mere act of modifying the components with these tools essentially does the make unique for you. It replaces the original component with a group.
If you did make your tiles solid components, it wouldn't be that difficult to Use Trim to cut the Tiles.
Here's a quick example. The transparent gray box is the trimmer. Tiles are all instances of the same component.
I select the Trim tool and clicked on the gray box. Then I clicked on each of the tiles that was partially within the box. All that remains is to delete the box. Each of the modified tiles is now a group called "Difference." -
@unknownuser said:
Then I clicked on each of the tiles that was partially within the box
There is no pluging for make that automatically ? (after a general selection of these particular tiles for example )
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Ah, Plugin Pilou, if there was anyone who would know, it ought to be you.
I was only showing making the cuts using native tools. I didn't use any plugins nor did I bother to look for any.
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@unknownuser said:
@unknownuser said:
Then I clicked on each of the tiles that was partially within the box
There is no pluging for make that automatically ? (after a general selection of these particular tiles for example )
It's what Zorro2 does in my example.
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@unknownuser said:
Slice Model at Section is a feature of Zorro2
@unknownuser said:
Slice Model at Section is a feature of Zorro2, I don't know if it is V6 V7 compatible.
Cool : that is compatible and cut all the components!
The only default is these volumes can't be closed in one click with the Add Faces by Tig!
(if you don't want all explode)
(Call the Ruby console and write addfaces)
But maybe I have forgotten something
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So, using instances of tile components, what would be the quickest way to remove tile inside the box?
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I did it with Trim and used Delete for those tiles that weren't crossed by the box sides. You have a bunch of copies of the tiles in the same place--sometimes as many as three overlapping each other which makes it look like Trim isn't making the cuts correctly.
Edit: In practice you probably don't want to apply a translucent material to the cutting box because that material gets applied to the faces in the cuts on the roof tiles.
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Apologies for the overlapping tiles.
After experimenting with the various approaches, it appears to me that trimming instances of tiles components with the Solid Tools Trim tool may be the quickest method overall. My thinking has evolved over this thread and I now see the value of having solid tiles. For one, they look much better, and they save space.
Now that I know the Trim tool makes trimmed components unique, saving what I thought was an extra step,I find it relatively easy to step through and trim each tile. Zorro2 is a great tool and will very quickly trim groups of tile components, making each one unique as it does so, but it leaves the trimmed edges without a face. This is fine in many cases, but when you want a face, it takes time to edit each component to replace it. That said, there's a place for each method.
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