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    [Plugin] DrawAlong - v1.2a - 12 Oct 14

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    • fredo6F Offline
      fredo6
      last edited by fredo6

      http://forums.sketchucation.com/download/file.php?id=49290

      DrawAlong is a standalone script which is part of FredoTools. It allows Drawing Edges and Guide lines / points.
      DrawAlong is similar to the native Sketchup Line tool but provides some additional features:

      • Additional inferences (centers of arc, face, component / group)
      • Additional auto-lock directions
      • Lock of custom direction
      • Draw along Direction, with possibility to pick and choose direction in the model
      • Draw along Plane, with possibility to pick and choose plane in the model
      • Draw Edges with predefined properties (soft, smooth, hidden)
      • Draw with Construction Lines and Construction Points
      • Copy and Divide mode
      • Remote inferences (on points and directions)
      • NO inferences (with Alt modifier)

      http://forums.sketchucation.com/download/file.php?id=49287

      DrawAlong is installed as part of FredoTools..

      See the main post for this plugin for Installation of FredoTools

      http://forums.sketchucation.com/download/file.php?id=49286

      (see also section Quick Start and Video below)
      Full user manual
      One-page summary of commands

      • SU Versions: SU6, SU7, SU8, SU13, SU14 – works better with SU8 M1 and above
      • Platforms: Windows and Mac
      • Languages: English, French
      • Menus: by default, DrawAlong is installed in Tools > FredoTools. It does NOT appear in the Contextual menu.
      • Icon toolbar: Fredo6 Tools. There is only a single icon. By default, it is not shown. You need to go to the Default Parameters… dialog of FredoTools to enable the icon.
      • The plugin is free, for private and commercial usage.
        DrawAlong_32.png

      http://forums.sketchucation.com/download/file.php?id=49284

      DrawAlong Overview
      [flash=640,480:7q7ofhnt]http://www.youtube.com/v/6qqGC5hPugU&hl[/flash:7q7ofhnt]

      http://forums.sketchucation.com/download/file.php?id=49288

      Launching DrawAlong
      A button palette window appears. It allows controlling setting the working modes (Line or Guide mode, Protractor mode) as well as to lock / unlock directions or planes on model axes.
      DrawAlong Toolbar.png

      Here are the details of the options and actions associated
      DrawAlong - Options.png

      As a general statement, DrawAlong behaves very similarly to the native SU Line tool.

      Additional Inferences

      • Center of Arcs and Polygons: You hover the mouse over an arc or a polygon (as considered by Sketchup), the center of the arc or polygon is displayed (as a red cross +) and can be used as an inference for origin and target.
      • Center of Faces: You hover over a face, the center of the face is displayed (as a blue cross +).
      • Center and Corners of Components / Groups: when hovering over the elements of component or group, the center and edges of their bounding box is displayed. This works at any level of embedding. The center of bounding box is useful because it may be physically hidden within the component / group. With DrawAlong, you can still pick it in all cases. The center and corners of the bounding box can be used for origin and target.
      • Anchor and Leader of Text Labels (if this matters!)

      Locking the current Direction
      When moving the mouse to reach the target, you can lock the current direction by pressing/releasing Shift.
      Snap45.png

      Picking Directions and Plane in the model
      You can set a direction or plane by picking it from elements anywhere in the model.
      This can be done by just hovering over the element and either pressing ENTER or making a Long-Click.

      In Vector mode

      • Picking an Edge or a midpoint --> direction of the edge

      • Picking a Face --> direction is the normal to the face

      • Picking a Guide Line --> direction is the line of the guide line
        Snap54.png
        In Plane mode

      • Picking an Edge or a midpoint --> plane perpendicular to the edge

      • Picking an Vertex with 2 Edges --> plane defined by the 2 edges

      • Picking an extremity (vertex with one edge) --> plane perpendicular to the edge

      • Picking a Guide Line --> plane perpendicular to the guide line
        Snap58.png
        To unset the constrained direction or plane, just press Arrow Down.

      VCB – Length – Multiple segments

      • Length (or distance for remote inferences): just type the numeric value: without unit, i.e. current model units, ex: 33.5 or 3’4”, or with units, ex: 3.2cm. Alternatively, you can specify the point in 3D, origin or target, by entering the absolute coordinates along each axes. For instance 3 4 5 will set the point with coordinates 3 in X, 4 in Y and 5 in Z.

      You do not need to enter all values and instead use the semi-comma ‘;’ as separator when non-ambiguous: ex: ;;4 will set the point [0, 0, 4] (0 0 4 would work as well), 50.3; will set the point [50.3, 0, 0], noting that 50.3 0 would work as well).

      Important: space or semi-comma ‘;’ are used as separators in the VCB, because the dot and comma are reserved as valid decimal separators for international users.

      • Multiple segments: this is in the same spirit the SU Move tool. In DrawAlong, you create additional segments of the same length by either multiplying or dividing the length by a specified number.
      • Multiple of segment: *n or nx are supported, ex: *3 or 3x
      • Divide of segment: /n is supported, ex: /3
        If you type a negative value (ex: *-3, -3x, /-3), then multiple segments are generated on each side of the original copy. Below the syntax for multiple and divide
        DrawAlong - Multiple - Divide.png

      Repeating the Drawing
      Once you have drawn a first line, you can draw an similar line on anoethr origin by double-clicking on a new point in the model.

      Protractor mode
      The Protractor mode is activated by Ctrl (down or in toggle) or via the dedicated button in the palette. It is usually set on when you pick the origin, but it can also be activated when drawing to the target.
      The plane and direction of the protractor are determined by the placement of the origin. When you pick the origin, the plane is based:

      • on the face underneath, if any,
      • or the plane defined by 2 edges at a vertex,
      • or a plane containing the picked edge,
      • or the Horizontal plane in other cases.

      DrawAlong - Protractor 1.png
      In Protractor mode, you implicitly draw in the plane of the protractor. The angle of direction is rounded to multiples of 15 degrees. This stickiness is attenuated when you move the cursor away from the center of the protractor. Inferences are still available, but restricted in the plane of the protractor.
      At any time, you can type an angle in the VCB, with the suffix convention:

      • d for degrees, ex: 90d or 25.2d
      • g for grades, ex: 100g (which is 90°)
      • r for radians, ex: 1.57r (which is roughly 90°)
      • % for slope, ex: 100% (which is 45°)
        DrawAlong Protractor 2.png

      http://forums.sketchucation.com/download/file.php?id=49289

      DrawAlong 1.2a – 12 Oct 14: fixes related to Construction Points (inferences and avoid doubling when drawing) in FredoTools 2.1a

      DrawAlong 1.1a – 18 Jun 14: fixes and some evolutions (inferences when drawing on a plane) in FredoTools 2.0a

      DrawAlong 1.0b – 17 May 14: fix for architectural units in VCB in FredoTools 1.9b

      DrawAlong 1.0a – 15 May 14: initial public release in FredoTools 1.9a

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      • cottyC Offline
        cotty
        last edited by

        Another great power tool! 👍

        my SketchUp gallery

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Rich O BrienR Online
          Rich O Brien Moderator
          last edited by

          Epic. Thanks Frederic

          Download the free D'oh Book for SketchUp 📖

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • F Offline
            function
            last edited by

            fredo is on fire! moveAlong, now this! thanks fredo

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • R Offline
              rv1974
              last edited by

              truly outstanding! 😲

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • pbacotP Offline
                pbacot
                last edited by

                Looks stupendous!

                MacOSX MojaveSketchUp Pro v19 Twilight v2 Thea v3 PowerCADD

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                • pilouP Offline
                  pilou
                  last edited by

                  Again a new French hit! 😎
                  This time video is not bilanguage! 😉

                  Frenchy Pilou
                  Is beautiful that please without concept!
                  My Little site :)

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • PixeroP Offline
                    Pixero
                    last edited by

                    Wow! Another amazing tool from the master.
                    I'd like to be able to draw freehand on a plane without inference. Would that be possible?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • Bob JamesB Offline
                      Bob James
                      last edited by

                      I know for sure what's going to happen to my shortcut "L" 😎 😆

                      i7-4930K 3.4Ghz, 2x GTX780 6GB, 32GB DDR3-1600 ECC, OCZ Vertex 4 500GB, WD Black 3TB, 32TB NAS, 4x 27" Monitors, SpaceMouse Pro, X-keys XK-60

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                      • fredo6F Offline
                        fredo6
                        last edited by

                        @pixero said:

                        Wow! Another amazing tool from the master.
                        I'd like to be able to draw freehand on a plane without inference. Would that be possible?

                        It should. That's the intention.

                        Fredo

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                        • PixeroP Offline
                          Pixero
                          last edited by

                          Am I missing something?
                          I meant like the freehand tool but without inference and on a plane.
                          Would be great for drawing outlines to trees and such on image planes.

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                          • fredo6F Offline
                            fredo6
                            last edited by

                            @pixero said:

                            Am I missing something?
                            I meant like the freehand tool but without inference and on a plane.
                            Would be great for drawing outlines to trees and such on image planes.

                            DrawAlong does not work in freehand mode, but rather pick and drag.

                            But FreehandOnSurface does support both modes, with and without inferences.

                            Fredo

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                            • cottyC Offline
                              cotty
                              last edited by

                              @fredo6 said:

                              But FreehandOnSurface does support both modes, with and without inferences.

                              Video:

                              my SketchUp gallery

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • B Offline
                                Ben Ritter
                                last edited by

                                Super cool Fredo!!. A big thank you.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • B Offline
                                  Ben Ritter
                                  last edited by

                                  @ben ritter said:

                                  Super cool Fredo!!. A big thank you.

                                  Fredo, I can enter model units (inches)for a line length, but as soon as I add a unit (feet), it gives me an error message.

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                                  • B Offline
                                    Ben Ritter
                                    last edited by

                                    @ben ritter said:

                                    @ben ritter said:

                                    Super cool Fredo!!. A big thank you.

                                    Fredo, I can enter model units (inches)for a line length, but as soon as I add a unit (feet), it gives me an error message.

                                    Disregard Fredo. I tried entering 5' as length and couldn't. I realized I have to enter it as 5'-O".

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                                    • fredo6F Offline
                                      fredo6
                                      last edited by

                                      That's definitely a bug, which by the way existed in other plugins based on my VCB parsing.

                                      I fixed it and will republish.

                                      I am not familiar with the architectural notation, so I assume that the syntax is

                                      <x_in_feet>' <y_in_inch>", with or without a separating space.

                                      So the general case could be for instance: 10.5' 4.2" (which is roughly 3.31m).

                                      Where I don't know what to do is the fractional notation, because the / may clash with the divider. I understand you can enter something like 3' 1/4, but they may be extra syntax. I would need a crash course there.

                                      Fredo

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                                      • pbacotP Offline
                                        pbacot
                                        last edited by

                                        In other instances of using SU the / in fractions is not a problem Simplest you can type 5'2 1/2 and it should work. The space between numbers is important of course.

                                        There is another plugin TT Edge tools "divider" tool where the fraction divider is a problem and the tool adds multiples instead of the correct distance. The SU way is to wait for the return key then look for a multiplier input.

                                        I have become used to typing any simple combination of measurements and having it work both in CAD and SU. My CAD app will do simple arithmetic in the input. It's nice where the apps allow some switch hitting (say decimal feet instead of feet and inches--and short hand: leaving out unecesary or obvious key strokes) without worry.

                                        MacOSX MojaveSketchUp Pro v19 Twilight v2 Thea v3 PowerCADD

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                                        • fredo6F Offline
                                          fredo6
                                          last edited by

                                          If I understand the syntax, I think I can make it.

                                          For instance what does mean 5'2 1/2

                                          Is it 5 feet and 2 inch and half an inch?

                                          Fredo

                                          [EDIT] I made some test in the Ruby console, and I am lost, because 5'2 does not look to be 5 feet and 2 inches!!

                                          
                                          "5'".to_l
                                          60.0
                                          "5'2".to_l
                                          138.74015748031496
                                          "5'2 1/4".to_l
                                          148.58267716535434
                                          
                                          
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                                          • pbacotP Offline
                                            pbacot
                                            last edited by

                                            That's right. The long hand version is usually 5'-2 1/2", but the hyphen is often dropped. So Ruby treats it differently?

                                            MacOSX MojaveSketchUp Pro v19 Twilight v2 Thea v3 PowerCADD

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