Plugin to make a hole in a group?

KrisM · 25 May 2014, 03:41

Hole on Solid works quite nicely for a single solid but doesn't work on a group of solids. At least, I haven't been able to make it work. Thanks anyway.

Dave R · 25 May 2014, 10:33

A group of solids isn't a solid so the plugin won't work.

sdmitch · 25 May 2014, 19:27

@krism said:

I have been looking for plugin to make hole through a group of solid objects. There are plugins that make a hole through a solid group but none I have tried will make a hole through a group of solids. For example a wall group made up of three layers, each layer being a solid group which are contained in the overall group. Presently, I have to open the parent group and apply the hole plugin to each solid group. It would be much faster if I could drill through the whole group. Any ideas out there?
KrisM

Are the layers "face to face" or is there or could there be a gap between them?

KrisM · 25 May 2014, 20:30

The layers are face to face as far as I can tell. They were copied corner to corner so there shouldn't be a gap.
Kris

sdmitch · 25 May 2014, 20:46

@krism said:

The layers are face to face as far as I can tell. They were copied corner to corner so there shouldn't be a gap.
Kris

and the three face to face layers are inside a forth group?

KrisM · 25 May 2014, 20:59

Yes. Three solid groups contained in a overall group which SU doesn't recognize as solid.
Kris

sdmitch · 25 May 2014, 23:23

@krism said:

Yes. Three solid groups contained in a overall group which SU doesn't recognize as solid.
Kris

It seems that it is easier punching holes in groups when they are not touching face to face.

Could you post a sample to test with?

KrisM · 25 May 2014, 23:47

]Here are two instances of three solid groups which are grouped together. The group on the left are face to face. The group on the right are 1/64" apart. I can punch holes quite easily if I open the parent group. I can't punch a hole through the whole group from outside it. Solid tools don't work because the parent group isn't recognized as a solid. I've tried "Hole on Solid", TIG's Hole Punch and the hole tool in 1001bit. Non of these do what I'm looking for.
Kris

[attachment=0]Hole in Group.skp[/attachment

Hole in Group.skp

sdmitch · 26 May 2014, 15:05

@krism said:

]Here are two instances of three solid groups which are grouped together. The group on the left are face to face. The group on the right are 1/64" apart. I can punch holes quite easily if I open the parent group. I can't punch a hole through the whole group from outside it. Solid tools don't work because the parent group isn't recognized as a solid. I've tried "Hole on Solid", TIG's Hole Punch and the hole tool in 1001bit. Non of these do what I'm looking for.
Kris

[attachment=0]Hole in Group.skp[/attachment

I found a solution that works on groups I create but the groups, in the model you supplied, react like components in that the process of punching a hole in one causes holes to appear in the rest. Even in the other grouping so looks like you are stuck.

Here is a short video to illustrate.

KrisM · 26 May 2014, 19:19

Okay, that is weird. The 6 solid groups are copies of the initial group but they are definitely not components. They are created using normal SU tools and aren't anything special. Are your three groups copies or are they three individually created items?
KrisM

KrisM · 26 May 2014, 19:40

I also see that I did the sample file in 2013 (thought I had 2014 open). Is your file 2013 or 2014?
KrisM

JQL · 26 May 2014, 20:33

Several copies of a group are considered as components (same definition) until they are edited somehow. That is the point they become individual entities (different definition).

Try double click to edit each group and they will become individual groups. I expect the plugin "wich seems great" will then behave as expected.

Feature suggestion?

Could that hole be turned into a double face cutting component?
Could that second face be diagonal to the first?
Could that hole cut through corners?

That would be the mantra for sketchup windows...

KrisM · 26 May 2014, 21:08

That is interesting and unknown to me up to this moment. Good to know. You should learn something new every day...Guess I'm good for today. I think this is another case of SkecthUp doing something which somebody thought was a good idea but which is contrary to logic. If I want something to behave as a component, I will make a component. I could make the same comment with regard to the Solid Tools.
KrisM

fredo6 · 26 May 2014, 22:49

Kris,

By coincidence, I am working currently on a plugin that is dealing with holes and that would do this sort of cut across multiple groups / components, whether solid or not by the way.

Here is a first shot, but still some good efforts to come

Fredo

KrisM · 26 May 2014, 23:30

Fredo6,
This is great.If you wouldn't mind, could you do a test on the attached file. The walls were created with Building Structure Tool. The wall groups are composed of some solid group wall parts. There are some underlying attributes attached to the group to identify it as a BST structure which allows the BST tools to do various things. I don't know what this stuff is and don't know if your tool will work on the wall parts. It would be great if it did.
KrisM

MWall Test.skp

cotty · 27 May 2014, 05:46

@fredo6 said:

Here is a first shot, but still some good efforts to come

Sorry, I don't know an english word to describe this...

fredo6 · 27 May 2014, 06:33

@krism said:

Fredo6,
This is great.If you wouldn't mind, could you do a test on the attached file. The walls were created with Building Structure Tool. The wall groups are composed of some solid group wall parts. There are some underlying attributes attached to the group to identify it as a BST structure which allows the BST tools to do various things. I don't know what this stuff is and don't know if your tool will work on the wall parts. It would be great if it did.
KrisM

[attachment=2:25vefbvo]MWall Test.skp[/attachment:25vefbvo]

Kris,

Looks like it works on your wall.

[attachment=1:25vefbvo]VisuHole - KrisM wall.gif[/attachment:25vefbvo]

[attachment=0:25vefbvo]VisuHole - KrisM wall 2.gif[/attachment:25vefbvo]

Fredo

rv1974 · 27 May 2014, 06:35

@dave r said:

A group of solids isn't a solid so the plugin won't work.

It is a solid in other programs, in Max for instance. And it makes life way easier.

@Fredo: This new coincidence looks amazing
Could the Cutter have multiple (not connected) shapes?

rv1974 · 27 May 2014, 07:03

@rv1974 said:

Could the Cutter have multiple (not connected) shapes?

is it planned to support the native Shift Projection mode?

sdmitch · 27 May 2014, 13:19

With Fredo on the job, I can stop wasting my time!!!!!!!!