[Plugin] ShadowProjector

TIG · 11 Mar 2015, 09:30

Thanks Dave, I too have seem some issues and I'm working on a fix...
The face should be 1km long NOT 500m !!

Dave R · 11 Mar 2015, 10:09

Half is better than none.

djh · 11 Mar 2015, 10:18

TIG, thanks for the advice to clean up the model.

I'm sorry, I still got the same results. I don't know how you were able to do it with the same model. Also, you mentioned before, "This means they do need to be in the same context, but then you could edit the container and select the face?" What does it mean "in the same context"?

TIG · 11 Mar 2015, 11:32

I'm working on a fix...

TIG · 19 Mar 2015, 17:06

Here's v2.0 http://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=TIG_shadowProjector
It is completely rewritten to be faster ad more robust...

TIG · 23 Mar 2015, 14:37

Here's v3.0 http://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=TIG_shadowProjector Along with ignoring Hidden faces/objects and those assigned OFF Layers, it now respects transparent faces [<70% opacity] which won't cast shadows, and similarly faces with the default-material faces within a container that itself has a transparent material and which doesn't then cast a shadow etc.
Objects with cast/receive shadows 'unchecked' settings are now fully respected in the shadow analysis.
Faces which shade themselves [because they face away from the sun] are automatically assigned 100% shading with no further analysis...
A glitch with report writing if type was 'lines' is now resolved.

Dave R · 23 Mar 2015, 23:58

Latest version installed. Get this in console when trying to run the tool.

Error: #<NoMethodError: undefined methodeach' for nil:NilClass>
C:/Users/Dave/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2015/SketchUp/Plugins/TIG-ShadowProjector/TIG-ShadowProjector_Code.rb:127:in new' C:/Users/Dave/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2015/SketchUp/Plugins/TIG-ShadowProjector/TIG-ShadowProjector_Loader.rb:18:in block in module:ShadowProjector'
SketchUp:1:in call'

TIG · 24 Mar 2015, 10:56

Obviously it shouldn't do that
Did you have a face preselected ?
I'm on to it...

Dave R · 24 Mar 2015, 11:00

I did have a single face, correctly oriented selected. I tried it first on a chair model I was working on at the time when I got that message. I quit SU and restarted. Then tried it with a simple box in a component and an ungrouped face. Same result.

TIG · 24 Mar 2015, 11:06

Here's v3.1 http://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=TIG_shadowProjector
It fixes a glitch caused by a simple typo.
The test for 'receive-shadows' for a container being unchecked was inadvertently being run even if the selected face were in the model entities, which of course cannot have that set !
Now resolved.
Thanks Dave for feedback...

Dave R · 24 Mar 2015, 11:11

Glad to help, sir. I'll give it a try when I get home from work and let you know.

d

Dave R · 25 Mar 2015, 22:34

I tried it on a simple box and face. It worked fine. Tried it on a slightly more complicated model and it splatted, twice. I can send you the SKP if you wish.

TIG · 26 Mar 2015, 10:13

@dave r said:

I tried it on a simple box and face. It worked fine. Tried it on a slightly more complicated model and it splatted, twice. I can send you the SKP if you wish.

Please PM me the SKP[s] that splatted.
I have taken pains to minimize this kind of thing, so I'll be interested to see what's up.
I know that very tiny edges can cause issues as they won't intersect with the face to form an 'edge' - but from your modeling I'd expect no such issues

Dave R · 26 Mar 2015, 10:41

I'll send you the SKP when I get home from work. Sorry for the delay.

TIG · 30 Mar 2015, 15:10

Here's v4.0 http://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=TIG_shadowProjector I have completely recoded it.
It works with Dave's example SKP [PM'd] and all others that have had issues in the past.
It has so far worked faultlessly.
It is now faster and more robust too...

Feedback please...

Dave R · 30 Mar 2015, 23:57

It works!

Excellent work, sir. Thank you very much.

pilou · 31 Mar 2015, 08:51

@unknownuser said:

Inspecting mirrors is a thing I could easily see myself doing.

AirWindSolar · 26 Feb 2016, 20:11

Still getting fairly consistent crashes on a large and moderately complex (29,500 faces on an area of interest of about 55 acres) model. It seems to get through a few steps, though, as it never crashes until a few minutes in. Is there a log file somewhere that might show what is causing the splat, or at least what stage it's happening at?

TIG · 26 Feb 2016, 20:20

I suspect this is just too complex, sorry.

Have you tried splitting it into smaller parts...

AirWindSolar · 26 Feb 2016, 22:46

I did at one point, and one relatively small section (2-3 buildings, maybe 1/2 acre) still crashed it every time. Will try to reproduce that and post the file to see if there's something squirrelly going on with the geometry in it.