Drawing Tensile Structure / Stretch Tent

[kendrickho]

Hello there.

I have just started to learn SketchUp and my aim is to draw tensile structure / stretch tent with SketchUp.

I've found some sample drawings from below website but I've totally no idea how to draw them.

https://www.rhitents.com/stretch-tent-product-information/stretch-tent-sizes/

Thanks for your help.

[ntxdave]

@kendrickho said:

Hello there.

I have just started to learn SketchUp and my aim is to draw tensile structure / stretch tent with SketchUp.

I've found some sample drawings from below website but I've totally no idea how to draw them.

https://www.rhitents.com/stretch-tent-product-information/stretch-tent-sizes/

Thanks for your help.

You should look at Fredo's Curviloft plugin in the Plugin Store (sorry I can not add the link to it right now).

[cotty]

Or the Soap-Skin-Bubble plugin...

[pbacot]

It looks like the site you quoted already has SU models. Ask them. I wonder what they used for those, given the quad style grid they show. Probably not Curviloft or Sandbox (though one could do it manually with Sandbox I suppose and have it look like that. I think it would be hard to get it to look like that with Curviloft. I am trying to imagine doing it with Soap Skin Bubble. It's almost as if they used Toposhaper and applied contours as well.

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[pilou]

Or Ferrari

[kendrickho]

Thanks a lot for your reply.

I've tried Curviloft, Soap-Skin-Bubble and Ferrari, they can create simple tensile structure but not the complex one like those from http://www.rhitents.com

[kendrickho]

@pbacot said:

It looks like the site you quoted already has SU models. Ask them. I wonder what they used for those, given the quad style grid they show. Probably not Curviloft or Sandbox (though one could do it manually with Sandbox I suppose and have it look like that. I think it would be hard to get it to look like that with Curviloft. I am trying to imagine doing it with Soap Skin Bubble. It's almost as if they used Toposhaper and applied contours as well.

Thanks.

I will try Toposhaper later.

[GMthompson]

@pilou said:

Or [url=http:http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=63338&p=580075#p580067]Ferrari[/url]

Has Ferrari updated their plugin since like v-8?

[GMthompson]

As far as production goes even with the most uhhumm savvy of cad programs you still end up using a third party software to configure your panels plots etc.

those curve definitions are nowhere close to what an actual tensile structure would actually develop there are flat planes it looks rather rudimentary although conceptually its great

[pbacot]

I think curviloft and other plugins can do the complex shapes, working in parts. Knowing how to define each part is the difficulty. Then if you want physical accuracy for tensile fabrics, you probably need to get (and learn) some more specific software and know all about the relevant parameters.

[filibis]

@kendrickho said:

I've tried Curviloft, Soap-Skin-Bubble and Ferrari, they can create simple tensile structure but not the complex one

With curviloft you can create quite complex shapes. It's all about drawing a neat outline/contour.
Here i give it a quick shot, only with arcs & rotation copies, then applied curviloft skinning.

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Later on you can apply SketchyFFD to your geometry as well if you wish.

curviloft_tent_example.skp

[L i am]

If you created the Lines as filibis did, you would simply have to do one section at a time as pbacot suggested you simply have to use create "terrain in" in "sandbox" That tensile skin could be easily be reproduced in native sketchup. I just tried it and it was not at all as dirty as i expected it to be.