[Plugin] BoolTools just released!

david_h · 29 Dec 2008, 20:28

As per your Tut. Thanks much.

David

Click Draw · 31 Dec 2008, 15:29

I'm not sure why, but I still get some missing faces when I try to do a drill bit. I match the segments in the helix and the cylinder. I build it large so I can scale down....same result. Very frustrating. Could there be any issues with other rubies effecting the ones I use for this process? The gray hair just keeps coming as I keep trying to figure it out. HELPPPPPP!

Frustrated, Jeff

Gus R · 1 Jan 2009, 23:15

Jeff,

I've had the same situation occur as well. So far it seems as though you have to try these at random at a larger scale. Anytime you get an intersetion that is around 1/16 inch or 1 mm it will corrupt the subtraction. At the same time, if you scale it too much it will corrupt the subtraction. I tried it once at 1,000,000X and the corruption was even worse.

So far my computer has survived the trip out the window and down 6 floors. It's been almost 7 years now. I have been tempted.

Gus

Whaat · 2 Jan 2009, 00:58

@gus r said:

Jeff,

I've had the same situation occur as well. So far it seems as though you have to try these at random at a larger scale. Anytime you get an intersetion that is around 1/16 inch or 1 mm it will corrupt the subtraction. At the same time, if you scale it too much it will corrupt the subtraction. I tried it once at 1,000,000X and the corruption was even worse.

So far my computer has survived the trip out the window and down 6 floors. It's been almost 7 years now. I have been tempted.

Gus

BoolTools uses the intersection method from the SketchUp API which is the exact same function as the 'intersect' context click function that can be accessed from the UI. Sometimes, the intersect method fails (likely due to precision errors). For complex operations (such as a helical subtraction, the chances of these precision errors are greater. If the intersection method fails to execute properly, you will get strange results with BoolTools.

ClickDraw: If you could post your SKP file, I can take a look just to make sure that your problems are not being caused by some other issue.

Dale

plot-paris · 5 Jan 2009, 17:37

using a modifier key to keep the difference-object is a great idea. so we will see that in the next version? (along with nested grouping support )

ps: I use 'Ctrl + Shift + V' for 'Paste in place' as too. soon Google will integrate it as a default shortcut...

sjtunba · 6 Jan 2009, 05:38

why i can't see it

xrok1 · 7 Mar 2009, 04:10

@plot-paris said:

using a modifier key to keep the difference-object is a great idea. so we will see that in the next version? (along with nested grouping support )

ps: I use 'Ctrl + Shift + V' for 'Paste in place' as too. soon Google will integrate it as a default shortcut...

just bought it awesome ,but +1 on this option.

NewOne · 7 Mar 2009, 11:32

@whaat said:

@unknownuser said:

A request. When performing a Cut - it is sometimes desirable to KEEP the geometry that is acting as the edge for the cut. eg Trimming Steel Beams 1 and 2 with Wall 1.
Sometimes I'd like to keep Wall 1 after the operation.
Could this be built in - eg with an option dialog ??? Would be very handy.

I anticipated this request and tried hard to get this to work for this version but it was too buggy. My idea was that you could hold down the CNTL modifier key while selecting if you want to keep the cutting geometry. Hopefully, I can get it to work for the next version. There is a fairly easy workaround though:

Select the 'cutting' group and press CNTL+C to copy. You can actually select the group by hovering your mouse over the cutting group while you have the 'Difference' tool active.

Perform the cut with BoolTools

Choose 'paste-in-place' to get the cutting group back. (a shortcut-key would come in handy here...)

Hope this helps!

Can you make that just the intersection to be deleted when cutting? Just the part of steel beam/or wall that is common to be deleted ?In AutoCAD the substracted object is deleted. It lets behind a gap in the other one. This tool can be better

Coronel · 6 Jul 2009, 14:16

Great tutorial, thanks

blah238 · 7 Dec 2010, 22:27

Does this work in SketchUp 8?

Gaieus · 8 Dec 2010, 10:14

@blah238 said:

Does this work in SketchUp 8?

Yes, although for SU 8 Pro, with the introduction of Solid tools, it has become sort of obsolete.
Yet for those with SU Free, it is still cheaper than buying Pro of course.

tfdesign · 8 Dec 2010, 13:43

If you can get it to work that is. I couldn't get mine to work.

thomthom · 8 Dec 2010, 13:44

This plugin or SU8?

Gaieus · 8 Dec 2010, 14:11

Or the solid tools?

Whaat · 9 Dec 2010, 05:39

BoolTools relies on the model.raytest method which is buggy in SU8. Therefore, I would not recommend using it with SU8 until that bug is fixed.

tfdesign · 9 Dec 2010, 11:57

@thomthom said:

This plugin or SU8?

The former.

FelixPQ · 9 Feb 2011, 05:17

Hi,
I just got your tool and though it work fine for most of the tests I've done, there seem to be a problem with subtraction when my second group is made of compound curves (see file below), the face of the first group remains untouched. I made it work by first doing an intersect and subtracting again and still I have to remove one face that remain but at east I get what I want. I have a similar problem with a tube that I try to "cut" at an angle, the inner cylinder is there (x-ray) but a face hides it, again I have to do it in a few steps to get the result I want.

Maybe this will help you resolve this kind of problem with a later revision.

Thanks for a still great tool, the alternative is far worst.
Felix

Sample

thomthom · 9 Feb 2011, 07:24

@felixpq said:

Maybe this will help you resolve this kind of problem with a later revision.

I see you have notied in your profile that you have SU8 - have you tried your model with SU's own Solid Tools?

FelixPQ · 9 Feb 2011, 13:42

Hi,

no I don't have SU8 pro, just the free version and I have SU7 as well. Is it relevant?

I forgot to mention that the same object (curve one) without the raise tip works perfectly, sorry.

%(#0040FF)[I think the problem was on my part or some incompatibility with other tools I used to create the shape I wanted to remove.

I tried another way, a simple (follow me)on a curve path with the raise tip again and this time it worked perfectly like one would expect. Maybe you will want to know the tools I use in the first trial if you need to know. Thanks again. I didn't find a solution for the tube though.]

Thanks,
Felix

Gaieus · 10 Feb 2011, 16:09

Felix,

On one hand there is definitely some scale issue with your model. SU does not feel comfortable with extremely tiny faces (whose edges are about 1/16" or so).

On the other hand, even though I scaled up your model, I still had some issues I got the "best" results at 100X (or 1000x?) scale.