[Plugin] FollowMe and keep (v0.04 update 20090210)

jeff hammond

I must be doing something wrong. It doesnt seem to go for me. I am trying to test a shape around a helix form. I select all, select FAK and . . .nothing. In fact I get a Splat.

Any ideas?

do you have the construction point in place? it's treated as the align point (see original post of this thread)..

if you don't have a construction point laying around, get it here:
constpoint.skp

if you do have the point in place already then i have no clue what the problem is..

Ecuadorian

The last FollowMe and Keep requires no construction point. It adds one automagically.

jeff hammond

@ecuadorian said:

The last FollowMe and Keep requires no construction point. It adds one automagically.

uh.... ooops

[edit] even worse, i have the latest version and i've still been putting the point in there manually

Ecuadorian

Worse yet, and a big Duh!

I spent $4 in Smustard.com just to buy the "put construction point" tool, only to discover later that Didier Bur's projections toolbar has a much better version, it's free... and after all, I no longer need a construction point to use FollowMe and Keep!

pilou

you have inside 1001bits an another followme and keep
Very long calculation too ! Maybe the helix is some hard to follow?

jonbassem

@wikii said:

FollowMe and keep the dirction of profiles.

Tip:construction point in selection will be treated as the align_point!

v0.04 20090210
1 if path started at a vertex of profile,the vertex will be treated as align point.
2 auto reverse face to get directviewing result.

v0.03 20090209
1 start at nearest vertex when path is closed
2 fix some bugs

v0.02 20090208
1 perfect ending;
2 autosmooth.

pilou

So using Perpendicular face tool by Chris Fullmer will be some useful

david_h

I think I got it to work without adding any point. It took a sec to calculate, butTa-DaH! Good little plugin. Thanks

aalaser

Uesful tool for me.

abryan

I'm afraid this is a stupid question but how do I get your plugin file downloaded? It's an .rar file and I'm not sure how to get it into a usable (.rb) format for Sketchup to use.

Thanks!

Chris Fullmer

.rar is like a .zip file, except that most normal users never have to deal with it. So its a bit painful for most of us to have to "unrar" a file, since having a rar utility is not common... <dislikes rar for day to day uses like this, just zip it!>

So the answer is to install winrar or even the new version of winzip might handle rar formats. Once you install a rar software, you just open the .rar file and it will have .rb files and maybe folders inside of it. Then copy those to your plugins folder.

Good luck. Wiikii, if your out there, mind hosting a non-rar version on the front page? Or do you care if a moderator addds it for you?

Chris

Gaieus

@chris fullmer said:

Good luck. Wiikii, if your out there, mind hosting a non-rar version on the front page? Or do you care if a moderator addds it for you?

Go ahead, Chris.

And welcome, Amanda.

Jean-Franco

Hi, using 7Zip freeware you can unzip without any problems both .rar/.zip files and other compressed formats too.

david_h

i've had no trouble with rar files with just good ol' winzip!

archmolding

Great Ruby!!! My only problem is I cant get my crown to be smooth! The Crown molding is Welded, and is smooth when i use the FollowMFolow me and keep test.skpe tool. Just not when I use this Ruby. (Im kinda new at this, Thank you)

Chris Fullmer

Could you upload the molding profile? The file you uploaded has it fulll of many extra interior faces, which makes me think maybe something is wrong with the profile.

Chris

Gaieus

Yeah, a bunch of internal faces. Not a big deal to delete them however - just keep hovering over with (say) the PushPull tool and hitting Delete.

Folow me and keep test.skp

archmolding

Nice one Gai, that is what im trying to do, your trick did not work for me though.... But I would think that this Ruby would auto smooth the faces right?

Chris,

Here is a new file showing the moldings using the Follow me and keep and the SU FollowME. Using the Same molding profiles on each example. Also scene 3 has the profiles. Thanks for looking at it and the help!
-Jesse

Follow me and Keep test2.skp

pilou

@unknownuser said:

Yeah, a bunch of internal faces. Not a big deal to delete them however - just keep hovering over with (say) the PushPull tool and hitting Delete.

That delete "faces" but not segments who are making these faces
It's for that I made this request

rainfrog

Hello! This is my first time posting here and I'm a fairly new "tinkerer" with Sketchup. However, I'm already stuck on the shortcomings of the FollowMe tool, and also I seem to want a result that I can't find a plugin to simulate. It's best explained in the attached model.

Basically, I want a profile to follow a path much like in the FollowMe and keep plugin, but in a way that preserves the proportions of the profile perpendicular to the path, whether that path is level or on a slope. This is the result you see in real life, with such things as railings, tunnels, street curbs, roller coasters, etc. If they rose a theoretically very steep hill, they don't have squashed cross-sections because of a profile remaining "level" on two axes. A tunnel needs a constant clearance throughout. A roller coaster's metal tubes remain circular in profile perpendicular to the path, not flattened ellipses as they climb a slope. I'm looking for a profile to remain perpendicular to the x,y plane (ie. "level") on only ONE of its local axes, not two. I hope this makes sense. It's hard for me to explain!

In the attached model, I have a layer called "Method" that hopefully helps to show how I got the desired result manually.

followmeproblem-1.skp