[Plugin] Shape Bender Beta
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I have this plugin installed at work and it runs great. Very impressive. I installed in on my home computer and it doesn't seem to be working quite right.
I have progressbar.rb installed (I originally forgot, got the error then installed it). The plugin actually bends shapes but it pushes them away from the selected curve by what seems to be the distance between the straight line and the original object. I don't have sketchy-physics or Compspray installed which seem to be the plugins that conflict and have caused problems for this plugin.
In the first screenshot, you will note the blue preview mesh both on the curve and the original object. You can see on the original object that it is attached to the line I selected and the blue mesh runs from the curved line to the preview mesh in green.
It is my understanding that the tool is supposed to bend exactly on the selected curve, not push the curve back by the distance between the straight line and the object on the green axis. I measured after letting the tool complete and the curved line is exactly as far away from the final curved object as the straight line is from my starting object.
The 2nd screenshot shows the finished product after the plugin runs. I see no errors when running in the ruby console. I am fairly sure this is not happening on my work PC and it doesn't seem to happen in the videos in the original post.
I should note that my object is a simple 15/2'/1' box done w/ rectangle and push/pull then made into a group. Line was drawn left to right attaching to guides seen in the screenshots. Curve used the built-in arc tool also attaching to the guides and bulging an arbitrary distance.
What am I doing wrong or missing?
Thank you! Thanks for such a fantastic plugin!
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It is behaving as it is meant to. The relationship between the shape, the straight line and the curve are what determines the resultant bend.
You can change the position when in preview by using the arrow keys.
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@box said:
It is behaving as it is meant to. The relationship between the shape, the straight line and the curve are what determines the resultant bend.
You can change the position when in preview by using the arrow keys.
I did use the arrow keys multiple times before posting. Based on your reply, I moved the straight line to match the back edge of my object and then the plugin behaved as I saw in the examples...perfectly matched to the curve. See first screenshot attached to this post. Pressing the down arrow key gives the 2nd screenshot...a bit wonky. Pressing down arrow again, returns back to first screenshot. Pressing up arrow moves the curve above and below the curved line as expected.
These curves were generated from using the arc tool 2x. Once to draw an arc exactly 1/2 the distance between my guides and then a 2nd tangent arc the rest of the way to the guide.
I thought I saw in the videos attached to the first post where the line was not attached to the object but floating in front or behind and the bent object still matched the curve rather than generate the results I saw. Very interesting.
What do you make of that 2nd screenshot from pressing down arrow?
Thank you again!
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Looks at the words "start" and "end". When you have camera oriented the way you do, which is good, you want the starts to be on the left and the ends to be on the right.
That is why the top one is good and the bottom one is weird. At one point, you used to be able to actually reverse the bending direction and it worked correctly. Somewhere along the way though I accidentally broke that I guess, so now you just end up with screenshot #2.
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Hi Cris. Thank you for your work and sharring.
My question is; Is it possible in a certain way to have our texture bended when using the shape bender tool ? Here is an example of what i get.
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Not at this point. It would be great if it would do it, but its more than I will be able to implement soon.
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Hi,
I'm using sketchUp 2013 and win7 x64. The plug-in seems to work, it does recognize the group i select, it does find the straight line (along red axis), it does generate preview. The thing is that it does not make tje lines...
Any advise? -
The plugin does indeed work fine in SU2013. Your problem could be caused by any of several problems:
- The plugin isn't installed correctly.
- The model isn't set up correctly.
- The model is very complex and you aren't waiting long enough for the process to complete.
- The model is very small and you're running up against the small face issue.
- There's a plugin causing a conflict.
You've given almost no information to help determine what is causing the issue, though, so it would be a guess at best. Upload the SKP file for the component you're attempting to bend.
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Hello !
This plugin seems to be very usefull
I would love to know if it is compatible with sketchup 2013?
I'm using sketchup 2013 for mac and the plugin doesn't appear when i downloaded it
Thank you for your help
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Yes i am a Premium Member on Sketchup !
But sorry there is a mistake on my last post. I'm not using Sketchup 2013 but Sketchup 8 pro
Thank you for your answer -
Houda, Welcome! You should be able to change your profile to show you are premium, if that matters to you.
What answer? If you back up this forum page a little you'll see, the plugin works in 2013 and, yes, it works in v. 8. Just be sure you know how to load the plugin properly. Then (very important for this plugin) follow the set-up instructions carefully, especially in the placement of your object, the line, and the curve. If it is loaded and not working try a very basic example before working on your model.
PS. You can always edit your previous posts.
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Also, shape bender is an extension and as such needs to be activated once installed.
So assuming you have installed it correctly go to Window/Preferences/Extensions and tick shape bender in the list. -
Can some one please explain the programming for 'progress.rb' file in a more simpler way. I'm a complete virgin at programming, so any help would be welcome.
Taseer
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What do you mean by "programming"?
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The version of this available in the Plugin store throws a load error message in SU2014, but the one from the Extension Warehouse works.
Looks like it needs updating here.
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@unknownuser said:
oh, am i the only one noticing a huge slow down with the introduction of the progress bar? certain actions are at least 10,000x slower now.
hey Chris,
now that i'm using 2014 and realized the EW version of shapebender no longer requires progressbar.rb, i finally have a chance to show you what i was talking about 5 years ago
(i could of shown you back then but i messed up because as you were doing the shapebender updates (multiple times per day iirc), i was simply overwriting the previous versions)
so yeah, i'm glad shapebender no longer requires progressbar.rb but more importantly, maybe there's something to learn/share what progressbar is doing and advising any ruby writers against using that technique.
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good demo of the difference between version speed...
maybe I can finally finish my abandoned, shape bender reliant model...
Progress bars were considered a 'must have' when SU itself was slower, and you had no idea what was happening...
I ended up removing them from most the accessible scripts, but the speed improvements were not of that magnitude...
@Chris, did you do any other optimisations, might be worth a Dev Thread item...
john
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Jut dropin' in to say thank you. I am impressed, and have been looking for plugin like this for some time. Thumbs up!
Best regards,
May the Ruby be with You (LOL),
Simon
S love nia -
Chris,
I just recently needed to use Shape Bender for the first time in awhile (SketchUp Pro 8); however, it keeps throwing out the progress response, "Searching for objects to explode" and never moves beyond 5% complete. Now, I've loaded many many plugins and extensions since the last time I used your plugin. Could there be a conflict somewhere? I've tried adjusting the code to your instructions, but noted no change. I know it works quite well as it works just fine in my copy of SU2014 (which has a very limited amount of plugins and extensions). Any thoughts?
Michael
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Can I suggest that you try reinstalling the latest version in v8 too [from the EWH or PluginStore]...
I recall that the earlier version of it needed progressbar.rb from Smustard.com...
I think the updated version now available does not use that ?
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