[Plugin] Shape Bender Beta

[saj33]

Can somebody help? I've been trying to let my staircase follow a curved path. I selected the component, used the plugin then, when it comes to selecting a line on the red axis, my mouse can't select it. Nothing happens. Note, it does select when I'm not using the plugin. What do you think's the problem?

[TIG]

This line you must pick that is parallel to the red axis must be completely 'unattached' - i.e. it cannot join onto another line, or edge a face etc.
It also has to be a piece of separate geometry in the active-entities context [i.e. with the group/component that you want to bend].
The same points apply to the 'curve' you will need to pick next...

[breeze]

thank you very much

[disturbed13]

i have an issue
this plug-in doesnt work right

am i doing something wrong here or what?

[Dave R]

Could you post the SKP so we can take a look?

[disturbed13]

@dave r said:

Could you post the SKP so we can take a look?

sure some background first so you understand what i am trying to accomplish
im in the process of designing a tree climbing spider robot
and im working on one of the legs, ive decided to have a 'thumb-like' appendage to grasp onto branches in the canopy
now my mind is turning and it would be a good idea to add a saw-tooth like pattern to the inside of each
for better grasping ability
however i cant get the blasted mini pyramids to follow the curve of the main leg
i havent tried the grasping limb yet

---

the leg

[TIG]

The 'line' you are asked to pick initially needs to be parallel to the Red axis and it cannot touch anything else.
Your supplied SKP only has two lines parallel to the Red axis; BUT both of these touch a line drawn on the Green axis, so they won't work!
Erase the connected line and then the Lines parallel to the Red axis will be available and the tool should work.
Note that the length of the 'line' and the 'arc', and the location of them relative to the object that's to be bent will affect the 'bending' - experiment with some different settings...

[Jean-Franco]

Hi,
for me it works as it is in your SU file.
But after you select the curved line and as shown in your picture, you have to play a bit with the Up and down arrows of your keyboard.
Try.

[gr8fzy1]

@tig said:

The 'line' you are asked to pick initially needs to be parallel to the Red axis and it cannot touch anything else.
Your supplied SKP only has two lines parallel to the Red axis; BUT both of these touch a line drawn on the Green axis, so they won't work!
Erase the connected line and then the Lines parallel to the Red axis will be available and the tool should work.
Note that the length of the 'line' and the 'arc', and the location of them relative to the object that's to be bent will affect the 'bending' - experiment with some different settings...

Can you explain this a little bit more clearly, because I'm having the same problem as saj33.

I have the component all set, so I draw a line on the red axis. I then select the component and it asks me to select the line. But no matter how many times I click on it, it won't let me select the line.

This is the test file I made to test the plug in.

[TIG]

The 'line' you are asked to pick initially needs to be parallel to the Red axis and it should not touch anything else. BUT YOU HAVE IT TOUCHING THE VERY OBJECT THAT YOU WANT TO BEND! It might 'work'... but it will/might give unpredictable results, with no preview before bending!
Your supplied SKP has two lines parallel to the Red axis; ONE of these touches nothing, so it will work! USE THAT.
The length of the 'line' and the 'arc', and the location of them relative to the object that's to be bent will affect the 'bending' - experiment with some different settings...
IT WORKS FOR ME.

[gullfo]

i've found that the line on the red axis can touch the group or component as it's a separate object. but i've found that the start of the lines need to be both on the same side otherwise the results are not good... having the object away from the red axis line seems to create an offset in the final result which means the final dimensions can be off.

[TIG]

This is the result from picking the line that touches the object that's to be bent. It can touch the object because it's a group or instance and therefore there's no 'raw' geometry involved... and it might give what you want... BUT you will get no 'preview' of the new curved-form to see if you are happy with the result before committing to it.
Picking a line spaced away from the object gives more predictable results with a preview to allow you to toggle start/end etc...
Note: the examples show how the offset between the object and the line, is replicated in the offset between the bent-clone and the curve... If there is an offset 'gap' [even small] you'll get better control...
Tip: it's always best to have the three parts [object, line and curve] within the same ;quadrant of the Red-Green/X-Y axes - i.e. all three located on the same side of the Red and Green axes.

[TIG]

gr8fzy1
Incidentally, please 'purge' SKPs before attaching them.
Model Info > Statistics > Purge Unused... OR my Purge-Tool
The original in 2.55Mb but purged it's only 28kb !
You must have had some complex components and materials unused?
Here's what was not needed in the posted SKP:

C:/Users/TIG/Desktop/Shape Bender test-PurgeLog.txt

Purged Unused...

Components: 8
Component#3
Component#2
light-point-2
ivyleaf_3
ivyleaf_2
ivyleaf_1
Component#1
Susan

Layers: 0

Materials: 12
black
<Beige>1
Color_B24
<LightGray>
0135_DarkGray
96,96,96
jean blue
<Charcoal>
efeu1
Color_F12#1
Ivy2d#1
Ivy_stem

Styles: 0

#EOF

[gr8fzy1]

@tig said:

The 'line' you are asked to pick initially needs to be parallel to the Red axis and it should not touch anything else. BUT YOU HAVE IT TOUCHING THE VERY OBJECT THAT YOU WANT TO BEND! It might 'work'... but it will/might give unpredictable results, with no preview before bending!
Your supplied SKP has two lines parallel to the Red axis; ONE of these touches nothing, so it will work! USE THAT.
The length of the 'line' and the 'arc', and the location of them relative to the object that's to be bent will affect the 'bending' - experiment with some different settings...
IT WORKS FOR ME.[attachment=1:gywgvp4p]<!-- ia1 -->Capture.PNG<!-- ia1 -->[/attachment:gywgvp4p]

See, THAT'S what I don't get. In I did it just like he did in the video. I drew the line right from one end of the component to the other: Just like he did on his demonstration ramp. But here you are telling me to use the dummy line I created?

I've tried doing it like you suggested. I select the component, click the shape bender Icon, and it asks me to "Please select a single line that lies on the Red Axis". But then it won't let me click on the separate line. And then when I try to select them like he did in the video (Select the line, Select the component, click Shape bender) I get this error message:

[attachment=0:gywgvp4p]<!-- ia0 -->Shape Bender 3.png<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:gywgvp4p]

Perhaps it is clashing with another plug in...should I provide a screen shot with my plugins list?

@tig said:

gr8fzy1
Incidentally, please 'purge' SKPs before attaching them.
Model Info > Statistics > Purge Unused... OR my Purge-Tool
The original in 2.55Mb but purged it's only 28kb !
You must have had some complex components and materials unused?
Here's what was not needed in the posted SKP:

C:/Users/TIG/Desktop/Shape Bender test-PurgeLog.txt

Purged Unused...

Components: 8
Component#3
Component#2
light-point-2
ivyleaf_3
ivyleaf_2
ivyleaf_1
Component#1
Susan

Layers: 0

Materials: 12
black
<Beige>1
Color_B24
<LightGray>
0135_DarkGray
96,96,96
jean blue
<Charcoal>
efeu1
Color_F12#1
Ivy2d#1
Ivy_stem

Styles: 0

#EOF

And as for purging my SKP, I have no idea where those textures and such came from! I didn't import any components or even USE the bucket tool. Just rectangle, pencil, arch and push/pull! SKP is now purged.

How do you get that purge log?

---

[TIG]

You select the group/component.
Run the tool.
Select the Line.
Select the Curve.
Adjust the start/end if desired
Enter to get the bent clone.
...
If the Line touches any other geometry it will fail.
If the Line touches the group/component you probably won't get a preview of the bent form.
The Clone will be offset from the Curve by the same amount as the original is offset from the Line.
...
The error message you show suggests you have the group/component select AND a Line [or two] when you start the tool BUT you must have only the one thing - a group or a component-instance... THEN run the tool, then pick the Line... then pick the Curve...
...
Have you moved all of the parts to one axes' quadrant to be doubly sure ?
Run it with the Ruby Console open and report any error messages you get.
...
What other scripts do you have loading?
...
The Purge log is an option from my Purge script - see the Plugins Index...
...

[Chris Fullmer]

Also, is there any chance you changed the model's axis, or the axis of the template so that it always loads skewed?

Try tight clicking on the axis and if there is an option to "Reset" then click, it and that will set your axis back to the world axis, and shape bender only works on the world axis.

[gr8fzy1]

@tig said:

You select the group/component.
Run the tool.
Select the Line.
Select the Curve.
Adjust the start/end if desired
Enter to get the bent clone.

What other scripts do you have loading?

Run it with the Ruby Console open and report any error messages you get.

That's just it. I can do the first to steps no problem. But then when I get to the part to select the line, it won't let me....I can click on that line forever, but nothing will happen. Also, I don't have that horizontal line under my mouse cursor like it shows in the videos.

What do you mean by having other scripts loading? I'm only using Shape bender at the time, no others.

I ran it with the ruby window open and I get this message:
Error: #<TypeError: can't convert nil into String>
C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/clf_shape_bender.rb:161:in create_cursor' C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/clf_shape_bender.rb:161:in make_cursors'
C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/clf_shape_bender.rb:131:in activate' C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/clf_shape_bender.rb:1017:in select_tool'
C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/clf_shape_bender.rb:1017
Error: #<TypeError: no implicit conversion from nil to integer>
C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/clf_shape_bender.rb:168:in set_cursor' C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/clf_shape_bender.rb:168:in onSetCursor'
Error: #<TypeError: no implicit conversion from nil to integer>
C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/clf_shape_bender.rb:168:in set_cursor' C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/clf_shape_bender.rb:168:in onSetCursor'
C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/clf_shape_bender.rb:176:in `onMouseMove'
C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/clf_shape_bender.rb:168

When ever I click on the line or move the mouse, it keeps repeating errors 2 and 3 over and over again.

@chris fullmer said:

Also, is there any chance you changed the model's axis, or the axis of the template so that it always loads skewed?

Try right clicking on the axis and if there is an option to "Reset" then click, it and that will set your axis back to the world axis, and shape bender only works on the world axis.

When I learned that the items were supposed to be drawn on the red axis, I DID rotate the model and the curve, but I didn't alter the axis. To be sure that that wasn't the problem, I made a new model drawn completely on the red axis, curve and all. No rotation. It's still not working. And don't worry TIG, I purged this one...:pNew model arch, from the ground up. Same results.

[Dave R]

I have to believe it's an install error or a conflicting plugin. It worked for me with no problems.

Have you tried removing all non-native plugins from the directory other than Shape Bender and Progressbar.rb?

---

Arch%20Test%202.skp

[TIG]

OK!! now we have these errors it's clear that you haven't installed the tool properly when they were extracted from the zipped set.
When you install it you need its main file clf_shape_bender_loader.rb file in the Plugins folder.
You also need a subfolder within Plugins named 'clf_shape_bender', containing these files: You will also need progressbar.rb in Plugins - that is available from http://www.Smustard.com

[Dave R]

No! Progressbar.rb should be in the Plugins directory.