[Plugin] Flattery papercraft tools

TIG

Hoooooooooray!

Gaiv

hi everybody, i study architecture and i really love this plugin, it's very very cool because it's help me a lot to makes paper craft ... thank you conceptor but i just have a little problem, i don't understand how to use the " index Edges" function and it's very important for me because i have a very complex modeling to do and it's impossible without this function... someone can help me?

TIG

As explained on the tools web-page

@unknownuser said:

When your model is fully constructed, and you are about to unfold it, select the entire thing and press the Index Edges button. This marks all of the edges in your model so that later, when your model is unfolded, Flattery will know what used to be connected. This is critical for the Reunite Edges tool, and helpful for the Add Tabs tool.

So do it at the start and thenunfold...

Gaiv

it's what i do, but there is nothing when the volume is complete i select all the model and i press the index Edges button but nothing appear =s
maybe it's a bug?

TIG

I think you misunderstand.
The Index tool 'marks' all edges so that the tool knows which edges were common before unfolding and for tabbing etc. It doesn't add any 'text' at all ???

However, here's a way... once you have unfolded/tabbed the form as desired, then you select all of the flattened edges [faces , un-indexed edges etc are ignored so you don't need to be too careful]... now run this snippet of code in the Ruby Console - copy/paste it

m=Sketchup.active_model;es=m.active_entities;ss=m.selection;ss.to_a.each{|e|next if e.class!=Sketchup;;Edge;id=e.get_attribute("Unfold","edge_id",nil);next if !id;  pt=e.start.position.offset(e.line[1],e.length/2);es.add_text(id.to_s,pt,[0,0,0])}

Text representing the edges' id code will be added centrally to the pairs edges that share each code... 1, 2, 3 etc

Bep

Hello Tig,

I am getting this message in the ruby console.
Am i doing something wrong?

m=Sketchup.active_model;es=m.active_entities;ss=m.selection;ss.to_a.each{|e|next if e.class!=Sketchup;;Edge;id=e.get_attribute("Unfold","edge_id",nil);next if !id;  pt=e.start.position.offset(e.line[1],e.length/2);es.add_text(id.to_s,pt,[0,0,0])}
Error; #<NoMethodError; undefined method `active_m' for Sketchup;Module>
(eval);184[/ruby]

Bep

TIG

@bep said:

Hello Tig,

I am getting this message in the ruby console.
Am i doing something wrong?

m=Sketchup.active_model;es=m.active_entities;ss=m.selection;ss.to_a.each{|e|next if e.class!=Sketchup;;Edge;id=e.get_attribute("Unfold","edge_id",nil);next if !id;  pt=e.start.position.offset(e.line[1],e.length/2);es.add_text(id.to_s,pt,[0,0,0])}
> Error; #<NoMethodError; undefined method `active_m' for Sketchup;Module>
> (eval);184[/ruby]

Bep

Sorry
A typo crept in between testing and posting...
The correct code 'm=Sketchup.active_model**;**' has now been edited in...

Bep

Thanks Tig ,

Now it works (I just cant see the typo )
The ruby also gives a number to the sides that are still connected.
Could it skip these sides ?

Greetings,

Bep

Gaiv

@tig said:

@bep said:

Hello Tig,

I am getting this message in the ruby console.
Am i doing something wrong?

m=Sketchup.active_model;es=m.active_entities;ss=m.selection;ss.to_a.each{|e|next if e.class!=Sketchup;;Edge;id=e.get_attribute("Unfold","edge_id",nil);next if !id;  pt=e.start.position.offset(e.line[1],e.length/2);es.add_text(id.to_s,pt,[0,0,0])}
> > Error; #<NoMethodError; undefined method `active_m' for Sketchup;Module>
> > (eval);184[/ruby]

Bep

Sorry
A typo crept in between testing and posting...
The correct code 'm=Sketchup.active_model**;**' has now been edited in...

hi i've tried the ruby console code but nothing happened and there is still no number on the faces =s when i write the code in the ruby i have this message :
m=Sketchup.active_model;es=m.active_entities;ss=m.selection;ss.to_a.each{|e|next if e.class!=Sketchup::Edge;id=e.get_attribute("Unfold","edge_id",nil);next if !id; pt=e.start.position.offset(e.line[1],e.length/2);es.add_text(id.to_s,pt,[0,0,0])}
[#Sketchup::Group:0x1e45fad8]

but no number is it normal ? i work on mac maybe it's the problem? i don't know but pleasee help meeeee

TIG

You have selected one group.
You must select faces/edges - perhaps inside that group...

bmike

no luck here, SU8 pro.

downloaded, extracted. copied the 'flattery' folder (left the MACOSx folder along) into plugins.
noticed there was no flattery.rb, found it inside the flattery folder, moved it to plugins.
shows up in my window>preference as being checked on, but can't seem to load it.

TIG

If you reread the README file... it says to put flattery.rb and the flattery folder [with its contents intact] into the Plugins folder...
It needs activating from Preferences > Extensions and then View > Toolbar...

bmike

@tig said:

If you reread the README file... it says to put flattery.rb and the flattery folder [with its contents intact] into the Plugins folder...
It needs activating from Preferences > Extensions and then View > Toolbar...

yeah, i did all that.

upon investigation, the download folder isn't exactly clean.

took some doing, but i managed to clean up the nested nonsense and got it sorted.

would be better, i think, to have 2 files to download, mac, and pc. then eliminate the nesting and the guesswork.

also, the font color in my folder lists is green for this. weirdness. and i don't like it.

nomeradona

wow this is good for our students...thanks for sharing.

pmolsen

If I am not mistaken I believe the zip file has been created incorrectly. Firstly as the other user pointed out it contains both the Mac and PC files, making it impossible to do a standard unzip without getting all of the files.

Secondly the directory structure is incorrect. To do a standard unzip on most plugins you simply tell winzip that the Extract-to folder is plugins and you tick the "use folder names" and everything works.

When you do that with Flattery.zip you get an incorrect directory structure set up. You get a high-level folder within the Plugins directory called Flattery (with a capital F). Within that folder you get the flattery.rb file and README.txt. The flattery.rb should be in plugins, not Flattery.

You also get two other folders, called flattery and .svn, within the Flattery directory.

If you open the zip file and look at the right hand column you will see the problem. The flattery.rb file has a path of "Flattery". It should have no path at all if it is supposed to go in the Plugins directory. All the other files have a path of Flattery/flattery. They should just say flattery...

Another problem is that the README.txt is ends up in the high-level plugins directory. It should be in the flattery directory, or should be called "flatteryreadme.txt" or similar. Unzipping a file called readme.txt to the plugins directory, that may contain hundreds of plugins, is a bit meaningless.

I recognise that a user would normally only need the readme initially, but a standard user doing a standard unzip is going to end up with the readme.txt in the plugins folder, probably overwriting an existing file of that name from another plugin.

The way this zip file has been set up I presume it is designed to be unzipped to C:. It would then create a directory called Flattery. The user would then have to move all its contents to Plugins, and then delete the Flattery directory. That is not intuitive and is not what the install instructions say.

The other issue is the .svn folder. What is it? The install instructions mention nothing about it but it seems that it has to go in the plugins root directory.

TIG

Personally, I would NEVER extract the contents of an unknown zip file into the Plugins folder. Too reckless.
I'd always extract it into a temporary folder [named after the zip file] on my Desktop and look at what I have then got.
Then I'd read any README file [or other instructions supplied by the author] and move files or folders-of-files into the Plugins folder as directed.
If you read this tool's README file for PC or MAC, the files and folders you need to extract/move are clearly explained.
There are superfluous files/folders that the MAC system [stupidly] adds into the zip file - but because they start with a '.' they are probably invisible to a MAC user, so they are included in error by the originator...
... BUT now I think about it why are you bitching here and not complaining to the tool's author on the Flattery web-site

pmolsen

A summary of my suggested improvements to what is a great plugin:

Separate the Mac and PC install files
Modify the paths within the zip file so it can be unzipped directly into Plugins directory like almost all other plugins.
When Index Edges is used, put a message down the bottom saying "Edges Indexed".
Fix the bug splat when model is clicked with the Unfold tool with entire model selected.
Fix a bug with unfolding multiple faces. I selected half a dozen faces of the cylinder with the select tool then changed to the unfold tool and clicked on the next un-highlighted face. They were unfolded but were not joined together. They were separated by an increasing amount of space between them. The first time I did it I clicked on one of the highlighted faces by mistake. They ended up spread all over the place.
Put tooltips down the bottom when a tool is selected and after each step telling dumb users like me what to do next. If the tool is used constantly it becomes intuitive but for a user who maybe uses the tool once a year they have to go back to the web site to find out how to use it.
Add an option to re-assemble the model back to its original state, either fully automatically or one step at a time similar to the unfold process. The tool is great for things other than metalwork and paper folding etc. It can also be used for texturing difficult surfaces, but re-assembly is then required.

pmolsen

I am not bitching. I am posting comments that may be useful to other users. I have installed lots of plugins and they have all installed directly. I do not do it blindly. I open the zip file and look at what it contains first.

I have also managed to generate a bug splat with the tool, by following the instructions like a dumb user. (Sketchup 7)

I created a simple cylinder. I then selected the entire model and clicked Index Edges. Nothing happened. I thought it had not worked. (A message is needed down the bottom saying it worked.)

With the entire model still selected I picked the Unfold tool and clicked on the model. BUG-SPLAT. Does it every time.

I finally did it properly and it works like a dream. I wanted to explode the cylinder so I could texture the curved surface with 4 separate textures. (UVTools only does one texture.)

Now what? How to I re-assemble the cylinder again? I can obviously do it manually but I was hoping for an option that would automatically put the model back together again.

One other minor issue. After install all of my toolbars were splattered all over the screen and I had to rearrange them. (I use the plugin that allows you to customise the toolbars. Can't remember what it is called.)

krash88

Awesome tool! I'll surely be using it to construct custom boxes at our factory. However, I am not seeing the previews during tab creation. Using SU7 and XP. It's not critical though and once again, great tool!

xrok1

@xrok1 said:

very nice. it would be great if you could predefine the tab sizes or have all tabs after the first one be doubleclick to repeat size.

Any progress on this?