[Plugin] Mirror

bmike

would love to see <enter> or <return> give you the Z. would make life that much nicer when picking and hunting around to mirror an object.

TIG

But if you pick two points if gives you a line on the 'plane of mirroring', the third point can be in any direction, provided it's not co-linear with the initial two points: the inference engine makes picking a third point on the plane to make it 'vertical' easy [provided that the initial two points are not already vertically aligned!]... just move the cursor until the rubber-banding turn blue and click the 'plane of mirroring' is now vertical and passing through the initial two points... If you replaced the third mouse click with a <enter> key-press what are the advantages ? you'd probably have to take your hand off the mouse ?? Having the third point replaced by <enter> also screws up the tool as you can mirror in different ways by picking one, two or three points - an <enter> after clicking stops and uses the points so far clicked...

jeff hammond

@tig said:

But if you pick two points if gives you a line on the 'plane of mirroring', the third point can be in any direction, provided it's not co-linear with the initial two points: the inference engine makes picking a third point on the plane to make it 'vertical' easy [provided that the initial two points are not already vertically aligned!]... just move the cursor until the rubber-banding turn blue and click the 'plane of mirroring' is now vertical and passing through the initial two points... If you replaced the third mouse click with a <enter> key-press what are the advantages ? you'd probably have to take your hand off the mouse ?? Having the third point replaced by <enter> also screws up the tool as you can mirror in different ways by picking one, two or three points - an <enter> after clicking stops and uses the points so far clicked...

yeah.. i hear what you're saying..
the reason i posted in the first place was because i was doing some mirroring in a weirdish situation (in close with other elements nearby) and was having problems getting the Z inference.. so i was setting 1st & 2nd points then zooming out to get the Z.. in which case, id rather of kept the zoom the same then took my hand off the mouse for the <return> key..

generally though, the mirror plugin catches the Z axis very consistently.. maybe a sweeter idea than <return> would be a double-click (or a right-click?) on the 2nd point forces the Z? is that even possible with ruby?

that said, lathe's axis setting is a little more finicky when it comes to setting the second point and i usually end up drawing a line which defines the rotation axis then snapping to it's end points.. (there's a little box the follows the cursor and you have to click inside of it.. even if it's showing you you're locked to the Z axis, you still have to click in the little box as well)

[EDIT]- oh.. also.. i wasn't suggesting replacing the third click with <enter>... the third click is still necessary in a lot of situations.. i was just thinking IF the <enter> is pressed after the 2nd click then it will go on the Z.. but you're still able to do a 3rd click instead if you need another plane that isn't vertical

bmike

yes, you still need to keep the third click, but if there was an 'option' click or something that simply meant Z on the last point, it would be sweet.

thats the way the mirror works in auto cad, if i remember. you can pick three points, or 2 with a right click or enter to finish the command.

photon2

Wow great plugin, Thanks!

function

is there a way to turn off the prompt at the end of the command, so it never erases original geometry?

mitcorb

There probably is. You would have to study the Ruby code and maybe comment out the line(s) that generates it. Conceptually, this would be simple. But I will bet that while you comment out one thing, you might "punch a hole in the bottom of the boat". The author could probably point you to it.

TIG

@function said:

is there a way to turn off the prompt at the end of the command, so it never erases original geometry?
You can edit the code so it does whatever you want...
The closing code that asks the question and makes the erase is easily disabled with a leading #

if UI.messagebox("Erase Original Selection ? ",MB_YESNO,"")==6 ### 6=YES 7=NO
            copy_group.erase! if copy_group.valid?        
      	else ### NO
            copy_group.explode if copy_group.valid?
	        @faces=[]
	        ents.each{|e|@faces << e if e.valid? && e.class==Sketchup;;Face}
			self.gluer(sents)
			@ss.clear
            sents.each{|e|@ss.add(e) if e.valid?}
    	end#if

becomes

#if UI.messagebox("Erase Original Selection ? ",MB_YESNO,"")==6 ### 6=YES 7=NO
            #copy_group.erase! if copy_group.valid?        
      	#else ### NO
            copy_group.explode if copy_group.valid?
	        @faces=[]
	        ents.each{|e|@faces << e if e.valid? && e.class==Sketchup;;Face}
			self.gluer(sents)
			@ss.clear
            sents.each{|e|@ss.add(e) if e.valid?}
    	#end#if

BUT if you want to Mirror and NOT keep the original selected object[s] then how would you do it ?
Clicking on Yes/No [or just pressing the Y or the N key] is hardly a hardship ?

Krisidious

I never use the delete afterwards either. Mirror is normally my symmetry tool. One of the most necessary tools in computer aided architectural drafting in my opinion. The dialog is not a hardship. But I will probably disable it. When I need to remove a previously mirrored object I'll just delete it. I would say that the delete feature is more needed than not. It's quite traditional in the sense of autocad.

TIG

@Kris

You are right - I added that final dialog to make the Mirror tool match most CAD applications, which will prompt you after doing the Mirror to Erase/Keep the original selection.
Feel free to customize it as you will

bmike

@krisidious said:

I never use the delete afterwards either. Mirror is normally my symmetry tool. One of the most necessary tools in computer aided architectural drafting in my opinion. The dialog is not a hardship. But I will probably disable it. When I need to remove a previously mirrored object I'll just delete it. I would say that the delete feature is more needed than not. It's quite traditional in the sense of autocad.

Agree with this... maybe 1 in 10 do I delete the object.

function

Thanks for showing where to comment out, I was blowing it up dissecting it!

PropshopRD

I can't see the plug any where in my Tool menu.
I had followed the instructions as you set, but I can't find it!

Any suggestion?
Thx

TIG

@propshoprd said:

I can't see the plug any where in my Tool menu.
I had followed the instructions as you set, but I can't find it!
Any suggestion?
Thx
When it has been correctly installed the tool appears in the Plugins menu, a Toolbar [which you might need to (re)activate] if the plugin's image file is also in the Plugins folder AND the right-click context-menu, when there's a suitable selection... As 'Mirror Selection...'

This suggests you might have simply put the ZIP-extracted folder OR the RBZ archive into the Plugins folder, and not 'installed' it correctly ??
Or perhaps you don't have FULL Properties>Security>Edit permissions to the Plugins folder itself and so Windows itself is messing you up, by letting you think you have put the files into the Plugins folder, but actually a VirtualStore has been used...

So... 'how' exactly have you installed this plugin ?

There is [was] a ZIP version around... BUT I recommend that you always use the equivalent latest RBZ archive that is download-able from the SCF PluginStore [linked] - or accessed via the Resources menu above.
Install it using the Preferences > Extensions > Install... button [or even better, when the 'Plugin Store toolset' v1.3~ is launched very shortly, you could use its Installer from the ../Plugins/SketchUcation submenu]
OR why not just use the latest 'Plugin Store toolset' for your Plugins - to AutoInstall, Manage, and much more... all done from within SketchUp itself...
These tools will AutoInstall plugins for you, and can warn about incorrect permissions etc too...
Then there's no need to try and do it manually and make mistakes...

Refka

Dear Mr Tig / Frank Wiesner

I have mirror plug in v3.1 revisi 21 Feb 2007 ,i want ask to you sir..
Can i edit the script and change it ^_^ .. but for history and ownership remains in the source

I hope you are willing,cause i really love it for this tool.. ^_^

Refka

Sir can i change toolbar name n language.. history n ownership still in source.. ^_^ i have mirror versi 3.1 - 21 feb 2007

Plizzz.. ^_^

TIG

@Refka

I recommend you get the latest version of the tool [v3.8], which has many fixes and improvements over the last 6 years ! ...

If you want to customize the tool's text output into your own language then please feel free to edit the relevant lines in the script and then use it as you wish.
To edit a .rb file you need a plain-text editor like Notepad.exe.
Notepad++ is far superior and you can assign syntax highlighting to file-types so '' & "" strings will display in distinctive colors making it easier to edit the file...
If you are saving a copy please ensure its encoding is 'UTF-8 without BOM' [aka 'ANSI as UTF-8']...
Remember, never use a wordprocessor - that will break the file's encoding.

Because of the mottled history of this tool, which some years ago I 'took over' and subsequently rewrote its 'methods' entirely, there has never been a definitive (c) statement in the header. However, I think an implied statement like this:

@unknownuser said:

(c) Copyright 2013 TIG.
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appears in all copies.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

would be deemed to apply...
So you are pretty much free to use it either as is, or modified for your own use, at your own risk...
Of course we must assume that you do not plan to sell this modified version, or distribute it widely, and that you will leave credit to the author[s] in the header text...
Please do not post modified versions here as it will confuse other users...

flyashy

Hi TIG,
Is it possible to build in a 45 degree inference? It would be such an improvement on the workflow. I do a lot of mirroring at right angles and right now I have to use the protractor tool beforehand to mirror at right angles. I do have the rotation snap enabled in options but the plugin does not seem to use the inference.
Thanks.

Refka

tx a lot sir..

rishikeshavate

Hi guys,

I installed the plugin but it is not working. I can see the plugin in tool bar, in plugin menu and in context menu.

when i select the object and use mirror selection in either way i can not proceed further becoz the next steps (1, 2, 3 selection) is not displaying.

also my statues bar does not show any massage.

Plz Help me guyes.

Thanx