[Plugin] Mirror
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The native 'flip' tools in the context-menu and/or Scale -1 only work 'axially' - RGB / XYZ.
They also affect the original objects.The Mirror Tool, however, mirrors just the selected objects [temporarily grouping them to avoid geometry clashes], about any picked point or line from two picked points, or [more usually] a 'plane' you define by any three picked points - therefore the mirroring need not be 'axial' / orthogonal [but of course it can be if you so wish, since picking the points has all of the usual inferences/snaps/locking etc of native tools].
The other advantage of the Mirror Tool is that it initially mirrors a temporarily grouped copy of the objects and leaves the original objects in place, a closing dialog asks if you want to erase the originals - when Yes removes them and No leaves them in place, both options leaving the mirrored copy where it was required, with the temporary grouping exploded.
So as well as doing a simple Mirror it can also Copy the objects at the same time if desired - whereas using native tools this would be a much more intensive operation as you'd need to copy objects off to the side, perhaps grouping objects to avoid geometry clashes, scale -1 [ignoring the steps needed for resetting axes etc if the mirroring-plane were non-orthogonal] and moving back the mirrored objects back into place and exploding any temporary groups...
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@tig said:
The native 'flip' tools in the context-menu and/or Scale -1 only work 'axially' - RGB / XYZ.
They also affect the original objects.The Mirror Tool, however, mirrors just the selected objects [temporarily grouping them to avoid geometry clashes], about any picked point or line from two picked points, or [more usually] a 'plane' you define by any three picked points - therefore the mirroring need not be 'axial' / orthogonal [but of course it can be if you so wish, since picking the points has all of the usual inferences/snaps/locking etc of native tools].
The other advantage of the Mirror Tool is that it initially mirrors a temporarily grouped copy of the objects and leaves the original objects in place, a closing dialog asks if you want to erase the originals - when Yes removes them and No leaves them in place, both options leaving the mirrored copy where it was required, with the temporary grouping exploded.
So as well as doing a simple Mirror it can also Copy the objects at the same time if desired - whereas using native tools this would be a much more intensive operation as you'd need to copy objects off to the side, perhaps grouping objects to avoid geometry clashes, scale -1 [ignoring the steps needed for resetting axes etc if the mirroring-plane were non-orthogonal] and moving back the mirrored objects back into place and exploding any temporary groups...
Thanks for detailed reply. My area of Sketchup Application is architectural concepts so in my case I work in various axis orientations anyway (and reset if required to go back to original one). So having to create a custom axis for mirroring is never a big deal. But I'll definitely give your plugin a go if I find that my scale -1 tool doesn't give me what I'm after. Thanks!
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Thank You TIG. You have some of the most reliable plugins in the forum! You have changed my view of SketchUp forever!
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Thanks for keeping on the development of this tool; it's the first one I loaded years ago that made SKUP more familiar to an AutoCAD user.
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TIG,
Seems that Mirror doesn't honor Locked Components...
[flash=640,480:hycafqxq]http://www.youtube.com/v/AQrNxCOZZuQ[/flash:hycafqxq]
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@mental said:
Hi. Forgive me for possibly a stupid question but which advantages does this plugin bring compared to good old scale x -1. Probably I'm missing something.
ThanksMuch quicker, using the plugin, especially when dealing with off axis objects - compound roof rafters, sloping parts of stairs, etc. etc. No need to create an extra plane or line to include in the -1 Scale Operation to get the axis right...
And it auto copies things for you, about any axis you choose, to dropping an identical assembly or rafter or whatever, exactly where you want it, is much easier.
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Here's v3.8
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=276512#p276512
It now honors any selected 'locked' components or groups, and does not mirror them.
I've also included some minor 'behind the scenes' code tweaks... -
@tig said:
Here's v3.8
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=276512#p276512
It now honors any selected 'locked' components or groups, and does not mirror them.
I've also included some minor 'behind the scenes' code tweaks...Thanks TIG!
Sorry to call it out, but this is how I noticed the lock glitch! -
This something to do with Sketchup itself.
If the arc/curve is grouped/mirrored with other connected-geometry [that borders a face] then the arc gets exploded !
If you replicate the arc+other_geometry_around_face > group, copy, scale -1, explode... you will find that native Sketchup breaks the arcs too... -
TIG, thank you for the update
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So solution is to group the rectangle first!
With that all the mirrors of the arcs will keep the arcs not explosed!
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Yes - it's just the same in Sketchup when it's done manually...
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@unknownuser said:
@unknownuser said:
Sketchup breaks the arcs too...
It's a pity!
....Pilow,don"worry.
make mirror and use plugin nilinies2arc.rb (http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=21155)...properties of the arc( in Entity Info) must have been restored 
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Don't know this little last one
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rainy day ideas..
mirror would be a good one for doing what you did to split_to_plane.. where <enter> is Z instead of the 3rd click.. lathe would be another candidate (2nd click when defining the axis)..
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Seems there is a glitch ?
An arc is drawn up left corner then "Mirrored"
Making a group don't resolve the problem
when explode mirrored group , arc is exploded!
when explode original group , arc is not exploded!
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I use to render my projects in 3DS Max and my pipeline is to turn all entourage components to the cubes proxies (by Fredo's Ghost plug in), open simplified entourage skp file in Max and then replace
them by another Max script with hi-poly vray proxies.
What is interesting is that the mirrored (at some stage) SU components get wrongZ value in Max.
I just wandering where is the wicked link:
SU itself, mirror.rb, ghostcomponent.rb, exporters\importers? -
@Jeff
Sorry don't understand first proposition ...and second proposition!
@unknownuser said:
mirror would be a good one
: it's that the problem that don't work
with 2 or 3 clicks even I split horizontally the rectangle@unknownuser said:
lathe
??
A Copy Rotate works (don't explode the arc) but it's not the mirror function and i must draw some helper lines
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@rv1974 said:
I use to render my projects in 3DS Max and my pipeline is to turn all entourage components to the cubes proxies (by Fredo's Ghost plug in), open simplified entourage skp file in Max and then replace them by another Max script with hi-poly vray proxies.
What is interesting is that the mirrored (at some stage) SU components get wrongZ value in Max.
I just wandering where is the wicked link:
SU itself, mirror.rb, ghostcomponent.rb, exporters\importers?
When you 'mirror' or use 'scale -1' [which is all that mirror really does] the component-instance is flipped [aka 'transformed']; however, inside its definition the geometry still has the original orientation.
When exporting such objects into another format that exporter's code must identify the original geometry and its container's 'transformation', then typically it applies the transformation so it now looks right - some formats have limited 'transformation' abilities, so make everything changed so it looks right perhaps messing with the object's innards while doing this. This then breaks the direct link to the original's transformation, so maybe 'swapping' a component won't adopt the original's transformation...When you 'mirror' something it's typically about a bounding-box center-point - so is this 'Z difference' you see after swapping related to say half of the object's bounding-box 'height' [actually Z is its 'depth'!] - it might be that the Max script is incorrectly interpreting that point when applying its own transformation - would a fix be for the script to adjust the Z-value as it swaps ?
Are you sure that the paired simple and complex proxies have the exact same bounding-box and insertion point etc - if they don't then the swapping of them can easily get muddled... If you swap and swap back do things reset properly or get worsened ? This could indicate such a state...
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