Rope along path
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I've reviewed some of the posts on how to model rope by using the Follow Me tool along a "helical" path. I think I've understood the process and can get a satisfactory result.
What I'm unable to figure out is, once I've created my length of rope, how to make it a repeatable shape. I thought that as long as I was using the same number of segments in my cylinder, around which the path wraps, as number of segments in the circle used to create the tube, it would automatically align when I moved the resulting shape the distance of the cylinder. But it doesn't. What am I missing?
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Well, if you do it right, you can definitely get it to match up. Do you have an image of how it is not meeting up smoothly?
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Thanks for responding, Chris. I'm attempting to attach my .skp file. I'm new at posting at this forum so hope I do it right.
Again, I was making the assumption that because my original helical path made a full 24 turns along the path around the cylinder, that it would result in an extrusion that would automatically repeat.
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I have used Draw Helix for make the spirale
Then the Chris Fullmer Perpendicular face tool for put a circle (or any face)perpendicular to the last segment of the "Spirale"
Seems there is no problem when scale on the Z the spirale
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@macchu said:
Thanks for responding, Chris. I'm attempting to attach my .skp file. I'm new at posting at this forum so hope I do it right.
Again, I was making the assumption that because my original helical path made a full 24 turns along the path around the cylinder, that it would result in an extrusion that would automatically repeat.
in short, the follow me tool is causing the problem. the end faces aren't being completed properly and are acting as if the shape is still extruding beyond that point..
look at this skp for another example of the problem.
basically, you have to extrude beyond the point you'd like to end then come back and intersect/delete or push/pull if allowable.
[edit, and i can't really place too much blame on the follow-me tool itself in your circumstance (though i can blame it when the path is an arc)..
SU has no way of knowing the last line segment of your helix is actually part of a curve and not straight line.. the final face is being placed perpendicular to that segment while you're seeing it as a curved line and the wanting the face perpendicular to the perceived path] -
Jeff, that is a good way to put it.
When I've drawn rope and similar things I extrude more than I need and then cut the ends with a cutting plane so the cuts are perpendicular to the length. Then I can copy the component as many times as needed. If there are no faces on the ends and the edges are hidden at the ends, the seams don't show.
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@unknownuser said:
cut the ends with a cutting plane so the cuts are perpendicular to the length
That is the "knot" of the rope repeat!
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this really opened up a can of worms with the follow me tool and i don't think you can use it at all for making this repeatable segment..
not only does it not make the end profiles correctly, it twists the shape as is extrudes making it impossible for it to match up cleanly with another section..the easiest way i think this is possible is using 1001bit's extrude tool.. you'll end up with twice as many faces due to the triangulation that needs to occur instead of the quads created by follow-me but at least the shape ends up correct.
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