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    Twisted Geometry -- Am I Missing A Plugin?

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    • Dave RD Offline
      Dave R
      last edited by


      http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6014/5967828237_93c2897f3f_z.jpg

      I'm playing around with trying to create a twisted extrusion which is square in section. Of course Follow Me doesn't twist it right but I knew that would happen. I tried Follow and Keep (in green) but you can see it doesn't do what I need either. I could do it manually by placing square sections at the nodes oriented correctly and then stitching them together. I've got a lot of plugins but I wonder if I'm missing one that would do the job quickly.

      The thing I'm shooting for is something like these baskets but with square sections rather than round.

      http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6016/5959417497_e9a665e3d0_z.jpg

      In iron these baskets are created by welding the rods together at the ends. Then they are softened, twisted one way farther than needed and then twisted back the other way which causes the rods to separate creating the basket.

      Etaoin Shrdlu

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      • mitcorbM Offline
        mitcorb
        last edited by

        I didn't try this, but you might. Tube Along Path by TIG. Use Bezier Curves to build the path and do the necessary segment settings. But set the polygon with 4 sides in the dialog box.
        Tube Along Path seems to handle curves more smoothly and does not load up the object with lots of groups.
        But you probably have already done this. 😄

        I take the slow, deliberate approach in my aimless wandering.

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        • Dave RD Offline
          Dave R
          last edited by

          I hadn't thought of Tube Along Path but I just tried with no success. It results in both ends being twisted instead of just one.

          Thanks for the suggestion, though.

          It does result in an interesting shape, though.


          http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6014/5968191127_860dd544e1_z.jpg

          Etaoin Shrdlu

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          • massimoM Offline
            massimo Moderator
            last edited by

            DrawMetal's TaperMaker maybe?

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            • Wo3DanW Offline
              Wo3Dan
              last edited by

              @dave r said:

              ..I tried Follow and Keep (in green) but you can see it doesn't do what I need either. I could do it manually by placing square sections at the nodes oriented correctly and then stitching them together....

              Dave, I tried with 'FollowMeAndKeep' and strange enough, it works well for me.
              There is no "node" in the middle. Although I do know what you are talking about. I've seen similar things happening to my models in the past. How many segments do you have? Could you upload the path in its current drawing axes position?

              (What I did is rotating (90 degrees) the twisted path from the model I uploaded previously. Extended one end with a horizontal segment and positioned a 4-sided circular face at that end. Welded the entire curved path and applied the plugin.)

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              • Dave RD Offline
                Dave R
                last edited by

                Good thought, Massimo. thank you. I gave it a try but it does the same thing as Follow Me. I already had a conversation with Terry, the author of the plugin, about this but no luck. I need to go and look at a real piece of iron work like I'm trying to draw. Maybe that will give some ideas.

                Etaoin Shrdlu

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                • Dave RD Offline
                  Dave R
                  last edited by

                  Gerrit, here you go.

                  I've added the 4-sided circle and rotated the path to horizontal. I'll let you play from there.
                  What I need to have happen is to have the square at the other end oriented so its sides are vertical and horizontal. That seems to happen but I also need it to stay the same thickness throughout which doesn't happen with FAK.

                  Thanks for looking.


                  Twisted test.skp

                  Etaoin Shrdlu

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                  • D Offline
                    driven
                    last edited by

                    hi dave,

                    is this the desired outcome or am I missing something?
                    square centered on origin and follow me.

                    john

                    learn from the mistakes of others, you may not live long enough to make them all yourself...

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                    • Rich O BrienR Offline
                      Rich O Brien Moderator
                      last edited by

                      Twisted test.skp

                      Is this the shape you need?

                      Download the free D'oh Book for SketchUp 📖

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                      • Dave RD Offline
                        Dave R
                        last edited by

                        John,

                        That's what I get with Follow Me. The problem is that the square at the top is turned 45° relative to the bottom. I want it to have the same orientation at both ends.

                        Etaoin Shrdlu

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                        • Dave RD Offline
                          Dave R
                          last edited by

                          Rich, that works. 😍 What did you do?


                          http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6143/5970000678_6f5756abbe.jpg

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                          • Rich O BrienR Offline
                            Rich O Brien Moderator
                            last edited by

                            [flash=600,450:183fm0ey]http://www.youtube.com/v/lbQzgmKNnhU[/flash:183fm0ey]

                            Download the free D'oh Book for SketchUp 📖

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                            • Dave RD Offline
                              Dave R
                              last edited by

                              Rich. Thank you very much! And thank you for taking the time to make the video. It's absolutely perfect. And it turns out I was indeed just not looking at the right plugin since it is there.

                              Thank you again.

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                              • Rich O BrienR Offline
                                Rich O Brien Moderator
                                last edited by

                                I know what you mean by not knowing what to use. It's a case now of understanding which plugins are defunct because of curviloft. It's the most powerful tool out if you ask me. Mix it with Tgi and Artisan (and Pen Tool + 😕 ) and you're sorted

                                Download the free D'oh Book for SketchUp 📖

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                                • Wo3DanW Offline
                                  Wo3Dan
                                  last edited by

                                  I see Rich and you Dave have sorted it out.
                                  This is what I could come up with comparing both your curve and mine.
                                  (see attached file)

                                  With your curve I unfortunately got the same result as in your first post.


                                  Comparison of curves

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                                  • Dave RD Offline
                                    Dave R
                                    last edited by

                                    Rich, you are absolutely correct.

                                    Gerrit, thank you for taking the time to look at it. Your points are something to consider. After I drew the Bezier curve and the vertical lines, I checked the segment count and used a circle with the same number of segments. I just used Bezier.rb for the curve and could have used a BZ Spline tool instead to get more segments.

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                                    • Dave RD Offline
                                      Dave R
                                      last edited by

                                      Here's the result.


                                      http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6027/5970412478_a3947baed6_z.jpg

                                      Thanks again to all who helped and to those who tried.

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                                      • Rich O BrienR Offline
                                        Rich O Brien Moderator
                                        last edited by

                                        I do lovely work 😉

                                        Download the free D'oh Book for SketchUp 📖

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                                        • mitcorbM Offline
                                          mitcorb
                                          last edited by

                                          "...those who tried."
                                          Yeah, I can be trying at times. 💚

                                          I take the slow, deliberate approach in my aimless wandering.

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                                          • Dave RD Offline
                                            Dave R
                                            last edited by

                                            Yes, you do, Rich.

                                            @mitcorb said:

                                            "...those who tried."
                                            Yeah, I can be trying at times. 💚

                                            My wife tells me I am, too. 😄

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