[Plugin] Shell

thomthom · 3 Apr 2012, 11:09

Joint Push Pull does a much better job at making a "shell". And it's not beta. I will probably take some time before I do more work on this plugin. (Though it is a part of another plugin I'm working on - so eventually.)

JQL · 5 Apr 2012, 18:07

Thomthom,

I'm sorry if you don't go further with this plugin. I have been using JPP but, sometimes and on certain shapes, (the ones i usually work on) it creates a shell whose faces are not all parallel to each other. I was going to comment on the JPP topic but gave up when I read the manual. In there Fredo clearly states that JPP was designed in a way that those unparallel faces are supposed to happen sometimes.

Your shell, with those same shapes makes them always parallalel (at least in the preview). It really works well in the rest of the time and the only "flaws" I noticed were the ones I pointed. If only those previews could be materialized in "real" lines and faces...

If you give it a second thought, I do think it's worth putting just a bit more effort on this.

I don't want to sound ungrateful though, because in its current state, this is already one of my favourite plugins.

Best regards and thank you.

EscapeArtist · 5 Apr 2012, 21:17

[quote="Krisidious"]I pull and click or enter the distance and click but it never completes... allows me to choose again and again.

quote]

Have the same issue. No preview, though. It's a lathed globe shape, open at both ends. Haven't tried it on anything else yet.

thomthom · 5 Apr 2012, 22:12

@jql said:

If you give it a second thought, I do think it's worth putting just a bit more effort on this.

I will get back to this, for sure. As I want to make sure of it's function in Bezier Surface. This plugin is a research experiment. It's just not at the top of the list of priorities right now. Just wanted to let people beware of that.

Krisidious · 6 Apr 2012, 04:46

yes Joint Push Pull achieved the desired effect.

sicksickisck · 5 Jun 2012, 09:03

work but just on simply meshes

Dave R · 5 Jun 2012, 12:40

Huh?

rustystumps · 10 Nov 2012, 01:37

Not sure if this and Simple Shell are the same. I've used Simple Shell on some rather complicated shells and it does a fantastic job. This one looks real good to.

Gardentwine · 9 Jan 2013, 23:31

Hi there thomthom
Its been long time since i was on these forums, well i ve been busy look up and checking out alot of your great plugins, one is something that could be handy for what i am after there is a few changes that could be added

well i explain what iam after, iam trying to find plugins that best matches what it take to be user friendly with HAMMER(source map editor)for Counterstrike GO. So far i came across shell, basic and does it job, not sure if you could make a small change that can group the face first then shell, all done from the right menu.

oh not sure if there is a small bug in this script but when you try and edit the shell by clicking on one of the bounding line and moving its some times breaks the faces it seems the line wasnt connected to the face..

i know this is more a request, but the forums have change and i dont see the request part in here anymore.

Gardentwine · 9 Jan 2013, 23:50

Oh i just found out why the lines are not joined to some faces its cause the shell makes another group with in the selected group not sure if this was intened or not.

thomthom · 10 Jan 2013, 09:05

The plugin is just an experimental test. The A in the version number indicates Alpha - which means it's very early development release.

Have you tried Joint Push Pull?
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6708#p42783

It's much more stable and mature.

Gardentwine · 10 Jan 2013, 13:53

thanks for the quick responds, ive tried Joint Push Pull plugin and yea it does do the same, if not better, but i find shell to be a better match to what iam after, looking forward to seeing it improved, i wish i only could make me own plugins i would of made a Hammer(source SDK) tool set for sketchup.

thomthom · 10 Jan 2013, 14:29

Ruby is one of the easier languages to get to grips with. It might be a nice project to try out with if you're keen to give it a shot. I'd recommend you look at the tutorials on Ruby itself first - there's a 15min tutorial over at the website for Ruby. Then we got some tutorials and guides over here you can refer to.

Gardentwine · 12 Jan 2013, 21:52

hi, its been a couple of days since i lasted replied, been busy learning some basics in sketchup ruby api, from the 3 scripts i made so far, with the tuts for chris have been a great help, slowly getting to grips with it. It seems straight forward, for the basic stuff, i once did one that was alittle to much and got alot of syntax errors lol so i scraped and started again lol.

Thanks, goes to chris for his Video TUTs, on basic scripting.

Looking forward in seeing others help out the noobies, with vid tuts its a fast way to learn, also i found checking how some other plugins work has helped me learn a few things.

thomthom · 13 Jan 2013, 11:16

When it comes to releasing a plugin I recommend you read this first:
http://www.thomthom.net/thoughts/2012/01/golden-rules-of-sketchup-plugin-development/

majid · 5 Feb 2013, 01:13

Thank you Thomthom, very handy plugin.

TheNewHobbyist · 7 May 2013, 04:52

Just found this plugin through the new Sketchucation Plugin Store and WOW! This is just what I was looking for. I've had unusual non-manifold models in the past that I ended up exporting to MeshMixer to generate shells for 3D printing. This will keep me in Sketchup, Thanks!

thomthom · 7 May 2013, 08:03

@thenewhobbyist said:

Just found this plugin through the new Sketchucation Plugin Store and WOW! This is just what I was looking for. I've had unusual non-manifold models in the past that I ended up exporting to MeshMixer to generate shells for 3D printing. This will keep me in Sketchup, Thanks!

I'm surprised of how many people use this experimental plugin. I wonder if they don't know that Joint Push Pull exists - maybe because of its somewhat unusual name.
But I'd recommend that over this one.
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6708

JQL · 8 May 2013, 15:52

Thom Thom,

Joint Push Pull is excellent but it does one thing that is to force the generated mesh to keep the same number of edges and average shape of faces from the initial set of faces. This makes the plugin create unparallel faces.

As I tried to tell you about 1 year ago, your plugin is better at creating faces at an absolute distance from the initial ones, and then connecting them to make a continuous shell.

In the preview state it is absolutely brilliant... then sometimes it fails to generate the geometry shown in the preview...

For a regular shape JPP is accurate, for a mesh that does not need to be parallel to the original one, JPP is also better, but for creating a mesh wich is absolutely parallel, one has to use Normal Push Pull and then connect the faces manually (wich I recently discovered, can be easier if one uses extend trim faces plugin).

If both faces are absolutely parallel a lot more tasks are easier:

Creating Openings fast by using push pull, hole punch tool, or double cutting components;
Drawing of construction layers on sections;
Changing wall thicknesses, for instance, by redesigning exterior of building, and remake exterior thickness on the fly;
Designing stuff with fixed thickness panels, for instance objects made of plywood with a fixed thickness;

Sorry for insisting on this, but it would make my day if this plugin would become stable, and your plugin, with more development, could be the thing many of us need!

Thank you for your time and best regards,

JQL

archheni · 16 May 2013, 05:24

Thom Thom,

I used your great plugin in the past without any problems..But now I receive this message after Sketchup startup: "Error Loading File tt_shell.rb; undefined method `to_l' for nil:NilClass"

Deleting it and re-install didn't solve the issue..
Any Ideas?

HW