[Plugin] SolidSolver
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Hi TIG,
I've created the attached group which I couldn't make solid with the plugin, perhaps you find it useful for further investigations?
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Thomthom's "Solid Inspector" reveals a myriad of issues.
There are internal partition faces almost everywhere you could have one.
SolidSolver has to make a guess at where to start chipping away at the problem, if it removes one wrong face then it unravels like a knitted jumper...
What you've ended up with IS a Solid from what's left...
Just removing several of the internal partition-faces manually gave a better result [cut a section and use the erase tool...] when SolidSolver ran - it's now a Solid.
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@tig said:
Just removing several of the internal partition-faces manually gave a better result
Thank you for this very helpful tip (and the solid model)!
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Very, very usefull, thanks!
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Hi there, if I use Solidsolver ona group and it says that "the selected group is now solid", does this mean it is watertight or manifold for the purposes of 3d printing? or is there another more reliable way to find this out before sending it to a 3d printing company?
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If it says it is a solid, then it is a solid.
If you don't believe it is a solid, then select it and use Entity Info...
if that says it's 'Solid' in its top-bars then it really IS a solid...
Otherwise believe what you will...
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awesome, this is great news. i just wondered if the definition of solids in sketchup was different or something. i'm gonna be getting into 3d printing so need watertight models and was really glad to find this plugin to help me create them.
and excuse my general ignorance, i'm a total noob but i'm getting there.
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hi.....
will solidsolver work on a mac? i can't seem to get it to load? i have lots of other plugins that i have loaded but am baffled.
dennis -
It should work on a MAC...
What are the problems ?It appears in Tools, and only works on groups...
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I am using Version 13 on a PC.
Installed fine but it does not show up in the "tools" menu or anywhere else that I can find.
I tried making a group with a cube in it and selected it - nothing in "Tools"
I tried removing one of the faces and grouped and selected - nothing in "Tools"Maybe I am doing something wrong?
Tried to install from sketchucation plugins store - said it wokrd but does not show up in plugins/extension manager - maybe i will try manually install?
Thanks
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If it is installed properly then it will appear in the SketchUp > Tools menu AND the right-click context-menu if a group is preselected.
So, it seems you have not installed it properly - I'm unsure how though...
To find you default Plugins folder copy/paste+<enter> this into the SketchUp > Window > Ruby Console:
Sketchup.find_support_file('Plugins')
On a PC it's usually in the main SketchUp folder.
Check that its permissions are correct.
As an admin [if you are not one give yourself that ability in the Users Control-Panel...]
Now, in Windows Explorer, select its icon and right-click > context-menu
Properties > Security
Edit
Tick every listed user/group to have FULL [read/write] permission
Apply/OK to Save changes.Next find the SketchUp.exe file in the main SketchUp folder...
select its icon and right-click > context-menu
Properties > Compatibility
Tick the last box 'Always Run As Administrator' [or similar wording]
Restart SketchUp...Next there are at least three ways of installing it [for the first two you need the latest v8 or newer SketchUp]...
Method 1:
Use the SketchUcation built-in Plugin Store tool to AutoInstall it afresh...
It should quickly be extracted, installed into the right place, and loaded.
It is not made as an Extension so it will not appear in the SketchUcation Extensions Manager.
BUT it should appear in the Loaded [left] column of the SketchUcation Plugins Manager.
If it does not something is badly awry and come back to us...Method 2:
First [re]download [or move?] the tool's RBZ archive onto your Desktop.
Window > Preferences > Extensions
'Install Archive...' [or similar worded button at button of that pane].
When prompted, find the RBZ archive and OK.
This should then install/load it much like the SketchUcation tool...Method 3:
Your Folder Options needs to be set to display file-type suffixes...
Change the RBZ ending of the file to .zip
Extract its contents into a temporary folder.
In the case of this tool it is a single .rb file.
Move that into your Plugins folder.
Restart SketchUp and retest...
[Note that more complex tools may have a subfolder of required 'helper' files, move that folder into Plugins too - never move the files out of it! Some others (usually thomthoms's and Fredo's) need a separate installation of a 'Lib' folder of shared helper files...]Let us know how you get on...
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SolidSolver seems to hang on complicated/complex solids. When I run it against simple/ relatively simple solids, it hangs consistently.
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SolidSolver rarely hangs... BUT on very complex shapes it will take a long time to finish.
Use it in conjunction with SolidInspector...
Give it a chance and manually tidy what you can see is clearly wrong...
Then run SolidSolver...
It'll be quicker over all.
It's not magic, you can readily construe some forms that are not 'fixable'
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Hi TIG,
I tried to use your tool to clean the model. Unfortunately, after using the model disappeared.
A few posts above you wrote to manually remove some of the unnecessary edges. After doing this operation for a while I can see how the model is being repaired (holes disappear). Unfortunately, after a while the whole model again disappears.
I will be grateful if you look at this model.
I do not want duplicate content in the forum, so I've included a link to the main thread.
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=79%26amp;t=56666
Regards,
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Hi TIG,
Is this in the Plugin Store?
Want to know if I should load the old one or if there is a new one for 2014... -
It is - http://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=TIG_solidsolver
And it works just fine in v2014.
Many such Plugins needed no adjustment to be compatible...A simple search in the PluginStore's own Search box is a powerful ally...
Please don't move Plugins over from an earlier SketchUp version [unless you really have to!]: get the latest Plugins version that is available - some Plugins have had to be reconfigured to also work in v2014, whilst a few others still need fixing [hopefully none of mine?].
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What about of the all "old plugins" not updated (if necessry) to 2013,2014...?
Does exist a repository for them ?
First post of the threads ? Of ourse if he author don't erase them!
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zerobmeister ; FYI, even thought SU reports the model as solid it does not mean the printer will accept it for printing. Some of them have criteria that goes beyond " solidness" for printing
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pilou;
I've had the question the other way. Are plugins updated to the new API ok to run in say SU 8, AKA are they downward compatible? -
I do not know of any Plugin that have been updated to be compatible with SketchUp v2014 which does NOT work on the earlier SketchUp versions.
In the rare cases where the two versions need alternative coding the author has 'version' tests.Many Plugins were already automatically compatible with v2014 with no changes.
The following are some of the reasons for the code needing an update:
Script was not saved as "UTF-8 without BOM" encoding.
Changing the encoding then affects some previously included non-basic ASCII characters...
Code uses some deprecated syntax - which was tolerated in earlier versions, but is now failing in the newer Ruby.
Code uses one of a few Ruby methods that are no longer supported, or which now give somewhat different results.
SketchUp's own Ruby methods have be adjusted: there are only few - e.g. model.save...
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