[Plugin] Descaler v1.1 20121218

TIG

Copyright 2012-2013 (c) TIG
All Rights Reserved.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
WARRANTIES,INCLUDING,WITHOUT LIMITATION,THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

TIG-Descaler.rb

If a selected group or component-instance has been scaled this tool 'descales'
it; that is, it makes it the same size but no longer scaled; and it also
'descales' any textured materials on faces within it.
If there is more than one instance of a 'container' it is first made_unique.
It iterates into nested groups/instances to 'descale' them too.
Usage:
Select the 'container[s]' and from the context-menu run 'TIG.Descaler'.
This menu-item only shows if there's a suitable selection - i.e.
a group or component-instance which has a scale other than 1.0 in x or y or z.
It is one step undo-able.
Note that it does not work on scaled DCs, these need built-in 'tricks'...

Donations:
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######Put this .rb file into the Plugins folder.
Restart Sketchup,
The tool is available in the context-menu if there's a suitable selection of a Scaled object.
Read, understand and follow the instructions...######
Version:
1.0 20121216 First issue.
1.1 20121218 Doesn't change DCs. Code more robust and faster.

JClements

Thanks, TIG. Great idea. Very practical.

I did notice that when descaled the group is not restored to its original position in the model. Is there a way to prevent that?

Happy holidays!

Cheers, John

TIG

@jclements said:

Thanks, TIG. Great idea. Very practical.
I did notice that when descaled the group is not restored to its original position in the model. Is there a way to prevent that?

It ought to be in the exact same location... I tested it on many permutations... BUT you have obviously got one where it fails... If you PM me an example SKP I'll look at it... It should be a straightforward fix to ensure it does not change an object's location EVER... It does involve a lot of scaling,rescaling. transformations etc... BUT it should always end up where it started...
It can be fixed if if needs be

Pixero

Thanks! Another great one from you.
Might come in handy when working with scenes with cad files imported in the wrong scale and then rescaled inside SU.

TIG

Here's v1.1 http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=445744#p445744
It's now trapped to NOT process DCs as these can cause issues; there are other tricks to scale textures back to be 'right' within scaled DCs code/functions...
It is also made more robust and faster [by processing 'edges' rather than 'vertices'].
Reports of 'jumping' Descaled objects should now be a thing of the past...

Edson

TIG,

I am speechless once more! a great part of sketchup's ease of use is owed to you, my friend (and to all the other plugin authors, to be sure). a huge THANKS to you.

erikB

Thanks TIG, very handy ruby !!!
erikB

andybot

@edson said:

TIG,

I am speechless once more! a great part of sketchup's ease of use is owed to you, my friend (and to all the other plugin authors, to be sure). a huge THANKS to you.

YES! Thank you TIG. I have been wanting this capability, so glad you made this happen.

EscapeArtist

Thank you! This is incredibly useful.

tulacong

thank Tig very good

matt.gordon320

Thanks TIG!

danielfagerberg

Dear TIG, super thank you for this.
I have a question though... i have several hundred component instances but where i have 6 different components...
problem is that i now get several hundred different components...
any possibility to select instances with a certain scale and make them in to only one new component?
i have understood that if i "change Axes" the instance looses its 'reset scale' option in the context menu, but they still have the same definition name, wich in turn leads to that the report comes out as only one volume...
Thank you for all your work!!!
/Daniel

matt.gordon320

@tig said:

there are other tricks to scale textures back to be 'right' within scaled DCs code/functions...

Hi TIG, would you by chance be willing to elaborate on descaling functions you alluded to relative to DC's? That's pretty much the only thing holding me back from getting clearance to build my firm a DC library.

Thanks!

TIG

This is a well known issue: http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=289%26amp;t=44979

Textures in DCs behave as Textures in any other SketchUp Component: if you Scale the Object you Scale its Texture.

BUT there is a DC "trick" that will avoid this.

If your DC contains at least one sub-component/group that is also a DC and that positions itself with a formula [even if the move=0], then when you use the Scale tool on the parent DC any "raw geometry" inside that parent DC will be "resized" instead of just "stretched" - so there is no "scaling" of the texture.

The context-menu "Scale-Definition" used on a unique DC will also reset the Texture's scale back as it was, BUT then that will loose the DC scaling ?

matt.gordon320

@tig said:

If your DC contains at least one sub-component/group that is also a DC and that positions itself with a formula [even if the move=0], then when you use the Scale tool on the parent DC any "raw geometry" inside that parent DC will be "resized" instead of just "stretched" - so there is no "scaling" of the texture.

TIG, that's just brilliant! I have one more that came to mind in that case.

I'm creating a series of DCs that cut into a single plane wall, with adjustable recess and window parameters (width, height, mullions,etc). For this "trick" you mentioned to apply, do any materials need to be embedded as options or swatches within the DC, or can it inherit materials by painting a DC instance (where the "default" painted faces would inherit the new material).

I'd like to be able to sample the wall texture and paint the component, so that the recess will inherit the correct texture from the wall material.

Recess Texture DC Brick.png

I know there's a good chance the UV orientation might not be perfect, but it'd be nice to have it work that way. Can't always get everything perfect. I'm currently building on as a test, but I'm still fairly new to DCs as a whole, so it might take me quite a few tries to test it out and uncover the answer solo.

Thanks for all the help so far!

TIG

If you have a series of materials you do need to embed small swatches inside the DC, so purging won't remove them.
Then you can specify the material by 'name' in the DC Material= function.
BUT you can only apply materials to groups/instances inside the DC.

There are several advice pages on the swatch workaround...
I posted my fix because it's less well documented and fixes materials on faces inside scaled DCs, rather that applies different materials to objects in the DC...

My method assumes the loose faces inside the DC have materials... and the ScalerDC 'change' jolts the contents into recreation, with corrected scaling.

matt.gordon320

@tig said:

... and the ScalerDC 'change' jolts the contents into recreation, with corrected scaling.

Thanks TIG, I appreciate the help. I think I'm going to have to do some thorough testing to get first hand experience with it.

Dependent on the axis orientation (say a window that utilizes glue to), does the ScalerDC have to be in the X axis or will others work? Just trying to get a better and more thorough understanding of exactly what it's doing.

unearthed

Hi TIG, When I ran Descaler it successfully descaled all components but gave all my components unique names. Components are all either circles or simple 2D blob shapes, lying flat. Is this a bug? Or is there a way 'round it?

TIG

@matt.gordon320 said:

@tig said:

... and the ScalerDC 'change' jolts the contents into recreation, with corrected scaling.

Thanks TIG, I appreciate the help. I think I'm going to have to do some thorough testing to get first hand experience with it.

Dependent on the axis orientation (say a window that utilizes glue to), does the ScalerDC have to be in the X axis or will others work? Just trying to get a better and more thorough understanding of exactly what it's doing.
ANY change in the 'position' of ScalerDC jolts textured faces into being 'rescaled' back to normal if the 'parent' DC is Scaled.
If you look at its formula: X =parent!X-parent!X - it effectively sets X=0 which is where it is initially placed: any change to its X, Y or Z should have the same effect.
I not sure 'why' it works... but it does

TIG

@unearthed said:

Hi TIG, When I ran Descaler it successfully descaled all components but gave all my components unique names. Components are all either circles or simple 2D blob shapes, lying flat. Is this a bug? Or is there a way 'round it?
It always makes the 'descaled' instance unique.
BUT you can edit the script TIG-Descaler.rb using a plain text editor like Notepad.
If the lines starting at line#71

if c.is_a?(Sketchup;;Group)
  defn=c.entities.parent
  c.make_unique if defn.instances[1]
  defn=c.entities.parent
else ### it's a ComponentInstance
  defn=c.definition
  c.make_unique if defn.instances[1]
  defn=c.definition
end

Change it to read thus:

if c.is_a?(Sketchup;;Group)
  defn=c.entities.parent
  #c.make_unique if defn.instances[1]
  #defn=c.entities.parent
else ### it's a ComponentInstance
  defn=c.definition
  #c.make_unique if defn.instances[1]
  #defn=c.definition
end

That way the lines starting with # are ignored and the objects are not made unique !
BUT note that if you have several instances with different scaling then the end results might be unexpected...