[Plugin] Hide Overlapping Geometry (Updated 20150511)
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Hide Overlapping geometry is a script that, well, hides overlapping geometry. It works as follows:
1) Overlapping faces are always hidden. Two faces overlap if they have exactly opposite normals and share an interior point.2) If two faces overlap, the script will check their edges for overlap. An edge will be hidden if it overlaps another edge and A) is connected to only overlapping faces, or B) is connected to overlapping and non overlapping faces where the latter have an angle between the normals < 22.5 degrees.
The problem is somewhat subtle and it's not always obvious what to hide. The script works best with solids. If a face or edge is hidden, it will be hidden in all group and component instances.
Usage
Select one or more groups or components and run the script. The script appears as "Hide overlapping" in the Extensions menu. If only one group or component is selected the option
"Hide within nesting" has to be true.v0.0.2
Interface added with four options:
- The smooth angle can be explicitly defined
- The geometry can be transfered to a specific layer
- Groups and components can be made unique
- Groups and component can be compared within the same nesting
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wow, yes yes yes,
dream come true.Thanks for such a great plugin.
D.
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@pilou said:
I don't very well understand that this script must do!
In your example the faces intersect. Overlap is when the faces are aligned (and have exactly opposite normals) and occupy the same space. In the image below there are 16 instances of a solid group. For visual reasons the seams between the groups should be hidden, and the way to do this is to hide the overlapping faces and edges. If you select two adjacent groups and run the script the seams disappear.
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This works great, CAUL! Thank you!
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Ok! But seems there is a little glitch!
A simple copy box (Group)
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AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!
But this is curious!
Better if that work in any positions!Now seems that is a glitch inside the "gifcam" !
Seems it don't like the rotations!
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Why don't you use Flip Along instead, Pilou?
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@pilou said:
Ok! But seems there is a little glitch!
A simple copy box (Group)
[attachment=0:1tsgra7o]<!-- ia0 -->overlap1.gif<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:1tsgra7o]I bet if you double click edit any of the two groups, prior to running the script, you will get the result you expect.
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@unknownuser said:
I bet if you double click edit any of the two groups, prior to running the script, you will get the result you expect.
YEP! Excellent!
What make exactly this double click ?@unknownuser said:
don't you use Flip Along instead
I take always the bad color anytime the first time!
I prefer mirror -
Mirror is nice but Flip Along can be done in a single key stroke.
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@pilou said:
YEP! Excellent!
What make exactly this double click ?When you create a group and copy it, it is just like any component, and you get duplicate instances of the same definition (duplicate groups behaving like duplicate components).
However, if you double-click it, you edit it, and even if you do nothing on it, it is made into a different definition, therefor "unique".
What happened is that the plugin hide the face of a group behaving as a component and in doing so it hid the face of both components. If you'd flipped it like Dave suggested, you wouldn't see the problem.
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@unknownuser said:
if you double-click it, you edit it, and even if you do nothing on it, it is made into a different definition, therefor "unique".
I don't believe that many people knows that!
(maybe in the manual but don't have the luck to see it!
It's the Dohdoh Duh of the day! -
@jql said:
@pilou said:
YEP! Excellent!
What make exactly this double click ?When you create a group and copy it, it is just like any component, and you get duplicate instances of the same definition (duplicate groups behaving like duplicate components).
However, if you double-click it, you edit it, and even if you do nothing on it, it is made into a different definition, therefor "unique".
What happened is that the plugin hide the face of a group behaving as a component and in doing so it hid the face of both components. If you'd flipped it like Dave suggested, you wouldn't see the problem.
This isn't documented well in the API either. Something we need to improve. Developers need to call group.make_unique to ensure groups are unique before modifying them.
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I noticed that if the normals of the two overlapping faces are the same (both are "pointing" in the same direction), then the script fails.
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@jclements said:
I noticed that if the normals of the two overlapping faces are the same (both are "pointing" in the same direction), then the script fails.
This is not really a bug (nor a feature). It's mentioned in the initial post. The reason for this behaviour is that it's a very convenient simplification from a developers point of view. The extension is centered around solids with consistently oriented faces so it's a reasonable simplification.
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Thanks for version 2. That seems to work well now.
Would you please also add a "Show overlapping edges"?
When for example designing a multi floor facade it would be great to hide the edges to see how the whole facade looks and then it could be useful to turn the edges back on for viewing the different floors. -
@pixero said:
Thanks for version 2. That seems to work well now.
Would you please also add a "Show overlapping edges"?
When for example designing a multi floor facade it would be great to hide the edges to see how the whole facade looks and then it could be useful to turn the edges back on for viewing the different floors.Maybe the possibility to move the geometry to a specific layer is enough? Then you can turn the visibility of the layer on and off.
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Yes that would do.
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