Req: Solid tools which don't destroy components
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This has been one of my pet peeves for a while. Why would any programmer think that it is a good idea to change a component to a group when operating with solid tools on a component. A typical scenario for me is to have two hundred objects made up of fifty different components. The final shape of lots of components isn't determined until a lot of the objects are in place. Solid tools provides an easy method to do alterations to objects except for the fact that that it destroys the component. Now I can change the object back to a component and then have to copy it about but this is a total waste of time.
I am sure this is a non trivial request but I am sure that a lot of people would find it useful.
Summary of need - have solid tools or equivalent not change components to groups during their use.
Any good ideas out there?Regards,
KrisM -
Have a component with nested solid components (or groups) "inside" to make the action upon. Your description sounds to me that you want to see many instances, which you have laid out, change when you change the one. Working on a component from the "outside", which it seems solid tools is, has never achieved that.
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"Working on a component from the "outside", which it seems solid tools is, has never achieved that."
Well, I guess that is my point. Why is this not achievable? I can do solid operations to a group from "the outside" and they work. Why can't a similar operation to a component have the result propagate to the rest of the components? -
This is something I and others have requested. I spoke with the author of the Solid Tools set while at 3D Basecamp. He told me he understood what I was asking for and agreed it should be changed so I have hope that they will change it.
In the meantime, Jim's Solids Trim and Keep (SCF Plugin Store) does the trimming function and maintains the component behaviors. Eneroth Solid Tools (EW) has Union, Subtract, and Trim. The selection order is reversed compared to the original Solid Tools. I prefer the selection order of the original tools but keeping the components is more important to me.
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Dave,
Thanks for your suggestions. I installed both and both work nicely but with the following results -
Julia's plugin - Works perfectly.
Jim's plugin - Appears to work perfectly except for - click on one instance of an altered component and it is selected as normal, click on it again and all the instances of that component disappear. The same result happens for other components in the model. If I save the model, close it, and reopen it, normal Sketchup behaviour is back. A puzzle. Don't know if this problem is machine specific or a plugin problem. I will investigate
Bottom line ... Julia's plugin solves the problem.
Thanks. -
@krism said:
"Working on a component from the "outside", which it seems solid tools is, has never achieved that."
Well, I guess that is my point. Why is this not achievable? I can do solid operations to a group from "the outside" and they work. Why can't a similar operation to a component have the result propagate to the rest of the components?I can't make sense of what this has to do with groups, but whenever I have worked on a component without opening it, e.g. scaling, it has only changed that particular instance. But as Dave has says there seem to be a number of requests to change this for Solid Tools and it should be achievable, as proved by Jim's plugin.
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@krism said:
Jim's plugin - Appears to work perfectly except for - click on one instance of an altered component and it is selected as normal, click on it again and all the instances of that component disappear. The same result happens for other components in the model. If I save the model, close it, and reopen it, normal Sketchup behaviour is back. A puzzle. Don't know if this problem is machine specific or a plugin problem. I will investigate
I think you're using Trim and Keep incorrectly. The way it operates is: Start the tool, click on the component that will do the trimming, click on the component that will get trimmed. Think, "Use this to trim that." It's the same operation as the native Solid Tools Trim tool. The tool remains active though. You can keep trimming until you are finished. When you have finished, hit the Space Bar to switch to Select or get some other tool as needed.
When I drew the model of this desk, I drew all of the tenons on those parts that got tenons and then I went around the model with Trim and Keep to cut all the mortises. Very quick and easy. Had I used the native Trim tool, it would not only have destroyed all my components, I would have had to repeatedly select the trim tool tool. Jim's tool provides a much more streamlined workflow.
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@pbacot said:
I can't make sense of what this has to do with groups, but whenever I have worked on a component without opening it, e.g. scaling, it has only changed that particular instance. But as Dave has says there seem to be a number of requests to change this for Solid Tools and it should be achievable, as proved by Jim's plugin.
Peter, making other changes to components without opening them, Scaling them, for example, doesn't make any changes to the geometry inside. Although the Solid tools don't open the component for editing, they are making changes to the geometry within. This is more like editing a component to add or subtract geometry. It is reasonable to expect any tool which change the geometry within a component to make those changes to all instances of the component. Any other tool that modifies a component's geometry does that. The native Solid Tools are inconsistent in that regard.
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