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    How can I draw a circle on a slope

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    • J Offline
      jim130
      last edited by

      I need to draw a set of circles with in a loop with the center and 0,0,0 and all having the same radius but having the normal vector increment each time through the loop. So that each circle is sloped at a deferent angle.

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      • pilouP Offline
        pilou
        last edited by

        Using Copy Rotate multiple?
        (if i understand the question πŸ˜„ )

        Make one copy with Selection + CTRL for give a step then type "" and any reasonable number on the numeric Keyboard!
        Note : you can type "
        " and different numbers untill you don't choose another tool! πŸ˜„
        If you type "/" you will have circles between the "step"! πŸ˜‰

        Very practical isn't it ? 😎

        GIF_circle.gif

        With "/" πŸ˜‰

        GIF_circle2.gif

        Frenchy Pilou
        Is beautiful that please without concept!
        My Little site :)

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        • wimveW Offline
          wimve
          last edited by

          Ok, stupid question: how do you change the axes of the rotation ?

          Best regards,
          Wim
          Holland
          http://www.petromax.nl/DeBeer.html

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          • TIGT Offline
            TIG Moderator
            last edited by

            @wimve said:

            Ok, stupid question: how do you change the axes of the rotation ?
            Read up on how to use the Rotate tool [and Circle tool]... πŸ€“
            There are several ways...
            The axis of rotation can be inferred from the view direction into 'open space' orbit to see it change from red/green/blue.
            The axis of rotation can also be inferred from the 'normal' of any face currently below the cursor - this can be axial [red/green/blue] or off axis [black] depending on that face's orientation.
            Once the required axis of rotation is shown, then you can hold Shift to lock onto that axis, irrespective of the next point you click to set its actual location.
            With Rotate [but not Circle] you can also click+hold+drag along any edge, OR any axis, to lock the axis of rotation to that edge/axis...

            TIG

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            • pilouP Offline
              pilou
              last edited by

              Select something
              Take the tool Rotation
              Snap it on the origine (move it and as soon as the snap is done)
              Move your mouse in any direction wanted! πŸ˜„

              In more general put the protractor on an existing face and block the oriention by Shift! πŸ€“
              (see the bottom help line text )

              Draw a little cube can be helping for have 6 faces oriented! πŸ˜‰

              Frenchy Pilou
              Is beautiful that please without concept!
              My Little site :)

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              • wimveW Offline
                wimve
                last edited by

                @pilou said:

                Select something
                Take the tool Rotation
                Snap it on the origine (move it and as soon as the snap is done)
                Move your mouse in any direction wanted! πŸ˜„

                In more general put the protractor on an existing face and block the oriention by Shift! πŸ€“
                (see the bottom help line text )

                Draw a little cube can be helping for have 6 faces oriented! πŸ˜‰

                Ok, this is the way I do it now (the cube). Or sometimes use the shift from a already defined surface.
                But the example shown uses only the axes (I guess) since there isn't a surface already.

                Best regards,
                Wim
                Holland
                http://www.petromax.nl/DeBeer.html

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                • pilouP Offline
                  pilou
                  last edited by

                  Else with any surface if you want a special start inclinaison! πŸ˜„
                  Here with the "/"

                  GIF_inclined.gif

                  Frenchy Pilou
                  Is beautiful that please without concept!
                  My Little site :)

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                  • J Offline
                    jim130
                    last edited by

                    Sorry I should have been more specific.
                    Using Ruby in Sketchup: how to draw a circle and through the use of a loop to make copies of it rotated around the Y axis incremented by an angle each reiteration.

                    Thanks for all the responses.
                    Jim

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                    • TIGT Offline
                      TIG Moderator
                      last edited by

                      @jim130 said:

                      Sorry I should have been more specific.
                      Using Ruby in Sketchup: how to draw a circle and through the use of a loop to make copies of it rotated around the Y axis incremented by an angle each reiteration.

                      Thanks for all the responses.
                      Jim
                      Posting questions like this in the correct forum would be a better start [perhaps in Developers ?]...

                      Anyway...
                      Drawing a circle is explained here:
                      http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/developer/docs/ourdoc/entities#add_circle
                      Set the axis for the normal for the initial circle - if you are adding it onto a face then it's probably best got from the face.normal ?
                      If you first add a main container_group into the active_entities context - to hold the various circles you are going to create - then you add a circle_group [or component] into that container_group.entities, then you add the circle into that circle_group.entities ...
                      http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/developer/docs/ourdoc/entities#add_group
                      After making one circle_group you can copy it in code and adjust its transformation: read up here on rotation transformation - you need to determine an axis for this - possible from the cross of the initial 'normal' and the Z_AXIS - trapping for the normal==Z_AXIS
                      http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/developer/docs/ourdoc/transformation#rotation
                      Tip - use angle.degrees to avoid headaches with PI etc !
                      Set up a loop, copying the circle_group the number required and also using a counter to increment the angle.
                      Because the circle groups are separate within the container you might want to explode them when you are done...
                      That depends on what you are expecting...

                      TIG

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                      • pilouP Offline
                        pilou
                        last edited by

                        @unknownuser said:

                        Sorry I should have been more specific.

                        Indeed! That is not my part to code in SU! πŸ˜„

                        Frenchy Pilou
                        Is beautiful that please without concept!
                        My Little site :)

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                        • J Offline
                          jim130
                          last edited by

                          This is my attempt at making and rotating the circle.
                          This is inside a loop so that angle_a changes each time through.
                          Without the two lines of code to make the transformation rotation, the grouped circle is created.
                          But when I add the transformation.rotation I get the error message "wrong number of arguments (5 for 3)"
                          The coke:

                          centerpoint = Geom::Point3d.new

                          vector = Geom::Vector3d.new 1,0,0

                          vector2 = vector.normalize!

                          model = Sketchup.active_model

                          entities = model.active_entities

                          circle = mod.active_entities

                          group=circle.add_group # Add the group to the entities in the model

                          edges = entities.add_circle centerpoint, vector2, 1,100 # at this point a circle is made

                          but when I add the next two line I get the error message.

                          pt1 = 0,0,0

                          transformation = Geom::Transformation.rotation pt1, 0,1,0, angle_a.radians

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                          • S Offline
                            slbaumgartner
                            last edited by

                            Geom::Transformation.rotation takes three arguments: a Point3d, a Vector3d, and an angle. You need to either create an explicit Vector3d akin to what you did for vector or else pass the three components as an Array [0,1,0].

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                            • TIGT Offline
                              TIG Moderator
                              last edited by

                              The example code you gave has typos and incorrectly formed arguments etc.
                              Here's what you wrote:

                              centerpoint = Geom;;Point3d.new
                              vector = Geom;;Vector3d.new 1,0,0
                              vector2 = vector.normalize!
                              model = Sketchup.active_model
                              entities = model.active_entities
                              circle = mod.active_entities
                              group=circle.add_group # Add the group to the entities in the model
                              edges = entities.add_circle centerpoint, vector2, 1,100 # at this point a circle is made
                              # but when I add the next two line I get the error message.
                              pt1 = 0,0,0
                              transformation = Geom;;Transformation.rotation pt1, 0,1,0, angle_a.radians
                              

                              Here's what it should say:

                              model = Sketchup.active_model
                              ents = model.active_entities
                              contr = ents.add_group()
                              # to hold the circle groups
                              cents = contr.entities
                              group = ents.add_group()
                              gps = [group]
                              # Add the group to the container
                              gents = group.entities
                              gents.add_circle(ORIGIN, X_AXIS, 10.0, 96)
                              # circle at origin centered on the x axis 10" radius and 96 segments
                              # make reference to that group's definition
                              defn = gents.parent
                              # set step angle - here 30Β°
                              angle = 30.0
                              # set up counter - here 5 times for 180Β° == all needed circles [we already have 1 on x axis] !
                              ang = 0.0 # start at zero
                              5.times{
                                ang += angle
                                tp = Geom;;Transformation.new(ORIGIN)
                                tr = Geom;;Transformation.rotation(ORIGIN, Y_AXIS, ang.degrees)
                                inst = cents.add_instance(defn, tp*tr)
                                inst.make_unique
                                gps << inst
                              }
                              # you now have 4 circles, each inside a group, all inside a container-group
                              # if desired explode them - remove initial #
                              # gps.each{|gp| gp.explode }
                              # if desired explode container - remove initial #
                              # contr.explode
                              
                              

                              TIG

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                              • J Offline
                                jim130
                                last edited by

                                TIG
                                Thank you very much.
                                I applied the code and it worked perfectly. I did make a modification to it as I was really looking for arcs in those circles.
                                But with few modifications I was able to achieve my goal. I had given up on the arcs and thought circles would be easier but still had to ask for help.
                                Thanks again.
                                One question about your solution, for me it is very hard to follow all the different group statements and there logical order. Without the logical understanding it is very hard to move forward in writing code.
                                I am probably not alone, and I was wandering if you could give a more thorough treatment of the grouping statements.
                                I’ve always been befuddled by the progression of these statements.
                                Thank you
                                Jim

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                                • TIGT Offline
                                  TIG Moderator
                                  last edited by

                                  Put simply [no code]
                                  Add a new 'container' group into the active_entities context [name==contr].
                                  Then make some more groups inside that 'containers' entities context - each time these are made incrementing the angle... so into each of those we add the desired circle. oriented at that angle.
                                  Now you have a new container-group which contains several sub-groups - each containing an oriented circle...

                                  Do it manually to get a feel for what's involved.
                                  Ding this kind of thing in code is just like doing it manually - but faster...

                                  TIG

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                                  • J Offline
                                    jim130
                                    last edited by

                                    Thanks TIG
                                    I’ve have been beating my head against the code and am starting to get it.
                                    I do have one more question about the angle circle code though
                                    what does the "tptr" do in this statement? It looks like it is multiplying the two points together "inst = cents.add_instance(defn, tptr)"

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                                    • sdmitchS Offline
                                      sdmitch
                                      last edited by

                                      Actually it is multiplying two transformations and using that product to place the circle.

                                      Nothing is worthless, it can always be used as a bad example.

                                      http://sdmitch.blogspot.com/

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