@rv1974 said:

My $0.02: you should add a corner L shaped aluminum panel. The example shown in video is not quite right.

Not exactly sure what you're referring to. Where should there be an L shaped panel?

Hi Juju

@juju said:

Hi FlexTools team (and Yoni)!
I quickly tried out the new tools, but seem to be getting something wrong, cutter units are not cutting to the depth specified. See pics below.
I double checked to set the cutting depth the same as the wall, but it only cuts the one face. Tried recalc as well, made no difference. I have Cutting DC's enabled. What gives?

The cutter components cut single faces only!
They do however work pretty well with the Double-Cut plugin by Dale Martens - though there are still some issues.

@unknownuser said:

Also, how do I set the door frame sizing? I looked at it very quickly, so may have missed it.

Specifically with the door, you have to double-click to enter the inner component which has all the settings.

@unknownuser said:

One other strange thing, inserting the windows and louvres the origin is set to the bottom? I've never placed units with this origin, any way we can get choices for top (middle / left / right)?

If I understand correctly, you mean when you first insert a component from the toolbar (or from the manager) that the cursor is placed at the bottom left corner? If that's what you mean, there's not much we can do about that. It's the default behavior of Sketchup when placing components.

FlexTools released!

Happy to announce the release of FlexTools

FlexTools is the next generation of the Sketchup Flex dynamic components you may already be familiar with. FlexWindow, FlexDoor, FlexSlat and now a new FlexTrapezoid (more components on the way).

This is the best place to write your questions, impressions, anything that's on your mind!

Check it out:
FlexTools.cc

@rafiky said:

here it is

Ok, now I see the problem. I must have done something wrong with the wall thickness calculation. If the frame is thicker than the wall, then the wall doesn't change, which is not right. I'll need to fix that!
Thanks man!

Can you send me the model when it's acting odd?

@rafiky said:

Here is the problem
https://app.box.com/s/1pf10ays1lu2s0azhliounexot7j99ra

Ok, I think that's the doorstop depth that needs adjusting.

Currently the doorstop is positioned according to the door panel thickness, and extrudes according to the input value. After you adjusted the frame the doorstop is just too long.

Maybe the calculation should be different? like maybe a minus value from the frame edge?

@rafiky said:

Hi!

I inserted a door with flextools and there is something wrong. If I change the wall thickness and also the frame depth, always remain the old wall thickness.
The only way to solve it is changing the inset value and it works but not the first time you change the wall thickness.

I'm not sure, but it seems like it's working fine .

There are 4 thickness/depth settings that may need changing to get which ever wall thickness and desired placement you need:
Frame Depth / Wall Thickness / Inset / (Doorstop)

Currently:

1. The Framecan be any size you want, and it's placement, in relation to the wall (together with all the other door elements) is determined by the Insetvalue.

2. The wall thickness is determined by either the thickness you give it - OR - the sum of the frame depth + inset value. If the sum of frame depth and inset are larger than then the wall thickness, the wall get's thicker...

The reason is, that if the inset were deeper than the wall thickness, you'd have a floating door/window. Unless that's what you want!?

@optimaforever said:

Ok, sorry. I must be more explicit. I meant that the thumbnails help if they're be big enough (sometimes there are a lot of variants and it's difficult to distinguish betwern them).

We'll see what we can do about the size of the thumbnails, and also how to optimize the interface to have more thumbnails and less wasted space.

@optimaforever said:

If one could define the snapshot it's even nicer as you can focus on the differences but one could imagine a folder hierarchy system too.

Not sure if we can define the snapshot, we'll look into it.
Folder hierarchy is a nice idea. we'll see if we can fit that in at a later time.

I think I found a bug which causes Sketchup to crash. I seem to have narrowed it down to double-cut, and specific dynamic components. It happened to me on 3 different PCs with windows 10 and Sketchup 2017.

To recreate the crash:

1. pull into the model attached dynamic component. It's a table from Sketchup's Dynamic Components Training collection.
2. right click > save as > save it to the desktop
3. Drag and drop the newly saved component into the same sketchup model where the original is in.
4. scale the new component > Crash!

Best if more people check to be sure it's this plugin and not something else...

Cafe Table.skp

1. [highlight=#ffff00:1d0gmfot]FlexTools updated to v1.1.1 beta[/highlight:1d0gmfot] (See first post above)

The main highlights:

• New Planview tool to play around with
• Bugfix

@optimaforever said:

To be really useful, I'd like FT to generate an explicit thumbnail of the preset, as sometimes I'm too lazy or uninspired when naming the preset. Dale's Profile Builder excels at that, even if sometimes it generates the thumbnail according to the actual axis system in use in SU when calling the PB window, which is not always ideal.

I'm not sure what you mean, how are the thumbnails now? And how would you like them to be different? Are you referring to the thumbnail in the options window, or in the favorites window?

Notice that for the 'standard' FlexDoor specifically, the thumbnails come in at an angle, and with all the other components the thumbnails come straight on... That's a feature!

We are considering making the thumbnails in the favorites window bigger...

@optimaforever said:

I criticize a lot, but it's because I want FT to be even better
Keep up the good work!

Criticism is always welcome! Keep it coming!!!

There will be a circular window!!!

So don't put a false degree? .
I might be able to limit from false degree input... I'll need to sit and think about it.
If you enter a normal degree it goes back to normal?

1. It's sticky be default, in order to give you nice flat icons in the favorites window. (I know that may sound rediculous )
   If you have the 90* rotator on (in the manager window) it won't be sticky.

2. That will be a bit difficult right now. Best if you recreate your presets/favorites.

2. Try the "frame guide" setting. Does that help?

1. I think if I do that, it may make the component heavier, and may make the interface more complicated. If it were a separate component?

Those are "bad slats" misbehaving! It's a feature... . Not sure I can fix that, but I'll think about it.

I plan to update instructions on a new website, though it will take a while. It might be faster if I find someone to help? Any volunteers?

Having a drawing inside the DC options window isn't possible currently, since that's part of the DC plugin - I can't make changes there. Maybe a shortcut to instructions somewhere... kinda like the getting started guide...?

Heh, actually we did call it presets at first, but decided to change it in order to minimize possible misconceptions.
Saving a favorite saves the component to a library with its exact properties and version. It's just like saving a file aside.

Once you install an updated component though, and I plan to release those every now and then, the components you've saved aside won't have the new changes... only the "original" gets updated (and new saves of course).
The word preset may give the idea as though you're just saving "properties" that will be applied automatically to the new update... at least that's my opinion.

Oh, and the icons go well with "favorites"

Yeah, that's a bug we've had before.

1. I think you'll need to re-register for a serial number. I'll send you a link by email.

2. In your specific situation (you've never saved presets/favorites before, right?) so I think it's best if we start fresh:

A. Uninstall FlexTools
B. Delete this folder - C:\ProgramData\F3d_FlexTools (If you've had presets or favorites - don't delete, and tell me - we'll do something else)
C. Reinstall with new rbz. (IMPORTANT- This very moment (13:52 GMT +3) I made a little update to the download, so download it again from the main post! )

(This has happened to most beta testers - It hopefully won't happen again.)