Hi
Is there any plugin that will recursively explode a model/selection all the way down to the 2nd last group? Like many I work with groups and components but sometimes you want to export say to Max and you want things ungrouped or grouped by layer. I know there are plugins for both, but when a model is completely exploded, the faces will mix, etc.
I need something that would keep the "lowermost" groups or components grouped.
Am I making sense? 
Thanks for a much useful plugin. I had coded something similar in AutoLisp a few years ago to do this in Autocad, precisely for stairs and contours.
@rami_lpm said:
@pbacot said:
... interpret the height of contours in plan by the user drawing a section line.
This sounds very complicated, I'll see what I can do.
I think this could be simpler than it sounds, maybe one of the forum's rubymasters could help out with the code. Here's how i would imagine it:
Method 1, should work with lines:
-User draws a line across the contours he wishes to raise and sets H=riser height.
-Plugin figures if it's a generally horizontal or vertical line (is that necessary?)
-Plugin finds all intersection points and makes an array ordered based on their X (or Y?) coordinate
-Plugin traverses array raising each line by H x its index in the array.
Method 2, perhaps this is the solution for faces?
-User selects all faces that need to be raised (by window or select all or whatever... if one by one, it's just the current method)
-User draws a line L through all said faces
-Plugin filters out non-faces from selection and makes an array as above, ordered by X or Y coordinate of mid-point of segment created by intersection between line L and each face.
-Plugin traverses and raises as above.
Hope this makes sense!
NEVERMIND, thomthom's Axis tools solves this in an instant!
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=30508&p=267844&hilit=%5BPlugin%5D#p267844
This is an issue that keeps appearing when importing dwgs from Autocad Architecture (need to export from Autocad Architecture as Autocad first, creating multiple components for each x-ref with often weirdly placed, yet common origin for each component).
When testing 3D models and doing come and go between Autocad and Sup, the process becomes really very very tedious.
Is there any way to make a plugin to automate your instructions TIG? in fact i am thinking this could be a simple plugin that explodes and redefines recursively each component in the file, which must exist somewhere, no?
Thom,
maybe this is a very old project you gave up on, but i have an idea for you - or anyone else willing to develop a double cut plugin. it's a technique i use manually and it relies on pure and tested core sketchup tools, so no need to really keep track of the holes. (unless i missed anything,) your plugin creates an actual hole and removes part of the back face.
what i suggest, is to have the plugin automatically create a copy of the front component but mirrored -1 along its blue axis and stuck onto the back wall. This would cut the whole in any thickness of wall, and as long as the "depth" of the component is half or more the thickness of the wall, the model will be "closed".
obviously it means the component trim will look similar on both sides of the wall, but you may be able to circumvent this if you create a component copy with everything above the reference plane of the component removed.
the idea in the end is to create double components, not to try to cookie cut the wall and then try to keep up with it, which is what you say is causing the bugsplats.
if i scale/edit/etc the original component, its back mirrored version will follow and the cut will follow. if i need to move the actual component all i have to do is select both and move them together.
if i got it wrong, please forgive my naiveté.
@mike lucey said:
Thanks Chris, I wonder what it could be used for, other than visual effects? Has anyone any ideas .... I probably end up saying Doh!
It is an amazing utility if you work with landscape and terrains. I'm an urban designer and architect and I use it for example to figure out which parts of a terrain are too steep to build on etc.
geologists use slope analysis to figure out if there is any danger of landslides, and landscape designers to figure out what they can plant where.
you can also use it to figure out if snowfall will build on certain areas and not others.
and from a "image creation" perspective, if you combine the color by slope and the color by z, you could "automatically" create procedural maps of materials for example if you have a mountain, you can cover the highest parts with snow, the flat parts with grass, and the sheer parts with rock 
@icepam said:
let it give a name to the created materials,
ok i gave that a wiz, the only way i figured how to do it is to create a materials array instead of a colors array, and assign the right one in the second step.
it creates materials called "segment 1 [0 to 30]", "segment 2 [30 to 60] etc.
ISSUES:
File 1: "aa_color_by_slope-REVISED.rb"
Last modified on 17/07/2009, 22:28
File 2: "aa_color_by_slope.rb"
Last modified on 17/07/2009, 22:31
materials = model.materials
matarray = []
#create a material and give it the right name and color
hi =90 - i * astep
low = 90 - (i+1) * astep
seg = max_colors - i
matname = "segment #{seg} [#{low} to #{hi}]"
#puts matname
m = materials.add matname
m.color = [r,g,b]
matarray.push m
a.material = colors [segment]
a.back_material = colors [segment]
a.material = matarray[segment]
a.back_material = matarray[segment]
EDIT: file removed, please see top post for download link
@chris fullmer said:
ok aa, I checked out your version, and thats great! I want to update the rDoc info at the top to make it current. Once I do that, I'll post it up in the top post so everyone finds it easier. Thanks!
Chris
Great! while you're at it, here's a suggestion for a quick and very useful utility: let it give a name to the created materials, you should be able to construct it from the slope segment eg if you've got 3 colors, the materials will be named "0 to 30", "31 to 60", "61 to 90".
it would be great and trivial to have an option where instead of the number of colours you give it a angle, and it does the division... i would do it but too many cooks... 
and you're absolutely right about putting all your color face plugins into one package with a great GUI. let me know if you need help. i may not be the best ruby scripter, but am great at testing for usability.
-aa
You're an ace! thanks.
i had started hacking at your color-by-Z yesterday, learning ruby as i go, and managed to make color by steps, meaning it will ask you how many maximum colors you want and color the slopes accordingly. i couldn't figure out how to get the angle of the normal though until you posted this today. i had been using the z of the vector instead of its angle, so the results were off.
anyway, i finally merged both your plugins into the attached aa_color_by_slope.rb. i hope you don't mind, it's yours of course.
i made it ask for the start and end colors and the number of segments (max colors), which i limited to dividents of 90 to reduce hassle. i still don't understand why i can't get the 1st color the same in all variations on the numbers (for example if you go with green to red, and do tests for 2, 3, 9 segments, you will see that sometimes the starting green changes, although it shouldnt)
finally, thanks again for this Chris, and TIG: your ideas rock! (no pun intended, but i'm using this precisely to figure out buildable areas on a rocky site )
-aa
EDIT: file removed, please see top post for download link
Hi everyone, i've looked everywhere but can't find a plugin that would assign materials/color a terrain or set of faces based on the slope of each.
It shouldn't be too hard to put together using TIG's routines to measure slope of roof in his roof plugin, and something similar to Chris Fullmer's COLOR BY Z. {basically it's COLOR BY NORMAL ANGLE}. unfortunately i don't know ruby.
Any tips?
icepam
PS here's some examples of a slope analysis (some would call it gradient analysis): http://www.seismicactivity.de/Software/fracland/cm1.jpg
http://www.skilasvegas.com/masterplan/figures/fig_10a.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/91/278422870_e7058ca9d4.jpg?v=0