@rich o brien said:

It could be that your running Libfredo 14.1 and its recently updated to 14.2 ...

Thank you again! I updated LibFredo and hopefully no more issues...

now the crazy thing is appeased somehow, probably because I posted about it!

Don't know how long it will behave though...

It's happening again, this time I can't even use the tool even if I validate the license!

Everything was fine for a while but now it says I can't use Curviloft. So, I go online, reactivate the license, but as soon as I try to use it again, it says it's invalid....

After validating the license through the web, I turn of the wifi off again

But as soon as I try to use the tool, again, the same error, as above....

I can't use the tool at all now...

Here is the output of the Fredo plugins information

Fredo6 Plugins Information on 2023-09-06 17:34:45 -0700

• Platform: x86_64-darwin14 - Ruby: 2.2.4
• Sketchup: 17.3.116
• LibFredo6: v14.1a
• LibFredo6 Binary loaded
• Sketchucation ExtensionStore: 4.3.1
• SCFLicense: v6.1a - 72
• Fredo6 Plugins

  TopoShaper v2.6a - licensed FULL
  ToolsOnSurface v2.5a - licensed FULL
  Curviloft v1.9a - licensed FULL
  FredoTools v4.3a
  FredoSketch v1.2a
  Animator v3.8a
  JointPushPull v4.6a - licensed FULL
  Curvizard v2.4b - licensed FULL
  FredoScale v3.5a - licensed FULL
  ThruPaint v2.2a
  FredoPortrait v2.8a
  RoundCorner v3.3a - licensed FULL
  VisuHole v1.4b - licensed FULL
  FredoGhost v2.0a
  FredoCorner v2.6a

• SCFLicense directory present

  Signature File: 2022-06-29 18:42:44 -0700
  Curvizard: 2023-07-30 19:53:00 -0700
  JointPushPull: 2023-07-30 19:52:44 -0700
  ToolsOnSurface: 2023-07-30 19:52:12 -0700
  VisuHole: 2023-07-30 19:54:11 -0700
  Curviloft: 2023-09-06 17:33:49 -0700
  RoundCorner: 2023-07-30 19:53:54 -0700
  TopoShaper: 2023-07-30 19:51:46 -0700
  FredoScale: 2023-07-30 19:53:14 -0700

Thank you for any help
-j_jones

Hello Sketchup Friends!

I found this cool project in github that will let you play around with perlin noise.

GitHub - huseyinbicen/Sketchup-Ruby-3DTerrain-via-Perlin-Noise: Here we tried to simulate mesh grid-based earth shapes in 3D. For this purpose, perlin noise is used to achieve similarity to real life.

Here we tried to simulate mesh grid-based earth shapes in 3D. For this purpose, perlin noise is used to achieve similarity to real life. - huseyinbicen/Sketchup-Ruby-3DTerrain-via-Perlin-Noise

GitHub (github.com)

It says in the installation instructions to add the files in the "lib" folder to the "Ruby library."

Then gives this example:

1-) C:\Program Files\SketchUp\SketchUp 2015\Tools\RubyStdLib Open Directory 2-) Move the "perlin_noise.rb" and "perlin" files in the "lib" folder to the directory in step 1.

But I have no such folder in my directory trees for Sketchup.

./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp/Materials
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp/Plugins
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp/Styles
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp/Components
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp/Autosave
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp/Classifications
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp/Templates
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/WebCache
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/WebCache/GPUCache
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/WebCache/Dictionaries
./Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2017/WebCache/Local Storage
./Library/Caches/com.sketchup.SketchUp.2017
./Library/Caches/com.sketchup.SketchUp.2017/fsCachedData

As for Ruby the language, I could only find these dirs

./.gem/specs/api.rubygems.org%443
./.gem/specs/api.rubygems.org%443/quick
./.gem/specs/api.rubygems.org%443/quick/Marshal.4.8
./.gem/ruby
./.gem/ruby/2.3.0
./.gem/ruby/2.3.0/cache

Can anyone tell me where I might put these perlin noise filees so they could be used by Sketchup 2017?

Thank you for any hints
j_jones

After some struggles, I came up with this script which "solves" it, however I the ruby console plus crashes about 20 seconds after running this script, I have yet to figure out how to trap that error, whatever it is

link to animated gif demonstration:

four sides via rotation.gif

Google Docs (drive.google.com)

Here is the revised script that at least does what I was trying to do.

The difference is that I used transform_entities instead of transform!
that seemed to have the desired effect on the resulting face so that I could extract it's vertices after the xform. An idea I got from here: https://forums.sketchup.com/t/move-a-group-api-ruby/130338/5

module RotateFaces

  def self.get_face_from_entities(things)
    face = nil
    things.each do |thing|
       if thing.is_a?(Sketchup;;Face)
         face = thing
         break
       end
    end
    return face
  end

  def self.rotate_face(entz, face, axis_pt1, axis_pt2, angle)
    axis = axis_pt1.vector_to(axis_pt2)
    xform = Geom;;Transformation.rotation(axis_pt1, axis, angle)
    entz.transform_entities(xform, face)
    return face
  end
  
  def self.get_face_vertices(face)
    verts = []
    face.outer_loop.vertices.each{|v| verts << v.position}
    return verts
  end

  def self.create_rotated_face(entz, pts, axis_pt1, axis_pt2, angle)
    model = Sketchup.active_model
    active_entities = model.active_entities
    model.start_operation("create rotated face",true,false,true)

    face = self.get_face_from_entities(entz)
    face_xformed = self.rotate_face(entz, face, axis_pt1, axis_pt2, angle)
    verts = self.get_face_vertices(face_xformed)

    model.commit_operation
    return [verts, face_xformed]
  end
end

model = Sketchup.active_model
active_entities = model.active_entities

begin 
  things1 = []
  group1 = active_entities.add_group
  pts1 = [[10,10,0], [20,10,0], [20,10,10], [10,10,10]]
  pt0, pt1, pt2, pt3 = pts1
  g1_entities = group1.entities
  face1 = g1_entities.add_face(pts1)
  puts "face1; ", face1
  puts "group1;", group1

  group2 = group1.copy()
  things2 = RotateFaces.create_rotated_face(group2.entities, pts1, pts1[0], pts1[3], -90.degrees)
  puts "create_rotated_face returned; ", things2
  pts2 = things2[0]
  face2 = things2[1]
  puts "group2;", group2
  # (10", 10", 0")
  # (10", 0", 0")
  # (10", 0", 10")
  # (10", 10", 10")

  group3 = group2.copy()
  things3 = RotateFaces.create_rotated_face(group3.entities, pts2, pts2[1], pts2[2], -90.degrees)
  puts "create_rotated_face returned; ", things3
  pts3 = things3[0]
  fac3 = things3[1]
  # (20", -0", 0")
  # (10", 0", 0")
  # (10", 0", 10")
  # (20", -0", 10")
  puts "group3;", group3

  group4 = group3.copy()
  things4 = RotateFaces.create_rotated_face(group4.entities, pts3, pts3[0], pts3[3], -90.degrees)
  puts "create_rotated_face returned; ", things3
  pts4 = things4[0]
  fac4 = things4[1]
  puts "group4;", group4

  puts "made it this far"

rescue StandardError => e 
  puts "error last global outer try;", e
end

Hello, I am just learning the Ruby API and have a hopefully simple question.

My goal is to draw a face in an arbitrary point in space (not at the origin). Then I want to copy the face and rotate it 90 degrees to create a corner shape. Then copy the second face and rotate it 90 degrees to create a u-shape

This is some example code I came up with to do this, however, I'm running into a problem in that I can't seem to access the points of the rotated face. The positions of the points are identical the ones in the original face for some reason and do not reflect the transformed shape.

Here is the script.

model = Sketcup.active_model
active_entities = model.active_entities

# draw first face

#     p3         p2 
#      +---------+
#      |         |
#      |         |
#      |         |
#      |         |
#      +---------+
#     p0         p1

model.start_operation("first face",true,false,true)

pts = [[10,10,0], [20,10,0], [20,10,10], [10,10,10]]
pt0, pt1, pt2, pt3 = pts
group1 = active_entities.add_group
g1_entities = group1.entities
face1 = g1_entities.add_face(pts)

# print out the vertexes of the first face
puts("first group")
group1.entities.each do |thing|
   if thing.is_a?(Sketchup;;Edge)
     puts "#{thing.start.position} #{thing.end.position}"
   end
end

# end of first face
model.commit_operation

So far so good, here is the face, ready to go

Now on to the second face

model.start_operation("second face",true,false,true)

# make a copy of the first face
# then rotate it to create a corner shape

#            pt0 
#             +---------+
#            /|         |
#           / |         |
#          /  |         |
#         +   |         |
#         |   +---------+
#         |  /pt3
#         | /
#         |/
#         +  

group2 = group1.copy
g2_entities = group2.entities

axis = pt0.vector_to(pt3)
angle = -90.degrees
xform = Geom;;Transformation.rotation(pt0, axis, angle)
group2.transform!(xform)

# notice that the points of the group2 face have not been rotated
#   they still reflect the points of the first face
puts("second group")
group2.entities.each do |thing|
   puts thing
   if thing.is_a?(Sketchup;;Edge)
     puts "#{thing.start.position} #{thing.end.position}"
   end
end
# end of second face

model.commit_operation

Second face rotated, looks good except if I query the second face for the positions of its vertices, it just reports the same positions as the first face.

By the way, I must be doing something really weird because when I run this script in Ruby Console Plus, it freezes and then goes blank. I haven't had any trouble with the console until I ran this script! I guess it's because I really should put all this logic into a module or class instead of just in the global namespace.

Now I would like to rotate the second face to create a u-shape, but I don't know what points to pick because the points given don't reflect the rotation

model.start_operation("third face",true,false,true)

# make a copy of the second face
# then rotate it to create a u-shape
group3 = group2.copy
g3_entities = group3.entities

#         goal 
#             +---------+
#            /|         |
#           / |         |
#          /  |         |
#         +---------+   |
#         |   +-----|---+
#         |  /      |
#         | /       |
#         |/        |
#         +---------+  

# at this point I don't really know which points to choose to create
# the axis for rotating the third face as I don't seem to be able
# to access the rotated shape's actual points?

puts("third group")
group3.entities.each do |thing|
   puts thing
   if thing.is_a?(Sketchup;;Edge)
     puts "#{thing.start.position} #{thing.end.position}"
   end
end
# end of third face

# model.commit_operation

Thanks for any clues
j_jones

Hello again, I am just learning the Ruby API and am back with another simpler question.

My goal is to draw a face in an arbitrary point in space (not at the origin). Then I want to copy the face and rotate it 90 degrees to create a corner shape. Then copy the second face and rotate it 90 degrees to create a u-shape

This is the code I came up with to do this, however, I'm running into a problem in that I can't seem to access the points of the rotated face. The positions of the points are identical the ones in the original face for some reason.

Here is the script.

By the way, I must be doing something really weird because when I run this script in
Ruby Console Plus, it freezes and then goes blank. I haven't had any trouble with the
console until I ran this script!

model = Sketcup.active_model
active_entities = model.active_entities

# draw first face

#     p3         p2 
#      +---------+
#      |         |
#      |         |
#      |         |
#      |         |
#      +---------+
#     p0         p1

model.start_operation("first face",true,false,true)

pts = [[10,10,0], [20,10,0], [20,10,10], [10,10,10]]
pt0, pt1, pt2, pt3 = pts
group1 = active_entities.add_group
g1_entities = group1.entities
face1 = g1_entities.add_face(pts)

# print out the vertexes of the first face
puts("first group")
group1.entities.each do |thing|
   if thing.is_a?(Sketchup;;Edge)
     puts "#{thing.start.position} #{thing.end.position}"
   end
end

# end of first face
model.commit_operation

So far so good, here is the face, ready to go

Now on to the second face

model.start_operation("second face",true,false,true)

# make a copy of the first face
# then rotate it to create a corner shape

#            pt0 
#             +---------+
#            /|         |
#           / |         |
#          /  |         |
#         +   |         |
#         |   +---------+
#         |  /pt3
#         | /
#         |/
#         +  

group2 = group1.copy
g2_entities = group2.entities

axis = pt0.vector_to(pt3)
angle = -90.degrees
xform = Geom;;Transformation.rotation(pt0, axis, angle)
group2.transform!(xform)

# notice that the points of the group2 face have not been rotated
#   they still reflect the points of the first face
puts("second group")
group2.entities.each do |thing|
   puts thing
   if thing.is_a?(Sketchup;;Edge)
     puts "#{thing.start.position} #{thing.end.position}"
   end
end
# end of second face

model.commit_operation

Second face rotated, looks good except if I query the second face for the
positions of its vertices, it just reports the same positions as the first face

BTW, at this point Ruby Console Plus tends to freeze and then ultimately goes blank and has to be restarted. I have no idea why.

At this point I would like to rotate the second face to create a u-shape, but
I don't know what points to pick because the points given don't reflect the rotation

model.start_operation("third face",true,false,true)

# make a copy of the second face
# then rotate it to create a u-shape
group3 = group2.copy
g3_entities = group3.entities

#         goal 
#             +---------+
#            /|         |
#           / |         |
#          /  |         |
#         +---------+   |
#         |   +-----|---+
#         |  /      |
#         | /       |
#         |/        |
#         +---------+  

# at this point I don't really know which points to choose to create
# the axis for rotating the third face as I don't seem to be able
# to access the rotated shape's actual points?

puts("third group")
group3.entities.each do |thing|
   puts thing
   if thing.is_a?(Sketchup;;Edge)
     puts "#{thing.start.position} #{thing.end.position}"
   end
end
# end of third face

# model.commit_operation

Thanks for any clues
j_jones

@fredo6 said:

The method is to draw a single spiral as a group, and then just rotate them and assign them colors, as you do.

However, you need to have
[list][]the start operation outside the loop on spirals
[]the creation of a group at the beginning of the spiral generation method. You basically create the group ( group = model.active_entities.add_group) and create the faces in that group ( ee = group.entities and face = ee.add_face....)

For thickness, you need first to offset them from the origin. Otherwise, the spirals would collide at origin. You may want to draw a cylinder at origin as the starting point of the spirals. Second, there is no other way than to compute the offset of an individual spiral, which requires a little bit of calculation (there is no API for that unfortnately).

Thank you this is helpful. I see now how to create a separate group for each spiral, that will help.

As for the thickness issue, I am now trying to build my own box from each face which resulted in a new question!

Does anyone still have a copy of this plugin? The original google pages site is long gone.

Thanks for any info
-j_jones

I've started playing with the Ruby api aspect of Sketchup.

I created this script to draw a spiral out of log spiral curves.

module LogSpirals

  def self.rotate_thing(thing, rotation_angle)
    rotate_transform = Geom;;Transformation.rotation([0,0,0], [0,0,1], rotation_angle.degrees)
    thing.transform!(rotate_transform)
  end 

  def self.make_material(rgb, alpha)
    model = Sketchup.active_model
    r, g, b = rgb
    color = Sketchup;;Color.new(r, g, b)
    material = model.materials.add("Rainbow Face r #{r} g #{g} b #{b} alpha #{alpha}")
    material.color = color
    material.alpha = alpha
    material
  end

  def self.color_face(face, material)
    face.material = material
    face.back_material = material
  end

  def self.create_spiral(scale_factor, growth_factor, steps, z_offset, thickness, rotation, rgb, alpha)
    model = Sketchup.active_model
    entities = model.active_entities
    
    model.start_operation("log_spiral",true,false,true)
    
    # create a spiral starting at the origin
    spiral_points = []

    (0..steps).each do |angle|
      theta = angle.degrees
      r = scale_factor * Math.exp(growth_factor * theta)
      x = r * Math.cos(theta)
      y = r * Math.sin(theta)

      # subtract 10 so the spiral starts at the origin
      x2 = (x * 100) - 10
      y2 = y * 100
      point = Geom;;Point3d.new(x2, y2, 0)
      spiral_points << point
    end

    # make a copy of the spiral offset up the z axis by z_offset    
    spiral_points2 = spiral_points.map{ |point| point.offset([0, 0, z_offset]) }


    material = self.make_material(rgb, alpha)

    # turn it into a solid with thickness
    (0...steps).each do |i|
      pts = [spiral_points[i], spiral_points[i+1], spiral_points2[i+1], spiral_points2[i]]
      # create a face along the spiral
      face = entities.add_face(pts)
      # color the face
      self.color_face(face, material)
      # extend the face to have a thickness
      face.pushpull(thickness)
    end

    # create a group out of the spiral
    spiral_group = entities.add_group(entities.to_a)
    # rotate the spiral the given degrees
    self.rotate_thing(spiral_group, rotation)
    
    # refresh the view so the spiral is drawn
    model.active_view.refresh
    model.commit_operation
  end
end #LogSpirals Module


scale_factor = 0.1
growth_factor = 0.4
steps = 360
z_offset = 10
thickness = 0
# 1          2          3        4          5          6          7         8          9           10         11       12
# yellow     yellow-g   green    green-cyan cyan       cyan-blue  blue      mage-blue  magenta     red-mage   red      orange
# 255,255,0  255,127,0  0,255,0  0,255,127  0,255,255  0,127,255  0,0,255   127,0,255  255,0,255   255,0,127  255,0,0  255,127,0
# 30,        60         90       120        150        180        210       240        270         300        330      360
color_yellow =       [255,255,0]
color_yellow_green = [127,255,0]
color_green =        [0,255,0]
color_green_cyan =   [0,255,127]
color_cyan =         [0,255,255]
color_cyan_blue =    [0,127,255]
color_blue =         [0,0,255]
color_magenta_blue = [127,0,255]
color_magenta =      [255,0,255]
color_red_magenta =  [255,0,127]
color_red =          [255,0,0]
color_orange =       [255,127,0]

colors = [color_yellow, color_yellow_green, color_green, color_green_cyan, color_cyan, color_cyan_blue, color_blue, 
  color_magenta_blue, color_magenta, color_red_magenta, color_red, color_orange]
angles = [30,60,90,120,150,180,210,240,270,300,330,360]
alpha = 0.5

# this doesn't quite work as it keeps duplicating all the work over and over
# (0...12).each do |i|
#  color = colors[i]
#  angle = angles[i]
#  spiral = LogSpirals.create_spiral(scale_factor, growth_factor, steps, z_offset, thickness, angle, color, alpha)
# end

i = 11
rotation = angles[i]
color = colors[i]
spiral = LogSpirals.create_spiral(scale_factor, growth_factor, steps, z_offset, thickness, rotation, color, alpha)

The first result is ok, but I decided I wanted to have thicker arms to each spiral.

thin spirals: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sF3KD4oTrsLs0IzA4099fzoaGW2zUzZq/view?usp=drive_link

thicker spirals: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MS-RIx5OlmCeZwGkQi9QI3zvcOLmS53K/view?usp=drive_link

I sort of solved this by adding a pushpull to each face of the arm, however, this creates a bunch of overlapping and internal faces that are visible in the finished model.

Is there a way to make the arms thicker without all these internal and overlapping faces?

Thanks for any ideas
j_jones