Looking for an extension that can produce an Exploded View of a model.

Anything that you can recommend?

I have a downspout/shower diverter which cannot be installed flush to my fiberglass shower wall; the existing water feed line cannot be repaired/resoldered without damaging the fiberglass.

I have used caulking to fill the gap but it isn't a good solution as it is flimsy, collects mildew, cannot be cleaned, looks bad, and often must be removed and reapplied.

My thought for a solution would be a 3D-spacer that would slide down over the end of the water feed line and against the shower wall. Then apply a thin layer of caulk along the parameter of the 3D spacer which could easily be maintained.

I am wondering if there is a printing material for 3D-printing that might work?
How much might this prototype cost?

I have drawn a prototype to TEST the THICKNESS of a spacer (cannot be too tight as the water feed line is not perpendicular or plumb to the shower wall and I want to avoid putting unnecessary stress on the feed line).

Attached is drawing for the ProType (SU2013 format) and that might be useful.

The last two scenes show "locking tap" which might help keep the spacer aligned but wouldn't be necessary for a prototype.

Also attached is a drawing showing how a spacer would be positioned onto the water feed line.

_ _ Spacer, Prototype FOR 3D Printing.skp

_ _ Spacer, ProtoType (How ProtoType spacer will be used) v1.skp

1/14/2023

Did the trim request mentioned above ever get resolved? If so, where in the UI?

I noticed in the Tag Panel (SU2012) that a "Layer 0_skin" had been created.
When does that get generated and what purpose does it serve?

Is this being supported at all?
There seems to be a bug in the Door parameters.
A header height and door height of 80" yields an opening of 80.5". Similarly, an input of 79" yields 79.5". Using different size headers still cause the +1/2" error.

New with this extension. Just tried entering inew parameters. So far I have only be able to enter decimal inches which is a pain! Sure hope there is syntax for entering some like 5'-10 3/16".

Thank ,you TiG that worked!

Any chance of incorporating the code into GlobalMaterialChange2.rbz ?

And/or a separate Plugin for displaying an option (such as "GroupCopy UnInstanting") in the Context Menu that would appear if objects are selected?
It come in handy for other issues that might happen with copied groups.

P.S.
Your previous post regarding editing a group, gave me an idea of how to make it easier to manually open multiple occurrences of groups containing materials.

I gave all groups containing materials an Instant Name that included the text "....(with material)". Then, by opening the Outliner, and searching for "(with material)" and double-clicking on each find to open and close the group. It was a fairy quick process compared to opening each group in the modeling window.

If a group's instant is properly named then all is good, BUT it takes discipline when creating groups in the first place.

So why do you think this characteristic of copied groups was implemented by SU in the 1st place? What is the benefit for modeling process? This behavior feels more like a bug rather than a benefit.

Is there anything that can be done in ruby to simulate the process opening and editing groups so that the copies are “unique” … circumventing the manual process?

November 20,2022
It has been a while since the last posting and SU2022 is the current version.

Any reason this should not work or is there anything in the current ruby version that could improve the performance of the plugin?

I have found that it does not seem to work properly if the selection of objects contains copies of groups or components. This behavior occurred in tests with both SU2017 and SU2022.

Please see the attached example which I used for testing.

test (Su 2017).skp

Thank you.

Hi TIG:
Would there be a chance of upgrading TIG-Weld?

1- When welding, if there are two of more adjacent segments that are colinear/coplanar then have them changed into a single, straight segment. This would help in: the general cleanup of unnecessary geometry, lowering file size, and eliminating undesired snapping points.

I suppose there should be user-defined setting available for this option that would continue to be active unless the user decides later on to turn the option off.

2- Could it also appear in the Selection Context menu?

Thanks for your consideration,
John