Im not as good with this plugin as I should be, but it seems you could make this with artisan (subdivide and smooth 2). Solo is an expert with it though-maybe he will offer his advice.

Thanks for pointing that out-didnt notice it the first few times through!

I think he should have labeled it...

Pete, Im working on a masters of landscape architecture degree with a focus area of landscape restoration/reclamation, so all of my experience with phytoremediation comes from a science standpoint aimed at filtering the toxins. Most of the plants used were selected because they were found to be "hyper-accumulators" meaning they can uptake at least 100x the normal toxic amount of a certain toxin (usually metal).

However, you bring up an interesting point because a lot of research is done into how and why these hyper-accumulators are able to absorb so much toxin and still survive. Off of that research, of course, could come the possibility of making weaker plants into hyper-accumulators. The one potential problem I see with it is what I think you were asking at the end of your post-where the plant stores the toxin(s). Some plants store it in their roots, some in the stalks, some in leaves, etc. If it was a crop plant, it would obviously have to store it somewhere out of the crop parts. But in theory, if research could identify why certain plants store the toxins in certain areas, the possibility of breeding that into other plants is there.

I am having trouble remembering specific examples, but I seem to recall that in certain cases the plants have been harvested and the metal has actually been extracted for commercial uses.

Very interesting conversation though-thanks!

Wow! Thats really cool! I love the part in the solar sinter video where it points out his "office"

Thanks for sharing

Sorry I mispoke a bit, but I did just do a little test to recreate what I have done in the past (and make sure I wasnt making things up in my head ). In CAD I mispoke when I was talking about architectural vs. engineering-I should have said it is the insertion scale that you change under format units.

But if you draw a box 10'x10' in CAD, and have the insertion scale set to feet (which often people do if their units are not in the architectural or engineering format) the box will come into SU recognizing the feet as inches, making the box 1/12 the size it should be. I think thats what we all agree on. However, if you simply change the insertion scale in CAD to inches instead of feet, save and reimport into SU, the file will import correctly. Obviously you could use any of the other methods provided in this thread, but this does work as well.

These images were used in the presenation, but the actual presentation was compiled with a common graphic layout, and with some plan drawings and concept sketches and some additional views (like having the model on a 2d section drawing to show how it interacts with the existing building), and the last drawing wasnt used-I was just playing with some stylization in photoshop on that one.

Pete-your system is very similar to a phytoremediation system called rhizofiltration used in landscape remediation (particularly mine reclamation) but more portable. Basically, in areas with contaminated ground water the water is pumped into closed systems where it is the water supply for plants that are "hyper-accumulators" of the toxin(s) in the water. The water is often pumped through multiple rows of plants multiple times like in your system.

Anyways, a little off topic, but your idea reminded me of this.

Thanks guys!

@anssi said:

@jdadesignstudio said:

You can also fix this in CAD-in CAD go to format units, and check what they are. If you put it into architectural, then it should import properly into SU if SU is in the feet mode.

Unfortunately not. The SU importer (and exporter) ignores the unit variables embedded in DWG files. The LayOut exporter understands them partly (it creates correct variables if your units are inches or millimeters). Exports from SU use the current model units, but the unit is not recorded into the file, so when importing them to ACAD, you have to take care.

Anssi

Really? Ive had cad files that were originally created by engineers so they are in engineering units and when I import them into Sketchup they dont match up correctly. Then Ive gone into the CAD file, changed the unit format to architectural, save and re-import into SU and they come in correctly....

Im running an Xi laptop (not sure if anyone has heard of them) and have been very happy with it. Although calling it a laptop is a bit of a quirk as its a big 17" and weighs a ton. It has a 2.83ghz quad core, 8gb ram, and an nvidia geforce 9800m gtx 1gb. It handles all of my models quite well and I have some that are multi-million face models. That being said, I do still use layers to isolate areas that I am currently working on to help performance. Also, if shadows are turned on it slows down considerably.

Thanks for the survey-hope it helps!

No problem-if you have trouble you could shoot me the SU file and I could give it a go too. The best curve I was getting was by using classic bezier curve, making the endpoints pretty close to the intersection (but about equal distance away from the intersection), and then just make one control point at the intersection itself.

You can also fix this in CAD-in CAD go to format units, and check what they are. If you put it into architectural, then it should import properly into SU if SU is in the feet mode.

Dave-Is this what you are looking for? I think I made mine wider in the middle differently than you did, but I just used bezier spline to create smoother transitions and deleted the old pieces...If it helps I dont mind giving you the SU file.

Thanks Speaker, on one of my earlier trials I did use FFD, not quite how you are-I was using it to deform a tapered spiral after it was made (like squishing just the bottom 3rd, etc.).

Thanks Rich, Id used it before for 2D spirals to then base objects off of (for example, I work for a university whose mascot is a ram, so I have done some models with spiral shaped ram horn themes), but for this model I had to use the 3D helix spiral, which is a bit tricky. What I wound up doing is making a very small helix (radius of 2" or less usually) to get the curve geometry how I wanted it, then I scaled the helix up to the proper size for the table, then finally added mass to it (by way of taper maker or follow me).

No problem, thanks for the feedback! I used draw curves (I believe that is the name of it, Ive seen it called draw curves and draw metal), taper maker, bezier spline, and really those were the only plugins, besides follow me. The model is on my computer at my office-tomorrow Ill upload an image with the hidden geometry.

-Jon

EDIT: I also used the round corners plugin

here is the hidden geometry, it also shows the original geometry of the tapered spirals for the legs.

haha yep, big site, big model-it has about 2.5 million faces. the most challenging part was I only had a few rough pics to go off of, and the grading/structure elevations get a bit tricky as it sits in the hill. the villa is set on a forested hill, and I did do one version with 3d trees (placed with component spray) just for fun, but it hid a lot of the model and for the most part sketchup vegetation has never been too great. The version with trees has over 9 million faces...

bump...anyone?

bump...is anyone still interested in this thread?