Not a matrix person, but my 2 cents... From Indigo's exporter in the Blender wiki (look for "Process Camera", it looks like:

up = matrix[1]
forwards = matrix[2]
pos = matrix[3]

So, up should be the second row, forwards the third and pos the fourth.

Good luck

Juan

Thanks.

I forgot to mention, I put a better version of it in the Scripting forum (Plugin - Surface Plotter). Among other things it fills in the surfaces bounded by the lines. I am also working on a plugin that can do parametric surfaces (like spheres, spirals, etc.)

I haven't seen the tutorial, but I can venture a solution.

1. Use the drawhelix13 plugin (http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/drawhelix13.rb) to draw a single helix. It has a menu.
2. Explode the group that the plugin built
3. Draw a shape to represent the profile of your slide surface at the tip of the curve
4. Select the helix curve, use the Follow-me tool ( ), and click in the profile.

Hope it helps!

Sample curved slide

I use Kerkythea, which happens to have a nice exporter (SU2KT). You can install the exporter (without needing Kerkythea) and then look at the code. Basically, it looks at all entities in your Sketchup model and exports them as an XML file.

One challenge I see is that Sketchup entities are edges and faces. I would assume that you need volumes to perform the FE analysis.

Once you are done with your analysis, to put elements back into SU, you might be able to use something like the Cloud V6 plugin, which represents data as x,y,z points.

There is also an STL format but I am less familiar with it.

Juan

@radorn said:

I don't mind using convoluted procedures

OK, since you insist

Actually, there is a great free program called Vivaty Studio. The company has gone thru several re-brandings over the last few years (Flux, MediaMachines). I think they are targeting the social networking community (almost like Second Life). But anyhow...

The tool is very good at parsing VRML and it's successor (X3D). It can read and export to many formats, some supported by SU.

Juan

A few days ago, another poster asked a question of how to model an organic material. It seemed to follow a mathematical equation.

I modified a plugin from Jim Foltz (eq_grapher.rb) to plot curves in 3 dimensions, and later expanded it to create surfaces with the right normals. This is an example generated by the new script:

I prepared this as an exercise to become familiar with Ruby and Sketchup's API (and for fun), so I haven't thought much about what others might want to see here. So comments are welcomed.

To try it:

1. Install script
   Initial version
2. Menu is: Plugins -> Plot surface
3. Enter an equation (say "x.abs + 3*x") in Ruby's format.
4. The script will then iterate for values of x between -10 and 10 and y between -10 and 10 and compute a value for z.
5. If the value for z is greater than 100 or less than 100 it will be ignored
6. A surface composed by triangles between those points will be generated around (0,0,0)
7. All entities (lines and faces) will be inside a group (called "surface")

Also, this is my first attempt at writing a plugin, so let me know if I broke any common practice regarding posting of scripts in this forum.

Enjoy,

Juan

I have a couple of dynamic components in a model (doors, windows and cabinets). I also tend to use scenes quite often -- especially for selecting spots to render, as I make changes to the model.

My questions: is it possible to have a scene remember the state of the DC (e.g., a door being opened or closed)? If not, is there an easy way to "hack" it (e.g., a script that first changes to a given scene and then closes all exterior doors). I am not familiar with the Ruby API to DC (if any), but willing to learn if needed.

Juan

@guzman tierno said:

I dont know how to draw a graph in SU.

This might not be exactly what you are looking for, but Jim Foltz wrote a plugin that allows you to generate 2-D graphs in SU. It is called "eq_grapher.rb", and you can get it from the Ruby Library Depot (http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/em_edi_page.htm). The script iterates in x only, but it can be extended to sweep both x and y coordinates or even a parametric variable (look at method self.graph), thus accomplishing what you want.

I took the liberty to modify the script to do this in 3D in case you guys are curious. And here is a sample output.

The script can certainly be improved, but then this might be a subject for the scripting forum

Juan

Ruby Script to produce a crude 3D plot.

@tig said:

Also look for the Proximity ruby ...

From what I saw of MatrixProximity (http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/MatrixProximityGuide.pdf), you provide a set of components (say, "tree+", "tree~" and "tree-") which range in level of detail, then the script places them according to distance from the scene.

Do you know of any method or script that would assist you in making those components? In other words how to simplify (or remove details from) a component? Say you have a highly detailed Dorian column, and one setting would return a cylinder, while a stronger setting would return a cube (similar to a bounding box).

Thanks

@chris fullmer said:

Make a component simple version of the component and a complex one. Combine them into one single component. Then put them on separate layers. so you can turn on or off the detail layer as desired.

Thanks Chris, just like kilgo, I was looking for a way to do this.