Here is a sample of the tankers I need to model. So the "building" or tank with height will be provided, but I have to add the detail (stairs). And as you can see in the picture, the stairs "snap" to the side of the tank and do not overlap.

I can't do that. I work with real data, building features collected from stereo imagery, so I don't have the luxury of making buildings with "fake" values. I have to use the data that is provided, hence the curve to wall issue.

Here is the model if you are interested

OilTanker.skp

Yes I just did it too....but the issue is, which is my question, how to wrap it to a wall. If you just make it free like in the video the stairs won't be connected to a wall. This is based on the fact that SU makes curves as polygons, not arcs. So when you have a major node change from one line segment to another, the angle will change dramatically, which will differ from the angle set in the "play it again.." Any thoughts on that?

I've watched it 10+ times...

I looked at that, but it won't work. When I "play it again" it won't copy

Hello All,

I would like to bend my stairs, which are a group, to fit to my curved wall. I have tried Shape Bender, but its not working. I have attached a screen shot of my model.

Any help would be great.

Thanks....

Thank you Phillip, I will give that a try.

Cheers,
Ryan

Thanks TIG, this sounds great, I will give it a try.

Hi All,

I am looking to build a building that allows a user to scale the building, specifically in the Z axis, which will move the roof component to the top of the copied floor components. I have the floor as a component, with the roof as a child component within the floor. I am getting close, but the roof floats above the floors when I scale the floor to add floors. I feel it is something really easy, assuming with the position Z, but I can't seem to figure it out.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks....

Thanks Dave. I would assume that there would be a plugin, but I haven't been able to find something like this. If this were to be developed from scratch, what would be your best guess of time and effort?

Thanks Dave and TechDave. These are all great options. I have been looking at the dynamic component option, but when I make a road segment (with the lines, medians, etc) and then use shape bender it loses its "dynamic" characteristics. It has gotten to the point where I will have to stick with the crappy model I have. But I will be looking at making this better. Thanks for all the help and plugins.
Ryan

Hello All,

I am having an issue with a interstate connector model I am creating. I have two interstates, Interstate - A going North/South, and Interstate - B going East/West. Interstate - B goes over/above Interstate - A. I need to create the on/off ramps that will connect the two interstates. The ramps will have a curve and will have elevation changes between the two interstates. I was hoping I could have my two interstates as components, and then generate the on/off ramps that would be connected to each interstate. I am hoping that when I elevate Interstate - B in the Z plane the on/off ramps would change with the elevation change (twist/warp). Is this something that is possible? If some, how would I go about doing this? Is it a Dynamic Component option?

Thanks...

Dave would it be ok if I shared the model with you? To be honest, I am not following what you are recommending. I can't get my head around it in my situation. I have a Dropbox and Google Drive account that I could post it on.

They would be the edge lines and a number of center lines, as some parts are three lane highways. I may have a way to do it, I will need to try it out. This is where a straight buffer of lines would be great, even if it had to be extruded 1mm to eliminate the Z buffer fighting.

Dave thank you, and this looks awesome. So let me ask you this. My highways and ramps are as components (a series of faces) not a terrain. Will this matter?

Dave it would be great if you could help. A texture makes sense for the line, I thought you referring to a texture with the asphalt and lines in as one texture.

Thank you for your suggestions. Dave I will have to play with your option, I can't "picture" it in my head right now. A texture won't work, as there are lanes merging into each other, and the lane widths change. If it were that easy, I would have done that in the beginning.

Thanks Dave. I will have to play with Offset to see what it can do in my situation. Attached are two graphics.

The tool is really cool, but I don't think it will work, as my roads have elevation and slopes. They are not a flat 2D surface.