[Plugin] Shape Bender Beta v0.51 UPDATED April 11, 2009

[Chris Fullmer]

Name: Shape Bender
Version: 0.2 Beta - Special release to Sketchucation only.
Description: This script will bend an existing group to match a curved line or series of connected lines.
Usage: Create a shape to bend. It must be a group or a component. Then select a single horizontal (red axis) line to use as the base for bending. Then select the curve that the shape will bend to match. Wait for it to think, then it will show a grid and preview of where your object is going to transform to. Press the UP Arrow key to toggle the orientation of the bend.
Requires: Progressbar.rb
SketchUp Compatibility: Its not compatible with version 5 or earlier.
History:
0.1 Beta: 2009-04-08

• Original release. I'm expecting plenty of bugs and feedback.

0.2 Beta: 2009-04-09

• Now will bend components (and still bends groups).
• Works when the shape to bend is comprised of components and groups by exploding all the groups and components inside.
• Does not explode the shape at any point (thats very good!)
• Works with scaled and/or rotated components
• Added line and arc highlighting to indicate when you move the mouse over an acceptable selection for the line or the arc
• Fixed a bug where selecting a closed loop would hang the plugin. Now it gives an error.

0.25 Beta:: 2009-04-10

• Hit the down arrow key to change the start/end positions of the line. The line needs to have its start point "to the left" of the endpoint... If you notice weird behavior in how the shape is lining up to be bent, try hitting the down arrow key.
• Up arrow key AND Home hey toggle the curve. Downd arrow key AND End toggle the line now for added compatibility (for BTM

0.3 Beta: 2009-04-10

• Added a check to disable the up and down keys until the correct selections have been made.
• Added more checks to make sure that the line and curve being selected are acceptable selections. Pops up messageboxes letting you know if your selection was invalid.
• Now it leaves a component where the original group/component was located. It remains mostly untouched, but it might get a name change.

0.5 Beta:: 2009-04-11

• Added a toolbar and icon
• Added new mouse pointers that sort of hint at what you should be trying to click on next
• Fixed the bug where the bent shape would not appear smoothed until you double clicked on it. Should look good now immediately after bending.
• Added extensions support so this plugin can be turned off through the extensions manager.
• Added Progressbar.rb support. It is now required. Get it at smustard.com

0.51 Beta:: 2009-04-11

• Made the icon transparent
• Fixed a Mac toolbar visibility state remembering problem

The video is a little bit outdated. I need to remake it with the new features.


A new video Dec-03-2009


Here is a list of known bugs and planned improvements:

• The first and last angles of the bend curve are actually not accurate. Its not very noticeable, but it is inaccurate.
  
• It does not support components yet, groups only! - FIXED
  
• If you have scaled or rotated the group at all, you will need to explode it and regroup (or enter edit mode and group it all, then exit edit mode and explode the outer shell) before starting the script. - FIXED
  
• It explodes the bent shape instead of keeping it all grouped (its trickier to work around than it might seem!) - FIXED
• Every once in a while the grids don't display.
• Every once in a while I notice small deviations in the bending that are incorrect.
  
• I'd like to make the line and curve selections highlight when you move the mouse cursor over them, indicating that are acceptable selections if you click them. - FIXED
• Better curve selection flexibility - like select a curve in place, instead of having to copy it out free of connected geometry.
• I'm sure there's more things that I want to fix, but that's all I can think of right now. But I'm taking suggstions!

Thanks for checking it out, this is by far my most ambitious script yet. And if you're interested in this script, check back for updates regularly. There's a good chance I'll be changing things as the suggestions/comments roll in.

NEW! Shape bender is now available in French, thanks to c.plaissais (Christophe). Download it HERE!

Chris

[notareal]

I'll certainly will keep eye on this.

[Chris Fullmer]

Here is the 2nd video, showing how to do a double bend. I didn't really explain it very well, so hopefully it makes sense what I did. It seems logical to me, but I've been playing with the thing for a while now.



Chris

[Daniel S]

Chris:
I attach my first .skp test using shape bender.
Thank you!!!

Daniel S

[David_H]

20090408134624_9s.jpg

[Ben Ritter]

Chris, I can hardly keep up with your wonderful scripts. Most importantly though, you are very much appreciated for your kindness to the SU community.

[Ben Ritter]

Just have to thank you again.

Unbelievable!

[jmmad]

Thxs Chris
Really usefull plugin.
you are getting really good at programing.

[Pilou]

Well well well

[xrok1]

excellent thankyou.

i guess i will make the first suggestion. when i hit the up arrow i think maybe just the path should reverse but the object should stay with the same offset on the same side of the curve. the way it is now the path is reversed but also the object switches from one side of the curve to the other. it makes it confusing it i want to reverse the path the way it is now, i think i would have to first move the object to the opposite side of the straight line then run the script??

[TIG]

Very, very good - well done.

After you bend the group's contents couldn't you re-group all of the bits and give this new group the same name/description/material/layer etc as the original ? That way it'd look like you "just moved and bent the original group"...

It's also quite easy to run it on a component-instance - simply make a group of the instance [ groupp=model.active_entities-add_group(instance) ], later you'll explode it, you might also want to mine through the group's entities for any other groups or instances and explode them back to basics. Now you'll have a group of the geometry just as you do with your 'group-only' version... After bending etc you can re-group bits as outlined above - you could even make that group back into a new component instance (ins=group.to_component) and give it the same defname(made- unique >>#2)/name/description/materials/layer etc as the original instance, so then it looks like you simply bent the instance and made it unique. See my ComponentInstance-add_entities.rb for some ideas on how easy it is to do that...

You've done the difficult geometry/transformation stuff etc - it just needs a little tidying up so that it appears to do its stuff effortlessly in a twinkling of an eye, as if by magic...

Well done...

[xrok1]

1 more thing chris i was wondering if you couldn't group the line before exploding the group to be bent, then you could avoid the sticking while allowing the object to be placed directly in contact with the straight guide.
also i noticed that construction lines don't stick to geometry so maybe you could convert it to constuction lines as another option.

[Fredo6]

Chris,

I am really impressed by what you achieved. This is a master transformation

I played a little bit with it, and I think you got the essentials. The rest is just about adjustments in UI and options. And indeed to extend it to embedded components.

Well done!

Fredo

[utiler]

Ditto from all said above, Chris!!!! This is fantasitc!!!

[Phil Rader, AIA]

Supercalafragelisticexpialadocious

That's one cool plugin...you are making a legacy for you children to follow.

Maybe you should change your last name to "SU"llmer...hehe.