topic Re: Looking for a "field" object in Libraries & objects

Looking for a "field" object

Mats_Knutsson — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:03:06 GMT

...draw a fill on your terrain, select it and convert it to a thin slablike object that follows the ground. Useful for fields, roads, paths, areas, graphics etc.

It there an object/API already out there hiding in the murky dungeons?

Mats

Re: Looking for a "field" object

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:08:32 GMT

Couldn't you use ArchiTerra's "fill" function?

Mats_Knutsson wrote:
...draw a fill on your terrain, select it and convert it to a thin slablike object that follows the ground. Useful for fields, roads, paths, areas, graphics etc.

It there an object/API already out there hiding in the murky dungeons?

Mats

Re: Looking for a "field" object

Mats_Knutsson — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:30:43 GMT

TurboGlider wrote:
Couldn't you use ArchiTerra's "fill" function?

Kind of, but the idea is to have an AC object! I'm aware of the Architerras fill-paint option.
m

Re: Looking for a "field" object

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:18:33 GMT

Is what you want anything like Link describes in THIS TIP? It's a technique rather than an object.

Re: Looking for a "field" object

Mats_Knutsson — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:49:47 GMT

s2art wrote:
Is what you want anything like Link describes in THIS TIP? It's a technique rather than an object.

Thanks Stuart!
I'm aware of that technique and I'm using it from time to time. I also know the trick to have you textures in a psd file so that you can have different alternative as layers and toggle them on/off.
What I want is really exactly what i write. A thin gravitational mesh draping elegantly over the terrain...l
Something for turboglider to invent maybe!?
Mats

Re: Looking for a "field" object

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:08:21 GMT

Mats,
You said:
"What I want is really exactly what i write. A thin gravitational mesh draping elegantly over the terrain...l "

If what you want is a mesh that follows the contours of your terrain mesh,
can't you elevate a copy of your terrain mesh, change it to a surface only
mesh, change it attributes, edit it's edges to the shape of a road, field,
what ever, and, if you must, save it as a library part ?
Peter Devlin

Re: Looking for a "field" object

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 05:41:31 GMT

How do you want to use it?
If you want to draw a fill on your mesh and then convert it to an object, the easiest way for this must be to contact Cigraph and ask them for some features in next version of ArchiTerra.
The only way to do something like this is the API way because one object can't analyse another object.

What do you want to do with this object after creation? Would you have ability to change in manually or should it be a static object? Do you want to get som data from it?

Re: Looking for a "field" object

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:57:26 GMT

Mats,
I thought of another way to get your object.
The "Mesh to Roof" add-on/extra is the only API
I know of that is not only an "edge detector" but
also a surface detector.
If you use the "Mesh to Roof" add-on/extra with
the roof tool set to zero thickness to make
an array of roofs that follow the terrain surface.
Drag the roofs a known distance outside the terrain.
Then make a polyline tracing of the area you want,
drag the tracing a know distance out side of the roofs,
and then select the marque tool
and space-click inside the closed polyline
you then have the a marque following the tracing.
Drag the marque back onto the roofs.
Go to the 3D window, top view, and
save 3D window as GDL object.
You may have to open the object and add a few hotspots.
Peter Devlin

edit:
Don't try this in AC 10.
As we both know, the autoscript mechanism
is busted in AC 10. Use AC 9.