GDL:the angle of inclination

[Anonymous]

Is it possible to add hotspots that change the angle of inclination, such as beam elements, to a GDL-created shape such as a cylind on a sectional view??

I know this is difficult because there is no reference line, but could this be accomplished by using some sort of 3D shape command?

[Lingwisyer]

Using the standard HOTSPOT command with the flags 4 to 7. If you want your hotspots to move with the vertices, you would just need to incorporate some trigonometry, sin and cosine, into the x & y inputs to bound it to a circle.

Or, given your example, in which the object is just bound to the one axis, you can skip this, since you are not bound to a circle, and just define a hotspot for the z-axis. Use cos(pitch) to calculate your top / bottom hotspot difference. If you wish to have move flexibility than that it could get complicated very fast...

Ling.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply.

With the method you described, if I rotate a simple shape like a beam, for example, will the cross sections at both ends be oblique according to the angle of rotation instead of perpendicular?
I am attaching a diagram.

[Lingwisyer]

To do that I would use the CUTPLANE commands and extend the profile and arbitary amount in both directions to ensure it is vertical.

!Top
CUTPLANE 1, 0, 1, 1

!Bottom
CUTPLANE 1, 0, 1, 0

[julienK]

no,  it will just rotate the shape as is.

One way to achieve this would be to use XFORM

[DGSketcher]

Isn't XFORM reserved for the Grand Master of the Dark Arts? 😉

[DGSketcher]

I use TUBE for all my beams.

@Anonymous You may find Put & Get useful for your beam profiles. See if you can find a copy of GDL Cookbook 3 by David Nicholson-Cole on the 'net. It is old but still relevant for learning GDL.

[julienK]

Just pull up the wikipedia page  for transformation matrix , copy/paste, profit.

[Anonymous]

Thank you.

I have recently started learning the GDL, so I am glad to know about it.

I'll take a look at the book as well.

So, you mean that you use beam profiles with the GDL TUBE command?

[DGSketcher]

It is possible. In my case I am creating my own selectable profiles for specialist objects. If you want to know how to use AC Complex Profiles for your beams then you won't find that in CB3. I don't like AC's Param-O add-on, but what I found useful was placing a complex profile beam in a Param-O object and then looking at the generated GDL code with the GDL manual.