Saving a custom profile metal fence profile as a railing panel

[mthd]

Hi all, I am wondering how I can save a custom metal fence panel created with the complex profile extruder into the library. I want to be able to access this custom panel from the railing UI to add it into my railing design. Is it actually possible without using any GDL scripting ?

[Lingwisyer]

The panel will follow those rules, but it will not trim the last panel to fit, unless there was a minor update to it in 27... So if your length does not match your panel width, you either end up with a gap or a panel overshooting the post.

[mthd]

Yes that’s exactly what happens. I turned a post (Column) into a CP of TL5 metal sheet and overlapped 3/760 wide sheets to get a 2360mm wide panel. I left the railing panel off with zero defaults and placed the CPC into the gaps. It almost worked but for some strange reason my railing was sloping slightly near the end. I couldn’t figure out why ? I keep asking why why why ???

[Lingwisyer]

Sloping near the end?

[mthd]

It appears to be sloping slightly over the span of about 18m or so. I will have a closer look tomorrow to try figure out why that is the case ?

[Lingwisyer · Accepted solution]

If it was me, I probably snapped to a slab at one end...

[mthd]

Thanks @Lingwisyer, I do have a driveway slab that might be affecting the railing. I will see if that fixes the problem ?

[mthd]

Still trying to figure out how I can get my complex profile TL5 metal sheet panels to follow the slope of an associative railing. Can I edit the complex profile panel in the settings to work with railings and objects, will that make a difference ? I tried a few things but I cannot get it to play nice. I even opened the library part editor and had a look at its settings and changed some, all to no avail.

looking for a way to do it without GDL scripting if at all possible ? The built in panels follow the slope and it looks like I have to save sloped panels in order to make it work. I can get the top of the panel to slope but the bottom needs a SEO to cut the bottom. Can I save this panel to the object library and will it work ?

[Barry Kelly]

As I think it was mentioned before (without re-reading all the old posts), a custom railing panel will not resize or rake.

If you know the exact size and angle, you could edit the shape of the panel before you save it as a custom panel (i.e. convert it to a morph and re-shape it).

But the railing must have a fixed post spacing and rake.

Another thing you could try is to just use the standard built in panel but apply a surface material that has a hatch and texture image that looks like the profiled sheet.

It won't be actually profiled in 3D, but it will appear as a profile.

Barry.

[mthd]

I was able to go along with your first method but I didn’t need to convert it to a morph. I was able to slope the bottom because it is a CP column.

I will try method 2 as well because in the conceptual stage it’s not that critical unless you are doing a 3D fine tuned render.

Thank you for your reply.

[Lingwisyer]

If you are doing renders, you could use Displacement Maps to create the ridges, if you are too close for Bump Maps to be convincing enough.