A plugin with real 3D polyline?

[Anonymous]

Does anybody know of an AC plugin which works with really usable 3D polylines? I've tried ArchiForma and found out that its 3D polyline is very crude - when drawing arc segments you can only use one drawing method, which is not the best of them, and you cannot use Magic Wand to redraw a polyline from AC.
I want to model a simple curtain in 3D - two polylines and a Ruled surface - it turned out to be extremely difficult.
So I did it in AutoCAD.
I wonder when will AC have these simple functions AutoCAD has since release12 (year 1996 if I remember right) ???

[Anonymous]

Did you try RULED?

Draw your first polyline (a), starting from the origin of the project x=0,y=0 (the grey cross)
then drag and drop it into the 2D script of a new library part. You will get a SPLINE2A.
Miracle, ring the bells, in less than one second your 2D symbol is ready.

Draw your second polyline (b), then drag and drop it into the 2D script
Make sure to have the same number of nodes.

Then copy paste the 2D script into the 3D script.
For the polyline (a) keep only the two first parameters (xa, ya location) and type 1 for the third.
For the polyline (b) keep only the two first parameters (xb, yb location) and type a zb value for the height.

into the 3D script
Replace SPLINE2A 8, 2, (for eg 8 is the number of points of the polyline)
by
RULED 8, 16+32,
xa1, ya1, 1,
xa2, ya2, 1,

xa8, ya8, 1,

xb1, yb1, zb1,
xb2, yb2, zb2,

xb8, yb8, zb8

Delete in the 2D script the second polyline (b), that's all.

[Anonymous]

kliment wrote

I wonder when will AC have these simple functions AutoCAD has since release12

You said Auto what? Plesae keep polite.

Mike, you are right, this is the faster way.
But i think that with walls the result is a little bit "static",
because the two polylines are the same.

Kliment example showed two different polylines.

With some GDL, it is not difficult to get a more "realistic" effect.
For the second polyline, take the first one and just modify some
node positions.
At the end you can play with zb1, zb2, (and so on) height, to get
even more realistic effects.

[Djordje]

kliment wrote:
Does anybody know of an AC plugin which works with really usable 3D polylines?

ArchiForma 3D polylines are very usable; maybe GDL Toolbox is still alive?

I have a feeling that you are trying to literally translate your experiences of one software to another, instead of trying to understand. Never a good method.

It's not what you do, it's the way that you do it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Olivier!
I'll save this as a tutorial. Drag and drop is great, I didn't know I could use it this way.

Olivier wrote:
Make sure to have the same number of nodes.

But you see - this is what I don't like in it, and it's the same in ArchiForma. This is not a real Ruled surface for me. Have a look at the picture. (Still AutoCAd, sorry )

Djordje wrote:
I have a feeling that you are trying to literally translate your experiences of one software to another, instead of trying to understand. Never a good method.

AC is my primary CAD application since version 4.5, I use AutoCAD only when I have to do things that are difficult or impossible to do in AC (alas, there are still such things ). I think translating experience from other software is a good, not a bad thing - it broadens your horizon and enables you to see some shortcomings which otherwise you would not see. You never know it existed until you've tried it.

[Anonymous]

Hi Kliment,

For drag and drop, it works on Mac, i assume it is the same on PC.
It works better when the two windows are beside, not one recovering the other.

For me the easy way to get the second polyline, is to take the first one, and move in XY the position of some nodes.
This way you are sure to keep the same number of nodes.

On 8.1 you can replace RULED with RULED{2}, for a better control of vector directions. Take a look at the GDL reference guide.
(electronic documentation only)

You will see that RULED command allows you that several nodes of the same polyline are on the same position.
I think it can solve your problem.
Djordje said, "try to think lateraly", i fully agree.

[Oleg]

kliment wrote:
(Still AutoCAd, sorry )

It is GDL and it is parametric

[Steve Jepson]

Wow Oleg!

[Anonymous]

Great job, Oleg!
I think I have to shut up

[Rob]

my only comment would be (may be irrelevant here) that RULED commands do not produce solids but facelets only, thus they do not work with SEO and keep disappearing in 3D when the marquee tool intersects them (aka stairmaker's lost landings - as we all know them...)