Is there a tool / object for making a mesh with a specified thickness?

[gedzior84]

Hello.

As in the topic, I wanted to ask you guys if there exists any tool that would allow me to create a mesh with a specified thickness, or layers?
For example, I have a terrain to model, but the ground has layers: 3cm of grass, 10cm of ground and some other layers. The terrain is not flat - it has some holes and bumps. Is it possible to create this with one tool/object, not using layered slabs, roofs and shell?

[Anonymous]

Not a tool as such but you could do all the modelling with the mesh tool to get top surface and then use the mesh to roof add-on to create roofs which can then be turned to composites with your required structure (eg 40mm turf, 150mm sandy loam, 50mm irrigation, soil). The roofs are not linked to the mesh, so they do not updated if you update the mesh but is is pretty simple to just run the mesh to roof tool again

Regards
Scott

[gedzior84]

Oh, I didn't know about the existence of this add-on. Thank you, I will surely try it.
Does anyone know other solutions?

[Piotr]

I made similar shape with shell tool in my project some time ago.

[Anonymous]

gedzior84 wrote:
For example, I have a terrain to model, but the ground has layers: 3cm of grass, 10cm of ground and some other layers. The terrain is not flat - it has some holes and bumps. Is it possible to create this with one tool/object, not using layered slabs, roofs and shell?

Try this object I've recently created.
It can add 6 skins from a Mesh saved as an object. If you need more tell me.
The skins are not really composites, as they are just offset of the original mesh object. But the result is pretty acceptable IMO.

[gedzior84]

Oh wow, that seems to work pretty good!
It's amazing how many things can be made with your object!

Thank you very much - it's a lifesaver

[Anonymous]

I am glad it helped. Enjoy it!
BTW: As a tip, regarding irregular mesh shapes, I suggest you to place a 2d hotspot on a mesh node and save it with the mesh too. This way you can precisely place the object on top of your original mesh.
Cheers,

[vistasp]

Holy Moly! That looks fantastic, Paulo.

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

You are very welcome Vistasp!
Let me know if you find any glitch on the code.
If it gets stable I will put it on BIM Components.
Cheers,

[Anonymous]

I also added the option to show the original 3d Mesh.
To avoid one more SEO on the project file.

[vistasp]

I wouldn't call them bugs, but there are a few quirks with easy workarounds:

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Mesh type needs to be solid. Using "with skirt" or "surface only" doesn't give the desired results.

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If there is no top surface override for the original mesh, the final composite ignores the surface setting and displays the material properties instead. That's because the parameter (materialAttribute_1) isn't created when you save the mesh as an object.

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The same is the case for the bottom surface.

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However, if you override the sides of the mesh, the final composite will display that override on the sides (in 3D), no matter what settings you use.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: This is for version-1

[Anonymous]

Mesh type needs to be solid. Using "with skirt" or "surface only" doesn't give the desired results.

I will put a note for this in the instructions.
The intended behavior was that if there is no top surface override (Mesh Model Setting) then it will assume the BM surface. Also I don't see any need to override the Side/Bottom surface of the original Mesh as they usually are related to the BMSurface. Do you think it is needed?

I will also describe the workflow on the 2d text empty object:
1. Create the desired Mesh shape with solid construction method and correspondent Building Material;
2. Override the top Surface (on the Mesh Dialog Setting/Model) to the Surface of the first skin;
3. Set the 2d view settings to "Cover Fill" and "Use Fill from Surface";
4. Set the Fill origin as needed;
5. Place a hotspot on a Mesh node to better place the Object in 2d view;
6. Select both the Mesh and the hotspot and save it as an Object inside the Library (External or Embedded);
7. Reload and Apply the Library every time you save or resave the original Mesh.

What do you think?

[vistasp]

Braza wrote:
Also I don't see any need to override the Side/Bottom surface of the original Mesh as they usually are related to the BMSurface. Do you think it is needed?

I can't think of a use for it. Yet. 😉

You never know, though, what someone might use the object for, and the functionality is already built-in, so all good.

BTW, the option for showing the original mesh in Version.2 makes it even more fantastic!

[Anonymous]

vistasp wrote:
I can't think of a use for it. Yet. 😉
You never know, though, what someone might use the object for, and the functionality is already built-in, so all good.

Thanks for the feedback vistasp.
I did some changes to better control custom surfaces, increased the number of skins to 10 (Just in case ), and improved the 2d instructions.
Cheers,

[rjwilden]

I notice that SEO subtract with upward extrusion does not seem to work. OK with the other options.
Thanks for the object

[Laszlo Nagy]

Braza,

Great and useful object.
Would it be possible to script 3D hotspots to useful points of the generated object, like nodes of the top surface? This could be useful when trying to position it vertically.

[rjwilden]

Sorry SEO upwards extrusion works just fine, my test slab wasn't thick enough?

[Anonymous]

This is a great addition and pretty straightforward to use. One suggestion for improvement could be that the hotspots added to the object are placed on the top of the mesh in 3D, this would help greatly in properly aligning the element in 3D.

[lopezfigueroa]

I took the audacity to translate the entire object into Spanish.

I hope that soon we can have this type of improvement in the mesh tool. They are necessary for earthmoving and terrain shaping tasks. Besides the fact that the mesh tool is very old, it would not hurt if they incorporated the visualization of contour lines as well.

Great job Braza
Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everybody for the feedback!

I did some tweaks to address some of your points. The updated version is attached.

@ LaszloNagy
Unfortunately it is not possible to have the original mesh hotspots on the object. I tried to solve this creating a parameter where the user insert the original mesh skirt height. But this approach could create some inconsistency for some unusual mesh node heights. So I decided to eliminate the skirt height parameter and use the base of the mesh as the reference level to match the object with the original mesh. What do you think?


@ lopezfigueroa
No audacity at all lopezfigueroa!
Feel free to edit as you wish.
Just make sure to make it available to the community.