• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

    • Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.
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    By following these guidelines we make sure that the forums remain easy to read for everybody and also that the right people can find your post to answer it.

Ruby Tuesday [2011-07-19]

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GaryGB

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Ruby Tuesday: 19 July 2011

Ruby Tuesday: #2

Many excellent Ruby plug-ins for Sketchup are initially developed and hosted via Sketchucation Forum.

NOTE: At Sketchucation their Ruby plug-in demo videos etc. are viewable (and the most current version of script files themselves are accessible for download) after free 'non-spamming' registration / membership (and login) there.



Today I'm posting links to 2 very helpful plug-ins by Thomas Thomassen (aka "thomthom"):



Material Replacer

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=26013&hilit=material replacer

This may be particularly beneficial to the "tinkering" process when testing various textures for models to see how they'd look compared to one another, and also to see how such textures might look after they have been altered by a ex: photoreal rendering engine.


BTW: A quick video demo of thomthom's Material Replacer... easily swapping texture materials once a model is first UVW "mapped": :wizard:

http://sketchuptraining.blogspot.com/2011/01/apps-for-sketchup-steve-jobs-is-not.html




FYI: 'Power Users' may wish to look at thomthom's "UVTools" for other advanced < GroovyUV ? > texturing possibilities ex:

[Tutorial] Creating textured organic shapes with UV Toolkit²

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=35620

[EDITED]
...and:


[Tutorial > Texturing] Creating an arch material - #1 (SU 7+)

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=21847


[Tutorial > Texturing] Texturing an arch - #2

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=300361#p300361

BTW: (Part 2 immediately above is especially helpful with texturing arches and curved pipes / ducts etc.)

[END_EDIT]

The other Ruby Plug-in by thomthom that may prove very helpful to optimizing models prior to import to FS via ModelConverterX is:


Cleanup

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=22920


NOTE: Some authors (like thomthom) use a ex: "library" sub-folder located in the [Sketchup install path]\Plugins sub-folder along with either a "launcher" for a plug-in Tool, or the actual Ruby tool script itself.


In the case of thomthom's "Cleanup", it also requires installation of his "TT_Lib2" for the main Tool to work:

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=30503



CAVEAT: As always, one should test such 3rd party Sketchup "plug-in Tools" and their various options ONLY with a saved-out COPY of one's Sketchup project... so one has at least 1 safely stored backup of the original. :alert:



TIP: One can compare model complexity before and after using this "Cleanup" Tool via Sketchup Model Info Statistics: ;)

1.) In Sketchup, triple-click to select one's entire "visible" model

2.) Navigate Sketchup Menu > Window > Model Info (Model Info dialog opens)

3.) In Model Info dialog left pane, click "Statistics"

4.) In Model Info dialog, Select "Entire Model"

5.) In Model Info dialog, 'check' "Show Nested Components"


NOTE: DO NOT < yet ? > click either of the "Purge Unused" or "Fix Problems" buttons in the Model Info dialog


After running the "Cleanup" Tool, one should inspect the model for any missing content that one might need to fix manually.


FYI: IIUC, this Ruby plug-in incidentally deletes faces inside a "closed solid" model object to reduce the vertex and poly counts etc..

So, if using transparent windows and textured 'inside' faces (ex: in a 'control tower' object), be sure all is as desired in one's model geometry and texturing... prior to export to FS via ModelConverterX. :teacher:


PS: Be sure to reward thomthom with a "cookie" for his efforts at Sketchucation Forum. :p



Oh, and please post about other Ruby 'gems' here at FSDeveloper Sketchup Forum too ! :wave:


Hope this helps ! :)

GaryGB
 
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Ruby Tuesday: 23 July 2011

OK, I just can't wait for this coming "Ruby" Tuesday to follow-up with this one which works so well in conjuction with "Replace Materials" above! :p

Another must-have for easier work in Sketchup with Textures / Materials; after applying a texture to a face, one can use:


[Plugin]TextureTools v1.5 20110520 by "TIG"

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=329765#p329765


TextureRotate:

"Select ONE face that has a front material with a texture.
Note that a selection containing more that one thing is ignored.

Activate the Tool:-
A dialog appears showing the initial default rotation of 90.0 degrees.
Enter any +/-ve angle and the texture on the selected face rotates about the first vertex of that face by that given angle.

The last entered angle is remembered during that session."


TextureAdjust:

"Select ONE face that has a front material with a texture.
Note that a selection containing more that one thing is ignored.

Activate the Tool:-
A dialog appears showing the initial default adjust angle of 1.0.

Enter the adjust angle value required - e.g. 15.0

The last entered adjust angle is remembered during that session.

Now use the arrow-keys to adjust the texture by the current angle - the U/X +/- is right/left arrows.

A +ve arrow applies the angle CCW.

A -ve arrow applies the angle CW [i.e. as if it's -ve].

Thus entering 0.5 and pressing the right-arrow repeatedly will rotate the texture by increments of 0.5 degrees: useful for fine adjustments.

Thus you can reverse the rotation by using the other arrow...

The texture on the selected face rotates the given angle, or 10x if the Shift key is being held down.

The rotation is anchored on the face's first vertex.

To open the dialog to reset the Tool's Adjust Angle value press <Esc>.

Choose another Tool to end TextureAdjust."

TextureShunt:

"Select ONE face that has a front material with a texture.
Note that a selection containing more that one thing is ignored.

Activate the Tool:-
A dialog appears showing the initial default shunt factors of U=1 & V=1
in 'units' - i.e. whatever the SKP's units are, e.g. 1cm

Enter any shunt values required [with or without units suffix] and the texture on the selected face shunts across the face by the given factors in the UV directions.

The last entered shunt factors are remembered during that session."


TextureNudge:

"Select ONE face that has a front material with a texture.

Note that a selection containing more that one thing is ignored.

Activate the Tool:-
A dialog appears showing the initial default nudge factor of 1 unit - i.e. whatever the SKP's units are, e.g. 1mm

Enter the nudge value required [with or without units suffix].

The last entered nudge factor is remembered during that session.

Now use the arrow-keys to nudge the texture by the current distance - the U/X is right or left, and V/Y is up or down.

It is useful for fine adjustments to the texture's position.

The texture on the selected face nudges across by the given distance, or 10x the distance if the Shift key is being held down.

To open the dialog to reset the Tool's Nudge value press <Esc>.

Choose another Tool to end TextureNudge."

TextureScale:

"Select ONE face that has a front material with a texture.
Note that a selection containing more that one thing is ignored.

Activate the Tool:-
A dialog appears showing the initial default scale factors of U=0.5 & V=0.5.

Enter any scale values required [e.g. 0.5 & 1] and the texture on the selected face scales by the given factors in the UV directions; it is anchored on the face's first vertex.

The last entered scale factors are remembered during that session."


TextureTweak:

"Select ONE face that has a front material with a texture.

Note that a selection containing more that one thing is ignored.

Activate the Tool:-
A dialog appears showing the initial default tweak scale factor of 0.1.

Enter the tweak value required - e.g. 0.2

The last entered tweak scale factor is remembered during that session.

Now use the arrow-keys to tweak the texture by the current factor - the U/X +/- is right or left, and
V/Y +/- is up or down.

A +ve arrow [right/up] applies the factor - e.g. 0.5

A -ve arrow [left/down] applies the inverse of the factor - e.g. 1/0.5=2

It is useful for fine adjustments to the texture's size.

Thus you can reverse scaling in an axis by using the inverse arrow...

The texture on the selected face scales (by) the given factor, or 10x if the Shift key is being held down.

The scaling is anchored on the face's first vertex.

To open the dialog to reset the Tool's Tweak Scale value press <Esc>.

Choose another Tool to end TextureTweak."


Hope this helps ! :)

GaryGB​
 
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