[Plugin] SectionByCamera (V0.2) - UPDATED 4 June 2012

[pgarmyn]

Hallo everybody, here is my second (public) plugin.
The plugin gives me an other way of making plans. Especially in those cases where a 3d model is complete. Shadows in Sketchup plans are not very natural. The sun enters by the cutted part of the model. This way of making the section preserves the realistic shadows:

SectionByCam-anim-20120506-txt.GIF

In this file, the image has been combined with vector-drawing (Powerdraft):

Plan-exempleSbyC.jpg

It works also on Mac. Thanks Peter (pbacot) for testing.

For the SketchupTeam : realistic shadows in sections (plan en vertical section) is in my wish list.



Copyright
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Name : SectionByCamera
Version: V0.2-2012.06.04-2113
Author : pgarmyn
Type : Tool

Description :
This tool places the camera in (near) the sectionplan. The parallel view will section the model (without section cuts active). But the SHADOWS of the entire model will be displayed (if section cuts are switched off). This will produce a plan or section view with realistic shadow information.
The camera-position is saved in a new scene called "SectByCam"
The generated camera should also work with those renderers :
- Twilight : OK
- Kerkythea, with Twilight exporter
- SU2KT from Tomasz : The camera is moved, outside the model : Doesn't work.
- Maxwell : shadows not correct, shadows of 'ceilings' are missing. Thanks Peter (pbacot) for testing .

Installation :
- unzip and copy the unique file into the plugins directory

Usage :
- select a section plan
- in the context menu : select 'Section by camera' > '.... automatic'
or 'Section by camera' > '.... define camera distance'
- switch off the 'section planes' and 'section cuts' (Menu : View >> Section...)

Known issues:
The image rendered on the screen is cutted some centimeters before the camera. The distance between this 'cut' and the camera depends of the dimensions of the model. The tools estimates this distance (in '.... automatic'; distance proposed in '.... define camera distance'), if necessary, it can be adapted in the second option.
If the applied value is to small, the SectionPlane won't be visible after activating the tool. This is also true for faces generated by plugins like SectionCutFace (TIG) or realSection (GWydouw).
SOLUTION : apply a greater distance in '.... define camera distance'

History:
First version V0.1-2012.05.06-1938
2nd version V0.2-2012.06.04-2059 : Correction for certain non horizontal sections (thanks vidy for reporting the bug)
IMPORTANT : erase the older version if installed (= file SectionByCam-20120506-1939.rb)

[Pixero]

Thanks, this looks very useful.

[CadFather]

Many thanks pgarmyn.. this is a really good plugin - i was asked this in a recent class and it was not an easy answer..

[Pilou]

Very neat result!

[pbacot]

this looks like a good one. Works in Mac.

But with Maxwell Fire the result is not correct. The wall shadows are there but the ceiling shadows and ceiling are not. View is not section. Needs more tries to figure out--sort of a half way result.

Thank you very much for sharing this!

[haynesc]

Can I see a video explaining how this works please?

[Phil Rader, AIA]

thanks I'll give it a whirl

[mirale999]

great plugin~! I just wanted this function a few days, for my works to display better~

[vidy]

Dear pgarmyn,

thanks for this plug-in, its really good, but i try to do it on section elevation, but it seems won't generate the scene, is it only just for plan view??

thanks,
vd

[pgarmyn]

Dear pgarmyn,

thanks for this plug-in, its really good, but i try to do it on section elevation, but it seems won't generate the scene, is it only just for plan view??

thanks,
vd

It should work in any direction. What happens? What's your system? What is your Sketchup version?

[vidy]

Im working with Win XP SP 2, and Google Sketchup Pro 8 M3,
it just working fine whenever im doing it at plan view (it generated the scene tab)
but when i was try to do sectionbycamera on elevation, it seems don't have any reaction.. (not generated a scene tab)

thanks,
vd

[pgarmyn]

Im working with Win XP SP 2, and Google Sketchup Pro 8 M3,
it just working fine whenever im doing it at plan view (it generated the scene tab)
but when i was try to do sectionbycamera on elevation, it seems don't have any reaction.. (not generated a scene tab)

thanks,
vd

OK.
I found out that a section parallel to the red-blue axises doesn't work.
I will fix that. Thanks for testing vidy.

[pgarmyn]

This PLUGIN has been UPDATED :
Look at the top of this page.
IMPORTANT : erase the older version if installed (= file SectionByCam-20120506-1939.rb)

[vidy]

Tested it... and it works like charm
thank you pgarmyn for the update..

regards,
vd

[methade]

This is my first post. And thank you for this great plugin. Its very very useful for me... Kind regards.

[methade]

Me again. I am testing the plugin but having difficulties with renderer maxwell fire. It seems its not working. Any help?. Thanks.

[pgarmyn]

Me again. I am testing the plugin but having difficulties with renderer maxwell fire. It seems its not working. Any help?. Thanks.

Can't help that. Pbacot had the same experience (see above). I menshioned it in the description.