[Plugin] Axo + Iso View v1.2 20101117

[TIG]

2010 (c) TIG

Put this file 'axo+iso.rb' into your Sketchup Plugins folder and restart
Sketchup - the tools are available in any SKP thereafter...

Install the latest version from the PluginStore...

Download

Usage: type the desired option in Ruby Console xxxxxxx + <enter> ***
Available options are:

axo3060 which sets the camera to a 30/60 axonometric view and zooms extents
axo6030 which sets the camera to a 60/30 axonometric view and zooms extents
axo4545 which sets the camera to a 45/45 axonometric view and zooms extents
iso3030 which sets the camera to a 30/30 isometric view and zooms extents

The current view changes to the axo/iso format desired and model-extents
are zoomed, now zoom in/out and pan BUT DON'T orbit - that would loose the
axo/iso-ness; then save that view to a Scene-tab.

If you have a 3d axo it needs 'distorting' so that it prints or exports as an
image and looks correct. The whole model needs scaling - particularly in
the Z axis. There are two tools to do/undo this for you. Use with care and
remember to undo the temporary scaling to continue modeling.
After setting an axo view type in the Ruby Console + <enter>:

axo_scale

to scale the whole model, so it is distorted but looks correct.

axo_restore_scale

to rescale the whole model back to as it was.

***You could make a menu or toolbar to do this BUT since it's only used
occasionally then typing it into the Ruby Console is easiest...

Version:
1.0 20100616 First release with four options.
1.1 20100616 Glitch on Axo6030 'up' fixed.
1.2 20101117 Added axo_scale option.

Axo+Iso_Examples.skp

exampleNormal Perspective.jpg

exampleAxo3060.jpg

exampleAxo6030.jpg

exampleAxo4545.jpg

exampleAxo4545_ScaledZ=9-524.png

exampleIso3030.jpg

[TIG]

v1.1 is available viewtopic.php?p=252273#p252273
Example SKP and images added too...

[pilou]

What is the difference with an "Hand regulates" of Angle Field of view Zoom and Camera menu?

[TIG]

~~~What is the difference between these tools and a 'Manual Adjustment' of the [vertical] 'Field of View' ='fov' [angle or mm] - from the item found below 'Zoom' on the 'Camera' menu?~~~

It was 'lost in translation' a bit
I've edited it to say what I think you wanted it to
Doing these adjustments by hand [=manually: 'par la main'/'manuellement' ?] is difficult, especially to get your vanishing-points right and the camera's 'up' [blue-axis] perfect. I think that the 'fov' has little [no?] bearing on it. These tools just simplify setting a view to Iso 30/30, and Axo 30/60, 60/30 or 45/45, as it is all done automatically. Try manually setting a view to be Axo 45/45 to see how awkward it can be - it's not impossible, but then these command just make it easier; and you can be confident that the results are OK ...
Note: for 'completeness' I included iso3030 even though it's equivalent to using the built-in tools - toggling Camera > Perspective 'off' and then using Camera > Standard Views > Iso...

[pilou]

"à la main"
Thanks for all these precisions!

[TIG]

"à la main"

I think that
'à la main' = by hand - you deliver a document by hand [i.e. it is in your hand] OR 'fait à la main' = hand-made [in English this phrase is normally reserved for things like food, clothes, furniture etc, but not in the general sense of 'manually' (manuellement) which is often used as the opposite of 'automatically'] - 'à la main' is a general usage and can be used in many case without misinterpretation, as it literally means 'at [the] hand' - so it is often used regarding anything relating to 'hands', BUT then
'par la main' = by [the use of the] hand - you make a SKP mesh by hand - in the sense that you 'made it with your hand[s]' ['manually'] rather than making it ''automatically, perhaps using EEbyRails or Fredo's new gizmo [ ], WHILST
'dans la main' = in [the] hand - you have a mouse in your hand, WHILST
'sur la main' = on the hand - you have a blister on your hand
[note that 'I am on hand' = 'Je suis sur place' when someone is 'ready to assist' and the 'hand' is not translated]
'pour la main' = for the hand - you want a plaster for your hand [probably because you have a blister on it!]
'de la main' = of the hand [belonging to the hand] - the blister is on the back of your hand (sur le dos de votre main)
'avec la main' = with the hand [accompanying the hand NOT by the use of the hand] - you will go to see the doctor with your hand [ you are unlikely to leave it at home ]
etc etc

[watkins]

TIG,

Could you repeat that explanation for our KhoeKhoegowab speakers? A quick refresher course:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz44WiTVJww&feature=fvw

et. seq.

Click, click,

Bob

[pilou]

Yes...but no
"Par la main" = you hold your lovely girl friend "par la main"
"à la main" = you make a SKP mesh "à la main"(it's the right meaning) ... with a mouse
"sous la main" = you have a mouse "sous la main"(really and also like disponibility)
"dans la main" = you have a mouse "dans la main" (you see it, so your hand is up turn down)so you can't use it for make SKP mesh
"pour la main" don't specially exist = it's a medicine "pour la main" (for the hand but can be anything)
...etc
Maybe you understand why Google translator has some difficulties

[pilou]

And about KhoeKhoegowab speakers, that is impossible for me!
Only the mouse click !

[TIG]

On the other hand, I hand it to you, that if I reveal my hand you'll be on hand to give me a hand with understanding my clock's hands - then you can hand over a hand of cards or a hand of bananas - hands off ! With a hand-me-down hand-up - hands up! it's a robbery - give him a big hand - my horse is 16 hands - get the hired hand to read my hand: I'm going hand over fist here - it's getting out of hand...
...such subtlety of meaning...

Also "KhoeKhoegowab -" I sound like that when I'm eating already

[TIG]

Just a tip on getting an image to look 'Axo' - no 'skewing' is necessary in the geometry BUT to get the height looking right [as if it were a hand-drawn Axo] then you need to [temporarily] scale the grouped model up in the Z by a factor before printing, it's something like ~9.524 for an Axo: the Iso is OK...
Group the whole model, set the 'Axo' view, model your geometry, scale the model up in the Z by 9.524 and re-zoom/pan window [NO orbiting], then export an image, undo scale and continue...

[pilou]

The more funny is that you have "main" in English but it's another story

[scott_lowe]

Looks like it works TIG, thanks.

When I downloaded it the file was called avo%2Biso.rb It appears to work fine thought, just thought I would let you know.

[penumbradesign]

TIG

This is awesome! Thanks!

[Lersince1991]

Hi, this is so helpful! Thanks so much.
I was just wondering if you would be able to give a more exact figure to the "9.524" figure you've quoted.
I'm using this to export my architectural drawings in axo to scale. a few more decimals would be fine but yeh the more accurate the better. in the last drawing I exported to autocad with this the measurements were nearly there, but 176mm out on just a height of 3500mm (before scaled). on a directly vertical line

Thanks again!
Luke

[TIG]

Hi, this is so helpful! Thanks so much.
I was just wondering if you would be able to give a more exact figure to the "9.524" figure you've quoted.
I'm using this to export my architectural drawings in Axo to scale. a few more decimals would be fine but the more accurate the better. in the last drawing I exported to AutoCAD with this the measurements were nearly there, but 176mm out on just a height of 3500mm (before scaled). on a directly vertical line
Thanks again!
Luke

Luke...
Can you try a few options to see what works best - I established the ~9.524 mathematically.
If your 176mm in 3500mm is correct [and not a result of other factors] then the figure needs to be adjusted not by a few decimal places but either ~9.476104 or ~10.002924 depending which way the error seems to be more or less...

[Lersince1991]

Sure, thanks for the quick response.

its the same on every system and model isn't it? no need to change the factor every time, just need to tweak it slightly

Heres some data for you based on a cube 3500x3500x3500mm
(scale factor) = (45 degree line) & (90 degree line)

9.476104 = 3489.3444 & 3657.4247
9.5724 = 3489.3444 & 3675.9107
10.002924 = 3489.3444 & 3860.7576

Ideal is of course...

(x) = 3500 & 3500

Cheers,
Luke.

[Lersince1991]

Got a final figure for you, pretty accurate but will update if I find the need to go more decimal places, for now I dont know how to see the exact figure from autocad.

basically the cal is.

3500mm (actual height) / 385.9629 (exported height from axo4545) = transform scale

Working between autocad and sketchup pro 8
should be the same for all though

Luke.

[Lersince1991]

sorry forgot to add the actual z scale factor = 9.068229097
this produces 3500.0001 in autocad
but the 45 degree angled lines aren't quite there with a dimension of 3489.3444mm instead of 3500. although they are at the correct angles (45 and 315 or... -45)

Luke Riggall

[Lersince1991]

and...
scale factor for the x and y sides (proportionate) is 1.003053754

can anyone confirm both of these?
if so could these be made into actions (scripts?) in order to prevent all this decimal typing lol.

Good stuff
Luke

[TIG]

So can we agree on a final vertical scaling factor, to export the perfect 2D Axo and I think about a script to do it...

[Lersince1991]

A script would be great.
heres the final values, I've done them to a bit more of an accuracy, accurate to more than 1mm for models under 100,000m so yeh pretty solid figures.

I would scale all axis to get them accurate,

blue (z) axis scale value = 9.068228873
red axis scale value = 1.003053768
green axis scale value = 1.003054401

see what script you can do, typing that in every time gets boring lol

Luke

[TIG]

Thanks... I'll cogitate over an automation...

[TIG]

Here's an update - v1.2 viewtopic.php?p=252273#p252273
It now auto scales the whole model to distort it so that 3d axos will look right - using:
axo_scale
and undoes that scaling with:
axo_restore_scale
Use these tools with care!

[Gutz]

Great plugin TIG!

A few suggestions/requests/bugs from a test I did with 2 cubes:

1.If you run axo4545 and then axo_scale - it cuts the top of the cubes. only if you run axo4545 again it works out for some reson...

2.Axo_restore_scale gives me the following error :
axo_restore_scale
Error: #<NameError: (eval):149: undefined local variable or method `axo_restore_scale' for main:Object>
(eval):149

3.Is it possible to show shadows correctly after you run axo_scale?

4.Is it possible to change the axis of alignment? the reason is because I need the shadows to be to the right , at normal usage I just orbit to bring the red axis down , but here I can't of course
for now I just do an horizontal flip on photoshop but just wondering if it's possible to setup easily

Thanks again for making such a great plugin

[TIG]

Great plugin TIG!

A few suggestions/requests/bugs from a test I did with 2 cubes:

1.If you run axo4545 and then axo_scale - it cuts the top of the cubes. only if you run axo4545 again it works out for some reason...

2.Axo_restore_scale gives me the following error :
axo_restore_scale
Error: #<NameError: (eval):149: undefined local variable or method `axo_restore_scale' for main:Object>
(eval):149

3.Is it possible to show shadows correctly after you run axo_scale?

4.Is it possible to change the axis of alignment? the reason is because I need the shadows to be to the right , at normal usage I just orbit to bring the red axis down , but here I can't of course
for now I just do an horizontal flip on photoshop but just wondering if it's possible to setup easily

Thanks again for making such a great plugin

1. Sound like the notorious 'clipping issue' is your model very big, very small or far away from the origin ?
2. 'axo_restore_scale' should be axo_scale_restore - my typo in the help section
3. The shadows will become distorted by the vertical scaling factor - if you want '45 degree' shadows I suppose we just need to find a long/lat/date/time where the 'scale' objects cast shadows that look as desired ? Set it as a Style that only retains those changes... If you play around with the shadow settings and advise what you'd like to do I can see if it's scriptable...
4. I can't see how to have other axes [easily] - rotating the exported image in PS or Gimp is probably the easiest solution...

[Gutz]

Great plugin TIG!

A few suggestions/requests/bugs from a test I did with 2 cubes:

1.If you run axo4545 and then axo_scale - it cuts the top of the cubes. only if you run axo4545 again it works out for some reason...

2.Axo_restore_scale gives me the following error :
axo_restore_scale
Error: #<NameError: (eval):149: undefined local variable or method `axo_restore_scale' for main:Object>
(eval):149

3.Is it possible to show shadows correctly after you run axo_scale?

4.Is it possible to change the axis of alignment? the reason is because I need the shadows to be to the right , at normal usage I just orbit to bring the red axis down , but here I can't of course
for now I just do an horizontal flip on photoshop but just wondering if it's possible to setup easily

Thanks again for making such a great plugin

1. Sound like the notorious 'clipping issue' is your model very big, very small or far away from the origin ?
2. 'axo_restore_scale' should be axo_scale_restore - my typo in the help section
3. The shadows will become distorted by the vertical scaling factor - if you want '45 degree' shadows I suppose we just need to find a long/lat/date/time where the 'scale' objects cast shadows that look as desired ? Set it as a Style that only retains those changes... If you play around with the shadow settings and advise what you'd like to do I can see if it's scriptable...
4. I can't see how to have other axes [easily] - rotating the exported image in PS or Gimp is probably the easiest solution...

Wow that was fast respone

1.Ok , It's happening only on rare occasions with v8 ( last time I tried it with v6 ) so it's really minor
2.Working great!
3.How do I set it as a Style? ( I'm new with sketchup so sorry if it's a dumb question , but I couldn't find it also in the help section.. )
4.Will do , Thanks

I've attached the example i'm working with
The image is flipped horizontally and thats what i need to accomplish eventually ( of course with the z factor correctly )

Thanks again for all the help
Gutz

[TIG]

To save your shadow settings use a new Scene tab that retains the shadows as set in your Style.
Make a copy of the Style with those shadows set and nothing else.
Then you should be able to click the Shadows Scene tab and then nothing else changes except the shadows swap to your settings.
You can export a Style and re-import it into another model OR have it set as one of the styles in your normal template, so all new models get that style as one of the available ones...

Capture.PNG

[Gutz]

Maybe I'm doing something wrong , But it saves the "Shadow settings" ( time , date etc. ) and not the shadow itself
So I'm only getting the direction of the shadow and not the actual shadow from the unscaled model

Thanks

[TIG]

Maybe I'm doing something wrong , But it saves the "Shadow settings" ( time , date etc. ) and not the shadow itself
So I'm only getting the direction of the shadow and not the actual shadow from the unscaled model
Thanks

You can only save 'the shadows' as an exported image, the 'shadow-settings' are remembered with the style...