Sweep curves using VB Component

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Permalink Reply by Jon Mirtschin on February 22, 2010 at 1:23pm

Hi Ben,

Sweep is one of the trickier functions to use in the SDK. I still haven't gotten it working for high degree curves. However, if you rail curves are lines, arcs, or not so far from it, you might be able to utilize the work I've done. Check out the latest post at http://geometrygym.blogspot.com

If you think it might be helpful, I'd be glad to help you get running with this.

Cheers,

Jon

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Permalink Reply by Benjamin Fortunato on February 27, 2010 at 10:53am

Thanks Jon! I will check it out. I'm trying to avoid plugin's however as this gets complicated when passing on definitions to other people. This can be a real hangup when trying to work on multiple computers as well, especially when dealing with licenses. I've wasted many an afternoon trying to get a license to work for a plug-in, recovering from a crash etc, when I should have been working!

David mentioned that he was working on a new SDK for Rhino 5, hopefully the sweep function will be improved in the new release.

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Permalink Reply by Damien Alomar on February 27, 2010 at 9:13pm

David isn't working on the SDK for Rhino5, and he's not resolving any issues with the sweep function (AFaIK). This would be the job of some of the other programmers out in Seattle probably. Steve Baer on the RhinoCommon SDK and one of the math gurus up there is probably tweeking the sweep function.

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Permalink Reply by Benjamin Fortunato on February 27, 2010 at 10:49pm

Thanks for the clarification! As for now is their anyway to reliably parametrically sweep curves? Or should we wait for Rhino 5 and the new release of grasshopper? It seems that a couple of people were having trouble with this feature. See the following post:

http://www.grasshopper3d.com/forum/topics/grasshoppper-will-not-swe...

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Permalink Reply by Damien Alomar on February 28, 2010 at 7:52am

I don't think its any issue with the sweep function, I think its an issue with the organization/structure of the curves that are being used. When defining functions parametrically, it will generally be more sensative to curve direction/location/etc. I can tell you that David didn't write his own, so he's going to be using the same function exposed in the SDK that you will. The only "difference" would be how the curves get there, and you don't need to code for that.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Mirtschin on March 2, 2010 at 2:19am

Hi Ben,

Decisions and trade-offs are always there when deciding on the best means and processes (or even software) when trying to develop something new and innovative. The point about sharing the definition is a very valid one if others aren't using the same tools or processes.

I can say that many grasshopper users are finding it difficult with sweeps, and some have been asking for easy way to sweep things like mullions, steel beams etc. My tools offer a means to do this with parametric steel libraries for common sections.

I can also say that lost work time you spend in setting up a license etc (and I wish I could say my license system was immune from these but I am keeping it as simple as I can) may be spent times over again in circumstances such as creating your own GH hopper definition using several components, deciding you need to fix/upgrade/improve this definition, and then trying to update every instance in every definition you've used it in. Using plug-in libraries such as mine, encapsulates this as a library where the update can be made to the code, and then any definition using this "routine" automatically uses this update when reopened. Crashes even more so.

Anyway, the proof is in the pudding. I'll help you get started if you wish to try it out and you can judge for yourself.

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