Parametric drawing

[ccastle]

Totally new to this sort of thing so bare with me, I am looking for some help

 

I regularly draw up modular covers that sit within a encapsulating frame, all dimensions rely on 3 inputs (see my example attached)

 

Would this be possible with marionette/script to speed up the process? 

 

Cover examples.vwx

[Pat Stanford]

Yes this is definitely something that could be done with either a script, plug-in object or Marionette object.

 

By naming the three input nodes in a Marionette they would display and allow you to modify them in the OIP.  Use that data to calculate the sizes you need for the inner and outer frame rectangles and the number of "sub" covers" and then just have Marionette draw the rectangles, set the attributes, and attach dimensions.

 

It will be a fairly complicated process, but certainly doable.  If you have programming experience I would guess this would take 10-20 hours to learn enough Marionette to accomplish this and get it tuned to your needs. If you don't have any programming background it might take twice that as you learn to think like a programmer.

 

Pure guesses on the times, but they seem reasonable to me.  If you save 5 minutes a day by doing this, you could spend 48 hours and save time over 5 years.

 

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/is_it_worth_the_time.png

[ccastle]

Thank you Pat, as I say I am totally new to this so I have gone ahead and started to learn the basics 

 

I seem to be getting the hang of the few nodes I have the knowledge of, would this be a valid method? (see attached)

 

I am unsure on how to add dimensions at the moment but I am sure things with become clear as I learn more 

 

 

 

 

mar-test.vwx

[Pat Stanford]

Looks like you are off to a great start.  If you right click on your Wrapped Node and convert it to a Marionette Object, then the object will update automatically when you make changes in the OIP.

 

As for adding Dimensions, I thought there were nodes for Dimension objects, but I am not seeing them in VW2024.  Maybe I was wrong.  You might want to reach the forum and see if there are not other samples available that add Dimensions and see how they work.

 

Good Luck and ask as you get stuck.  🙂

 

[ccastle]

Good advice! I have converted to a Marionette Object & I am able to add constrained dims that update with any changes!

 

One thing I am stuck on would be adding "miter lines" that show the frame cuts 

I've added the first in (as position will never change) but am unfamiliar with which is the correct node in the library that will duplicate/rotate/mirror it correctly to the other 3 corners 

 

Also, is it common to have 2 separate scripts like this or should they be connected in some way? 

 

mar-test.vwx

[Pat Stanford]

There are Duplicate Objects and Mirror nodes in the Operations folder that should get you what your want. You will still need to calculate the mid points to mirror across.

 

It may be easier to just put in the code to draw all four lines as you can get the X/Y coordinates of the rectangle end points fairly easily.

 

Good work.  You have accomplished this much faster than I thought possible.

[ccastle]

Thanks, it seems to be going well. I haven't managed to add the lines yet in the correct placement so I will come back to that.

 

Before duplicating the covers to fill in the frame, is there a way to insert a symbol in the center? What I have done & thought would work does not 

 

Would this topic be better placed in the Marionette Forum?

mar-test.vwx