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Calculating/Deriving Parametric Constraints


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Despite having eventually come to loathe Cobalt, I'm missing its Equations Palette, which provided the ability to constrain the dimensions of objects based on values derived from simple formulas.

For example, "Line B = Line A * 2", so that when Line A is resized, Line B is always twice as long.

I do a lot of of this sort of work, where the size of the finished product is based on a set of initial dimensions which varies from project to project. The provided parametric constraints aren't quite sophisticated enough to meet my needs.

What's the best way to use VW to resize several objects based on the dimensions of another object? Ideally, I'd like to relate parametrically constrained objects to dimensions on a worksheet, and use the worksheet to resize the objects.

It seems this is likely possible using VectorScript, but it also looks as though that would be very, very labor intensive.

Any advice will be much appreciated. After days I've fighting with this, I've reached an impasse.

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After days I've fighting with this, I've reached an impasse.

After decades of fighting with this, we've all reached an impasse ; )

VW is not a command line program, period. It is fundamentally a GUI driven app..

God, recursion would be wonderful if not for the heavy code requirements of it.

VW is fundamentally based on User>Tool based inputs not on Object relationships. Although there are numerous 2d&3D tools and the worksheets available to assist with quantifying of the object property and field related relationships. Duplicate Arrays via cartesian & polar are a good but limited example.

Please, put that Equations Palette on the WishList !

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Basically you can do this by selecting the objects at hand and then resize one object with the selection tool. You have some control over the process by using the databar. The downside is the objects relative positions are scaled as well. This can be overcome using the command "Scale Individually", but you don't have that as I wrote it myself. Interested? drop me a line: gj@jonker-wu.nl, and I'll send you a copy.

Gerard

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Thanks folks, but the required changes invariably alter the proportions of the objects in ways beyond what scaling can achieve. No doubt I oversimplified my example. Some of the necessary resizing is sufficiently esoteric as to even require some "If/Then" decisions.

Cobalt and Graphite are allegedly able to do these sorts of things, but in practice, Cobalt and Graphite are so horrifically buggy as to be unable to do anything at all.

But I appreciate the replies nonetheless - "You can't do that with VectorWorks" is a useful answer, even if it doesn't leave me doing a little happy dance around my workshop. <g>

-Bryan

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I've no idea what it is you're drawing, but it totally sounds like a parametric object. The kind of constraints you seem to be talking about are easily expressed in vectoscript. And much more powerful logic can be built in as well. Instead of input from a worksheet (which is currently not possible in Vectorworks without the use of script), you would be entering values in Object Info.

You should consider learning v-script. It's labor intensive to begin, but once you get a *Handle* on the language it's quite facile. I began with no experience whatsover with any programing language, but with a little help from the likes of Mr Jonker I've been able to make many custom tools,commands and objects. If you like solving puzzles at all it can be quite rewarding.

I hope you've contacted Gerard and had a look at his offering. Hopefully he's not encrypted it and you'll be able to open it in a text editor to get some idea how v-script is written.

Good luck!

Charles

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Thanks again, everyone.

I'm designing clothing patterns. The pattern itself exists as a set of relationships to a block based on body measurements.

Charles... You seem to be implying that references to one object may be somehow included in the Object Info for others, which would go a long way to solving some of my problems. But how? I'm unable to find a thing about this in the docs, and a few casual experiments haven't revealed anything new. Pardon me if I'm being particularly dense.

-Bryan

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Bryan

Sorry, that's not what I meant to imply. What I was trying to say is that this 'block' must have some dimensions associated with it. A parametric object draws itself based on parameters such as height and width. Almost anything can be defined as a parameter that the object can use to adjust it's appearance. EG a fastener parameter could draw zipper or buttons or none depending on a choice field. Or... how bout a lapel length field in the OIP?

In the case of your constraints, one line can be linked to another with any kind of geometric relationship you can imagine. Multiple branching if/then logic is available as are all the arithmatic functions. If you can think of how to quantify the logic, a parametric object can look at itself and report how much material and labour it may take to build it.

The point of my post was to encourage you to investigate what can be done with v-script, and not to approach it as something esoteric and "labour intensive", even if the learning curve is steep.

A complete suite of clothing design plugins....very interesting. Vectorworks Tailor perhaps?

I also think you should see what Gerard has for you. He knows his stuff.

later,

charles

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I'm designing clothing patterns. The pattern itself exists as a set of relationships to a block based on body measurements.

Technically it would be possible to write a parametric object for this. The "VW Tailor" for blue jeans, dinner jackects and tails. Some 1000 lines of VectorScript code, I'd say.

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I'm designing clothing patterns. The pattern itself exists as a set of relationships to a block based on body measurements.

What if you draw your design based on 1 size and then:

1 export as VS

2 open in an editor

3 look for the dimesnions to change for parameters

4 put it all in a script behind a dialog that asks for W and L size.

Just do one pand-pattern at the time, should be doable.

Gerard

P.S. Please make trouser bands high again, I hate those backside cleavages I see around me all the time. smile.gif

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Bryan,

Whilst Cobalt/Graphite may not be suited to this need I can assure you they are perfectly suited to the tasks they were designed for - product design.

I might be ignorant here but aren't there specialist clothing design softwares out there for this purpose? I know the sports shoe market and you can buy add ons for Rhino to do the sizing, as you can with apps like Powershape from Delcam, but these are pretty specialist.

Also I am fairly sure there is an Illustrator add on for clothing pattern sizing....

The guys are correct, VW could handle it by some kind of specialist VectorScript but it sounds like you are after an off the shelf solution?

http://www.fashioncad.net/

There are many others....

Edited by quigley
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Thanks - I do appreciate the suggestions. Unfortunately, I'm not fond of the off-the-shelf stuff I've seen, and nearly all of them are Windows-only anyhow. (I'll draft on burlap using my own blood for ink before I'll run Windows software.)

Oddly, neither Graphite nor Cobalt individually has the feature set I need, but since both are so magnificently buggy, it's moot anyhow. Ashlar's offerings are, aside from Windows, the ugliest, least reliable, most annoying commercial software I've ever encountered.

LOL,

Bryan

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