This is a continuation/breakout from this topic regarding a specific issue:
The premise is this: simple, connected linework without endpoints will not form/cut closed surfaces. In this image of what is supposed to be a curb & sidewalk, endpoints are circled in red. For some reason, the curved line below cuts, but the line above doesn’t.
The original linework comes from autocad and curves have been simplified to a fraction of their original verticies and I have cleaned up as much as I can before importing. It is as simple as I can make it, but what else in autocad can I do to prevent this? Or is there a workaround in sketchup?
Without having the file is hard to know the exact problem, probably the lines aren’t on the same plane, you can flatten them on autocad before importing to sketchup or use a plugin like vertex tools to flatten them on sketchup.
Great point. However, this was already flattened in autocad, and this issue occurs even when the linework is draped on to the flat surface. Therefore, I ruled out endpoints being on different Z values pretty early.
What is incredibly strange is that when using the SuperDrape tool on an elevated site surface (contours) this issue is magically absent, and all curbs, roads, and sidewalks are cutting perfectly.
I will upload the file when I get a chance, but for now, this seems like this may be an actual bug. If all lines intersect, cut one another, and function normally, a surface should be created…
From left to right: 1 is the raw import from CAD, with curves reduced in vertices. 2 is a typical copy and explode on the surface. The result is not much different than three and five. 3 is a super drape to flat geolocation. 4 is a super drape to a complex surface; elevated geolocation (preferred result, notice the separate surfaces for roads & sidewalks.) 5 is a super drape from the edges of number 4.
Although 4 is the preferred result, it is not perfect. It is incredibly cumbersome to change the linework on the surface due to it crossing many different faces. That’s why it is so crucial to get this working quickly on a flat surface so it can be transferred to a complex surface with terrain.
It will help you find tiny gaps and tiny edges that prevent the creation of faces. Without fixing them first on the 2d horizontal plane you will have recurringvissues like these.
Good idea! However, this plugin was not able to solve the issue because the lines don’t have any endpoints and are closed (already tried). I am convinced that solely because the line work was imported from cad, it is bugged from expressing typical behavior.
I quickly fixed the imported dwg using edge tools, i Increased the tolerance of the close the gaps to 4", then checked the opened ends and instead of having 144 open ends i ended up with less than 30, 95% were closed just by clicking on the circles when I used the inspect gaps tool, and I just drew on top of the 4 or 5 that didn`t closed, finally I used the repair edges function of CleanUp3 to merge all divided edges.
I forgot to tell you that I deactivated profile edges and length snapping, profile edges add load to your gpu and can cause lag with big files and length snapping could cause inaccurate dimensions.
I need to retrace your steps in my own files for future reference and fully go through the file that you have provided here. However, in leu of doing this, at first glance my intuition points towards CleanUp3 being a pivotal part in solving this issue. Additionally, this provides the workflow I was looking for. Instead of manually going through each broken instance, this seems to have fixed it all at once.
Once I take a more thorough look at this, I’ll update/reopen this topic if I need anything else, or if I encounter the issue again.
I would avoid using AutoCAD if it´s possible, I prefer to draw and model directly on Sketchup, I don´t know why but most of the cad files I receive have this kind of issues plus having the lines on different planes and the scale many times is wrong due to the lack of knowledge of people who use AutoCad.
Actually edge tools is the pivotal part in solving the issue, it detected all the gaps and fixed automatically 95% of them, CleanUp3 just got rid of unused stuff and repaired some edges, By the way both plugins belong to the same developer(Thom Thom) and are free, Fredo and Thomthom have the most useful plugins available imo.
I wish I could forgo autocad as well, but in the meantime, I just don’t see a reason to disregard linework that was already drawn. Specifically, the autocad I have shown previously was designed and drawn by my civil consultant on this project.
Therefore, I am happy that it is possible to get a successful product from this workflow. Especially when combined with Fredo’s joint push and pull, I am able to create curbs, roads, and sidewalks on smooth surface topography at a fraction of the time it would have otherwise taken if I manually traced his drawing in Sketchup (drawing in sketchup is like pulling teeth with its incredibly magnetic axis/parallel snapping).
And that’s the crux of this whole issue: Wasting time to duplicate work already done.
