I have to draw this light fixture for my office. I can not figure out how to draw the wavy circle on this light fixture. Usually if I think about long enough I find away…but I am stumped on this one. Does anyone have an idea? [image]

First thought that comes to mind is to draw a 2D sinusoidal curve and use it as a path for Follow Me with a circle for the profile. Then use True Bend to bend it into a circle. Quick and dirty example. Amplitude is too high and the ends don’t quite line up. Sine curve drawn with Sine tool in the Cu…

[image] DaveR: sinusoidal THANK YOU!! That works. Here is my practice try. [image]

Would the final shape be simpler if the sinusoidal path was bent first, and then used with Follow Me? I haven’t used True Bend, so I’m not sure what are the options and results when deforming the extruded geometry.

Good practice. @TDahl I expect that would work, too. There used to be a plugin that would draw a sinusoidal ring but I disremember what it was called and I’m thinking it isn’t available anymore. Will have to hunt.

That does work better. I was able to make the path close up more easily when I used True Bend. I did increase the number of sides in the bend to 48 so it’s a smooth bend. [Screenshot - 10_13_2021 , 3_45_24 PM] Thanks for the suggestion.

Less amplitude in the sine curve, bent with True Bend before Follow Me per @TDahl ’s recommendation . [Screenshot - 10_13_2021 , 4_09_51 PM]

Would you not do it as a component and array it around a circle 6 times? I ask given the need to also add the candles, etc…would help down the road as well. Nicely done btw.

It could be done that way. I guess I would probably leave the ring as a single component. I would set out where the candles need to go by referencing the peaks on original sinusoidal ring.Easy to swap out the the candles for other things (maybe flying monkies) without affecting the ring. [Screensh…

I am getting close. You have been very helpful. I hate telling my office that I can’t draw something. They expect to see it in the warehouse tomorrow morning. [image]

You could certainly make the shape from an array of parts, this would be useful if the geometry was complex. Truebend makes this easy because you can decide how many you want and simply divide 360 by that number to get the bend degrees needed. You then need to find the centerpoint of the bend to get…

Difficulty drawing a shape

SketchUp

RTCool October 16, 2021, 4:44am 19

No one mentioned the subtask of simply drawing a sine wave. If you want to do that with native tools, check out this thread:

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Difficulty drawing a shape

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