I just published FredoBend at Sketchucation.
FredoBend is a suite of tools dealing with bending geometry along a curve or over a surface.
The first tool published is Bend Along Curve. It takes geometry enclosed in a container, a curve (or sequence of edges) and bend the geometry along the curve with various options.
There is a short video giving a preview:
Wow!!
Wow, live preview is great!
| . | Modifiers | . |
|---|---|---|
| Blender | SketchUp | Stage |
| Bevel | FredoCorner | |
| Curve | FredoBend | |
| Solidify | Fredo JPP | |
| Array | ?  |
|
| Shrinkwrap | ? |
|
| - | - |
Useful extension (s) for SketchUp! Thanks!
Amazing!
What is Shrinkwrap?
Hi Fredo,
I saw your video about FredoBend yesterday and my first thought was - you can work in SketchUp almost like in Blender with live preview.
ShrinkWrap can be done in Sketchup, but forget the concept of modifier (as for all tools in Sketchup currently). For live preview, Sketchup and Ruby are still slow that there is no real live preview whenever the geometry is too complex.
That would be an awesome tool, I use clothworks when I want to make something like the shrink wrap blender modifier but it doesn’t work all the time. Align Ends is the closest one to shrinkwrap but it works just on one direction.
I’m close to complete ignorant when it comes to programming so if I say some heresy or stupid thing just let me know and ignore my question.
Do you think that python is a better language than Ruby? Would it be possible for SketchUp developers to migrate from ruby to python or any other more efficient and versatile language? I mentioned Python because that’s what blender uses.
Thanks for the answer, Fredo! The fact that a Shrinkwrap-like extension is possible is good news, especially if it can modify geometry in all directions, bringing a plus to the very useful mc-AlignEnds extension.
As for FredoBend, using proper geometry, live preview is fast. And if necessary, I can add a subdivision (SUbD) for details.
Thanks also for the clarification about ‘modifiers’, maybe in the future it will be possible.
I also updated the ‘Modifiers table’, adding Solidify - Fredo JPP, remaining open to new extensions. 
No. Ruby may be a bit slower than Python, but it is more pleasant to develop with. In theory, the calculation should be done in C++, which will be much faster than in Ruby or Python. But I am lazy to do it.
Actually, if I develop a plugin for shrinkwrap, I will do it in 3D, where the shape you shrinkwrap is not a flat surface but a 3D shape. So, a kind of Flowify.
I guess this may exist in Blender too, under another tool name. The reason is that if you can do shrinkwrap in 2D, then it is not a big change to do it in 3D.
Shrinkwrap is different from Flowify, which requires a specific type of surface (quads, four corners, etc.). What Shrinkwrap would do, among other things, would be to move geometry in all directions simultaneously and project/wrap it onto any type of 3D surface.
It would help create correct low poly quad geometry to design/create many types of furniture for example or for combinations of several types of terrain.
It is, please watch the video above (for furniture).
There is the equivalent of Flowify in Blender, created by Mark.
I understand now…. The Sketchup Flowify plugin by CAUL mimics the extension in Blender (or the contrary…).
For railing, It is not mandatory to use Flowify anyway.
Flowify in Blender is a newer extension, Anders (CAUL) created Flowify a long time ago, and Mark specified where he got his inspiration from.
Yes, now with the help of the FredoBend extension, it is possible to create those railings more easily.
Still, in Blender Flowify, the geometry is created right away. In FredoBend and Sketchup Flowify, it takes 2 minutes to create the geometry…
Yes, Flowify in Blender is much more powerful, with more features and of course being much faster and easier to use. Plus you can change the settings later.
And likewise, the FredoBend equivalent in Blender (Curve modifier) is also much faster and more feature-rich.
But the fact that both you and Anders managed to implement such extensions in SketchUp is a big deal and offers so many possibilities to those who work in SketchUp. Thanks!
For info, I created a separate thread on the topic of shrinkwrap.
I am still not clear on the use cases, and what it should exactly do and not do.
New video by TheSketchupEssentials
