I can’t get over how wonderful this plugin is. (It should be a part of native 3DC. andnbsp; 
)
What really amazes me is how polygon efficient it is!!!
Now I’m going back and re-doing all of my older models that have handrails. andnbsp;I just finished andnbsp;shaving about 1200 polys off a tank car that was loaded with handrails I built from cube primitives…. andnbsp; and they didn’t even look better for all the extra poly’s…
Pete
Some of you may remember I started writing this a long time ago but I had a lot of problems with the junctions of all the objects.
I have just re-written it so that only a single object is generated…
[img:2m0xjpw3]http://album.atomic-systems.com/showPic.php/22531/pipes2.jpg[/img:2m0xjpw3]
It is still quite early days yet and there are a couple of bugs if you select a circular edge path, but for single paths it seems to work well, should be available in the next few days.
The theory is that it is a relatively simple task to build an object where the edges follow the course of the pipe you want to build (the above was done with boolean subtraction and chamfering in a couple of mins.
By selecting the edges you want and running the plugin, a pipe with a set number of facets and diameter is created.
This could potentially take hours off of more complex model handrails etc.
[i:2m0xjpw3]It is probably the last plugin I will be writing![/i:2m0xjpw3]
(because I think I have now written all that I need to quickly build steam locos – unless any one else comes up with a good idea)
There will however be updates and fixes to other plugins in the future <!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="
" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –> (I am also working on an update to MSTS Engineer)
Paul
Major thanks for doing this Paul! This is pretty important for us structure builders too. Many factories have visible pipes of varying sizes and bends. This is a sorely needed feature. I tried using various methods to create a believeable bent pipe with 3dc but I wasn’t able to master any of them. Way to go! <!– s:-) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:-) –>
Rich Garber
The bugs turned out to be simple fixes – it is now ready…
New Sphere, select all edges, run plugin…
[img:3cl931c5]http://album.atomic-systems.com/showPic.php/22531/sphere1.jpg[/img:3cl931c5]
I think that’s a pretty good test – 2021 faces in 5 seconds.
Version for 5.7 and 6 are available at:
[img:3cl931c5]http://www.highworth.freeuk.com[/img:3cl931c5]
<!– m –><a class="postlink" href="http://www.highworth.freeuk.com">http://www.highworth.freeuk.com</a><!– m –>
If you downloaded the plugin in the last half hour, try again… I made a slight mistake and the plugin did not appear in the menu, the new version should work…
Paul,
RE:
[i:33y3vrsg]It is probably the last plugin I will be writing!
(because I think I have now written all that I need to quickly build steam locos – unless any one else comes up with a good idea)
There will however be updates and fixes to other plugins in the future andnbsp;(I am also working on an update to MSTS Engineer)
[/i:33y3vrsg]
Let me take a moment to SAY andquot;T H A N K Sandquot;, You have helped to make 3DC the BEST way to produce MSTS models.
Pete
I think I’ve made it too easy now :
… perhaps we should have a gallery of uses for this plugin andnbsp;
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