(2023-01-05, 9:49)legolex76 Wrote: I think your proposal to have something interactive with a library of helper parts would be great. I just tried to generate the string in MLCad but having not used the program for 5 or more years, I couldn't get it to work, I might revisit it later. I also looked at LDCad but that seemed to be more complicated.
I wish Studio could improve its flexible items tool, but perhaps there are some ideas here on how a scripted tool could work?
LDCad is definitely the tool that handles this, nowadays. MLCad, via LSynth, could do it, but it's not nearly as versatile or powerful. And as you've seen, Studio just plain doesn't work when it comes to flex parts.
I wonder if the method that LDCad uses (internally) to define spring parts could be adapted to, say, hose reels?
I also wonder if there could be some kind of pre-defined metadata—similar to snap info—that would automatically pass a string through the plate thickness of a hook, or a Technic beam or lamp holder? (This seems to be how Studio is supposed to work.)
So when building a tow truck, crane or rescue winch, for example, you'd:
- Place an LDCad template for string and enter its given length,
- Set one end into the hole of a hose reel, or other starting point,
- Click or drag the other end through any holes or parts it needs to be routed through,
- Then apply an ending part, such as a crane hook or grabber.
Maybe you could specify how to begin and/or end the string with preset behaviors, like:
PATH_END=REEL (you could set the number of windings and/or depth of layers around a reel)
PATH_END=AUTO_REEL (this would automatically wind any excess length of string around a reel)
PATH_END=LOOP (this would create a loop with a knot, onto which the hook or grabber would be placed)
You could add part numbers to these commands, to specify which hook, reel, etc. the path should use. Basically they'd be an extension of PATH_CAP metas used by LDCad.
This would cover the basics of creating a string part; all that would be left is adding any additional path points to bend around corners, shaping the curve handles, and so on.