Okay, thank You. Looking foreward to it.
Just to be more specific and for your information:
I was able to download the
“planarizeSurfacePoints.py”
but not
“PlanarizeControlPoints.py” and
“SmoothSurfacePoints.py”
Norbert
I use Planarize Hull in Autodesk Alias all the time, so I searched the forum for this and ended up on one of you old scripts it seems.
That was made in 2014, and it’s 2019 now and the download link seems to be broken, so has the functionality been incorporated into Rhino natively yet, and if so, what is the name of the command? It’s apparently not named the same…
EDIT: I actually found a sort of (sometimes) acceptable work-around in Rhino… using Relocate Gumball and setting the axis to the first and last control point of the hull you have selected, and then scaling using the drag handle…
Hello @norbert_geelen ,
Sorry for my late answer but you may find the latest script made by @pascal attached. I hope it helps.
SmoothSurfacePoints.rhp (31 KB)
Thanks!
@eobet. That’s what I do as well. It works but it’s rather tedious and selecting the rotation of the axis can be challenging. What I usually do is select control points, first and last like you mention and the midpoint of the curve I’m trying to planarize. Like you said, this can work in some cases but not all. It all depends on whether that midpoint is in the right spot.
Do you have any tips or tricks regarding this?
Unfortunately I haven’t solved this one yet, because ideally what I’d want is to planarize by only sliding the control points by their U or V direction as well.
I’m afraid this will require someone with scripting capabilities to step in.
In case people aren’t familiar with what is going on here:
- The user selects a U or V row of control points.
- An invisible line is drawn between the first and last control points.
- View based projection is used to determine intersections for the control points with the line.
- The control points slide along their individual U or V directions to meet up with the line.
Yeah… I may be able to help - I’ve got a thing that is nearly there but it is not quite; I’ll try to get it to be at least reasonably reliable and you can see what you think…
@eobet , @norbert_geelen, @Mark_Landsaat - here is part of it as a py script - see how this works - I have no doubt there is stuff that does not work but I just fixed the major bug that I know about…
To use the Python script use RunPythonScript, or a macro:
_-RunPythonScript "Full path to py file inside double-quotes"
PlanarizeSurfacePoints.py (18.1 KB)
@eobet, All, I fixed, I think, the woinkiness bug in the ‘view’ based plane.
(‘Direction’ means rows of control points parallel to that direction (U or V) will be adjusted)
-Pascal
Seems to work great in the U direction, but not so great in the V direction, at least on my example surface…
1.stp (24.4 KB)
But super impressive work as always so far, and that U & V direction display is just gorgeous. I’ve said it before, but the things you do should 100% be included by default in V7! 
Hello - what is the Plane setting when it goes wonky in V?
-Pascal
View.
I also now managed to get the U direction to go wonky on that same surface, but that was after clicking around a fair bit. 
OK, I see - thanks…
I think this is fixed - I refreshed the file above.
-Pascal
Holy shit. Does the “Auto” option create a temporary local plane between the end points and the selected control point and then planarizes according to that? (That’s actually called “Best Fit” in Alias, but I’ve never used it.) 
Seems so, and I think that may just be the superior way of doing things. Amazing! (And I haven’t been able to make it wig out yet either.) 
EDIT: Super quick icon, because I need this in my toolbar… 
(Doesn’t really work with the white background on this forum, though…)
Yeah, Auto just finds a best fit plane through the entire row of points. BTW, in general, if I did it right, the points should get to whatever plane they use via their control polygons, not the shortest path - that way points in the first and second rows move without affecting the tangent direction at the edge.
-Pascal
This should be in default Rhino 
Ouch, discovered that your script doesn’t leave the end points in place… which has the potential to ruin G0 alignment:
Any chance for an option to only adjust internal control points unless you explicitly select an edge control point?
If there are 3 points in a row script should not do anything right?
Hello - I’m not sure what I am looking at there - can you post the surface? OK, I see - right, it moves the entire row…using the 2pt option and snapping to the edge point may be one way out. With the Auto plane I can make it anchor on the ends too, I suppose…
-Pascal
Looking forward to this anchor option, if you get the time to do it!
Hello - this one does what you’re asking, I think - it just does it - should it be optional?
- Finds a best fit plane through the row points
- Finds an average location of all the points except the end ones
- Pulls that average point to the plane
- Makes a plane through the two ends and the point on the first plane.
It’s kind of fudgey… does that make sense as a final plane?
PlanarizeSurfacePoints.py (18.8 KB)
To use the Python script use RunPythonScript, or a macro:
_-RunPythonScript "Full path to py file inside double-quotes"
-Pascal
Yes! Only did a brief test, but this seems perfect. 100% fulfills my needs. Thank you so very much! 