Align Object to Face + Get Face Dimensions

By br0t · 2011-05-15

Description

Hey,

I want to select a face in an editable poly and then have my script create a new Plane at the upper left vertex position of that face, and have the Plane be aligned to the face orientation. Like so:

So far I only managed to create a non-aligned Plane in the center of that face...

>>> How do I know which vert is in the upper left corner?

>>> How do I align an object to a face normal?

>>> Is there any way to get the width and length of a face ( "distance" comes to my mind, but again I do not know which verts to choose)

I want to create windows for buildings this way, any help really appreciated!

Cheers

Comments (1)

Swordslayer · 2011-06-11

If it will be a box and a plane, it's not that hard – this could get you started:

try destroyDialog placePlane catch()
rollout placePlane "Place a plane"
(
	local pickedBox, pickedPlane

	fn boxFilter obj = isKindOf obj Editable_Poly
	
	pickButton pbBox "Pick a Box" filter:boxFilter
	pickButton pbPlane "Pick a Plane"
	button btnAlign "ALIGN" height:25

	on pbBox picked obj do
		if obj != undefined do
			pbBox.text = (pickedBox = obj).name

	on pbPlane picked obj do
		if obj != undefined do
			pbPlane.text = (pickedPlane = obj).name

	on btnAlign pressed do undo "Align Plane" on
	(
		if isValidNode pickedBox AND
			(local faceSelected = polyOp.getFaceSelection pickedBox).numberSet == 1 AND
			isValidNode pickedPlane then
		(
			local faceNormal = polyOp.getFaceNormal pickedBox faceSelected.count
			local faceCenter = polyOp.getFaceCenter pickedBox faceSelected.count
			local faceMatrix = matrix3 (cross faceNormal [0,0,1]) [0,0,1] faceNormal faceCenter
			
			local faceVerts = polyOp.getVertsUsingFace pickedBox faceSelected
				faceVerts = for v in faceVerts collect (polyOp.getVert pickedBox v) * inverse faceMatrix

			local upperLeftVert = for v in faceVerts where v.x > 0 AND v.y > 0 do exit with v 
			local planeDims = (pickedPlane.max - pickedPlane.min)/2

			pickedPlane.transform *= faceMatrix
			pickedPlane.pos = [(upperLeftVert.x - planeDims.x),(upperLeftVert.y - planeDims.y),0] * faceMatrix
		)
		else messageBox "Pick something first"
	)
)
createDialog placePlane

As for the lenght/width part, in this case you can measure the distance between verts in different quadrants (viz upperLeftVert).