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Posted by Bubblobill at Jun 8, 2017, 12:57:34 PM

Baseboards, Picture Rails, and Cornices, with profiles, possibly SVG editor
This is a big ask, but hey, you enjoy doing this right?

On walls:

Add the Baseboard functionality to;
- The top of the wall, i.e. a cornice
- A variable set height on the wall, as in a picture rail
Provide the ability for all of these to have an editable profile (This would also permit wall baseboards to be used for non-square kerbs)
If the profile is defined by SVG, an SVG GUI editor
In fact, an SVG GUI editor anyway because cut-outs do my head in

And an easy one;

a new top view pattern for cavity walls (or the ability to edit/import wall patterns.

Here are some visual aids;
Profiles on walls

Cavity brick

Brick veneer

This all sounds like heaps of fun. Something to do on the weekend perhaps?

Crossing my fingers,

Jay

Posted by macmac at Jul 5, 2017, 3:29:37 PM

Re: Baseboards, Picture Rails, and Cornices, with profiles, possibly SVG editor
I agree!
I see a lot of 'Architectural Software' that only shows single-brick walls.

But why would anyone build a modern house/building with a SBW?
As much use as a chocolate fire guard.

Modern structures can have their outer & inner walls constructed from the tradition brick+brick or brick+block...

But there are many other combinations of different materials, eg: timber-cladding+brick/block or; timber-cladding+timber-frame
slate/tile-cladding+brick/block/timber-frame, etc,etc.

Also windows and doors can be attached/sit on the outer or inner walls.

Posted by okh at Jul 6, 2017, 2:01:11 PM

Re: Baseboards, Picture Rails, and Cornices, with profiles, possibly SVG editor

In fact, an SVG GUI editor anyway because cut-outs do my head in

Guess a GUI SVG editor could be nice, but maybe not that straight-forward to implement in SH3D/FurnitureLibraryEditor? And there is a workaround to GUI edit paths.

Inkscape has been equipped with some more settings over the last couple of years and it is now (slightly) easier to edit a cutout path for SH3D, provided you work with a suitable template, for instance like this for a window 120×100:

<svg width="120" height="100" viewBox="0 0 1 1" preserveAspectRatio="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1">
<rect width="100%" height="100%" fill="none" stroke-width=".01" stroke="pink"/>
<g stroke-width=".01">
<path fill="none" stroke="red"
 d="
 m 0.1,.5 a 0.4,0.4 0,0,1 0.8,0 v 0.3 h-0.8 z
 "/>
</g>
</svg>

The <svg width="xxx" and height="yyy" ... ...> parameters should be set to the dimensions of the model (not viewBox).
Save the above as textfile named whatever.svg (you can preview in a browser).
Open file with Inkscape.
Edit path, or create a new path with the path tool (Shift+F6).
You may have to change the stroke to a thinner line with Fill and Stroke (Shift+Ctrl+F).
Use the XML Editor (Shift+Ctrl+X) to open the bottom line and select the path and d values - and the path will appear.
In the path box you can edit (finish with Ctrl+Enter) or copy the path.

A couple of notes:

It is still necessary to have a basic understanding of SVG paths, seeing that you can, of course, start with any guesstimated path by substituting m 0.1,.5 a 0.4,0.4 0,0,1 0.8,0 v 0.3 h-0.8 z with something else:
m 0,0.1 h1 v0.8 h-1 z cuts 100% width and 80% height with a relative path.
M 0,0.5 L 0.5,0 L 1,0.5 L 0.5,1 Z cuts a "diamond" with an absolute path.

Shift+# will toggle the grid in Inkscape.
SH3D only uses the SVG path (Shift-F6 in Inkscape), so drawing other SVG shapes (polylines, circles, rectangles) will not work (but it is possible to convert other shapes to paths with Ctrl+Shift+C).
In Inkscape Preferences (Shift+Ctrl+P) - Input/Output you can change SVG numeric precision and relative or absolute paths according to taste (only possible in later Inkscape releases, SH3D will accept both relative and absolute paths, or a combination). Decreasing the numeric precision is usually a good idea as it makes it easier to read the path.
Inkscape often will change many of the different curve commands (a/A, s/S, q/Q, t/T) to cubic Bézier (c/C), and sometimes add additional co-ordinates. This does not matter for SH3D, but it is a bit frustrating as an Arc is easier to calculate on the fly than a Bézier curve (for me, anyway).
Inkscape will often also omit superfluous commands. E.g.
after an m/M command, the following number-pairs are assumed to be l/L, which means M 0,0.5 L 0.5,0 L 1,0.5 L 0.5,1 Z can become M 0,0.5 0.5,0 1,0.5 0.5,1 Z. This also does not matter for SH3D even if it makes it slightly harder to read the path.
The ruler on the y-axis is upside down compared to the SVG path values (annoyingly, I have not found a way to change this in Inkscape, but have not tried very hard), SVG starts top and goes down, the ruler starts bottom and goes up.
In the svg height/width I did not specify units (even if SVG allows for this), because I have not figured out how to adjust the rulers/grid in Inkscape accordingly. And it does not really matter; as long as the ratio is correct, the output is relative anyway.

In practice I would not use Inkscape for this, but open the svg file in a text editor, keeping the file open in a browser at the same time, change the path, save and refresh browser. That is almost a GUI SVG interface smile

The above is a topic deviation (I have no opinion about the other items on the wishlist), but I have long wished for access to advanced model properties from within SH3D, such as the SVG cutout. This is no longer very urgent for me as it is possible to edit some advanced properties in Home.xml within the SH3D file. That saves the detour of going via the FurnitureLibraryEditor. Possible, yes, but if you try, make backups and proceed with caution (some values in Home.xml have been converted to relative values and radians).

I think the question is how useful a GUI SVG editor would be. Yes, typing SVG directly can be a hurdle, but maybe not too difficult if you make your own models? After all, the auto-generated cutout will work for most imported models.

ok

Posted by Bubblobill at Jul 6, 2017, 4:24:32 PM

Re: Baseboards, Picture Rails, and Cornices, with profiles, possibly SVG editor
Have you tried using tools like this or this or this?

Posted by Bubblobill at Jul 6, 2017, 4:28:38 PM

Re: Baseboards, Picture Rails, and Cornices, with profiles, possibly SVG editor
Getting arcs to work is what broke my head. It is what made me want a SVG editor that updates live, enforces syntax, or just does GUI

Posted by okh at Jul 6, 2017, 5:46:55 PM

Re: Baseboards, Picture Rails, and Cornices, with profiles, possibly SVG editor

Have you tried using tools like this or this or this?

Interesting, thanks, I did try a couple of other online SVG tools, but not the ones you suggest. From a very quick look, though, they seem to suffer from the same as the ones I tried: it is not obvious how (or cumbersome) to adjust the height, width, viewBox of the SVG so the path can be copied directly into the 1:1 ratio used by SH3D. And some of them do not to arcs very well either. So, my money is still on Inkscape for GUI path editing.

Getting arcs to work is what broke my head

And you are not alone. Arcs can be a pain, especially when the model size (ratio) is different from the viewBox 1:1. But arcs are also so beautiful, so I cannot help trying manually the few times I need them. There is a reason I keep the W3C: elliptical arc curve commands in my bookmarks. smile

Now, as I am already in way over my head in elaborating the technical stuff, I should add that even if Inkscape will change arcs to curves when you edit the path nodes, it will only adjust the arc values if you scale/rotate the entire path. So a clever guess, some trying and failing + resorting to Inkscape in an emergency, usually will do the trick.

What I think is very nice, is reading suggestions such as yours in the forum. It is always interesting to see wishes from other users. So, please, not get me wrong, I do not disagree with you. An SVG editor would be useful/nice. But maybe not a frequently used feature? Which is why I have no opinion as to whether it should be a developer priority as really have no clue how much work it would involve. But there is some open-source code for SVG editing out there. For all I know, maybe it is possible the Batik path compilation tool used already.

ok

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Dec 15, 2025, 11:11:18 PM