I am trying to/want to place a hedge around a building next to a sidewalk. I drew 7 lines and made each of them a group so I could use them as paths with Skatter.
Here is an overview of the model showing the seven straing line groups.
Now here is where I tried to demonstrate the problem controlling the number and distribution of objects in relationship to one path (a straight line group).
To me, this is kind of a critical issue going forward.
Now for a request/suggestion:
In SketchUp you can use the move tool to copy items by clicking on the Ctrl key when moving. This results in placing a copy of the object being copied. Once you have placed the copy, you can then use the “/” or “x” keys along with a number to tell SU the number of “copies” to create and/or distribute.
If you place the copy next to the original object and then enter “x” plus a number, SU will add the number of objects and space them the same as the space between the first and second objects.
If you place the copy a distance away from the original object and then enter “/” plus a number, SU will create the number of objects and space them evenly between the first and second objects.
It seems like this would be a great method, if possible, for placing objects along a “path” in Skatter.
Well making some progress. Here are some things I have learned:
You can makes a set of straight lines a single object that will work in Skatter. I did this by taking the 7 lines I showed before and then using the Tig-Weld plugin to make the 7 lines a single group.
I got better results in distributing a better object along the single group (from #1 above). I liked the original bush a little better but had to pick one that can be distributed better.
I still have to learn more about scattering objects in a mask. I will keep trying this. I tried distributing multiple objects in a single mask. I think I need to rethink that.
Although I did make progress. I would still like to see Skatter consider a better way (like the SketchUp methods) for distributing objects. In particular when you are distributing them along a “path” (like my welded 7 lines). Although my method described above “worked” it did result and a lot of overlapping of objects.
Hope some of you find some of my “messing around” and posting here helpful.
To achieve better results, please try the “Grid” distribution type. This will place objects at a regular interval (“Uniform” injects a bit of randomness but for hedges you might not want that)
Objects sometimes do not appear at the start of the line because you have several line hosts instead of a single one. To get what you want, you might try to have a single group made of all your lines, then Skatter will apply the correct order.
Regarding objects that go beyond the line, that’s currently unavoidable because Skatter does not actually consider the object’s size or attempt to bend it to match the line’s shape. That’s not currently planed as a feature but we’ll discuss it internally.
Objects sometimes do not appear at the start of the line because you have several line hosts instead of a single one. To get what you want, you might try to have a single group made of all your lines, then Skatter will apply the correct order.
I thought I mentioned that in this latest version I did take the seven lines and used TIG-weld to merge the lines into a single line (see #1 above). That seemed to work well. I will try the grid method and see how that works. Sounds like it will do what I was looking for.
Now for another question:
I want to place some trees in my model and then put some other plants around the trees. I am not sure I understand how to accomplish that. Is there something I can read or a tutorial I can watch? I am sure I will need to use a mask for the stuff around the tree but how do you combine different objects in the same composition?
Yes, I thought it would be a mask but how do I make a mask around a tree that is part of a set of trees? If I place some trees in a composition can I then draw a mask and have different objects in the mask. I guess what I am not clear about is how to combine different objects in the same composition.
Is there a tutorial somewhere that will show me how to combine things in a composition?
Please check out this page of the documentation, there is a video that illustrates the process: Composition masks
Basically:
You create a composition A with your trees on a surface host
You create another composition B on the same surface host, with the plants that you want around the trees. At this point, you should have on the same surface, a few trees and a few plants scattered everywhere.
You add a composition mask to composition B and select composition A so that each tree creates a circular mask around itself.
Switch the mask between inclusive/exclusive depending on the desired outcome.
OK, I finally got some things to work. I am going to post 3 images but one of them (Scene 2) somehow lost the scatterd daisies mask the was included in the other 2 scenes. I will have to look at the file again and my have to recreate it (at least now I know how )
And here are the compositions I used to get things done. In particular notice that there a bushes around both the Beach trees and Maple trees (2 different sets of bushes)
