Tuesday 8 January 2019

Blender 2.8 - Laser Slicer

I've updated the Laser Slicer script for 2.8. The Laser Slicer cuts up a Blender mesh object into slices and exports them to SVG for subsequent cutting on a laser cutting or other post-processing. This version is quite a bit quicker when doing an accurate polygon based SVG export, and offers a quick pre-view export too. There are now options for cut line colour and line thickness.

Code is now hosted on github and an install-able zip file can be downloaded directly from:

https://github.com/rgsouthall/laser_slicer/archive/master.zip


Bug reports can be filed on the github issues page:

https://github.com/rgsouthall/laser_slicer/issues


I've finally got round to making a video tutorial too.


For older versions that work on Blender 2.7 see the scripts page.

Blender 2.8 - Math Mesh

I have just made available a new add-on for Blender 2.8 called Math Mesh. A recent build of Blender 2.8 is required (post 7th Jan 2019). This add-on creates a mathematical curve comprising of vertices and edges between two selected vertices, and may be useful for repeating curved geometry like corrugated roofs. Sine curve and circular curves are currently supported.
The code is on github https://github.com/rgsouthall/math_mesh and bug reports can be made on the issues page there  https://github.com/rgsouthall/math_mesh/issues. The zip file of the github master branch https://github.com/rgsouthall/math_mesh/archive/master.zip can be installed directly in Blender by using the 'Install' button in the add-on preferences window. Otherwise move the folder within the zip file to the directory where your system keeps Blender add-ons. Bear in mind that the Blender 2.8 Python API is still evolving and may break this add-on in future.

Once the add-on is activated, and you have exactly two vertices selected in edit mode, the Math Mesh operation can be started with the alt-shift-m keyboard shortcut. Brief tutorial video is linked below. One thing I forgot to mention in the video is that there is the option to align the curve plane with the viewport view direction. Otherwise I think it covers just about everything.
Enjoy.