ROUNDCORNER

3D-Rounding of Edges and Corners

QUICKCARD V3.0 09 JUL 2015
1. Overview
RoundCorner performs the rounding of the edges and corners of 3D shapes along a 2D profile,
by default an arc of circle. It provides 3 modes: Round corners, Sharp corners1 and Bevel:

Round

Sharp

Bevel

RoundCorner supports concave corners (always rendered as Round) and non-orthogonal edge
faces:

Round Mode Concave corners

SharpMode

Faces non orthogonal

RoundCorner also supports corners with 4 or more edges.

Finally RoundCorner also handles rounding in a kind of FollowMe mode:

CAUTION: you should keep in mind that the Round Corner mode is very greedy in generation of faces and
edges. For a standard cube (8 corners), with rounding made of 6 segments, you would generate a minimum of 8 x
36 + 12 x 6 = 360 new faces (possibly 720 when faces are not orthogonal and corners must be triangulated). In
contrast, Sharp corner would only generate the rounding edges, with no corner, and create 12 x 6 = 60 new faces.

Sharp corners was the only mode supported in my older plugin RoundEdge (by Bezier), which is therefore
considered as version 1.0 of the present script.

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2. Specifications

Sketchup Versions: 6 and above (Free, Make and Pro). Works better with v8 M2 and
above.

Platforms: Windows XP, Vista, Win7, Win8 and Mac OSX all versions

IMPORTANT: RoundCorner 3.0 requires the Shared Library LibFredo6 v6.8 or
higher.

Menu: by default, it is installed in Tools > Fredo6 Collection > RoundCorner

Icon toolbar: by Default Round Corner. 3 icons are available:

Default Parameters: Plugin configuration and specific parameters, via a dialog box

Language2: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese.
As a general method to discover the script without reading the full documentation, check
out the palette tooltips and the contextual menu (right click).

3. New Features in version 3.0

RoundCorner 3.0 is a refresh of this now old plugin. The main evolutions are related to the
User Interface:
1) Updated button palette, separating the buttons in 4 areas: Edges selection,
Parameters, Edge properties and Geometry Generation.

2) Post-modification: You can now modify the parameters after the generation of the
geometry without reselecting edges. When one or several parameters are changed, you
can apply to the previous generation by clicking on APPLY CHANGE. As soon as
you select an edge, this option is no more available and the parameters will apply to
the next generation.
3) Detection of Overlaps: RoundCorner now detects the situations of overlaps and show
them in Preview mode and display a warning message before generation of the
geometry.
4) Edge properties: there is an additional control for edges bordering the corners.

Thanks to all kind contributors. You can generate the translation in other languages via the menu Translation
and publish the text file (extension .lang) on the Sketchucation forum.

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4. Installation
The original publishing of this script is on Sketchucation.
If you run SU8 and above, the recommended method is to auto-install RoundCorner via
the SCF Plugin Store available for free on Sketchucation (you will need to register but it is
free). You can also download the RBZ file on this site for installation via the Extension
Manager of Sketchup.
For SU6 and SU7 users, you have to Unzip into the SU Plugins directory from a .zip file (see
details below)
All installations however will end up with the following footprint in the SketchUp Plugins
directory:
one script file Fredo6_RoundCorner.rb
one subfolder Fredo6_RoundCorner. This subfolder contains the library files, the
icons, cursor files, language files (please do not alter, rename or move files there).
Name
SU Plugins root directory
Fredo6_RoundCorner
Fredo6_RoundCorner.rb
Fredo6_!LibFredo6
Fredo6_!LibFredo6.rb

Type
Plugins Root Folder
Folder
Ruby file
Folder
Ruby file

The Sketchup Plugins root directory is:

On Windows, SketchUp 8.0
C:\program files\google\google Sketchup 8\plugins\
On Windows, SketchUp 2013
C:\program files\SketchUp\SketchUp 2013\Plugins\

On Windows, SketchUp 2014

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp 2014\SketchUp\Plugins

On Windows, SketchUp 2015

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp 2015\SketchUp\Plugins

On Mac OSX, SketchUp 8.0

Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins

On Mac OSX, SketchUp 2013

~/Library/Application Support/ SketchUp 2013/SketchUp/Plugins

On Mac OSX, SketchUp 2014

~/Library/Application Support/ SketchUp 2014/SketchUp/Plugins

On Mac OSX, SketchUp 2015

~/Library/Application Support/ SketchUp 2015/SketchUp/Plugins
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5. Edge Selection
RoundCorner works on a selection of edges in the top level geometry of the current model
(i.e. it does not select inside groups or components) . It includes an interactive Selector which
allows selecting edges by picking them individually or by group (for instance, a curve), but
also by picking faces and vertices. Edges must have exactly 2 faces. The script filters the edges
according to their property (plain, smooth, soft, hidden), as configured by the user. By default
only plain edges can be selected.
Individual Edge
Edges at Vertex
Bordering edges of Face
Invalid Edge
Exit Tool
Launch Rounding operation
1) Selecting and Deselecting Edges by Mouse click
The general method is to click in the model to select and unselect edges. Selected edges will
appear in Red, with borders in Green. At any time, you can change the selection mode and the
parameters (using the palette, contextual menu or shortcuts), as described in next section.

Clicking on Edges
The cursor turns into an Orange arrow pointer. You can select or unselect edges by just
clicking on them (click down and release).
Clicking on Vertices
The cursor turns into a Blue arrow pointer. You will select all edges at the vertex:
- If all edges at the vertex are already selected, it will unselect them all
- If only some edges are already selected, it will select all edges at the vertex.
Clicking on Faces
The cursor turns into a Red arrow pointer. You will select all edges of the face. Note that:
- If all edges of the face are already selected, it will unselect them all
- If only some edges are already selected, it will select all the edges of the face.
When Show Hidden Geometry is Off, the face selection automatically extends to the plain
edges bordering the surface (as in the default Sketchup Select tool).
When Show Hidden Geometry is On, the face selection automatically extends to the valid
edges bordering the surface (if you only filter plain edge, the behavior is the same whether
Show Hidden Geometry is on or off).
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Double-click in the model

Double-click is a short cut to select all connected edges to the element click (vertex, edge
or face) .
Invalid target
When you mouse over an invalid target, for instance a group, a component, or an edge that
is coplanar or does not have the required property, the cursor turns into a Yellow arrow
pointer with a forbidden sign. The tooltip indicates the reason for invalid selection.
Implicit inclusion of edges
When a Vertex has 4 edges or more, you can only select one, two or All edges. So when
you click on the third edge, the script will automatically include all other edges, shown in
orange.

Clicking in the empty space

When the mouse pointer is in the empty space, the cursor will turn into a Green arrow
(click to exit tool) if no edge is selected, or into a Green check mark if there are valid
selected edges (Click to launch operation).
Clearing the selection
Type Escape or click on the palette button
2) Selection modifiers
By default, the plugin selects individual edges. You can modify this default mode, as in
HoverSelect.
CTRL alone: extend to Curve edges (if applicable)
SHIFT alone (Follow mode): extend to collinear and co-facial edges, as well as edges
which are roughly in prolongation of the selected edge (angle < 30 degrees by default, but
you can modify it via the VCB3). This mode also selects a curve by one of its edge.
CTRL + SHIFT alone: extend to all connected edges of the selected edge. This mode
indeed includes the 2 others.
Note: Ctrl and Shift keys works
- in Toggle mode (quick down and up) which sets permanently the mode
- in Modifier mode (maintain down for more than 1 second while selecting),
which only apply the modified mode while the keys are down.

Type the angle in degrees, followed by d

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6. Executing the Rounding

When you are finished with the selection, you can execute the rounding by 3 methods:
1) Type Return or Enter on the keyboard
2) Click in the empty space (the cursor shows a green check mark)
3) Click on the check mark button in the palette
When starting the operation, the cursor transforms into a Green hourglass. A progress bar is
shown is the status bar. The cursor turns Red when committing the geometry (which can take
long, a few seconds), and then Blue for the clean up part, usually short.
Due to the large number of faces created, the operation can take several seconds and up to
minutes for models with numerous edges.
You can interrupt the operation at ay time by:
- Clicking in the view port
- Typing Escape
After one or two seconds youll be prompted for your choice:

If you type a key which is a short cut to another tool, like Space, then you only have the option
to abort or finish the operation before leaving the tool.

Performance is very sensitive to the number of segments used for rounding (because the
number of created faces is square the number of segments!). Remember that Sketchup is
subject to the syndrome of exponential slow-down.

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7. Parameters for Rounding

RoundCorner includes a number of parameters that can be configured by the user. All
options are available via the VCB, the palette and/or contextual menu. Parameters are preserved
across usage of the script.

Parameters are preserved across Sketchup sessions. In addition, you have the possibility to store
the current state of the parameters in memory slots, designated by letter A, B, , which are also
preserved across Sketchup sessions (up to 6 zones).
Click on the small disk icon to Save the parameters
Click on the letter (when Yellow) to restore the parameters
1) Offset
The offset is the distance from the edge to the border of the rounding. It is always given by
reference to 2 orthogonal faces. If the faces of the edge are not orthogonal, the actual offset
may have to be adjusted in order to align with the borders of the other edges at corners.

In version 2.0, the offset is uniform for all edges of the selection.
VCB: The offset value can be set in the VCB by typing the number in the current model
unit (or indicating the unit after the number, like 3.2cm). Formulas are accepted in the VCB.
Note: the VCB supports both comma and dot notations for decimal numbers, regardless of your system
settings.

2) Profile and Number of segments

The rounding of edges is based on a 2D profile, which must be symmetrical. In version 2.0, the
default profile used is an arc of circle. The profile is also specified by a number of segments
(1 segment corresponds to a Bevel function).
VCB: The number of segments can be typed in the VCB as an integer followed by s.
NOTE: it is advised to use an even number of segments in order to split correctly the texturing on faces.

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3) Strict Offset (key F4)

When the 2 faces of an edge are not orthogonal, the offset is automatically adjusted based on
the angle between faces. The distance between the edge and the border can be larger than the
nominal offset. In some cases, this may be too large:

Strict Offset OFF

Strict Offset ON

4) Super Rounding (Round Edges only) (key F5)

Easier to show on a graphic than to tell with words! The option is meaningful only for concave
corners or corners whose faces are not orthogonal.

NO Super Rounding

WITH Super Rounding

NO Super Rounding

WITH Super Rounding

5) Direction for Pivot edges (Round Edges only)

Pivot edges is a simple concept to reflect the orientation of round corners. They are indicated
in dark red.

Pivot Edge Direction: Z

Pivot Edge Direction: Y

The Direction for pivot edge can be modified by typing an Arrow key or clicking on the X, Y,
Z buttons to indicate the axis in the model. The current active direction is indicated in the
small icon.

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8. Edge Properties
RoundCorner now offers full control on the properties of generated edges.

Borders in Red

Corner in Blue

Inner edges in Green

1) Border Edges
Edges forming the borders of roundings are created Soft (but not Smooth) by default.
2) Corner Edges
Edges bordering the corner shapes are created Soft and Smooth by default. You can however
alter this setting by selecting or unselecting the properties.

3) Inner Edges
Edges forming the corner shapes and inner edges for roundings are created Soft and Smooth
by default.
Note: if you click on the title button on each type of edges, you will set the edge properties to the
default value.

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9. Default Parameters
You can set persistently some parameters across Sketchup sessions via the Default Parameters
dialog box.
1) Parameters and Options of RoundCorner

2) Edge Colors in preview mode

You can modify the colors of the preview mode:

3) Parameters for Edge Selection

4) Configuration of the Plugin

You can also configure the integration of the plugin in Sketchup (toolbar in particular):

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10.

Limitations Known Issues

The variety of geometrical topology is such that RoundCorner may encounter situations where it
cannot provide a solution. In such cases, the script will warn the user by a dialog box and a
message.
1) Coplanar edges in Sketchup 6
In Sketchup 6, there is no automatic edge cutting as in Sketchup 7. Thus you may encounter
problems with coplanar edges terminations at corners, usually with faces removed:

Original shape

Sketchup 5 or 6

Sketchup 7

2) Sharp Corner mode when more than 5 edges at corner

Usually when the edges positions are not symmetrical and the option Strict Offset is turned
on, the script cannot build the sharp termination.

3) Triangulated shapes
When several edges meet at a corner on with triangulated faces, the script tries to connect the
edges. But be aware that the result is not smooth; this is because faces are not aligned.

4) Corners with 4 edges or more, among which some are concave

Here are some examples, provided by Daniel S. Not sure I can fix it.

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