When i built the mcjCastle prop i needed handrails for the stairs, and i wanted to be able to quickly re-build them.
So i wrote a script, then i improved it to build the castle wall's baseboards and crowns.
Basically, this script creates extruded moldings in wavefront ( obj ) format.
 
 Installation
The zip package is found at the bottom of this page
C:\Program Files\DAZ\Studio\content\ or
C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library once installed, it will appear in your content library, under
studio\Scripts\mcasual
or
My Library\Scripts\mcasual
The script is accompanied by a series of folders that contain molding profiles and some extrusion paths.
Since you may eventually add your own profiles and paths, it's better to install the script in
C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library because you have full read/write access to the files contained in that folder
 Use Here is the default state of the script
You can always return to this state by clicking on the "Defaults" button
 in the upper--left corner you see the extrusion path definition text, which we will call the extrusion path script
since the "View extrusion profile" option is selected, in the "blackboard" area you see the extrusion profile
if we click on "View extrusion path" now we see .... the extrusion path.
 "hardturn 90" means , make a 90 degrees corner
"move 16" means : "advance 16 steps"
by editing the extrusion path script you could create different rectangular and square frames
lets build it !
click on the "Build" button
specify the location and name of the mesh file that will be created : example : basicMesh.obj
a few seconds later the object exists on your disk!
click on the "Load Obj" button
this will load the recently created object in the scene
 The dimensions of the frame depend on the number of steps made by each "move" command ( ex: "Move 16" )
The length of each step is given by the "Tread" setting which can be found in mcjBuilder A's "Settings for the extrusion path" panel
The term "Tread" comes from the stairs building terminology.
The default value is 1 inch
You'll note at the top of the path script that we changed "Tread" to "2" by issuing a
"Tread 2" commandThe size of the extrusion profile ( the diameter of the tube ) can be found in "Settings for molding profile" panel
The default values were 1 x 1 inch
 Other molding profiles - the profiles library    More than 84 molding profiles come bundled with this script
the profiles ( library ) folder is in the same folder where the script was installed
( in my case C:\Program Files (x86)\DAZ\Studio\content\Scripts\mcasual\mcjBuilder\profiles\obj )
using the drop-down list shown below you can select other profiles
 Maintaining the profile proportions Each time you select a new profile curve, mcjBuilderA suggests a height
which will give the extrusion profile the same width-height ratio
as the original molding profile.
 Other profile curve options for profile curves like the U shaped curve shown below, you can de-select the "Close Profile" check-box
and the script will leave the extrusion curve open
 The MirrorX and MirrorY options let you reorient the profile curve
the red cross in the preview screen indicates the [0,0,0] coordinate, it's also the attach point for the extrusion path  The path script editor buttons
Load - Lets you load a path curve from a .txt or .obj file - if the file is an obj file, it will be converted to text format
Save As... - Save the extrusion path script ( a text file ) at the specified location.
Save - Save the extrusion path script ( a text file ). overwriting the last one saved!
Clear - Clears the editor
Paste - The complete set of path and profile settings will be pasted at the bottom of the extrusion path script
The Extrusion path settings Tread - the global scale of the extrusion path, Example: if Tread is 10 inches , and the path script contains
the command "Move 6" then the extrusion will advance by 60 inches. The path script may contain commands
that override this value.
Step Angle - when the extrusion path includes a "turn" command, this angle serves to control the smoothness
of the curve. For example, a 90° turn , with a Step Angle of 10 would give us a 9-steps arc. The path script
may contain commands that override this value.
Slope - with a default value of 0, the extrusion remains at floor level, setting Slope to a value of 1 means
the extrusion will ramp up at a rate of 1 " per 1" of extrusion. The path script may contain commands that
override this value.
 Radius if the path script contains "turn" commands, then Radius is the default radius for those arcs of circle
the path script may contain "radius" commands that override this default value
 Close Path - if this option is enabled, the script will add an extrusion segment going from the last point of the path to the first point.
note : if you create a straight molding segment and this option is on ... nothing good will come out of it !
 WeldUVs - The UVs, also called texture coordinates tell the rendering program ( Daz Studio ) how to layout the image
applied to the 3d model surfaces. When the WeldUVs option is Off, the script is allowed to cut the UV map in sections
and achieves non-distorted texturing, notably for rectangular frames. When the WeldUVs option is ON, the UV
coordinates for subsequent segments of the extruded tube are merged / averaged / welded together this introduces
texture-image distortions , but is often not very noticeable, and for this price we get continuous surface textures.
 Invert Normals:If you render an extruded object using Daz Studio's software renderer and you use the cartoony
shader or certain advanced shaders, the result may come out black! This is because this specific surface is seen
by Daz Studio as being inside-out. The extrusion profile and extrusion path you chose determined this. By turning
on the "invert normals" option, mcjBuilder will flip them outside-in.
technically speaking:
a facet is created by stringing vertices
if the vertices are given in the counter-clockwise order,
the surface normal is deemed to point toward the observer
and Daz Studio considers this side of the facet as being outside the object
if the vertices are given in the clockwise order
the surface normal is deemed to point away from the observer
and daz studio considers the observer side of the facet as being inside the object
... so it comes out black when using certain shaders
or inside out in the case of Poser
 Invert Texture X: depending on the chosen extrusion profile and path, the texture image may come out mirrored,
This option will fix this by inverting the U's of the UV map
 The Export as obj Polygon button - will export the current extrusion path as one polygon -
This polygon could then be used as the canvas if your path is a framed painting.
If the path has 32 segments, this polygon will have 32 sides ! If your path contains cavities ( non-convex),
then the polygon produced will not be usable as a cap/lid
Note that the paths exported using this method can be used as profile curves,
if you place them in your scripts/mcasual/mcjBuilder/profiles/obj folder !!
which is exactly what happened in the image below
 The "Update Preview" button : when you click this button, mcjBuilder re-evaluates the content of the path script ( text ) panel
and re-generates the graphical display
 Composing your own Path Scripts
As you could see above, the extrusion path scripts are in fact text files.
They are series of commands and parameters
When there's a parameter it must be separated from the command using a Tab
read further down this page for the much expanded sets of commands
The Update Obj button
This button is slightly dangerous but also a great time saver
it's like using the Build button, except you don't get
to specify which .obj file will be written to.
Instead, it over-writes the previously built .obj file
then it deletes all objects in the scene which match this name.
Then it loads the newly created obj file in the scene
if you want to protect objects in your scene, change
their name ( label ) in Daz Studio's scene tab
the idea is:
you write your build script
build it
load it
you see mistakes
tweak your script
click the update button
you see mistakes
tweak your script
click the update button
.....
The Export As Obj Triangles button ( New in Beta 3 )
In version 1 we had the "Export as obj" button which exports the extrusion path as one big polygon.
.
This polygon could be used as a Profile/Mold curve or it could be used as a cap/canvas/lid
this button was renamed "Export as Obj Polygon".
Daz Studio does not handle polygons like this very well, it prefers triangles and 4-sided facets
The "Export as Obj Triangles" button creates the same shape from the extrusion path but chops it into triangles
that share a central point
\
  The Export As Obj Tesselated button ( New in Beta 6 )
but if the path contains many concavities the result may be unusable. The "Export As Obj Tesselated" button will chop the cap into triangles but it will use the "ear clipping" method instead of the common-central-vertex method. ========================================================================================================================
========================================================================================================================
========================================================================================================================
All the commands !
========================================================================================================================
========================================================================================================================
========================================================================================================================
Repeat / RepeatEnd
The following will execute the "turn 120" and the "turn -120" commands 5 times
Note that ( for now ) you cant have a repeat block within a repeat block
Define / DefineEnd
note that you cant start a define within a define
in the example below, the name "wiggles" is given to a block of 4 commands
later on this block of commands is executed simply by typing "wiggles"
Example: The Define Command Without Parameters
optionally, you can add a list of parameters along with your definition in the example below, we are defining a block of commands named "wiggles"
this custom command will be accompanied by 3 parameters named "n, "a" and "b"
note how, within the block of commands, the parameters "n", "a" and "b" are used
to modulate how many "turns" will be performed and the angle of those "turns"
later when we execute the "wiggles" command we must not forget to supply exactly 3 parameters
Example: The Define Command with Parameters
Break
Example, this will create 4 tubes with a gap between them
ClosePath - Warning : for the current versions this doesn't seem to work well for multiple short objects ... it may even crash Daz Studio, its that bad
Example: ClosePath Off
Example: ClosePath On
WeldUVs
Example : WeldUVs on
Example : WeldUVs off
ProfileMirrorX
Example: ProfileMirrorX On
Example: ProfileMirrorX Off
ProfileMirrorY
Example: ProfileMirrorY On
Example: ProfileMirrorY Off
ProfileUnits
MoldWidth/ProfileWidth , MoldHeight /ProfileHeight and MoldSize/ProfileSize
Example using MoldWidth, MoldHeight and MoldSize to create many mold shapes from the same profile
Profile
Example: Using the Profile and Break commands to create 2 tubes with differing profiles
one that uses the "georgian" profile the other uses the "square" profile
Also note how i used the setScaleX and Move commands to create end caps
Material
Example : the material command
Group
Example : the Group command
Slope
Example :Using the Slope and turn commands to create an upstanding coil
Tread was 10cm
The radius was 3.183 * 10 cm = 31.83cm the circumference for 1 turn was 2 * pi * r = 200 cm
for 2 turns ( 720 degrees ) we moved forth by 400 cm
with a slope of 0.25, we moved 100 cm up along the Y Axis
=================================================================
Example: Using the turnUp and Slopw commands, to create a sideway coil
Understanding Slope Tread was 10cm
The radius was 3.183 * 10 cm = 31.83cm the circumference for 1 turn was 2 * pi * r = 200 cm
for -2 turns ( -720 degrees ) we moved forth by -400 cm
with a slope of -0.25, we moved 100cm along the X Axis
=================================================================
Example: Using the Slope and Twist command to create a screw
the profile size was 10x10 cm
Tread was 10 cm
The radius was 3.183 * 10 cm = 31.83cm the circumference for 1 turn was 2 * pi * r = 200 cm
for 2 turns ( 720 degrees ) we get 400 cm
with a slope of 0.25, we moved 100 cm along the Z Axis
note that mcjBuilderA Beta 3 ties the movement forth to the radius and the number of twists
this was not mathematically required but it has the advantage that the 3 "turn" types
are behaving in similar fashion
=================================================================
Example: Using the Slope and Move command to create a ramp
the profile size was 10x10 cm Tread was 10cm "Move 10" means a movement forth by 10 x 10cm = 100cm since "slope" is 1, the rail moves up by 100cm for a movement forth of 100cm
Tread
Example : Tread - note how i use setScale to "tie" the tube end like a sausage
StepAngle
Example : StepAngle
Radius
Example :the Radius command
RotateX, RotateZ and Rotate / RotateY
Example: Using the Rotate command to create a curved tube ( the hard way )
SetRotX, SetRotY, SetRotZ and SetRot
example, creating a curved tube (the hard way )
Taper, TaperX, TaperY and TaperZ
example, The Taper command
note how i end with a taperX 0 and taperY 0, to halt the tapering
TaperR
TaperR means "taper radius"
After using this command you may want to issue a taperR 0 command followed by a "radius": command
to put the radius in a known and stable state.
Example : using the TaperR command to create spirals and coil
SetScaleX, SetScaleY, SetScaleZ and SetScale
Example: Using the SetScale Command to create a cornet
Ring
Example: Using the Ring command
HardTurn
Example: using the HardTurn Command to create a frame
TurnUp/TurnX, Turn/TurnY and Twist/TurnZ
Example: using the Twist, Turn and TurnUp commands
MoveX , MoveY and Move / MoveZ
Moveto / SetPos / Pos, SetPosX / SetX / PosX, SetPosY / SetY / PosY and SetPosZ / SetZ / PosZ
note for advanced users - since we are "playing" with the Local Transforms of the nozzle node,
one could parent this node to another animated node and obtain complex shapes
for instance a coiled guitar cord
EndCap
The caps are tesselated using the "ear clipping" method.
Tesselation is derived from c# code written by Bill Overman http://www.codeplex.com/PolygonTriangulation
Maths and stuff sin, cos, tan, + - * / and a few variables - New in Beta 6
Starting with beta 6, the parameters you supply can be given as formulas instead of simple constants all the Daz Scripting functions are available so you can write Move 10*Math.random()the only restriction is that your formulas must not contain blank spaces to reduce typing overhead, the following math functions were pre-defined, so you don't need to type the Math. prefix
sin(), cos(), tan(), abs(), log(), pow(), random(), sqrt() so you can write Move 10*random()sin, cos, tan take angles expressed in radians use a formula as follows to convert angles from degrees to radians example for 30 degrees Move 10*sin(30*pi/180) As the script reads your extrusion-path-script and builds your object, it maintains a set of variables, for example, if you use the repeat command
it keeps track of the number of repeats performed in the form of a variable named "count".
In this section you will find the list of sucj variables
fr
The extrusion process involves the creation and animation of a null node named "extruder"
Each time a ring is added to your extruded mesh, a keyframe is added to the "extruder" animation
mcjBuilder gives you access to the current animation frame number under the name "fr"
so if you do
we can now put that nifty fr variable to use
and obtain consecutive ring scaled by a factor of, 0, 1, 4, 9, 16
count
When you use the Repeat command, mcjBuilder also lets you see the value of the
counter it uses to perform the repeats you commanded.
This variable is named count ( you can also use the old name grcpt )
For the first pass, count = 0
we can now put that nifty count variable to use
lets make a picket fence
note after building a picket, which ended with a SetScaleY 0 we make sure to set the Scale back to 1 by issuing a SetScaleY 1
the picked MoldSize was set to 3/4 inches by 3 inches when we do z/3 it means each picket is spaced 4 inches apart when we do Move 3 we're maling a 3 ft tall picket
curPosX, curPosY, curPosZ
the current ( local ) translation controller settings for the extruder node units are the centimeter
note that you can set the translation controllers using the SePosX, SetPosY, SetPosZ and MoveTo commands many commands modify the curPos values: TransX TransY TransZ Turn TurnUp Twist( sloped ) etc ...
example: building dome supporting columns
curAngX curAngY curAngZ
the current ( local ) rotation controller settings for the extruder node note that you can set the rotation controllers using the setRotX setRotY and setRotZ commands
Using the HardTurn, Rotate, RotateX, RotateZ, Turn, TurnUp and Twist commands also modifies them
curScaleX curScaleY curScaleZ
the current ( local ) scale controller settings for the extruder node
note that you can set the scale controllers using the SetScaleX, SetScaleY, SetScaleZ and SetScale commands
the current scale controller settings for the extruder node
 PathCap
The caps are tesselated using the "ear clipping" method.
Tesselation is derived from c# code written by Bill Overman http://www.codeplex.com/PolygonTriangulation
Var
Set
Trans TransX TransY TransZ
contrary to the Move commands, the movements are not relative to the current heading of the nozzle
the movements are not interacting with the Taper and Slope effects
Comment / Description / //
invertUVu
Depending on the chosen extrusion profile and path, the texture image may come out mirrored,
This option will fix this by inverting the U's of the UV map
Example:The InvertUVu Command
RotateUVs
in the example, notice the use of a different Material for each mesh
this was necessary because the tiling was not 1x1
Example:The RotateUVs Command
 ( DS-Nerd feature ) Full Daz Script Engine access
use of this feature requires knowledge of Daz Scripting though one could tweak the examples given here
In previous versions, mcjBuilder was using the eval() function to evaluate the statements in your scripts
it now creates a script based on your statement and executes it
so you can now do something like this ...
i get the position of Amy's head node and create a tube right in front of it
you could even summon a script! ... if the path doesn't include blank spaces
you could also animate a null node
launch mcjBuilder
and use the positions of that node at different keyframes
Here i animated Amy's arm, from frames 0 to 10
i selected one of her finger tips
the script gets the positions of that finger tip and uses it t move the extrusion nozzle
"tick" is the animation frame duration
so when we get the position of the finger at 5*tick we are in fact getting the position of the finger at frame 5
GetX GetY GetZ GetA
The bodycon dress for Aiko 3 and the one for Genesis figures ( found elsewhere on this site ) were built as a neatly ordered series of rings of 64 vertices
so if we create a tube going from the 1st vertex to the 64th vertex, we created a dress edge !
Example:The GetX GetY GetZ GetA commands
NEW in BETA 9.0 Version 9.0 brings you 3 new functions, loadObj loadObj : lets you give a name to an .obj file ( a mesh in wavefront / obj format ) example loadobj drop i:\z\halter.obj from now on when "drop" is mentionned it will be understood to be the file i:\z\halter.obj dropObj dropObj lets you insert position, rotate, scale the named mesh ( in an obj file ) at the current extruder's position, rotation and scale example dropobj drop
so the .obj file associated to this name will be added to your build at the current extruder position/rotation/scale nomatObj dropObj tells mcjBuilderA to ignore the material statements in the .obj file for the named mesh this way the surfaces in the obj file will all be replaced by the current mcjBuilderA material note: if you downloaded mcjBuilderA 9.0 around 6:23am on sept 16 ... there will be an update related to the setMat issue  example for the [ine tree above PathUnits cm radius 0.001 Tread 1 loadobj drop i:\z\halter.obj repeat 96 SetscaleX (97-count)/25 dropobj drop rotate 22.5 moveY 1.5 repeatend NEW in the 6:47am version the "material" command now works correctly with the loaded/dropped .obj  License by mCasual/Jacques You can use this software freely for personal or commercial use. You may not sell, resell, sub-license or rent this software in any way. you may credit this software to mCasual/Jacques THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.  |
