PistonPusher v7.4.4

How to video on ‘imported’ pistons. It also deals with an edge case, when a design has multiple rods that each have their own ‘sub’ objects.

Pistonpusher 1.7.3 is available!

Changed: Some (pop up/n) panel features are now disabled when the custom center location is enabled.

Changed: custom center/armature solver/object location overlay is now only available once piston is prepared.

A little preview of 1.8:

ezgif-2-9030a9fc2aad
1

A way to turn block in cylinders into pistons. It will have a decent amount of parameters to tweak and can be used to quickly create all kinds of shapes.

It can also just spawn a ‘piston’ at world origin if no object is selected.

1.8 is available for download

Only this tool has been added, Create a/To piston

It does exactly what it says :smiley:

Preview of next update(tomorrow):


New parts and pistons! With this update I also want to show some love to Decal Machine’s slice feature. @MACHIN3 has been so kind to allow me to use them. I hope this shows users who have both add-ons how to utilize this awesome feature of decal machine.

1 Like

Why am I not watching this thread already? Great work! I need to play with this.

1 Like

The new mounts and pistons are available, kpack has been updated as well!

  • Changed/added: 15 mounts have been added. Some parts have been removed/replaced. 1 connector/cap was added as well.
  • Added: 7 new pistons. Most of these use slice decals one way or another. They offer a superior way to add commonly found details without actually altering the geometry.

The kpack got a new member in its bolts/nuts category in addition to being updated with the new pistons.

Pistonpusher now comes with 29 pistons and 45+ parts!








Some pistons are not shown, the ‘azari’ piston is included (without decal however). The piston/shockdamper that I used for the landing gear have also been added.

A note to users who did not subscribe for emails:

If you added parts yourself, you may have to rename/resave them and take care not to overwrite them!

version 1.9 is available, with a new snap tool, the replacement for the snap modal.

This release also brings some other fixes/changes:

  • New piston instances no longer inherit child-of constraints from the last instance.
  • Track to and apply does not rely on modifiers anymore. You can now specify a track and up axis.
  • Fixed an issue with how telescopic pistons are rigged, rod bones no longer ignore Y rotation. * Create piston now checks whether the active object is also really selected.

Another week and at least 1 more update!

version 2.0 - Snap modal v2

This is a preview/video about the new snap modal!

I’m also on twitter

1 Like

2.0 is available!

Added: Snap modal with cycle piston/sub dir is back. You can choose whether you want to use the current snap tool or this modal in addon preferences.

hotkeys:

S - toggle scaling

R - rotate by 45 degrees along local Y

E - toggle length anchor position

c - constrain on finish

LEFT arrow - cycle piston type

RIGHT arrow - cycle sub directories

mouse wheel up/down - toggle direction

SHIFT - sensitivity modifier

For reasons related to consistency and ease of use, the target empties have to be aligned along their local Y axes. The tool can be used to re-snap a piston that’s already constrained. It also ‘restores’ a piston to its default set up, so that the B empty is a child of the armature again before it gets snapped.

2 piston have been changed, the first one and the ‘plunger’ of the mx1001 directory. This tool comes with a requirement namely:

For the snap modal to work properly, a piston always needs an armature and a B empty. If you cycle through pistons and a type does not have one of these, it should abort.

The docs have been updated

1 Like

The next example file I’m working on!

https://twitter.com/aschellekens09/status/1459194532101296129?s=20

2 Likes

https://twitter.com/aschellekens09/status/1460087627349204995?s=20
https://twitter.com/aschellekens09/status/1460087562635296774?s=20

2 Likes

https://twitter.com/aschellekens09/status/1460289554871635969?s=20

https://twitter.com/i/status/1460600978688946179

(Noticed that I forgot a bone, causing the body of the excavator to rotate in an unaligned manner, a fixed version has already been uploaded)

1 Like

For this week’s release I’ve added 30 bolts/nuts and screws to the pistonpusher k-pack!

A preview of the next example file:
https://twitter.com/aschellekens09/status/1462950611704549376?s=20

2 Likes

Version 2.1 is available!

Added: ‘Flip one side’ option for track to and apply operator. You can use the track to and apply operator to align empties for the snap modal with this option.

Added: Bolts and nuts Decal pack (made for and with decal machine). Contains 60 decals. They are based on the nuts and bolts from the pistonpusher kpack.

Added: Mech leg example.

fixed: bolt 11, child part wasn’t a child.(k-pack)

1 Like

https://twitter.com/aschellekens09/status/1464308122298851331?s=20

https://twitter.com/aschellekens09/status/1465409646412410889?s=20

https://twitter.com/aschellekens09/status/1466468546544816133?s=20

fixed: Typo in add-on preferences save function.

Uploaded a short video that shows how to use/make Mesh Machine plugs with shrink wrap modifiers and pistonpusher!