I’ve been playing with curves and I ended up coming up with this. Basically, you pick 2 or more objects in a scene, hit the “String It” button in the tools panel and it will generate a curve that goes exactly through each objects center. You can switch between bezier and poly curve types too.
I was thinking Christmas lights and popcorn necklaces. Things like that. At any rate, here it is…
# string_it.py (c) 2011 Phil Cote (cotejrp1)
#
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# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
# modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
# as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
# of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
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import bpy
bl_info = {
'name': 'String It',
'author': 'Phil Cote, cotejrp1, (http://www.blenderpythontutorials.com)',
'version': (0,1),
"blender": (2, 5, 8),
"api": 37702,
'location': '',
'description': 'Run a curve through each selected object in a scene.',
'warning': '', # used for warning icon and text in addons panel
'category': 'Add Curve'}
def makeBezier( spline, vertList ):
numPoints = ( len( vertList ) / 3 ) - 1
spline.bezier_points.add( numPoints )
spline.bezier_points.foreach_set( "co", vertList )
for point in spline.bezier_points:
point.handle_left_type = "AUTO"
point.handle_right_type = "AUTO"
def makePoly( spline, vertList ):
numPoints = ( len( vertList ) / 4 ) - 1
spline.points.add( numPoints )
spline.points.foreach_set( "co", vertList )
class StringItOperator(bpy.types.Operator):
'''Creates a curve that runs through the centers of each selected object.'''
bl_idname = "curve.string_it_operator"
bl_label = "String It"
bl_options = { "REGISTER", "UNDO" }
splineOptionList = [ ( 'poly', 'poly', 'poly' ), ( 'bezier', 'bezier', 'bezier' ), ]
splineChoice = bpy.props.EnumProperty( name="Spline Type", items=splineOptionList )
@classmethod
def poll( self, context ):
totalSelected = len( [ob for ob in context.selectable_objects if ob.select] )
return totalSelected > 1
def execute(self, context):
splineType = self.splineChoice.upper()
scn = context.scene
obList = [ ob for ob in scn.objects if ob.select ]
# build the vert data set to use to make the curve
vertList = []
for sceneOb in obList:
vertList.append( sceneOb.location.x )
vertList.append( sceneOb.location.y )
vertList.append( sceneOb.location.z )
if splineType == 'POLY':
vertList.append( 0 )
# build the curve itself.
crv = bpy.data.curves.new( "curve", type = "CURVE" )
crv.splines.new( type = splineType )
spline = crv.splines[0]
if splineType == 'BEZIER':
makeBezier( spline, vertList )
else: #polyline case.
makePoly( spline, vertList )
# add the curve to the scene.
crvOb = bpy.data.objects.new( "curveOb", crv )
scn.objects.link( crvOb )
return {'FINISHED'}
class StringItPanel( bpy.types.Panel ):
bl_label = "String It"
bl_region_type = "TOOLS"
bl_space_type = "VIEW_3D"
def draw( self, context ):
self.layout.row().operator( "curve.string_it_operator" )
def register():
bpy.utils.register_class(StringItOperator)
bpy.utils.register_class(StringItPanel)
def unregister():
bpy.utils.unregister_class(StringItOperator)
bpy.utils.unregister_class(StringItPanel)
if __name__ == "__main__":
register()
