3.6 KiB
BOSL2 Distributors Tutorial
Distributors
Distributors are modules that are useful for placing multiple copies of a child across a line, area, volume, or ring. Many transforms also have one or more distributive variation.
| Transforms | Related Distributors |
|---|---|
left(), right() |
xcopies() |
fwd(), back() |
ycopies() |
down(), up() |
zcopies() |
move(), translate() |
move_copies(), line_of(), grid2d(), grid3d() |
xrot() |
xrot_copies() |
yrot() |
yrot_copies() |
zrot() |
zrot_copies() |
rot(), rotate() |
rot_copies(), arc_of() |
xflip() |
xflip_copy() |
yflip() |
yflip_copy() |
zflip() |
zflip_copy() |
mirror() |
mirror_copy() |
Transform Distributors
Using xcopies(), you can make a line of evenly spaced copies of a shape
centered along the X axis. To make a line of 5 spheres, spaced every 20
units along the X axis, do:
xcopies(20, n=5) sphere(d=10);
Note that the first expected argument to xcopies() is the spacing argument,
so you do not need to supply the spacing= argument name.
Similarly, ycopies() makes a line of evenly spaced copies centered along the
Y axis. To make a line of 5 spheres, spaced every 20 units along the Y
axis, do:
ycopies(20, n=5) sphere(d=10);
And, zcopies() makes a line of evenly spaced copies centered along the Z axis.
To make a line of 5 spheres, spaced every 20 units along the Z axis, do:
zcopies(20, n=5) sphere(d=10);
If you don't give the n= argument to xcopies(), ycopies() or zcopies(),
then it defaults to 2 (two) copies:
xcopies(20) sphere(d=10);
ycopies(20) sphere(d=10);
zcopies(20) sphere(d=10);
If you don't know the spacing you want, but instead know how long a line you want
the copies distributed over, you can use the l= argument instead of the spacing=
argument:
xcopies(l=100, n=5) sphere(d=10);
ycopies(l=100, n=5) sphere(d=10);
zcopies(l=100, n=5) sphere(d=10);
If you don't want the line of copies centered on the origin, you can give a starting
point, sp=, and the line of copies will start there. For xcopies(), the line of
copies will extend to the right of the starting point.
xcopies(20, n=5, sp=[0,0,0]) sphere(d=10);
For ycopies(), the line of copies will extend to the back of the starting point.
ycopies(20, n=5, sp=[0,0,0]) sphere(d=10);
For zcopies(), the line of copies will extend upwards from the starting point.
zcopies(20, n=5, sp=[0,0,0]) sphere(d=10);
If you need to distribute copies along an arbitrary line, you can use the
line_of() command. You can give both the direction vector and the spacing
of the line of copies with the spacing= argument:
line_of(spacing=(BACK+RIGHT)*20, n=5) sphere(d=10);
With the p1= argument, you can specify the starting point of the line:
line_of(spacing=(BACK+RIGHT)*20, n=5, p1=[0,0,0]) sphere(d=10);
IF you give both p1= and p2=, you can nail down both the start and endpoints
of the line of copies:
line_of(p1=[0,100,0], p2=[100,0,0], n=4)
sphere(d=10);
You can also spread copies across a 2D area using the grid2d()
Rotational Distributors
You can make six copies of a cone, rotated around a center:
zrot_copies(n=6) yrot(90) cylinder(h=50,d1=0,d2=20);
To Be Completed