In fact, an SVG GUI editor anyway because cut-outs do my head in
Guess a GUI SVG editor could be nice, but maybe not that straight-forward to implement in SH3D/FurnitureLibraryEditor? And there is a workaround to GUI edit paths.
Inkscape has been equipped with some more settings over the last couple of years and it is now (slightly) easier to edit a cutout path for SH3D, provided you work with a suitable template, for instance like this for a window 120×100:
Code: Select all
<svg width="120" height="100" viewBox="0 0 1 1" preserveAspectRatio="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1">
<rect width="100%" height="100%" fill="none" stroke-width=".01" stroke="pink"/>
<g stroke-width=".01">
<path fill="none" stroke="red"
d="
m 0.1,.5 a 0.4,0.4 0,0,1 0.8,0 v 0.3 h-0.8 z
"/>
</g>
</svg>
- The <svg width="xxx" and height="yyy" ... ...> parameters should be set to the dimensions of the model (not viewBox).
- Save the above as textfile named [font=courier new]whatever.svg[/font] (you can preview in a browser).
- Open file with Inkscape.
- Edit path, or create a new path with the path tool (Shift+F6).
- You may have to change the stroke to a thinner line with Fill and Stroke (Shift+Ctrl+F).
- Use the XML Editor (Shift+Ctrl+X) to open the bottom line and select the path and d values - and the path will appear.
- In the path box you can edit (finish with Ctrl+Enter) or copy the path.
A couple of notes:
It is still necessary to have a basic understanding of SVG paths, seeing that you can, of course, start with any guesstimated path by substituting [font=courier new]m 0.1,.5 a 0.4,0.4 0,0,1 0.8,0 v 0.3 h-0.8 z[/font] with something else:
[font=courier new]m 0,0.1 h1 v0.8 h-1 z[/font] cuts 100% width and 80% height with a relative path.
[font=courier new]M 0,0.5 L 0.5,0 L 1,0.5 L 0.5,1 Z[/font] cuts a "diamond" with an absolute path.
- Shift+# will toggle the grid in Inkscape.
- SH3D only uses the SVG path (Shift-F6 in Inkscape), so drawing other SVG shapes (polylines, circles, rectangles) will not work (but it is possible to convert other shapes to paths with Ctrl+Shift+C).
- In Inkscape Preferences (Shift+Ctrl+P) - Input/Output you can change SVG numeric precision and relative or absolute paths according to taste (only possible in later Inkscape releases, SH3D will accept both relative and absolute paths, or a combination). Decreasing the numeric precision is usually a good idea as it makes it easier to read the path.
- Inkscape often will change many of the different curve commands (a/A, s/S, q/Q, t/T) to cubic Bézier (c/C), and sometimes add additional co-ordinates. This does not matter for SH3D, but it is a bit frustrating as an Arc is easier to calculate on the fly than a Bézier curve (for me, anyway).
- Inkscape will often also omit superfluous commands. E.g.
after an m/M command, the following number-pairs are assumed to be l/L, which means [font=courier new]M 0,0.5 L 0.5,0 L 1,0.5 L 0.5,1 Z[/font] can become [font=courier new]M 0,0.5 0.5,0 1,0.5 0.5,1 Z[/font]. This also does not matter for SH3D even if it makes it slightly harder to read the path.
- The ruler on the y-axis is upside down compared to the SVG path values (annoyingly, I have not found a way to change this in Inkscape, but have not tried very hard), SVG starts top and goes down, the ruler starts bottom and goes up.
- In the svg height/width I did not specify units (even if SVG allows for this), because I have not figured out how to adjust the rulers/grid in Inkscape accordingly. And it does not really matter; as long as the ratio is correct, the output is relative anyway.
In practice I would not use Inkscape for this, but open the svg file in a text editor, keeping the file open in a browser at the same time, change the path, save and refresh browser. That is almost a GUI SVG interface [:)]
The above is a topic deviation (I have no opinion about the other items on the wishlist), but I have long wished for access to advanced model properties from within SH3D, such as the SVG cutout. This is no longer very urgent for me as it is possible to edit some advanced properties in Home.xml within the SH3D file. That saves the detour of going via the FurnitureLibraryEditor. Possible, yes, but if you try, make backups and proceed with caution (some values in Home.xml have been converted to relative values and radians).
I think the question is how useful a GUI SVG editor would be. Yes, typing SVG directly can be a hurdle, but maybe not too difficult if you make your own models? After all, the auto-generated cutout will work for most imported models.
ok