Block Instance Blues ;)

[Chris.Botha]

Hey all..

I use Gemvision Matrix, and it stores information about its stones as block Instances, no matter what I do I cannot path jobs that come from matrix without pathing over this hidden gem. I contacted them about it, they suggested [blockmanager] and then delete the blockinstance..

doesnt work, RhinoCAm still "sees" the diamond irrespective of whether its deleted or not

To date the only thin I can do is open a fresh copy of rhino and copy and paste my geometry from one instance of rhino, into the other.

Any clues?

see images below, path before i deleted block instance, then path after i deleted them.. same thing

Regards
Chris

[Mitch Heynick]

Have you tried the Rhino command Purge to try and get rid of the unused block definition?

Blocks coming from other programs are often problematic in Rhino, depending on how they have been defined. If your file size can stand it, I recommend using the command SuperExplodeBlock (native in V5, plug-in in V4) to explode all blocks including nested ones and turn them into geometry, then Purge to get rid of the unused definitions. Then distribute your geometry to layers and use those to decide what you want machine on or not.

Feel free to post a sample of block stuff that still machines after it has been deleted, someone can take a look at it.

The V4 SuperExplodeBlock is in RhinoLabsTools and can be found here:

http://wiki.mcneel.com/labs/rhinolabstools

--Mitch

[Chris.Botha]

let me test the superduperbazooka block buster.. brb

[Chris.Botha]

SuperExplodeBlock didnt work No blocks to explode. Purge made no difference either.

Matrix is a jsut a macro/plugin library for rhino, so im guessign tis using rhino blocks?

My typical workflow allready include moving my stuff to various layers on a per operation basis.

This is kinda the issue, there are no block instances left hidden or otherwise, but RC still sees the gem block instance regardless, I will post the file,

might help solve it..

[Mitch Heynick]

Hmm, this does look like a bug. Purge does get rid of the block definition, but if you call Audit, there is still one in the list, but it is no longer visible or accessible via the block manager. Somehow it is "stuck" in the file. Whether this is a Matrix, Rhino or a RhinoCAM problem, I cannot tell. --Mitch

[MecSoft Support]

When a block instance is not in use, Purge command should get rid of it. This probably seems to be a bug in Rhino. You can contact Rhino Technical Support regarding this issue.

Here is a work around - after you run the Purge command, save and reopen the file & regenerate the toolpath.

[Chris.Botha]

Thanks for the quick turnaround on that