Another way to approach this would be to create an "OFF" scene that records just the layer settings. Turn off all layers in the layer window and update the "OFF" scene. As long as you don't have objects on layer "0", it is now quite quick to select the "Off" scene and then turn on the layer you want. To select everything then just do Ctrl-A. There are a few discussions elsewhere about the merits of moving groups & components from layer "0". Hint: I also have an "On" scene to do the reverse if something goes mising.

I would suggest Component stringer ( http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=23616)+Bezier spline (http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=13563#p100509) Create a component draw the path and weld it ( you will find weld at Smustard for free) rightclick the curve choose convert to, choose divide polyline, set interval a little less than the height of the component select the curve and the component, go to plugin/chris fullmer tools/component stringer, follow instructions. This way you have a unique component . [image: oaBD_flexibble.png]

Does really nobody has any solution?

You will need to use a lot of segments in tour curves to produce 'smoothness' - as Sketchup makes curves of of short lengths of edges. Sketchup's Arcs/Circles can have their segmentation adjusted prior to extruding into 3d forms. The Bezier-tools lets you change the segmentation of other 'un-extruded' types of curves too. If you export as say a 3d DXF then Arcs/Circles will become true CAD Arc/Circles rather than segments, but not so other curve types that are made of 'lines'... But note that a 2d DXF treats all curve types as collections of lines. If you are not planning to extrude into 3d etc... then why not look at one of the free CAD tools [like DraftSight2d or FreeCAD] that have things like true spline tools etc built-in...

Again... What TIG means is that if you set up an animation with a scene transition of 1 second then export as image sequence with a 10 frame per second frame rate, you will end up with the 10 images needed for that day. There is of course some manual work left but at least you reduced render time to 1/10. [image: yaxa_BatchExport.png]

We have a SketchyPhysics subforum under the "Extensions..." forum down on the board index. That's the best place.

Thank you for your detailed answer. I think I will go with the seperate View solution. although it might be a bit confusing to have a preview in a different window which might get lost behind other windows and stuff. But on the other hand it seems far more attractive than dealing with javascript behaviour on different browsers (versions). Maybe the model in the preview View is even natively zoom- and rotateable? That would certainly be a nice feature. I will catch up on that, thank you so far.

Colin, it's good that you have it working now. Make sure you remember what you did for the next plugin you install.

Ok, I'll start using components then. Thanks for the help.

@harry_krueger said: Hi guys, thanks for the input. While the method you described works great for a flat surface, I am not able to adapt this so it works for a curved surface too. Take a look at the attachment. Problem is the round towers. Any ideas? Harry, Its a matter of a little advanced planning and then building up the structure. See attached model. Mike Battlement.skp [image: XnmD_Battlement.jpg]

Hey Kris, I am actually from Texas. Been here my whole life. I have always enjoyed that 70's look with a more modern twist. Flat roof lines, or with a slight angle. Of course I a huge FLW right fan and I always find myself looking through his books when I go to Barns and Nobles. HAHA So looks like I need to look into some add'tl software. Rob, thanks. I did play around with the light settings, but I am doing all this on my laptop, so when I start adding the fog and the lights..my poor little laptop just bogs down. Most of the time, when I am working on it...I have to keep so much stuff as components and on layers so I can turn them off when not working in that area or I wouldn't be able to do anything.

this? [image: troll-chair.jpg] or this ? [image: images?q=tbn;ANd9GcQq32WYgR9jkni3PZqTFYGmjc-0JvjjerP16jsNfsUTJRY1HgI36g] or... Sketchup is not very adapted for personnage modeling except maybe in toon modeling For more organic try the free Sculptris

Thanks, Mitcorb. That's helpful information. Meanwhile, after my last post I did some exploring and found out that I can edit the X-Plane object file in a text program such as Notepad so that the surface of the object is shiny. I tried it, and by golly it works! But I'll keep your info in mind for future reference when and if I have a need to use a rendering program. By the way, I chose to look into Kerkythea because, being of Scot ancestry, I'm naturally attracted to free programs. However, my impression is that there's a long and steep learning curve with that program. Have a great day, Bill

Hi jc, hi folks. You are correct, I forgot to add the file. It is corrected now.

Here's a link btw http://support.google.com/sketchup/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=94883 Was going to edit my post but had to wait for it to be approved by moderator.

@tig said: I Xray mode you can see the inside and outside of a solid object's "shell". You can then pick points with the TapeMeasure tool and get the distance == thickness... Also cutting sections lets you see inside objects and do similar measuring... Thanks TIG. Much appreciated.

Sweet, thanks.

@pbacot said: I have another. For working by sections. This requires placing cross sections (all from resizing one shape) and skinning the result. You can reshape the cross sections before skinning to account for shallows etc. Actual placement: might be good to draw lines across first to decide where sections go. Question is what gives a model that can look like real river conditions. This one comes out looking like a skate park. Nice! curviloft seems to do a better job than sandbox. I think one of the key criteria for a river is to have shallow inside bends and deeper outside bends, and of course some natural variability! So my original example trying to extrude a standard cross-section probably wasn't the right way to start! Cheers - Mick

Have you viewed your model [SKP] in Monochrome mode with a Style using a very contrasting colored back-face-material? I suspect that some of your faces are oriented 'backwards' ! Select a face and right-click 'Reverse' - or try 'Orient' [having preselected a 'good' face]. There are tools to fix it too... Avez-vous vu votre modèle [SKP] en mode «Monochrome» avec un Style en utilisant un très contrastées de couleur en arrière-face-matériau? Je soupçonne que certains de vos faces sont orientés «à reculons»! Sélectionnez une face et un clic droit «inversée» - ou d'essayer «orient» [avoir présélectionné un «bon» face]. Il existe des outils pour le résoudre aussi ...

Are you using dynamic components? They have a habit of quietly breeding!