[image: DdDf_clampthread.png] I would appear to me that you turned off the edges in an attempt to make the surfaces look smooth. There's a better way. After you do as Karina and Alan said deleting the interior edges or at least the triangles, correct the face orientation so all the outside faces are white. Blue goes on the inside. Then select all of the geometry, right click and choose Soften/Smooth to smooth the edges between the surface triangles. When you get finished, you'll have a very nice looking thread segment. [image: BFhI_clamp_thread_for_questions-1.png] By the way, I converted it to a component and hid (Shift+Eraser) the edges at the ends so it would give the appearance of continuous threads.

The PushPull tool only extrudes one face at right angles. To extrude a face along a path you can either preselect the path of joined edges, then use the FollowMe tool and pick the face so it's extruded in one step... OR have no selection then use FollowMe, and then pick the face and it lets you dynamically 'pull' the face along any suitable path that it finds, click to stop or it runs out of suitable path edges to follow...

@tig said: Why don't you post in the tool's thread and PM/email the creator - he is seeking feedback and ideas... Thanks TIG. Sorry only a newbie to the forum, but thanks for the direction. I have sent him a PM and hope to hear from him. Millzye 71

Thanks, Alan! A default template is a good idea, and I've got a few of those. I was just wondering about the default, though, because nothing is checked until I check "iso," and the screen does jump a bit, so I'm wondering what, exactly, is changing from the default.

Thank you so much for making the plugin available, Tig This has solved all the issues for me. When I used V7, I was not using your exporter - Carrara has no special requirements - a common fault was reversed normals and unwelded verts. I am not getting this with your exporter. Thanks once again.

Glad you did. As to scaling things up, I think it takes a bit of practice to know when you'll run into the small face issue. Basically, SU won't fill faces with very short edges so the work around is to scale up prior to doing anything that would result in those short edges. The operations that typically cause the creation of those short edges are Follow Me and Intersect. My approach to dealing with this sort of thing is to make a component of the involved geometry before doing whatever it is that will cause the problem. Then I make a copy of the component, scale that copy up (without opening it for editing) and then edit the large copy of the component as needed. when I'm finished with the editing work, I close the large component and then delete it. This eliminates the need to scale back down and potentially have to move the component back into place. Of course you can scale the entire model if desired, too. My preferred method does require components instead of groups though. I'll add that it is rare that I ever find a need to explode a component or group after I've made it. I nearly always just modify what I've already drawn.

There is a separately moderated SketchyPhysics forum. The main moderator is SP's creator; Chris Phillips and the usual helpers are very responsive. http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewforum.php?f=61 I have zero MAC experience, so I can't help there. However, since you are an SU newbie, tackling SP will be a steeper learning curve than it already is. Now I am not quite clear on what you are trying to do. You say you have 2 scenes with 150 tweens. To me that is 150 scenes, and that is not small. Are you trying to create a separate view per frame of video? If so that is overkill depending on your Quicktime frame-rate but I'm guessing here. You may want to post a few JPG extracts of your model, or perhaps the model itself, here or at SketchyPhysics and we can better discern how to optimize it.

TIG, That's an excellent reference. Thank you for making it.

I'm afraid that I don't use Vectorworks, so I don't know of any direct import option. However, you have answered your own question by saying you export to 3ds. A 3ds file HAS to be triangulated, because the format does not support quads. Therefore it's bound to come into vectorworks as triangulated...unles VW has an import option (like SketchUp) in which you can choose to have all triangulations removed from coplanar faces. You would be better using obj format as a go-between....if VW can import obj files...because it will not triangulate.

You are trying to fly before you can crawl... Learn to walk, then run etc... If you can't explain to us what it is you want to do, then how can you explain it to yourself? When I try to write some code I write it down in words, about what I'll do and then what it does etc etc... That way I know the steps my as yet unwritten code needs to go through... You haven't shown what it is you want to do. I realize that English [hopefully] isn't your first language; but there's always Google-Translate to help you [ http://translate.google.co.uk/?hl=en# ] - even if it's not perfect we'll probably comprehend its meaning - alternatively you can write in your native tongue [I suspect it might be Italian?, or if it's not something too unusual] and it can be translated by us...

@unknownuser said: When exporting have you Hierarchy checked? What about the Component Instances option? aye, that be the problem seems to be working now, thanks!

You could continue in this thread if it's still related to your kitchen project. Knowing several ways to do something is good because you may find cases where one way works and another doesn't or is much harder. Having a variety of options is always helpful.

Hi, Sonny: Quote: "..What i was reffering to was modeling the grill..than the sink or fridge or whatever else im putting in it.." Yes, that's what I thought you meant. Model main elements like the cooker, sink, base cabinets, wall cabinets etc. Then, arrange them. Also, consider what honolulu said. This is a good systematic way to see how things will assemble. And use the technique that Rich pointed out for getting quickly along. Happy modeling

@sgtslick said: Thanks everyone for your responses. Several options to consider and try. I'll be trying them all out and will see if I can locate the "culprits". Strongly suggest you post your model to 3d ware house and then url here so we can find it. There may very well be more than one problem and even if you find the " gaps" the surface may not form as you desire.

Great. Rubies tend to be very specific to what is required, but it really is worthwhile getting familiar with the native tools, as it is surprising what they can accomplish. Good luck!

blindleader, I know what you mean about trying to move an entity to a specific point because of fighting the inferencing. Give the plugin referenced below a try. Hopefully it will be the solution to your problem. Select point to move to then point to be moved from

Yes, selecting the whole line and then clicking "entities" works well, I think I just wasn't reading the box correctly before. Changing the size of the endpoints is also a trick I wasn't aware of, and that helps, too. Thx again!

Guys, thanks for the responses & sorry to get back so late on this subject. TIG: Checked out the contextmenuoptimizer & read thru' the threads; came to the conclusion that I am also a bit of a plugin junkie. So I did some housecleaning & basically did a reinstallation with a meaner & leaner plugin folder. MAC1: Following your advice & keeping a backup of all my important plugs. PROBLEM SOLVED! Thanks again guys.

Oh well, run indeed (thanks, I corrected it). The u and i are next to each other for my thick, sausage fingers.

This is really some system level issue with the codecs. Did you also properly install those downloaded codec pack? Which codec are you trying to use? Ultimately you can also export as an image sequence and compile the video in a 3rd party application like VirtualDub (or any other)