Hi Everyone, I'd love to post our lab, however we're still in a stage of patenting parts of the process so I think the best thing would be to first remove the equipment I've put into the lab before posting the lab itself. I'll get to that sometime this week while at work. Tom PS: "atoddb", you're SO close to figuring out the 'code'! P: atomb

whosamama, One important point: you shouldn't click into the VCB box to enter you values! Just as Dylan said, after starting your first endpoint with a ractangle for instance, release the cursor, start typing and hit Enter. For some European computers however you need to type a semicolon (;) instead of a comma (,) to separate the values. The units are not necessarily needed if you have set them in the template you are using. To learn more about the correct (and extensive) use of the VCB, see the Usres Guide - especially at the en of each section it tell you tips&tricks about the VCB: http://download.sketchup.com/sketchuphelp/gsu6_win/gsuwin.html Have fun (and yes; welcome here, too! )

lemastre, I dont know shat version you are working with, but the software is definatly more powerful than the price! The possibilities with SU are there, you just have to quit thinking your working with cad. Hang out around here, check out back-to-school tutorials, the standard SU tuts, and there was a guy around named diedre bur (sorry about messing up the name) who had some very good plan drawing tutorials that will get you started quick. I think he is found on the Spirit Cad site. If that doesn't work I can get you a contact. good luck.

thanks Tom, I had initially tried that and didnt get any change, I just changed Enable Length Snapping (un-checked) and the restriction to 1/16" is now enabled. Doesn't quite make sense that unchecking makes less snap possible. Thanks for your advice

i would like to add that if ur importing ACAD dwgs.. please make sure u have all the lines in one single layer.. (for this i make a separate cad file called "SU Export" or similar and do it so as not to harm the original file) usually all the layers from ACAD makes navigation with the SU layers sooo damn difficult!!! thanx!

Bert, that's what we are all here for; learning and sharing... I have learnt a lot from this or the "old" and even the "Freee GGroups" forums...

Thanks a bunch! P: Fidly

Well, Ryan, Nothing is easier than that, have a look at the SU Guide here: http://download.sketchup.com/sketchuphelp/gsu6_win/Content/I-Construction_Tools/ConTool-SectionPlane.htm Also, I'd warmly suggest to go through every pages of it: http://download.sketchup.com/sketchuphelp/gsu6_win/gsuwin.html I'm still learning a lot from there. When I started SU, of course, I also just jumped into it but then I realised I needed a much more systematic way to learn it. Go along the pages with your SU open and try everything - it's worth! Have fun

I think the toast-shaped room is interesting. :thup: (I'm new. Hi! Just got the program a few days ago. Here's the only thing I've done thus far: [image: HDSt2.jpg] I look forward to getting to know you, and this community. ) P: AcousticGarden

Clean and fine - if you really wanted this. Yet one more thing: go to Edit > Unhide > All and you'll have a hidden face to erase actually - on the face/front of your "platform" (good solution in picking a name though... ).

We aim to please

Gotcha. Like I said, before I import any cad file I clean it up to a fault. I make everything a polyline and make sure all lines are zero elevation. I also delete any door and windows in the cad file. No need for them if you are using the cad information in SU. If you would like, post the cad file and I can play around with it. You might have to zip it as I am not sure if a .dwg will upload but a .zip will.

Well basically the difference between a face and a surface is that a face consists our of one polygon, a face can also be called a poly. A surface on the other hand is as it says a surface and can consist out of multiple face's or polygons. I hope this helps, if not perhaps you can attach the .skp of the stairs and show us what you mean. ~ Rob

Hi Bill, hi folks. Move one of the points to which the dimension is attached. Just ideas.

Hi folks. See attached SU file for ideas. Curved_transparent_face.skp

Hi folks. If the leg is a component, there is no need to explode it and loose all prooperties like gluing plane, cutting holes, its name, etc. Just go in Component Edit Mode and do the cutting and deleting inside the component. Exit the Edit Mode after all is done.

Gully, this was my first method, but I need to duplicate these holes sometimes up to 25 times on one part. That's why I was seeking an easier method that would incorporate the hole into the duplication process. Gaieus, thanks for the thread reference - I've read that before, but it obviously didn't stick before. I just made a square hole component and will duplicate both components to achieve the desired effect. Alan, I tried it out, but I still have the original face without holes (see pic). Am I missing something? Thanks all [image: holes.gif]

render times - well, it depends from render to render. I have a quad core too. it is very comparable to other high quality render engines... and the new KT beta I'm testing is much faster than the current official release, but I'm not at liberty to say more right now on interiors I get great results using the KT preset 'Photon Map Medium +AA' this will generally get me something very nice at 2800px wide in about 30mins. for exteriors I us an unbiased render method called Path Tracing Progressive - this takes some time to clear up, but gives me nearly instantaneous 'preview' renders. So it's great for both uses. Since I'm on a quad, in less than 30 mins I will have great exteriors (assuming lit only with Sun and Physical Sky) Sometimes if the scene is extremely reflection and poly-heavy I can wait up to an hour or two for large px renders. For interiors of extreme high lighting quality and more than 2000px wide on unbiased render preset such as Metropolis Light Transport you can wait up to 12-13 hrs (I start it, go home, come back to finished render the next morning) This is similar to high qual + high res Vray or Maxwell renders.

Surely. Or 3DS Max or other programs. Just turn on hidden geometry to see that the mesh is really different from what you'd most probably create in SU.

Yes, basically these two sites. Most of the "free" scripts at Smustard (and many more) can be found on Didier's site (second in the list below) http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=6792#p6792 and as you can see, there are some more sites listed. That's about all you should start with. For landscaping, I could suggest you the following thread: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=6799#p6799 and an update: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=6787#p6787 It creates guide points (and then a mesh from them) from x/y/z coordinates of points simply as a text file as an imput (I myself use it a lot or "reconstructing" archaeological layers etc.).