@box said: You'll probably find it is due to the position of the cursor. If your cursor is on something close it will zoom very fast but if it is on a point in the distance it will seem to do nothing. Wow you're right! I tried zooming with the cursor on a line and then on empty space. Empty space=very slow to no zoom. Thank you for clearing that up.

Maruf You say 'weight' - but is it the actual 'size' of the resultant SKP file or the 'heaviness' == 'slowness' in editing or navigating around the SKP etc after the import ? Have you also kept the CAD files 'origin' [see import > options], if so then that can slow the SKP; also sometimes CAD 'Blocks' become SKP 'Components' with strangely placed origins, you can change the component's axes to somewhere more sensible by using the right-click context-menu... Have you used the SKP's Model Info > Statistics > Purge Unused after the CAD import as there can also be a lot of unneeded stuff brought in even after you've purged the CAD version first. Also run 'audit' on the CAD file after a 'purge' just to ensure there's nothing wrong with the CAD data before the import...

Glad it helped. There might be more there that you'll find useful, too. Feel free to look around.

@mistro11 said: This is off topic but I just have to say your name "humpmetwice" made me LOL! I'm new here and your name expresses my feelings every time I discover a new cool plugin. OK back on topic......... Long story on how I got that name but it stuck and I went with it, plus you don't have to worry about it already being used by someone else!

Once inside you can use the tool with the Eyes to "Look Around" while the camera stays in place. You just click and drag to look around.

Yes, you need an animation plugin...here are two that I know of Free: Proper Animation http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=74003#p74003 Commercial: Keyframe Animation

Thanks again. I'll be a regular as I am motivated to learn.

@mistro11 said: What do you call this sort of interactive presentation and how is it done? I would love to do that. That's an interactive 360 degree panorama rendered in Thea Render with a spherical camera (2:1 aspect ratio). Then processed on the web with a flash panorama player (the image is still the rendered jpg only the engine that rotates it is flash). You can achieve similar results (to begin with) with a plugin called CubicPanoOut which creates 6 images of a cube around the camera. Then stitch them together with GoCubic into a QuickTime Virtual Panorama for instance.

SketchUp v8 is a new install, not a upgrade to v7, so you start with a blank slate.

thomthom has a plugin... CityGen http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=314&t=19493 then you could grab the google earth and trace the streets.

will it run SketchUp? my samsung n150 with intel gma grphic card, runs sketchup. maybe slow, but its runs. for ion, yes surely, and fine, now is the 1215n that will perform better. i bought an AMD e350 fusion with ati radeon hd 6130, and works great, its a sony Y series vpcyb15 ultraportable. its the amd alternative to ion2 and dual core atom, with similar specs. search for redway opengl turbine benchmark on google, there is a test with AMD e350 fusion. test it with your actual system to have an idea how it will work. i had wrote a review of my laptop on this reply http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/sketchup/thread?tid=23584ae0fb095178&hl=en im replying this post becouse this two treads where my only findings about sketchup and nvidia ion. then i found amd fusion alternative, but with no info from sketchup at all (since sketchup comunity tends to be appart from ati card). and i think they are at the same level for comparison. im not a fan of ati, and before this bought i would not recommend ati for sketchup. i think since amd bought ati, things changed for good. don´t know for high end desktop cards. maybe i will still sitck with nvidia. But i think with time ati will start to find good reviews on sketchup and 3dviz comunities.

I'd use basic techniques to begin with. You learn faster that way. Here's a sequence to start you off. Use the scene tabs to work through it. It looks like the seat and base can be largely done using PushPull, Follow Me...and a little more bevelling to soften some edges. gaming chair start.skp [image: qrE5_gamingchairstart_thumb.jpg]

Hi Patrick You will really enjoy participating in this community. Welcome.

Are you putting them in the Plugins folder? i.e. Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins Have you gone to Preferences>Extensions and ticked all the little boxes?

Mistroll, I don't think it come in "clean" like in SketchUp, just minimal triangulation. The renderer at my office uses this workflow: we all model in SketchUp, she renders in 3ds. However, I don't see triangulation in 3ds as a problem if you're just going to render it, unless you want to see some sort of wireframe in your renderings.

Do you have access to AutoCAD? If so, you could convert the splines to polylines and control the segmentation a little more. Also, what if you save it as a DXF? I don't know how DXF deals with splines, but since it is a more basic format, it may help.

Can't believe it... That simple. I knew about those all the time, but not that they were causing all the trouble. Thanks a lot to both of you! Really appreciate it. I can finally continue... Im sure I will return to this place...

You can type any 'decimal units' as long as you include a units suffix. So if you are working in inches then typing 18" or 1.5' give the same result. If you are working in 'mm' but want something that's exactly 18" long you can type 18" and it will be made exactly that long [i.e. 457.2mm] without need to do complex calcs... Vice versa, if you are working in inches but want something 45cm long then type in 45cm and you'll get something a little less than 18"...

Ah, stupid me, yes, certainly PhotoMatch was an addition in v. 6 and I completely forgot. And yes, those specs are quite enough for SU.

I think I have it sorted. I selected one floor at a time (the bottom of each room) and did an offset. I then selected the middle sections and Push/pulled them up. I now have thick walls to work with.Thanks.