Almost done! [image: 0iBN_rr.jpg]

Being an old metal building detailer I would also love to see something like this developed but I think the variables would be endless. My best solution would be to create say a I-Beam column as a dynamic component with the variables you need it to have like size,pitch,plates, and things of that nature. I may be way off track on what you were talking about if so I'm sorry.

From SketchUp (Pro), only the geometry can be exported so if you choose that route, you will need to do som post processing work in a cad application. Again, with the Pro version, there comes LayOut which would be able to produce most of what I can see there (hatching patterns should be done with images however). A so called "hybrid" output would be the ideal in this case - edges in vector while image files in raster format. LayOut 3 can now export to dwg/dxf too (I do not know how those image hatchings would look like though).

Hi effhas and welcome to SCF!

Don't feel bad. Been there, done that with many other features.>_<

Find 'JointPushPull' plugin and try that...

I'm sure you have already tried sandbox that last picture look like you did. Sandbox is very flexible for creating those organic shapes with triangles. Then you can tweak each one later. I have used sanbox to create organic walls or floors. Hope this helps

Make sure you apply the materials directly to the faces not a group or component. I found that if I do a UV unwrap in Blender, I can have full customization of the UV coordinates for my materials. Its not as easy as in Sketchup, but for in-game meshes, its absolutely necessary. I also found that I have to "triangulate" all the faces before exporting to OBJ because of the quads.

Thank you both for the welcome. I've updated it as you suggested.

What TIG says is ver important. Always model to real scale and separate your geometry by grouping parts together (or - when there are more instances of the same object, use components). Texturing should not be an issue. The part over the entrance can easily be textured with a projected photo of the thatch material and also the conical end is not that hard. We can get back to it when you finished those two parts and already have some good thatch material.

@jmurphy said: I was wondering what the best method is for converting a Microstation file (dgn) to a Sketchup file (skp)? A counterpart is working in Microstation while I am working primarily in AutoCAD and Sketchup. A lot of information is lost when the Microstation files are imported into AutoCAD. Please help, Jon There are no direct importers from DGN to SKP, that I know of... Microstation can export in formats like DWG, DXF, VRML, [other formats like Images or PDF would be relatively useless as the vector data is gone / compromised]... that can be imported into Sketchup Pro. With 'Free' import options are more limited... I have heard that MS can do KMZ format which is importable in any SUp version ? You might well be better advised to ask what file formats can be exported from Microstation - from their forums. Then we could advise what can be imported directly or vis another app - like Blender ?

THANKS GUYS!!! You all really helps me a lot! Really appreciate. I will try both to see which one suit my model. Thanks!

Very Good! and Thank you! The Tape Measure and Re-size Model advise is perfect. Also, I took a second photo to get the Origin set correctly in my photo. I'm sure I could figure how how to orient it inside of SketchUp, but after watching the video I realized that if you start on the right foot, your odds are greatly improved. Also, it was very easy (as a Newbie) to re-orient the photo keeping in mind what I was trying to accomplish. Thanks, again...

You could also use Tgi3D SU Amorph's "create mesh" command. There is a free Training Edition with a limit on the number of vertices to work with. It may be sufficient for your model here. Simply select any closed loop and click "create mesh". Create mesh generates mesh surface inside a given boundary with optimum smoothness.

Well, there are a couple of good plugins for working with terrain in general: Terrain reshaper to give your terrain a nicer, even subdivision: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=11320 Point merger (in case your terrains do not precisely match): http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=19838 Curviloft to stitching pieces in case they do not match at all: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=28586 Vertex Tools for super easy manipulation of meshes (this is a commercial one but very useful): http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=29636 and probably some more

Here's my result - it's fine.[image: 2VKR_Capture.PNG] Can you post the problem SKP here ? You haven't 'grouped' the lines etc have you ? What happens if you answer 'No' ? Do you get any errors in the Ruby Console when doing this ?

I do not have Adobe Premiere but what I can suggest is to stay away from the Cinepack codec. One of the worst available. Try something mp4 or similar. Although these are for video sharing sites, they are valuable info on quality compression: http://vimeo.com/help/compression http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en-GB&answer=55744 What I generally do when exporting image sequence is to export it at double size then resample the images in an application that supports batch processing with nice antialiasing. This will also make your edges a bit thinner and first of all, much crisper than the normal SU output. Then use a compression type that does not destroy the quality too much (Cinepack does unfortunately).

@bluesy said: Thanks, I just tried that and it downloaded. Then went to SU and tried to add one of the new textures with the bucket tool, but just the regular materials that came with the program were available. Am I supposed to put the downloaded file somewhere else? I can see eyeballs rolling all over the place! Well for me (on Windows), its an .exe file so just install it like any downloaded program...you don't have to do any thinking about what folder to put it in at all

See this similar thread http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=35860

I get the same when I download a file from the warehouse and choose to open (not download and save), too. I am also on XP.