@schreiberbike said: Thanks for all the information. In all my sketching up, I've just let the axes fall where they may and everything seemed to work. Now I see how complex this can all be made. Based on what I know now, I might have been able to fix what I messed up before, but it's too late. What is the advantage of being able to have axes point in all different ways? Another question: If I can make the blue axis line point to the horizon, what determines where the sky is? SchreiberBike, The advantages of rotated axes can be various things. It can help you to position components or in constructing geometry. There are more tools that do not act according to rotated axes (as with creating groups and components): paint straight from the material browser on faces is aligned to the original global axes. (unless painted on groups or components). Sampled paint can act in a different way. the smoove tool (without holding down shift) is always vertical according to the original global blue axis. Even when holding down shift the boundaries of the influenced endpoints is a vertical cylinder with chosen radius although the displacements are more or less perpendicular to the involved faces in the center of the circle) text labels on endpoints show X-, Y-, and Z-values to the original global origin, even with rotated axes. (most likely other features that I can't think of now). What will be the sky when axes are rotated? ALWAYS where original blue is pointing at. To reset axes right click on one of the axes and choose 'Reset' Wo3Dan

have a read of this: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4240 then ask again if youve got any problems.

The attachment didnt get included, and it isnt available anymore. Will include when/if it happens again. Sorry for the gibber

The problems you are experiencing are most likely due to Linework is not coplanar (some linework either sloping in the z axis or at totally different elevations) and / or You have dirty CAD linework - Overshoots, Undershoots, Lines not Intersecting correctly, Slivers, Double linework and other such Junk / Spaghetti. Try flattening all linework in your CAD program - if you have access to Autocad - the Command is FLATTEN if you have Express Tools loaded - then you'll KNOW its in 2D. ... Clean up the CAD Linework as much as possible if it's at all feasible. Alternatives - Visit Smustard: http://www.smustard.com/scripts/ Download 2 scripts - Flatten and Make Faces. Once Data Flattened - Run Make Faces Script. ... Hope this helps. Howard L'

@unknownuser said: Although this may seem too simple...I have run accross a few new SU users who are not aware how to set up their mouse to use the scroll wheel. The ability to zoom and orbit with the wheel makes navigating very quick and intuitive. I'm on a Mac now and used to use a PC. On the PC I had the scroll wheel set to zoom and orbit but on the Mac it doesn't seem possible. Care to enlighten me?

@daniel said: You'll want to place the different components (legs, slats, etc.) on different layers, and turn the layers on/off as needed in the pages. Do you know of any video tutorial links that can show me how to do that? Thanks Geoff

@danty said: Jeff -- I knew the answer had to be a simple one. That's what I get for working on past midnight when I was already tired from being up past midnight on SU the night before. I can't help it sometimes -- I just want to get ONE more part of the model done -- and (2) more hours have past. Much thanks, Danty Danty, Looked at both uploaded models, (also healing faces). In addition to Jeff's answers two things that could cause problems later: you tend to have several edges (length ~0") floating around in 3D-space. If you make Layer0 the current layer and turn off Layer2 you will loose part of the model. Going on like this will most likely let you loose control over(visibility of) your model. Wo3Dan

Hi Jeff Well it seems you are doing double duty tonight -- helping me out. Yes, there is no substitute for working methodically and with some care. What's the point of a great model if there are flaws early on that could have easily been caught -- but later on are nigh impossible to fix? I have started using line "color by axis" which helps out very well in catching errors. Now that you have pointed these technical boo-boos out I will be more able to spot them in the future. Thanks, Dantyu

Thanks for the replies. I think I will continue with my current setup. I don't think I can add more memory- the slots are full/unless I upgrade Motherboard. I may try to upgrade to a dedicated video card...I have 2 free PCI slots. Thanks again you two.

Maybe you can find something here 3D Warehouse 3D and yes all is free and all is in Sketchup format

If you change the style and click the 'refresh style' button (top right of the styles window) that should set the style. I think you then have to resave your template file to get it to load up the file properly. To do that you just save the blank file, wit the altered style, and then go window->preferences->template and browse for the blank file you just saved.

Glad you can fix the problems. Also looking forward to seeing the final result. Make sure to register at the KT Forums and start sharing your WIP for advices in the WIP Gallery section (the guys are very helpful there) provided you can share the project before finishing it.

The problem is that doesn't work well with my workflow. I'm using V-Ray for SU and when you import components it won't import the V-Ray materials. If I get time over the weekend I'll see if I can learn enough Ruby to make a script for this.

Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate the help. This will save me time and headaches.

why not just use the "push/pull multiple faces" ruby for this? That's what I use

Ask away Rascal. Welcome.

Hi freanznad, You can read about the material editor here (SU Guide > Modele settings and managers > Material browser). Transparency is somewhere around 2/3 down on the page (not too much info though when you learn how to use it you'll see that not too much info needed...)

Here's one I made earlier - for a lighthouse model. A simpler slab than used here but the nested components/groups show how it's put together. Bob [image: mOsT_spiral_staircase.png] spiral_staircase.skp

I've got to chime in on this one. The book by Dennis Fukai, "3D Construction" is excellent! It is a couple of years old, but that in no way diminishes the impact of the book. If one wants to learn Sketchup this is one of the best ways. This book not only teaches the "program, or software", but also teaches one how to approach the problem of designing and building a project. That is, the methodology is as, if not more important than knowing which tool to use to get which effect on the screen. I also want to say that not only is the book an outstanding resource, Dennis is a prince of a man. I was having a little trouble with the videos included with the book, and so I emailed him for help. He bent over backwards to get things straightened out, (it was a combination of factors which caused the trouble, and I wouldn't have solved the problem without his help.) regards rollin'

@gaieus said: Added v5 version Thanks for changing that for me Gaieus, And thanks Jean for the tip. Cheers Geoff