@driven said: can you post an example of one of these converted skp files? also, do they open as pdf's? john john : At the time, I kinda went into a panic, and didn't think about a screen capture. Good idea ! What I did was....I went into Control Panel / Folder Properties. And changed the file association to Sketchup. After changing the association of .skp to Sketchup. It listed the association as "Sketchup Model". In choosing what program would open these data files, it kept coming up either as Adobe Acarobat Reader or Sketchup 2016. I couldn't set it to Sketchup 8. And this part, for me, is kinda mysterious. After switching the association to Sketchup 2016, I was able to open the data files with Sketchup 8, Before, with the PDF title on the files, I couldn't open them directly....only using Sketchup. Now, I can click on the data files (containing the created objects) directly and Sketchup 8 opens. So now.....I went "backup" crazy, and copied as many of the data folders, at the time, to disk. ***As a side note: I thought my downloaded copy of Sketchup 2016 was a trial version ?*** garystan

Trimble MEP and 3skeng aren't cheap solutions, something like Profile Builder (currently at version 2.1) is cheaper and more versatile, you can also try the Engineering Toolbox plugin with the "Insert external Component" option if they don't already have cable trays.

A 'container' is a group or a component-definition [it's also an image BUT that is not relevant here]. The 'container' contains a separate entities 'context', compared to the model's entities context. So putting geometry into a 'container' separates it from its original context's geometry. A 'container' can also include other 'containers - aka 'nested' groups or components. Note that groups, component-definitions and even images are all 'definitions' as far as SketchUp is concerned. All such 'containers' can be assigned to layers to control their visibility... Images are a special case - a single face with a 'hidden' textured-material. Don't fret about those at the moment. A group is a unique collection of objects, copy it and edit the copy and it's not linked to the original at all. If you delete a group then it's gone. However, it's a useful way of separating/collecting objects. A component-definition is displayed in the model as component-instances - it is a collection of objects - copy it or place another instance and they are all related. Edit one instance and all other instances change to match. This is a powerful tool. However, if you want to split-off an instance the make_unique tool does that...

Thank you, Dave R. That was the solution: to disable "Hide when foreshortened".

@utiler said: Not that I know of mate. I'd just create two solids and subtract one from the other.... This is right! If you don't have a Pro version you can do the same with "intersect faces with..." from the right click context menu. I prefer using it most of the time as most of the time I have no solids.

You're quite welcome. Glad it helped.

Thanks Box... you're my hero of the day. Today has been a good learning day

You two are stars...very much appreciated

The plugin I posted above was actually developed for that minichallenge (driven pushed me into it!), but never published.

thanks, you saved me

I replied via PM.

Please pardon my ignorance but...I seem to be getting errors that say "input error: not enough input". Does the dome need to be broken up as (maybe) two separate segments for flowify to work? What are the appropriate steps I need to do in order to make this effect (again, please pardon my ignorance I'm very new to sketchup)

Ok, thank you for the advice everybody. Please give me some time to try every suggestion. If I still encounter problem I will try to post an example. Kind regards

Use Solid Tools

Reset Camera !! Bingo. I don't know how I set it in the first place. Thanks very much!

Hello, I have developed a workflow to set layer colours imported from cad. It has a few steps. Run a cad program (.LSP) that creates a file with layer names and Autocad Color Index number. Use MS Excel and VBA to convert the Autocad Color Index number to RGB. Import the layer names and assigned colours to Sketchup using Tig's layerfromlist.rb I can share the code if anyone is interested. It does require that you have access to run AUTOCAD & .LSP routines as well as MS Excel VBA. Cheers, Miner_jeff

Thanks for all your help guys, seem to be getting along nicely using a combo of the above!

Hi Garystan, not sure but I hope it should work this way ? [image: AV6O_update.jpg]

Hi folks. The Guide Tools extension also provide a Point at Center for circles, among others, in contextual menu. The procedure would be to draw a circle centered where you want a Guide Point, add the Center Point for the circle and then delete the circle. The remaining Center Point is then the Guide Point that you want. Its much quicker to do it that to write this. Just ideas.