Yeah, I started programming from the command line a long time ago. Folks since those days have gotten used to "point n click" interfaces ... BTW, POVray for Windows does have a nice IDE with integrated help, etc. It's even possible to add custom libraries and code for insertion into your .pov files... It's a bit advanced but a great time saver. Cheers.

Yes, I found this but as a Ruby ignorant was looking for an easier way

Vertex Tools is released! http://www.thomthom.net/software/vertex_tools/ SCF Thread: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=29636

That win topo program worked great! many thanks to everyone who replied

I am not defining the paths, I don't think. In other words, when I tell Sketchup where to look for the icons, I am simply stating the filenames, as the icons reside in the plugins folder of Sketchup, which is where the plugin is as well. Do I need to define full paths to the icons?

Hi TIG.. It is to bad...but thank you thou.. rico

Hi sketchup73, you can change the preset number of segments (and many other presets) by going to tools-->Fredo6 collection-->Tools on surface-->default parameters. Then you need to restart Sketchup in order to make that change effective. [image: tHEx_Cattura.JPG]

Hi Gene, the simplest and easiest way to make a spiral stair wit a hand rail ist to use Grow. First determine the dimensions and the design of one step and make it a component including the partly hand rail and than use Grow. For the hand rail you may use curviloft, or any pipe ruby or anything else. The hand rail in the first image was made by curviloft and the second with curviloft and convert arcs to cylinders. For Grow.rb look at this thread: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=20195&p=168380&hilit=grow Charly [image: sXv3_SpiralStair1.JPG] [image: 3J5e_wendeltreppe1.JPG] [image: itjh_wendeltreppe1.JPG]

Thanks Thom, I have done, but its a slow process. They are pretty good on the IES side but I am having trouble getting registered on their system so I can leave posts. You'd think by having 100+ licences of the software at the college they would give a bit of lattitude. Still, my clumsy little workaround suffices for the moment. Regards Paul

Don't forget to check the manufacturer's website. Sometimes a company will provide models for download and not post it on the wharehouse.

Yes - the older versions did that. Thought I thought it was only groups. I'm not 100% sure about v1.00 - but with SR1 and SR1.5 all you needed to do was reload the model. The latest, 1.48 doesn't have this problem. (though it still have a few other ones.)

Thank you! flatland it ain't

the smartdrop is so excellent !!! and the components seems to be very usefull too ! thanks a lot massimo

I haven't played much with the V2 beta, but you might find a quicker and more in depth response from other users on the Podium forum. They have good FAQ's and tutorials. The Podium staff may notice your problem sooner and respond as well

I don't think that repair_broken_lines.rb will close gaps. It looks like it just replaces collinear connected edges with a single edge. Sounds like an interesting problem. I'm surprised that there isn't a free script to solve it.

Thanks for the link rclub24. But, I think that's a little pricey for personal use. There is an architectural firm a couple blocks away http://www.a3studiotx.com/a3studio. I think they might have a 3D printer I can use.

I am thinking that one way could be building the whole shape (using Curviloft or the extrude tools by TIG), then create several surfaces (for example big rectangles) in order to intersect those with the whole shape. Then using JPP it is possible to extrude the right parts. I would like to use the Lattice extrude tools by TIG but it looks like difficult to manage in terms of frame. stef.

@thomthom said: @andre51 said: I managed to get a lisp routine to work in Autocad. You simply cross the contours with a fence line, input the lowest contour and the interval and the job is done in seconds. Thanks for the input TIG. By the way it is called chelev.lsp if anyone wishes to Google it. Sounds like a nice ruby plugin... That would be a wery nice plugin.

Many thanks for your help, Santiago. That video was very helpful. It does work in a way. I have all the geometry grouped now, but all in the same layer/with the same colour. So i have to merge the two files (the one with the geometry that has been cut and the one with the geometry in plain view) manually place each block in its respective layer. I need them in separate layers in order to change line widths and to keep it organized. This ammount of work would be similar to go crazy on boundaries on CAD, making it all on the correct layer from the simple SectionCutEdge layer. I'm starting to think i'll have to modify the SectionCut Face plugin in order to put things in their respective layers.