Ahh you're welcome. Thanks for sticking with this thread. I hope it helps speed up SketchUp Chris

Just what I needed. Thanks Thomthom! -Brodie

hi Tekkybot, I think it really depends on what you prefer. I am definitely one who creates too many groups than sensible. as Alan said, you mainly use groups to seperate geometry (prevent it from sticking together) and for easier selection. I normally try to group geometry like in real life - if I have two pieces of wood, these will be two seperate groups. a nail keeping them together will be a seperate group again... of course grouping allways has it's atvantages and disadvantages. [image: groupinghe1.jpg] let me explain how I would proceed in a model with the above example: the house is a seperate group of course, like that I am not in danger of selecting any bits of it, when trying to highlight the table the table is a component (because it is likely that I will reuse the table in the model lateron...) the table top is a seperate group and the table legs are components (remember: repetition of the same element - components keep the file size down) the vase on the table is a component (again: I may want to reuse this one in the model) I put the table and the vase into a group. why? because if I now move it, the vase will stay on top of the table. this group is definitely arguable, because it is not too much effort to select vase + table manually and the model may become a bit confusing. with such a structured model it is very easy to select only the parts, that I really want to change. the danger of selecting geometry behind the object of interest is small. but what if I want to stretch the table a bit? first I have to enter the table/vase group. then I have to double-click the table component. then I can move the two table legs. and finally I have to enter the table top group to alter its proportions. if I hadn't put the table top in a seperate group, I could have selected and moved both desk top and legs at the same time. in such situations you have to choose, whether you want a extremely structured model of a more practical one. Alan's approach of reducing the number of groups will be more practical. my approach of seperating everything gives you peace of mind unfortunately a global selection function does not exist. I suggested it once, but not many people seem to share my wish for such a tool. so my advice. better greate one group more than necessary and explode it again later, when you are sure you don't need it.

Henk, There is n option to intersect with context which would avoid such unwanted intersections. But the way you solved it seems to do the job as well.

Many of us have already "forgotten" what newbie problems used to be for us. It's always good to have someone "reviving" these questions also for the benefit of those shier newbies who only lurk the forums for answers to their questions (I remember doing this a lot in the old @Last forums when I was learning the program). We actually started the Newbie forum to encourage people like this to come out with questions about the seemingly most obvious answers so just go ahead asking.

heres a screen shot of how my model is going so far. its my left studio monitor which is a m-audio bx5 [image: bx5ep2.th.jpg]

ok, im exhausted! i had the day off today, so i spent from 9:30 am to 8:00 pm watching aidan chopra videos, i must have watched twenty videos or more! but now i think im ready to try my hand at some more modeling

Anssi, Thanks, I thought it'd be something I've heard of before. Have a great day. Ben

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP2i_2VkLpQ this video just explained a lot

I don't think you would find any argument amongst forum members here that the vast majority of models in the Warehouse leave a lot to be desired. A 9 MB car might be fine for a teenager to mess around with...when it's the only model in the scene...but try importing one or two to liven-up an architectural rendering and you have real problems.

Or simply thre Follow me tool?

I don't think I'm doing that, though. I draw two lines, then convert both to pipes with zero ID. I use the Intersect With Model to show where they touch, and that's where I run into trouble, when I try to back away one tube from the other for editing; the intersecting line says on the other tube. I figured out that I can select the pipe - and must also include the intersecting line - in order to move it for editing. That works better though I was surprised that when I selected the intersecting area and hit Delete, it also deletes the entire tube, but I can deal with that. Subject change: Somewhat related, my chassis consists of a mix of square and round tubing. Is there a plugin to produce square tubes the same way that pipes are created? I realize there may be an issues with how to orient the flat sides but having a tool would be much better than placing a square normal to a line and projecting it. I found when I use the Extrude or Follow me tool, it doesn't act the way I want and a plugin would be a great time-saver. Thanks again for the generous help and I hope to pass on the favor to others. [edit] Found this: http://sketchup.engineeringtoolbox.com/section-steel-to_2.html Don't know if it'll do what I want but I'll give it a try. Regardless, if anyone has a "Line-to-square-tube" plugin I'd like to try it.

If you can use a 64bit OS. If current software solutions at your office doesn't allow it, ensure that the hardware is 64bit capable in case you can upgrade later. Working with 3D rendering will quickly eat up your memory, if can go 64 bit then do it. (I'm now talking generally, not for just SketchUp.) The next Photoshop that's to be released soon will finally have 64bit support

thanx guys i understand

Ah, great to hear!

Well I guess the problems depend on what you are modelling. But most people find that drawing directly onto layers other than Layer0 (as opposed to drawing on Layer0, grouping then moving to another layer) almost invariably leads to a complete bird's nest of a model...faces on different layers to their edges...groups and components on different layers to their contents. The mantra for almost every serious user, right from the earliest days has been "Always draw on Layer0"

Thanks everyone... I'm still working on it and I will look into some of the rubies and the movie! Thanks for all your help!

I guess there's no need for embarrassment - he must have prepared for this. Anyway, they ll need to endure this for a version then rotate

That's sorted things, thanks very much for you help. Matt

What went free with v6 are basically sandbox print to scale (and other print) options - in v5 it was limited to "fit to page" 2d graphic export optiions - in v5 it was limited to screen resolution animation export (afaik) the ability to use rbs plugins What is still "missing": Export models in 3DS, DWG, DXF, OBJ, XSI, VRML, and FBX file formats LayOut (and lately StyleBuilder) Location tab in the Model info (Win only - funnily the Mac version has it - but Jim wrote a plugin for that already) The little [image: welcome-Plus.jpg] image however appears all over in the SU Guide according to v5. Google forgot to update this part of the guide (and a whole lot of things are also missing there - just think about intersect with selected or intersect with context which came with SU6).