It's possible. We have a small number of components we use regularly that I could change, however, that doesn't stop someone else from being lazy and bringing a new one in however they want and not changing the layers beforehand. I think I may get an effect similar to what I want if I delete the layers I don't want and move them to the default layer. It seems to still allow me to control what I want for the most part..

Your sequence reminds me of this post. http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=40331&start=15#p393786 I haven't tried it. You might find the whole thread interesting. It looks like you got instant Terrain plugin too?

I've had some issues with dropbox sync too, although I continue to use it as it seems to be the best solution for keeping working files in one location so I can access them anywhere on whichever computer I pick up to use. I'm not sure it's a good idea to be sharing the same working model at the same time as this could lead to issues or files getting renamed with extensions where it sees a conflict. I think my issues may of been with larger files that took too long to save while there may of simultaneously been a dropbox sync happening? One process i am currently trying is to save my working files to a folder on my local machine (which I also think has other speed benefits as it is a raid configuration) and then use a "folder sync utility" like "Allway Sync" to sync those files to the dropbox folder. The automated configuration of Allway Sync will only update (sync the files) if there have been no changes to the saved file for a predefined period. I think (and I've yet to fully test it) this may be a more robust way to avoid conflicts? Absolutely, one has to wait for dropbox to complete it's synchronization prior to logging off or shutting down as those files will not be on the server and consequently unavailable to other shared folders ( a mistake i see many new adopters of dropbox make). Allway Sync is free with some imitations, and i know there are other similar solutions too. I would go with windows "SyncToy" but it requires manual sync, and to set it up in task manager is a bit too fussy and has limited options for sync times - unless you just want it to run once a day.

Dave and Chris - I'll use your suggestions. It sure would be nice if you could simply modify the world origin in a manner similar to the axes. Thanks for your help! Doug

@jgb said: Vertex Tools looks great but a bit overkill for me at this time. i can't figure out in wich way a piece of software that effective and with that price is an overkill.. just the merge vertex feature is about 245234533613644734% worth the money.. and the problem of small vertex gap is gone forever..

" But yes, if a mother component/group is on a hidden layer, you won't be able to see the nested components/groups, regardless of their layer. " I understand how layers are supposed to work in SU, and there are some advantages to the implementation. But I find this aspect can cause issues, even when following the good advice above. For example if I have a large project, organised into groups and components it is often needed to bring new elements of a cad import (raw geometry on layer 0) into groups / components to update them. It would be useful to be able to isolate (visually) the different parts of the cad import by a layer regardless of the groups i've put them into but the system seems to prevent this. Is there a script to ignore nesting and show visibility just by selected layer or does the way SU separates groups make this undoable? Thanks for the help.

@unknownuser said: Ok, I know it must exist, however, I can not find the solution. Is there away, or plugin that will export scenes created by me, to image files. I have a model with 12 scenes showing how to install the equipment, and I wanted to do an export of all the scenes to images files so I could place the images into a PPP. I did it by going to each scene and exporting to a png, but surely there is away or plugin to do this automatically. Thanks in advance Ken Ken, Your profile shows you are a SU Pro user. SU Pro has Layout for just such a scenario. Open SU model in LO.....generate a page for each scene(add text etc if/as).....export to .jpg or .png. Best, Charlie

The network licensing mechanism doesn't support mapped network shares (e.g. X:/Y:/Z:), use the UNC path only, e.g.: \ServerName\SketchUpLicenseFolder The folder used needs full read/write permissions of course. For moving a network license to a new server/folder just create a new license file from scratch. hth, Norbert

Also, look in Plugins Index under "tomot", author.

I have an app that supposedly works well with illustrator. It has different end caps. I wonder if you pm me the eps, I can run it through. See if it works to save you time? The effect might be lost on translation. IDK.

Thanks all you guys for those links

Fantastic, this is exactly what i was looking for, did the trick, thanks to you both, a whole day banging my head off the wall for nothing thanks again lads

It doesn't appear that there is, Paul. You can try it yourself by pressing the various combinations of modifiers and the trackpad buttons. You could use O, the default keyboard shortcut, to activate the Orbit tool or assign a different one. Once you have the Orbit tool active, pressing Shift will activate Pan.

In my work I've never found a need to realign the model axes although I think some folks find it useful. No matter what you do to those axes, though, the groundplane and north remain in the same location. Well, north can be changed but the axis orientation has nothing to do with that. I have seen having a number of models from others in which the axes have been moved or realigned causing the model to be drawn skewed at some strange angle.

try soften edges Window>Soften Edges

I suspect that the ball is not centered in its bounding box cube. If the axis reference is away from any edge, the ball will not rotate on its centroid. It will rotate on the centroid of the bounding box. As a solution you can explode the ball and then create a new comp. That will place the ball in the center of the bounding box. Rotation using the Move tool (on any of the 24 rotation pick points) will rotate the ball on its centroid.

@unknownuser said: When's the next Basecamp? Good question. We don't know right now, but given that our plan is to move to an annual release cycle starting next year, and that conferences are a great way to celebrate product launches, we'll do our best to make sure there's a 3D Basecamp in 2013. Source: A recap of SketchUp 3D Basecamp 2012 sounds more like second half of 2013. Norbert

Evermotion Archinteriors won't work in SU. Way to big. You can use them in Max or Cinema 4D. Greetz Twan

@mambo.harts.u what did you use? what plugin?