Thanks everyone ,i solve the problem ,i use Bezier Spline plug and curviloft plug to build the shape ,then use the slicer plug ,so the result likes this [image: 20120614092833.jpg]

You could try switching on colour by layer in the layers box. I would avoid bringing in hatches at all however as they will clog up your model and make it very slow. It's better to bring in a simple line drawing and shade it in Sketchup. A quick way to fill faces is the 'make faces' plug in (http://www.smustard.com/script/MakeFaces).

Thanks Jason, I'll try that.

yes

It's controlled by the Styles dialog because it's part of the style as is X-ray, Back Edges, Monochrome, etc.

Tgi3D Amorph can skin such forms, I think: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxQjAL11IB4

I'm having this problem too. Anyone have any suggestions?

Hi folks. By typing toolbarsin the search field of the Help Center, you will find this: http://support.google.com/sketchup/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=70172 The Help Center can be reached from the Help Menu of SketchUp. Just ideas.

This might help as well? http://www.netfabb.com/basic.php

Thanks for your helpful replies! All good suggestions. I started naming materials but its the ones that come with downloaded models that I'm concerned about.the ruby MrMike pointed out is a big help (material select). Even though not perfect, it pretty much helped me discover what model brought in that dark red color. And if I select a material I have the opportunity to see if its in use and by what. Cool. I actually would rather make my own models to have more creative control, especially when it comes to material introduction. There's not enough hours in a day for 3D modelin when working on a deadline.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Will look forward to messing around with it!!

@tig said: But v8M3 fixed the 'grayed-out menus', as well as some other issues ??? You seem to have got yourself into a terrible tangle... hehe.. yep.. that's why I went ahead and downloaded it and installed it. I read the release notes and thought.. oh good - update time. shame on me

Got it now! Thanks so much

For me, too. Don1t worry. Those Google sites are so bloated; it will take a while till they updated everything (as it took almost a year to insert "Google" everywhere 6 ys ago)

@rich o brien said: you know thomthom has a plugin for exporting 2d .png? Yes, I am aware (thank you)just thought i would share this in case it offers other options. Charlie

I am not an expert at these rendering terms myself but I think both specular and Fresnel control shininess here. Specular would be the overall "strength" of shininess and Fresnel would be how much the light is reflected and how much of it is scattered (think of a satin glossy material or a sharply reflective one).

We may be getting closer - the only .skm files I can see are for textures I added. I have discovered that files that begin with a "." are invisible on Mac OS X. I have to go to the Apple store and talk to the guys at the Genius Bar. I'll let you know what I find out. Thanks for helping with this, Alan

Hi Sam, hi folks. @ak-sam said: Great tip Jean! I'd like to be able to delete anything that isn't visible in a scene. If by delete you really want to remove the hidden geometry from the model, try this: 1 - Select all. All the non hidden objects get selected. 2 - Unhide all and also show all hidden layers. All hidden objects appear but are not selected. 3 - Press and hold the SHIFT key to Add/Subtract from the selection. 4 - While still pressing the SHIFT key, do a window select to englobe all the model, including already selected objects. These get unselected while all the rest gets selected. 5 - Delete the selection. BTW, to show all layers you do not have to click on the visibility check box for each one. There is a trick that seems undocumented. You click on the first layer, then press the SHIFT key and, while pressing it, click on the last layer. All of them will be selected. Then, click on the visibility check box of any hidden layer and it will be shown as well as all others. Just ideas.

I was wondering when they'd starting using this type of maps. There's several other providers already out there. Even in Norway, a local provider has had it for a few years now: http://kart.finn.no/ It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for Google to produce data for my area - it's always taken quite a while before their product news reached this region.

It's so funny how that page gives a bit of a twisted view on plugins, especially on the photorealistic rendering. Just putting in an alphabetic list isn't the way to go.. I mean: Arielvision? Caravagio Render? lol ... They look like ray tracers of the nineties . When a Sketchup user is noob to rendering, they will get all lost in that list.