@gaieus said: 2007 October/November That's when I started my new job and began to use SketchUp. nostalgia

@richard said: Ok I cant find where I posted the first idea for this but have worked out a simple workaround for locating HDRI offsets in SU for exporting to render apps. I took out the previous process of needing to develop the sun / grid map together externally. Not nailed yet but in general: ROTATORS: Sphere mapped with a Grid (PNG) - the grid would suit the offset parameters of the render app! Sphere mapped with a JPG representation of the HDRI - this is UV mapped with the map relaced on use with that selected (via material edit). A sun that is rotated around the orgin to match the sun location on the above HDRI map. USE: (DO ALL ROTATES WITH MOVE TOOL) Drag in component and explode Replace HDRI with selected Rotate sun (X/Y) to main light sorce on the HDRI sphere Group GRID, HDRI and SUN - "Locator Group" Turn off perspective and orbit scene until objects in scene trace ground shadows as seen from the camera Rotate "Locator Group" until sun covers its own shadow cast. DONE read off the Offset Setting from the grid at the red indicator! ThomThom mentioned this as maybe being a godsent for other apps such as VRAY where the HDRI results cant be previewed. I hope that this might also be developed beyond my limits as a dynamic or ruby assisted process, would be cool. I can imagine once the sun is manually positioned to the HDRI sun all after could be "hit button, choose render app and bang offsets listed, or made available for the exporter plugin to read. [attachment=0:21jniyfw]<!-- ia0 -->globe2.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:21jniyfw]

It can be just right with the rotate tool. You only need to be careful with snapping to points, directions etc. Draw a flat plane, bring your objects to intersect with it and rotate with the intersection line as axis.

@tails said: AutoCAD WS!! Still don't think I can edit line colour. You should be able to. I just tried it and it worked for me.

@rattusnor said: @frederik said: Any news about the price for this plug-in...?? i would also like to know that. It looks like a powerful tool. His already talking about SDS3 so SDS might become a yearly release. If that becomes the case, I would say a range from 19 to 39 with previous versions going for free or dirt cheap prices. SDS2 must be the most highly anticipated SU plugin release of 2011. If any had to hap hazard a guess, how many SDS1 were sold? PS. Check out his Fb page for more info EDIT : Here is the webpage http://www.facebook.com/whaatsup

@tim danaher said: Nice stuff, fuzzion... what plug-ins did you use (if any) to get the beveled cut-outs on the red waste bin? As for the job, yes, it's great fun, but it's only two hours a week (due to some bullshit German employment law). Also, it's definitely for beginners.. I can't confuse them with plugins... the basic toolset seems to be confusing them enough... Mein naam is Yoshua (That’s all I know hahaha) It was made with Round Corner by our whiz kid fredo I had to limit the number of sides on the chamber because once I tried having 40 sides on an edge that was 5mm in breadth, the mesh edge formed minor deformities. I think the most important tool for product design is SDS by Whaat. The entire Chrio chair was made by SDS . In fact, if SU got rid of all the plugins except for the ability to draw straight lines, I reckon I could still make almost anything. And at $22usd with the current exchange rates, it is a steal! I really think you would find it hard to compose industrial designs without SDS since subdivision is bread and butter of the automotive industry and perhaps many others. *Yes im salivating at the new SDS2...Two words for it - Holy Cow !

@unknownuser said: Maybe google can make a special v6 with no shadow bug for you I am dreaming of that A cool after-sales service department along ten years

Thanks D12 that is what I am searching for and to apply it to a face as "Make Fur" is applied would be so useful.

@hassanykb: Are you talking about photorealistic renders, perhaps? Or are you talking about all lines in an elevation being the desired length? These questions lead to two different paths. What is your experience level with this program?

Thanks for the pointers.

The Alt key+ Move is called Autofold. Search for this in Sketchup tutorials. What it does in practice is: Sometimes you can click on a vertex and try to move it, but it seems to be locked in one direction defined by the edges and faces it is adjacent to. You want to move the vertex to a particular location that is not coplanar and not colinear with those adjacent parts. Autofold makes new edges, folding the faces so that the vertex can move freely, and keep the geometry "faced". I hope that makes sense. It is a very handy device for closing volumes or aligning end faces of push pull overshots or follow me overshots. I hope THAT makes sense.

Add this to list: Delete internal faces and edges concealed within the model volume if not pertinent to final result. That means editing groups, components, or loose geometry intersecting, piercing, or enveloping other stuff.

For my room interior projects I have created a template that has all the ortho views in place as scenes, together with their accompanying vertical and horizontal section planes, so that if I model the room around the origin, the needed views are all ready, all I need to do is slightly adjust the section plane locations. Anssi

@fuzzion said: The developer admits that su8 was released too soon. Huh, that's weird; I wonder why none of my colleagues let me in on that admission. There are multiple SketchUp developers, by the way. Got any sources to cite so I can be sure to tune them up? @fuzzion said: Once the SU team get the approval from upper management to stop creating additional tools already available for DL or purchase, and focus solely on developing a 3D CAD program that can utilise newer tech, the chance of SU becoming the Apple for the CAD world increases. You're right; we really have waited far too long already for those upper management folks to remove the clause "never stop reinventing the wheel" from our mission statement. We've really got to start pushing on that one! SketchUp could be more like Apple? I get where you're going, but be careful what you wish for, because we could be a lot more like Apple. Can you imagine? What if we didn't concentrate so much on liberating our users' data and providing it in a completely open format, or if we strictly locked down the Ruby interface so you could only run pre-approved plugins? Maybe then we could tie the 3D Warehouse to a single ISP's network and make everyone else jealous while charging our ISP's users out the nose for the exclusivity of it. Just for good measure, we could re-write the GUI to look like it's wrapped in aluminum and charge 3x more for it than what you'd expect to pay for any competitor's program. Of course, I did type up this message on my MacBook Pro.

Nice to meet you. p

@unknownuser said: @unknownuser said: Halroach, thank you. Wow, just had one of those "duh" moments after reading your first suggestion. So if you want the same camera view though for each scene, you set up the camera view first, then switch to the next scene and make another section plane active right? you can: after setting up all your different scenes, place the camera where you want it, and recheck the camera position in all the scenes. save one scene with only the camera position checked - that way you can snap back to your favorite position without worrying about anything else. That makes sense. I'll try it and thank you for responding.

Hey thanks a lot everyone, this has been very helpful and enlightening I now have a doctorate in selection and data on mesh surfaces. Love this community, best bunch of pros . The selection toys are super Thomas, you have some awesome skills in creating quality plugins. Fredo6, I don't think I have ever seen the Area within the contextual Menu, awesome, thanks.

J-O, I would suggest that you might consider showing samples of what you are doing, either full or partial drawings / models. I personally find it much easier to offer advise on a SU situation when looking at the drawing / model. My eyes start to glaze over a bit when reading long lists and I imagine the same goes for some others here. Just a thought! Mike

And the Follow Me icon!

@hellnbak said: Do you mean that it would not be... would be of great benefit but very difficult for modeling/display operations if not impossible. Thomas has elaborated already, extended information concerning this feature request can be found in the appropriate Google Group. @hellnbak said: It's such a shame... And I'm not "blaming" Google for anything. of course Norb.