The thing is the format, while relatively new, is used by some of the biggest 3d users in the world. I'm not talking about 3d visualization as is common here. I'm talking about Boeing, Siemens, Intel and the likes for sharing their huge amounts of 3d data.

Hm. I am not sure how it works inside nested components and where i anchors the texture when in several level deep.

My copy is suppose to arrive tomorrow. I'll write about it as soon as I read it.

If you don't plan to render it, you can use Morisdov's "Video on a SketchUp face using textured material": http://morisdov.googlepages.com/

thanks everybody

Hi, I had a closer look to the imported DXF 3D-Mesh and below the result, it looks nice but useless. Karlheinz [image: AWjt_DXF3D-Mesh.jpg]

@anssi said: @unknownuser said: SU seems to be very persnickity about drivers too. May be that when you try 6 or 7 that it might help to update your video card driver as well. On the other hand sometimes the newest drivers aren't the best so if that still doesn't help you can post to see who else has your video card and see what driver they're using. -Brodie My other PC has an old ATI All-in-Wonder card with a driver I downloaded when I bought the card. I wouldn't dream of upgrading the driver that has now run all SU versions from ver.3 OK (if I keep Fast Feedback off). I have tried to keep the "if it works, don't fiddle with it" rule. Anssi If you're one of the few lucky folks who's got an ATI card running SU with any degree of stability then I'd say you're spot on to leave it the heck alone! You've got someone up there looking out for you -Brodie

problem solved... Michalis was so kind to explain to maybe. I was a bit wrong about OBJ not supporting uv maps. I'll explain the workflow quickly here for people who are intrested: unwrap your object in Modo. make an texture in gimp/photoshop. apply it in modo. export to OBJ. import in blender. export as 3ds in a different folder with the texture in the same map. Remember 3ds files can only contain 3-5 letters. import into SU

Hm... Tom, you are still using version 5 if I am correct... In SU 7, these are the (bit easier) steps: First of all, make the one tree component you want to change unique (otherwise all will change). Right click and make unique. Now edit the component and right click on the face that has the image you want to change and again, make the texture unique now (note that though you have a unique component already, it shares the same image with the original instances). Now right click the face again > Texture > Edit texture image. This will open the image in an external editor (you can define in Preferences > Applications) and you can paint it whatever you want. Upon saving the image, it will instantly reloaded/updated in SU. Note that above I mentioned "faces". If inside the component, anything is in nested components/groups, you will need to enter as deep as to get to single faces.

You're quite correct Still - works in a lot of cases!

I'd try to turn off hardware acceleration in Window > Preferences > OpenGL for a test. Your SU would not be faster for sure but if your video card/driver has anything to do with this, that would indicate it.

I can surely try to get some

Not bad. I can do about anything with 3ds so that's good. That's interesting that it can import RAW format. Any idea what that's for? -Brodie

If you have digital info - say in a .csv file - you can use various scripts to manipulate this data into a 'cloud of points', and then 'triangulate' these points into a surface. This surface can be adjusted using the built-in Sandbox Tools. There are further scripts to manipulate the surface - such as 'drape cpoints' - which can then get triangulated back as a gridded mesh rather than a triangulated one and others to simplify, add contour lines etc... You can also make surfaces from 3D contours [Sandbox's add-on 'simplify-contours' will make it less intensive !] etc... To import data from a file as a 'cloud of points' get http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubylibraryDepot/Ruby/em_fil_page.htm [cloud_v6.zip] - it supports various data format - see its pdf help file in the zip... The script 'points_cloud_triangulation.rb' [which shows in the Plugins menu as 'Triangulate Points'] converts cpoints to a faced mesh - it's here... http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/points_cloud_triangulation.rb Note that this script also requires 'delauney2.rb' - which you can get from here... http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=117071#p117071 'drape_cpoints.rb' makes a surface into a regular meshed set of cpoints that you can reprocess - http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=179421#p179421 Hope this kicks you off in the right direction...

@putnik said: When an 'organised' script gets updated by its author, you have to go through all the steps again, which is a pain. I suggest you lobby the other authors to make their works Organizer-compatible. That would cut down on the headaches for users. @putnik said: All in all a better script manager is really needed. Unfortunately, a script manager relies on standards. If authors are unwilling to follow - or don't know about - the standards that allow the manager to function, things won't get any better.

Hmmm, no I didnt, but thats a good idea! I will give it a shot, thanks for the advice. There are a couple of those scale rubies out there for circular shapes I might give one of those a shot. Thanks Honolulu, opened up a whole new thought processes!

@jteselle said: This is an old problem -- just wondering if anyone has a solution. I am using SketchUp 7 on a Windows PC, with XP. I've been using SketchUp for a long time (since version 2) and have noticed this problem from time to time. I set up my window size maximized on my screen, with toolbars where I want them. When I exit and then restart, sometimes the application window opens correctly (full size) and sometimes it opens up small. I can't see any logic to it. When it opens small, I have to reposition all the toolbars, because they have been moved around to fit on the small window. Any ideas as to how to fix this? Have you tried right clicking on the shortcut and selecting run Maximized? Or is that what you are explaining you have done. Best, C [image: 4W17_SP04.jpg]

Thomas, Looking at FredoScale I think it may do the job, with the tool called "Stretch". Those tools are fantastic, but not being a big ruby user I get daunted by where to begin. This looks like one to have. Thanks! Peter

SU can only display things minimum 1 puixel from each other on screen. This means that if you place two faces 3/8" from each other but look at them from close enought for SU to "have enough pixels" in between, there's no problem. Once you zoom out however and this 3/8" would occupy less screen real estate than 1 pixel, SU has problems displaying it and z-fighting begins. A bigger resolution export surely helps and this is what probably happened here; your screen resolution must be higher than the resolution you exported the animation in. Am I guessing well?

Try GreyScale.rb by Jim Foltz. http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/ruby-scripts/9467-visual-index-ruby-scripts.html#post146122