@alan fraser said: I know that SU now has its own 3D text tool, but that tool is fairly basic. Don't forget the solution of choice before the built-in option (or the Smustard Ruby) Elefont will automatically add a variety of bevels and chamfers that can be exported in dxf and brought into SU. http://www.armanisoft.ch/webdesign/elefont/Elefont.html Dear Alan, I have found time to test this "Elefont" from "Ingenieurbüro" Armin Müller you were talking about. [image: Elephantroselunette.jpg] [image: Elefont_001_550.jpg] This last 1.4 version dated from 7July 1998 begin to be may be a little outdated . It is not too much handy because its display is very small and the previsu doesn't give a great control. But in making small tries, we can do number of interesting variations. At the end the saving format in DXF is perfect to import in SketchUp. [image: Elefont_002_550.jpg] These subdivided letter shapes are perfect to use directly with S&S , avoiding the previous Offset, Scale and Skin stages I have tried to reach my goal: the molted letter. In taking the letter at this stage, making a real flare isn't possible (?) anymore. So if we satisfied with the approximative Scaled flare, it is OK. [image: Elefont_003_550.jpg] [image: Elefont_004_550.jpg] [image: Elefont_005_550.jpg] simon

Link to thread on Hatch lines with links to hatch skm files etc - might help.

I've not tried this myself, but it looks like there's a lot here: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=20949

If we didn't rely on (many) undocumented things, there wouldn't be need for a forum.

David - Differing lines thicknesses can be sort of done in (I think) three ways. a) line weight in the LO 'Sketchup model>styles' palette, but that appears to scale the thickness of all the lines derived from the model b) obviously SU styles can do their thing with line weight, wobbliness, scratchiness etc. BUT to use them in LO requires using raster or hybrid rendering which can make your LO files and pdf output huuuuuuuuuuuuuge. Since I'm making working drawings to be printed at 24x36" for builders, I didn't bother with artistically scribbled lines. c) the profile, depth cue and section cut line thicknesses can be set in the styles anyway LO can do more with lines created with its tools but obviously they are not involved directly in the model. I've used them for a few added details in the drawings - I think all of the ones I added happen to be dashed lines in this case. Oh - one more small variation I just thought of - it you use the 'add section cut face' plugin, the edges of the added faces can be given a thickness. Red - You can insert a variety of files into an LO doc (not exactly sure of the list, I've used jpegs, text and pdf so far) and LO will spot updates in the same way as it does for skp files. It's not quote automagic but pretty useful. So use excel or Numbers to make your table and print to pdf (unless LO can handle csvs or excel files?) and insert away. I'm sure someone that is familiar with ruby and the SU api (not me; I spent 25 years programming Smalltalk and damned if I'm going to descend to mere ordinary languages now) could find components marked in some fashion, derive details and produce a table to be inserted. The cutlist plugin used by many woodworkers (including me) does something related. It's just a question of finding a victim - I mean 'interested programmer' - and beating them with a stick - er, 'motivating them' - correctly. Money often works, or so I'm told.

Thank you very much Gaieus. I will experiment with the method in the video.

Got it! I had not even thought of sectioning it in the true sense. I was using the term "section" incorrectly. This will work perfect. Appreciate it!

@quantum said: That says nothing relevant. of course, what do they know at all... @unknownuser said: Integrated graphics solutions, or shared graphics solutions are graphics processors that utilize a portion of a computer's system RAM rather than dedicated graphics memory. Computers with integrated graphics account for 90% of all PC shipments[6]. These solutions are cheaper to implement than dedicated graphics solutions, but are less capable. @quantum said: And no, this chip is -not- shared. Don't you have any sense? There is no other GPU in this system. no, I do not have any non-sense do you have read and understood anything of the links I have posted above? obviously not! sharing means sharing the working/main memory with the system instead of using own, fast video memory as dedicated solutions do. @quantum said: You clearly do not understand this chip, or are badly behind the times. of course, what else... @quantum said: Are you meaning to say that my IGP does not meet these specs? at least in connection with Wine and the used driver: @quantum said: In XP when I start it, I get 'OpenGL failed'. @quantum said: Do you think that this is an ATI Radeon or an Intel based card? no, why should I do this? @quantum said: Wrong. right. @quantum said: Think I'm helping you, with this attitude? Think again. not really... it was meant as a rhetoric question, I did not have expected an answer... simply because there is none. 've made my day, again Norbert

Hey Emiliano, Please to meet you. Thanks for the pleasant word. I consider this thread as a constant "Work in Progress" [image: const017.gif] due to the news plugins our developpers are imagining everyday... I consider it also as a collaborative work. If anything interesting is missing, just tell about it and I shall put it up in addition on the "Front Post" I take the opportunity of this post to add in this Front Post a reminder rather than a trick taken from "Creating a Swaying Curtain" by Dirk de Jongh On How to subdivide a shape Using Drape Tool from Sandbox Tools.

Some 3D formats can swap the axes etc.

It is probably just how SketchUp shades surfaces. You might try playing with the sun and shadows settings to see if you can get it to the level you would like. Do you have a small example file to look at? Chris

Hi, i don't know if it was posted before, i found at the Spiral Graphics page a free Viewer with a high resulation texture library. The textures can also be modified. In the free version the resolution is limited to 2048 x 2048 pixel, but i think that enough. The terrain texture in the image below is from this´viewer. http://www.spiralgraphics.biz/viewer/index.htm Karlheinz [image: PE2c_Burg.jpg]

I have also found the Francis Ching has some similar books which are excellent!

@unknownuser said: Try to adjust the Transparency quality in the Styles window. yea thats it. thank you

I do the reverse often: modelling with original (high res) images (for GE) then making the applied images unique then editing them and resizing (decreasing) the image resolution considerably. UV mapping is kept. Maybe try to position the texture first?

Thank you very much!!

If the cylnders are made into components, their axes can be moved such that the origins are at the centers of an end. Then the components can be brought in from the In Model Components Library. You'll have hold of them by the origin of their axes and can use inferencing to place the cylinders. http://www.flickr.com/photos/8294157@N08/3755831438/

Yes, it's a built in feature. But the menu in the Material browser is bugged. And SU's Area calculations are wrong if the group/component is skewed.

First of all, I'm not a rendering guru somy thoughts on the differences between bump and displacement maps may not be relevant. So if you understand the difference a rendering engine is using them for, you'll realize that a bump map will only affect the way (and "imitate") the shadows cast on a rough surface. Therefore (if both maps are used), a bump map should include the finer surface details rather than big, elevation differences (think of "spanish" roof tiles for instance). The displacement map then should include these "big" surface differences instead. Certainly you could achieve everything combining the two maps and only using it for displacement but I suspect that it would considerably raise rendering time.

Take a look at any of the YouTube Videos Daniel Tal has done. I would start with this one from the 2007 3D Basecamp it should get you going. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHCEXlEZlo4&feature=channel_page He has also published a book that covers the full range of terrain modeling tip and tricks with SU. SketchUp for Site Design - Daniel Tal http://www.amazon.com/Google-SketchUp-Site-Design-Architecture/dp/047034525X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248376011&sr=1-1 Hope this helps out. JP