Al,
Thanks for the info.
I agree with item C.
As well as the thought behind using Adobe.
The file size limit kinda scares me, but at this point it's only 7 meg, so not sure what will happen by the time I'm finished? Oh, just thought of a way to get the file size down, delete the countour lines, as all I need is the topo (I'll rename the file just in case).
I think I'm going to try the trial version and inform my client about these issues and let them see a sample.
The other option is for static images with mouse over "zoom" for some key features of the site.
Thanks again to everyone for the help.
Glenn
update: purging the contour lines cut 3mg off the file size. I have some 2d property & road lines to purge after I'm finished with the drape.
So, the 3d pdf is looking viable again.

I have had some success extruding two arches through each other and then using the intersect with model feature. Here is one simple example.

arches.jpg

I am almost sure that this is not what the person asked you, but a standard 2D drawing exported from SU would look funny in AutoCad if one used the "hide" command. The export has no faces, so nothing happens there, but the section cut and profile edge lines are exported as wide polylines, and these lose their fill with Hide, and look meshy instead. Of course, a Regen brings all back to normal again.

Anssi

Hello all.

Wasn't my reply soooo full of suspense? Kidding aside, logging in constantly is slightly impossible with deadlines always around the corner yesterday; add to the fact the the office limits internet access to text format emails. I think our IT guys forgot the nature of our job is hugely graphic...

Anyways, let me try upload said example in a few days when i can access my office files (Islam Holiday hereabouts). As for the hidden section plane issue, nope, I made that CAD file myself, so there were no section planes interfering with the model. BTW, while on the SU model, the planes seem to jumble in order (i.e, planes behind suddenly present themselves up front during orbiting). For now, the usual solution given breathers-down-my-neck present, is grin and bear it.

In a few days.

A significant, and to me valuable, feature Pro has is the response of the Google QA team to bug input. The latest ones I have logged have all had very fast responses from them. They have been very good about chasing things down. Not quite as good as Lemkesoft but good none the less.

Here is another way.

Make a new file. Make a rectangle on the ground plane. Make whatever changes you want to the object you made using the styles pane (choose your style or make a new one). Delete the object. Save the file with a name of your choosing in some nice stable place on your hard drive. Close the window. Open Preferences (on a Mac under the Sketchup menu) choose Templates, browse to where you saved your file and choose it as
your template.

Open a new file. Make an object, it will have the characteristics of your saved style.

Nothing to do with Excel Tables !
Purely Modelling.
...
Yes, currently you can Intersect with Model.
This works well.
However, afterwards you frequently want to delete some unwanted portions of your model.
This can sometimes be very fiddley and intricate to make sure you select only the parts you want to be deleted and nothing else.
...
A Boolean type tool would essentially do the Intersect with Model and the Tidying up afterwards in one operation.
It would enable you to very rapidly create complex geometry from simple geometry eg by using one object to clip another
...
Solid modelling with Autocad and other programs has this ability.
My initial post points to an add-on for Autocad that suggests this may be possible with meshes and faces also.
...
Howard L'

degen, is the model to be placed in the foreground? And what SU are you using?

Gai really set me up here...I'm no expert, just tenacious at times, but I will try to help.

I'm already doing that guy's. It was a bad thought. the globals in kerky are much better way to go. HDRI maps are even better.

Hi Grant,

There are lots of woodworkers around here who will be able to help you out with any design issues related to SU.

As for rendering, there are a whole bunch of external rendering softwares - some more or less integrated into SU, some free, some cost a bit of money, some extremely expensive.

Here is a link to a list of rendering applications.
I myself have only tried out Podium (which is a not expensive, nicely integrated and easy to use renderer) and Kerkythea (which is also integrated, a bit more complex but free renderer) so far.

There are people however with much more experience than me.

Welcome to the forums, by the way... 😉

Alias sketchbook pro is a great tool to use with a tablet for getting ideas down.

By special features, I meant things that it wouldn't do yet.

The main special feature now is the 4 ways of creating the 3D PDF

Just the 3D PDF itself - this is good for embedding into Web pages.
(And a "special feature" we could add would be to create the HTML code for embedding the PDF into the web page for people who would rather copy and paste HTML code into their web pages.) The 3D image area with titles, captions and body text.

The 3D image placed onto a raster background. You create a raster image for a background and place the 3D image on top of the other image.

Both a Background image and text. This is helpful for putting images at the top, left and bottom of a page, adding the 3D image and then adding titles and captions.

See: http://forums.renderplus.com/wiki/index.php?title=RPS_3D_PDF_Tutorial_-_Page_Layout

3D PDF placed on background image with text titles and captions.

Another important feature we added recently is "batch mode"

This lets you automatically create several 3D PDFs from saved .SKP files in a single operation. You create a batch file with the .SKP file names, the .PDF file names and a saved settings file, push a button and create all the 3D PDFs at once.

One of our clients has a library of 3D symbols and is using this to create 3D PDFs for each symbol which can be used by clients to preview the .SKP file before downloading it.

See: http://forums.renderplus.com/wiki/index.php?title=RPS_3D_PDF_Docmentation#Batch_Mode

thanks, anssi.

Woah! I'm away for a couple of days and...... TOM! that upshot is gorgeous!

@thomthom said:

If the render engine supported displacementmaps, would that produce a sufficient result?
Forgive my thomthom, but I don't know what that is? 😄

Andy, I love you work, you are more the qualified to answer! I tried ground view but the client would go for it. He has been very firm with what he wanted soooo.... Here it is finished

Roger I feel your pain, I have been working till I fall asleep at my desk for 3 weeks and trying to pack inbetween. (but that not a bad thing, right!)

This is a great discussion. Anyone else have some fun angles. I'm going to play with some as soon as I clear my drawing board a little and move some couches!

Dear Joe,

This is a very quick reply as I'm still running my calibrations and I have to go down to the cleanroom to take another point in a few minutes. I like your alternative design, although as you say, there is not a lot of headroom. I am limited by planning permission to something which is close to the original in height, width and depth. A little more overhang might not be a problem though. I have gone for side walls to provide a little more shelter and to complement the inner porch. I will try and illustrate this by creating a view looking through the front door.

Bruce, strangely enough my house is not listed even though the houses either side are listed. However, I am in a Conservation Area, which limits what I can do. The Planning Office took an immediate dislike to the front door being moved to the entrance of the porch and so I knew I wouldn't get planning permission for that. I do have planning permission for all the other modification, including a new kitchen and bathroom out the back and the removal of an internal wall. My house is the only one in the street with a porch and so I couldn't follow his logic that moving the front door would affect the aesthetic appeal of the street. Planners! I will have to check that it is okay to panel the sides. They may want me to rebuild in the same style as the original, in which case Joe...

The porch is a much under-rated structure, and a nice design can greatly enhance the appearance of a dwelling. The English Porch would make a great topic for a book as they are many and varied, particularly in Oxfordshire.

To everyone who has posted replies, thank you for your kind advice and many comments.

Regards,
Bob

Now if only you could give us style-by-object display in Sketchup this would be utterly amazing.

That's one of the things I love about woodworking. So many ways to skin the same cat. (American idiom which has nothing against cats, but which expresses the possibility of having many successful outcomes.)

Hi folks.

"Point at center" also works with polygons.

Just ideas.

Thank you Gaieus for your prompt assistance. That solved my problem. I have been having problems with Sketchup lately and I just noticed that all of my extensions were turned off (not by me). I am just wondering whether my settings have been corrupted and whether I can do anything about it.
Walter

Damn. Derek, I wish you hd stubld onto this request sooner, but I just sent out a draft of the article to UCDA which they will be fitting into the magazine on Monday. Looked at your site adn there is no question you guys do good work.