Make Image Props
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I have downloaded some fall tree images from 3D Warehouse. I thought they were supposed to be 2D components, but they don't show in the component list. And under Edit <<make component>> is not an option. Consequently I can't turn-on the <<always face camera>> option. How can I turn the images into 2d components or image props?
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It sounds like you want to use it as a SketchUp Component not an "Image Prop" which is a VectorWorks" term, yes?
Anything you download directly into you model will be a component. It sounds like what you did was download and "save" to disk. Then opened the file in SketchUp. Because every component IS a SketchUp model, openining it in SketchUp will allow you to see it as a model. To use it as a component you can either "import" it as a SketchUp model and then you will see the bounding box around it, or alternatively you can create a folder where you keep all of your downloaded components and then add that folder as library to your component browser. Doesn't happen automatically.
Window>Components> and from the window look for the little chevron on the right side next to the library name drop down. As you hover over it, it says "Details" click on that and then click on Add Library to Favourites. That will allow you to navigate to the folder and add it. Then you can get at the contents of the folder from the component browser and just bring it in from there and make any edits you want. -
Actually I did download it directly into the model. But, unlike all the other 3DW objects, it didn't show up in the list of components, and Entity Info labels it an <<image>>. So now I have to manually rotate it to face the camera.
As you suggested, I downloaded it to a component folder. Then I opened the new Library. But the file, renamed <<Fall Maple Tree.skp>> didn't show up in the folder, so I couldn't import it into the drawing. The same file is already in the model as an image.
Is there another way to convert a PNG image into a Component? It's labeled as a <<texture>>; does that make a difference? Here's the 3DW page source:
BTW scrolling thru hundreds of 3DW pages one-by-one with mouse clicks is tedious. Is there a keystroke to turn the page? Nothing I've tried works. I also don't see any way to go directly to a page number.
Correction: the tree was in the folder, but it looked like a tiny dot, so I overlooked it. Is there a way to enlarge the thumbnail? The tree is now a component in the model. But I still don't know why it wouldn't download directly. Thanks for your help.
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ah, it is an skp containing an image file. useless.
It won't cast a proper shadow this way.
YOu will need to explode the image. Draw segments all around the shape so that it will cast a tree liks shape. Erase the rectangle edges around the tree after you have created the tree shape. Hide the edges. Select all and create component. Make sure you move the component axis so it is at the center of the trunk so that it will swivel around that point when you make it a "face-me".
Then, when you have made it a component, right click on it and choose "save as" which will save only the tree component to any component library you have created.Don't know how to navigate more quickly through 3D warehouse except searching. Someone else may
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You can't make a component of a single entity...you can draw a line over the image, select both and make the face-me component, then edit the component and erase the line.
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Actually, Tom, you can create a component of a single entity with the "Make Component" button in the Principal Toolbar:
or from the Edit menu (here you can make a group of a single entity as well).
I know it's inconsistency.
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Apparently there was something wrong with that particular component. Other 3DW items imported directly into the model as a <<component>> and displayed in the component list. The tree image imported as an <<image>> and did not show in the component list. But when I downloaded to a folder, and then imported from the folder it worked.
Any idea what makes the difference?
My only clue is that, although I found it in the 3DW list of <<models>>(i.e. components), it was labeled as a <<texture>>. Does that matter? -
@sorgesu said:
...Anything you download directly into you model will be a component. It sounds like what you did was download and "save" to disk. Then opened the file in SketchUp. Because every component IS a SketchUp model, openining it in SketchUp will allow you to see it as a model. To use it as a component you can either "import" it as a SketchUp model and then you will see the bounding box around it, or alternatively you can create a folder where you keep all of your downloaded components and then add that folder as library to your component browser. Doesn't happen automatically...
Susan has already explained this.
A component is simply a SU model. You can open it and it will not "behave" as a component, just as a model.
To see how it would work if you either dragged it in from the component browser or imported it via the File > Import > SU file, you should go to Window > Model info > File tab and at the bottom, see if anything (like face me, glue, cut hole) is particularly checked there.
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@gaieus said:
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Susan has already explained this.I appreciate the support, but what Susan explained is not what actually happened. The 3DW tree <<component>> was imported directly into the model. It displayed just like all the other components, but it did not appear in the component list, and it was labeled in Entity Info as an <<image>> instead of a <<component>>. So I didn't have any way to check <<face the camera>>. Later, when I downloaded to a folder, and then added the folder to the component toolbar favorites, it worked normally. When I have time I may experiment by putting a <<texture>> image in the favorite component folder, and see if it imports as a component or an image.
The thumbnail image of the tree was so small as to be almost invisible. Several of the 3DW components have that problem. Do we have any control over the thumbnail size? Normally when I create my own component the thumbnail almost fills the box. However, sometimes the angle of view makes it unrecognizable. Other than trial and error, is there any way to force the thumbnail image to <<face the camera>> so to speak?
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The thumbnail of a component is alway created from the view when it is created. So when you want to create a component, orbit to a view you would like to se in the thumbnail and make the component then.
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