How to get edges to appear
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Okay, new guy here.
I'm trying to figure this out but I can't find the answer. I have a feeling that I'm just missing something very simple.
What frustrates me is the following: Whenever I add a door or window component to a house model with double-sided (two-face) walls, I make my own openings since SU doesn't allow component cutting of openings except into single faces. So far, so good. When I go to insert a door or window into said opening, however, there are oftentimes no "edges" where, for instance, the door frame meets the wall, or where the window framing meets the wall surface.
So, I've variously been told to use "intersect with model" and "intersect selected" or "intersect with context" in order to actually "see" edges where they're not. So when I do this, I can indeed see edges appear -- but later on I'm left with all of the stray "remnants" that resulted from the operation. And to make matters worse they almost never end up being part of the component or group and sometimes they even end up on different layers. Other times one of the "intersected" elements ends up with massive chunks missing from it when viewing it separately (understandable I guess, since the "intersect" commands can be subtractive).
By the way, I've since taken to keeping all of the "interconnected" modeling (walls, floors, ceilings, etc.) on one Layer, and I put components on their own Layer. I also use Groups through the Outliner extensively, to keep my models organized.
But please tell me, what simple thing am I missing here in my effort to have edges show up on certain elements of my models when they but up against other parts, yet not be left with all of these seemingly random line remnants dangling loosely here and there?
I have a feeling I'm going to kick myself once someone answers my plea, but in the meantime any help is appreciated.
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You say your cutting your own holes manually. If you do it accurately, then the edge of the hole you cut should line up perfectly around the edge of the doorframe or window, so you will get the nice black line. Or if you want to keep with the intersect method, then just hid the door/window quickly and then delete all extra geometry. Then unhide the door/window. Either strategy should work,
Chris
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Thanks guys. Chris -- To be clearer on my part, the problem only happens on "some" components . . . when a door w/frame that was built by someone else has a designed depth deeper than I want to use it for, or when a window sits differently for the person who created it for his model than for my purposes. I was just given the impression by someone else that the "intersect" method is the way to achieve what I wanted, while he had said he doesn't even pay the "missing edges" any mind at all (I guess I have a greater eye for detail than him!).
If I were to delete all of the extra geometry when I use intersect, though, I'd actually end up getting rid of the few added "pieces" that form the new edges of the door or window frames, so I guess my solution would be to delete all of the missing geometry EXCEPT those three or so lines that form the new edge that I want to appear. It was also very frustrating that in the way SU works it sometimes places that new geometry on different layers or in a different group than the actual component. I think I've since figured out that I need to be sure to edit the group first and then (usually) use "intersect with context" on the piece in question. When I do that, everything "seems" to stay connected to the same group.
Edson -- Thanks for that tutorial. I think in some instances that is definitely what is going on for me. Because sometimes I have the above problem occur when components aren't even involved, and it's just two or more "connecting" faces as you've shown. I guess I was just initially under the impression that SU would be more "intelligent" in how it handles adjoining surfaces and edge creation, but I guess that might be a double-edged sword that might also limit some of the flexibility of the software. It would be nice, however, if there were a setting added to an upcoming release -- kind of an "intelligent button" or something -- that could be turned on by the user so that SU would know to automatically create edges in certain scenarios.
Again, thanks for the help guys.
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SU adds geometry to the layer you have selected to work on in the layers window. Even if you open a component on another layer, anything you do to that component will be placed on the active layer.
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@sawduster said:
SU adds geometry to the layer you have selected to work on in the layers window. Even if you open a component on another layer, anything you do to that component will be placed on the active layer.
this is why one of the golden rules of modelling in skp is: make layer 0 the active layer always.
model everything on layer 0 and assign the group/component to the layer you want. if you do that any changes made to a group or component would go to the same layer.
in short: geometry goes on layer 0, groups and components on whatever layer you desire.
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Todd,
If you've messed your model up with layers and such, the best would be to upload it here so that we can have a look. It's extremely hard to "imagine" the logic of such a mess...
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@gaieus said:
Todd,
If you've messed your model up with layers and such, the best would be to upload it here so that we can have a look. It's extremely hard to "imagine" the logic of such a mess...
Gaieus, thanks.
No, as I noted in my original post, I'm pretty good about doing all of the primary modeling on "Layer 0". What confused me was why SketchUp didn't create edges where it seemed they should be -- as in when a door frame ends up sitting a little below the wall depth of what I'd designed. As I mentioned, I was (mistakenly) told to use the "intersect" command(s) to create some edges where I wanted them, but it seems that just manually editing the particular component and adding an edge at the right depth is the way to go. I may have had the stray "remnants" from using the intersect command show up in different groups, but I realize I wasn't properly editing the group (or component) in question when that happened.
Again, thanks for all the help.
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