[POLL] - Dynamic Components do you use them or not..?

utiler

David,
Have used SU since V2 and have always looked forward to the upgrades and went to V7. Dont bother. THe DC issue has already been covered here. I design commercial kitchen for a living and could see some instances where having a DC would be useful (std benches etc) however the time l wasted learning to use/create DC's I just cant justify.

Dont bother upgrading to V7. I find the crossed line cutting more annoying than anything and am about to investigate if there is a way to turn it off.

More importantly reliability for me has gone out the window. SU crashes are regular and after modeling for about a half an hour or so doing some simple operation will freeze my entire operating system as much as I try I cannot find a solution, and it only happens using SU. Gone are the days of Bugsplat so I feel my plight is going to go unnoticed . I am off to try and reload V6.

Chris L

Good to see you here, Chris!!! I remember conversing quite a while ago when you sent me some of your commercial models...

I started with V3 and agree with you David, V5 was the best upgrade!!!

Chris Fullmer

@unknownuser said:

I would far rather have the ability to 'morph' from one shape to another, rather like lofting which I know from Turbocad. It would be neat to be able to have the morph over a selected number of steps however, as it is my opinion I am open to suggestions on alternative methods from you guys.

Here is one version:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=21134

and TIG is working on another that is more of a sweep to rails that should be released this upcoming month. I've also written a loft tool, that is in need of improvement, but is a good start. Always keep an eye on the ruby forum

Chris

Christophe Hebert

Hi,

YES I use Dynamic Components and like this BIG improvement of SketchUp. I develop more than 200 DC and continue to work on more advanced project. I hope Google will improve them on next version SketchUp 8.

I tried to create a website ( http://www.up-automat.com ) to sell quality DC but people are not interested, so I decide to keep them for my work (and saving a lot of time...).

Best,
Christophe

Gaieus

Hi Christophe,

Glad to see someone being enthusiastic with DC's. We (including me) seem a bit pessimistic about them here in the posts (I have my reason; if I make a component, it's very likely that I won't ever use it again so why bother to make it more complex?) but I was sure that there are people who use them regularly and find them useful.

As for your website; I think it's not very informative about you trying to sell them and even about the vast amount of DC's you have made (and could be available) so far.
I mean some more "aggressive marketing" on that website might let (and maybe even make) people be interested and buy those DC's

JeZ

Hi,
I am enthusiastic too. I think it can be a great design tool, but I think it is important to change our workflow to use it.

It is hard to understand, time consuming and can become complexe quickly, but can be very rewarding and effective when working.

To the guy designing kitchens: Think it twice! This is exactly the kind work that benefits the most from DCs. Not only it will be way quicker to draw, add a couple onclick stuff and your clients will love it when they come to your office.

I am still learning all this, but all the new possibilities that are now available make me enthusiastic.

Jerome

Kent L

I created and use DC's all the time. They are incredible time savers for repetitive tasks and common components. I use them primarily for residential construction detail drawings where components get reused constantly. Simple DC's can be built with very little investment of time. For instance, I have "smart lumber" components where I can quickly insert the needed lumber dimensions (2x4's 2x10's, etc. and length) The component takes care of setting the proper true size of the component so I don't need to remember the conversions from nominal to actual. (2x4 to 1.5"x3.5" etc.) The options are set up as picklists which are far faster to set than browsing through a large component library looking for the right size item. Another good use is to dynamically change the dimensions of joist hangers, etc. depending on the lumber.

More sophisticated components would allow building fully framed walls with options for spacing, openings, etc. but these require more thinking and investment of time. Constructing custom roof joists are another perfect example and there is an example of this on the 3D Warehouse.

DC's do suffer from one MAJOR limitation though. (which I hope the SketchUp guys will address in Currently, there are no DC values for rotating or scaling textures. If your DC changes the dimensions of an object, the texture is scaled, much like using the scale tool. But in the case of lumber textures for instance, you want the texture to remain unscaled when dimensions change. (like how the push-pull tool changes dimensions) Until this limitation is fixed, it's better to apply textures to a DC AFTER it has been dimensioned.

If SketchUp fixes this one major limitation, DC's will become even more powerful and helpful.