A Welcome Message to New SketchUcation Members

Chris Fullmer · 20 Jan 2011, 16:07

Pretty cool Dylan, good to have you here. Welcome to the forum,

Chris

John P · 21 Jan 2011, 14:37

I just started Sketchup this week. I'm strictly a hobby user, though I'm an engineer and I could end up using Sketchup professionally once in a while, even if mechanical CAD really isn't my specialty. My main interest is in model railroads, and I found Sketchucation by searching on features of Sketchup that I thought I'd need. The plugins that people have posted are wonderful! One of the things that makes any Internet use so much fun is that just about anything you could ever want is out there waiting for you, free.

Maybe it's typical newbie behavior, but I couldn't resist starting with a challenge--a triple track helical ramp (yes this was a few hours of work for a beginner):
http://files.myopera.com/John98wbr/albums/661338/ramp.jpg

Gaieus · 21 Jan 2011, 15:21

Hi John and welcome!

That ramp is pretty impressive, congrats!

If you look into the gallery, there are some really nice (and long) topics about rail-roads, trains etc.

jackjack · 24 Jan 2011, 04:46

Hi all

My name is Revy, from Indonesia.
recently I've started to use SketchUp as a hobby (computer case design, etc)
Hopefully with this community i can improve my self and also share to others

Thanks all

Gaieus · 26 Jan 2011, 22:29

Hello Binu and welcome. There's lot to see here indeed.

Please, do not write in all CAPS however.

forrrest · 27 Jan 2011, 15:10

Hi All,

Been using sketchup for about 6 months now, only just discovered the power of plugins after I was trying to join 2 curves by hand and though 'there must be an easier way.........' now seen the the light

RafaDesign · 27 Jan 2011, 22:08

Rafa here from Cape Town. Mainly interested in stadium and sports venue design!

Look forward to finding out about plugin-ins similar to the soap, skin and bubble plugin.

Rich O Brien · 27 Jan 2011, 23:23

Welcome to SCF!

Drafter X · 31 Jan 2011, 14:22

Drafter X here.
My new online identity is incognito as I get a new business going while still finishing with my current employer.

Hoping to use sketchup extensively in the new venture.

Rich O Brien · 31 Jan 2011, 14:50

Sounds mysterious, welcome to the madhouse

keen_builder · 1 Feb 2011, 03:49

Hi All

Im only very new at this type of program , I build scale models of cars and trucks and found this program to be a great help in design to 3d in stead of just on paper , Ive learnt alot from trial and error , But have yet to learn how to make a curved pipe like exhaust or roll cage , I know Plug Ins are a big thing so Im looking into how that works , I look forward to seeing some of your work and chatting with you all over time

Many Thanks
John

Gaieus · 1 Feb 2011, 08:14

Hi John and welcome!

Let's have a quick look at the Follow me tool here. I am not sure an exhaust pipe would exactly look like this but you can get the idea. Download the skp file and do as instructed in the image.

Pipe.skp

keen_builder · 1 Feb 2011, 09:28

Thank You Gaieus , after reading several posts on this forum and useing the search button I was able to find some very helpful hints on how to do this , Im not very good at reading long pages unfortunately so I have had to learn from trial and error , now I have started to learn curves and pipes , I can further my education with this program .

The wealth of information that this forum holds is incredible and look forward to learning so much more .

Thanks again for your help

john

Gaieus · 1 Feb 2011, 09:45

If you are planning to make many of these pipes, some plugins will be invaluable. First of all, to make the whole curve (created of several arcs and lines above) into one polyline, there is the Weld plugin . If you weld curves together, you can select them at one and also the resulting pipe will be smooth all the way long.

Then there is a tool, Tuba along path , to make these welded paths into a pipe just by one click.

Finally, to create pipes with quite irregular diameters along their path, there are several lofting tools like Curviloft for instance.

keen_builder · 1 Feb 2011, 12:43

Wow !! Thanks so much for the Help , Im really starting to enjoy this program now that I can make pipes and such , Im currently working on a manifold and a off road buggy frame .

Thank You again for this Help it is very much appreciated

harnstein · 1 Feb 2011, 17:41

@gaieus said:

..Tuba along path..

Sry Gaieus, couldn't hold it.. Hope you don't mind..

shura · 1 Feb 2011, 20:57

that's a good one harnstein. by the way, your username is too, are you german?

harnstein · 1 Feb 2011, 21:05

yep, alex

almost next door, berlin tiergarten, nice to meet you

Gaieus · 2 Feb 2011, 08:15

Yep, that was a good one indeed!

Ha! I still remember that Tiergarten from the time when there were two Berlins!

harnstein · 4 Feb 2011, 08:56

thanks-

berlin, it still appears to me like they are still two

greetings to hungary and congrats for your 20.000 post!

now lets welcome the new users here again