Question about sketchup for figure and jewerly designers
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actually i use sketchup for designs under 1cm
and i've actually managed to get great results but the camera moves horrible
but it only happens when working on that scale, while the lines, and everything else works fine, the camera its not precise enough to move correctly
so, is there any plugin or something to make the camera movement more precisely and smoother?
and another question is about duplicated faces and vertex, while not a big deal on larger models, they are mayor issues on such small scales...again
i know sketchup isnt mean to be used for tiny scales, but is the easiest 3D modeling softeare ive ever used, and im actually happy with it but the problems i mentioned, google wont do anything thats why i ask if theres any "plugin" based solutions for this problems -
There's no reason not to scale up your model by a factor of 10 or even 100 while working on it, then scale down again when you have finished.
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For small scale work like jewelry why not work in meters [Model Info > Units], without showing any units, so by typing 13.5 it could be 1.5cm [although it is actually 1.5m!] - just 'pretend'
That way you are always modeling x100 bigger without having to think about it.
If you want to 'export' info you can always scale a copy of the model down by 1/100 and change the units to cm... Small facets can exist, it just the making of them initially that is a problem.
The issues of viewing at close distances would also by alleviated by this approach...
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because at smaller scales the problems are bigger
if i do a model scaled up and then scale it down, everything get messed up
i dont know how to explain it
you have to try yourselves
but believe me, while some models work, most dont
try a model in meters and then scale it down 100
then check the model -
Felipe, I've used Sketchup for jewelry design by scaling up the model to work, and back down again to export without any problem.
Do you have a specific file you're having trouble with? If so, please share it with us, and we'll get you sorted out!
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not right now, i make my models in the actual scale and with some measure modifications before exporting i have solved the format problem
now the only one left is the camera movement, but thats more a problem within sketchup, i think is because it is oriented for big models
anyway here is what i have done(accessories for transformers figures mostly; they are made for 3D printing)
http://www.shapeways.com/hisdesign?user_id=110512
yeah is my shop in shapeways, but i cant access to my disc from the attachment function of this forum
anyway, the models actually went pretty good but now i have no motivation to do more, because a model that went broken(its explained in another post i have here) -
actually i've been working for months but i forgot to mention what i did to solve my SCALE problem
i just changed the template to be in centimeters and enable precision of a centimeter and two digits on the right for the milimeters
then when converting to another format i use inches and that way it works great(specially when converting to stl, i don't know why it works but it does for me)
so it is always the size i need it to be, and don't need to rescale (and the problems it has)
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The information for jewelry designers on initially working in meters and then scaling down to centimeters was extremely helpful. I went to Window/Model Info and set the Format to Decimals and then Meters. I drew the earring shape and now I'm unclear how to scale down to centimeters. Do I go back to Window/Model Info and change meters to centimeters? (I selected the object and tried this but nothing happen)? Do I enter centimeter dimensions so how? I'm sure the answer is really basic but I'm new (1 week) to Sketchup! Thanks, Aimee
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If you change the units from metres to centimetres, it ill only display the sisez accordingly. You will need to actually scalethe object with the Scale tool.
http://support.google.com/sketchup/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=80965
Select all and start scaling from a corner of the bounding box. Release everything and type
0.01then pressEnter. -
If you set the empty SKP's Model Info > Units to meters, with say 3dp and no units displayed you can input all of you dimensions as if they are centimeters [or even millimeters provided you are consistent] - thus you'll avoid the issues around the inability to make tiny facets on some meshing operations.
Once you are done... IF you must make it back into the 'real' size then draw a temporary line 1 'unit' long [actually it's 1m long, but from your viewpoint it's 1cm !]; now reset your Model Info > Units as desired; now in the Model run the Tapemeasure tool and click on the two ends of the temporary line and immediately type in 1cm, when prompted say 'Yes' to scale the entire model... everything in the SKP is now the right sizes in cm - and the now very tiny facets can exist, although their creation was not possible without the 'units/scaling' trick earlier...PS:
You can use the Scale tool as Gaieus suggests BUT then any groups or components will be scaled BUT their original size is unchanged [unless you do further work] - unlike with the Tapemeasure re-scale trick...
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