Can't find angular dimension tool!
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Really I've tried. No where to be found on my pro version bought-and-paid for Sketchup 8. Is it a plugin that I must download?
Thx K..
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There is no angular dimension in either the pro or free versions of SU. Of course in LayOut (the 2D "drawing" companion of SU Pro) there is such a tool.
If you want it in SU however, you indeed need to "download" (and install) a 3rd party plugin: http://rhin.crai.archi.fr/rld/plugin_details.php?id=110
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Dropped it in the folder and restarted. No angular tool. Are there any other incidentals? Perhaps it doesn't work with 8?
Cheers, K..
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Where'd you look? In the Tools menu by any chance?
You should find Angular dimension there.
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You are correct. Say, as I've gotten more adept with SU, especially with placing pieces of my model in different layers I am coming up with a troublesome problem: I make all layers invisible so I can work on one layer. But while I'm working on that layer I'll get a warning message that my drawing is interacting with geometry on a hidden layer (I'm paraphrasing of course). Then, when I make other layers visible, I notice other layers are total corrupted. Should that be happening? Is there something I don't understand about the way layers work? Thank you very much - again.
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you sould use groups and components to prevent merged geometry , not layers.
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@unknownuser said:
Is there something I don't understand about the way layers work?
It sounds to me as if there is.
In SketchUp, layers only control visibility. They do not separate geometry. The only way to separate geometry (other than leaving space between) is to "wrap" it in a component or group. Then you can make layer associations for the components and/or groups.
Follow these simple rules.
Leave Layer 0 active at all times.
Draw and leave geometry on Layer 0 always.
Only make layer associations for components/groups.If you do that you'll save yourself a lot of headaches.
The message about merging entities clearly indicates you aren't using groups or components and instead just have loose geometry.
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Ok thanks, that clarifies some incorrect assumptions on my part. I started out using groups and components but once they become nested its a pain to edit something at the inner most level of nesting so I started using layers but I see now that was in error. So to clean up my drawing (if its now even possible) I need to go through and make every thing a component or group. Actually, that's a good question. What's the difference between those two?
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My suggestion would be to avoid nesting components/groups at least in the beginning. One reason is what you say, it makes it a pain to get at them to edit. You might want to have a look at Outliner under the Window menu. You might get some ideas about how your model is structured. Only groups and components show in Outliner, though.
As to the difference between groups and components, well, I could go on for a long time.
Components, at least for my use, make a whole lot more sense than groups and I never use groups.
Components can be named upon creation. Groups don't get that (without a plugin). Groups, by default, all get the same name. It's pretty much useless to look at groups in Outliner because you can't tell one from another.
Components get saved into an In Model components library. Even if you delete them from the model space, they are still available until you purge unused components. If you delete a group it is gone.
With components, if you make copies (multiple instances), editing one edits all of them. With groups you don't have that relationship.
Components are what you would use for reusable things such as windows, doors, furniture, appliances, etc. You can save them in local libraries for later use.
You can adjust the insertion point on components to make them easy to insert into your model with precision.There's more but that's a start.
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As Dave points out, components are generally more useful than Groups, but at the same time, because they take a tiny bit more effort to make and remove, sometimes they are overkill.
For example it can be handy to temporarily Group a table and four chairs so you can move them together, then just explode and the grouping is gone.
It's not a big thing but a group is instant rather than needing the extra input of the components dialog box. If you then decide to keep the group you can easily turn it into a component. -
Now I am having a big problem turning things into components. I select the objects, then Make Componet but it doesn't seem to take. I've done it several times and I see the component in the component list but its empty! This is maddening. Additionally, I can't delete any empty components from the model components (using components in the tools menu) This is maddening right now. Any hints you might care to share?
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Box makes a point and I think it depends upon your work flow. For mine, if I don't care about giving components names I simply hit the G key for Create Component and hit Enter and I've got a component. I never have to wonder if the thing I'm working on is a component or a group. I don't have to remember to convert a group to a component and if I don't want components I've deleted from my model, I just hit Alt+P, my keyboard shortcut for Purge All which gets rid of any unused components as well as unused materials, layers and styles.
I've had a time or two where I've had a corrupted file and my components were missing from the drawing space. They were still in the In Model components library, though, so it was a relatively simple matter of bringing them out into the model space to rebuild the model. If they'd been groups, they would have been gone entirely and my only option would have been to start from scratch. Another SCF member had that same experience not too long ago.
And if you inadvertently delete a group and don't discover it right away, you'll probably be redrawing it because it'll be gone. Delete a component and you can get it back from the In Model library.
The beauty of SketchUp is you can play it however you want.
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@kallen said:
Now I am having a big problem turning things into components. I select the objects, then Make Componet but it doesn't seem to take. I've done it several times and I see the component in the component list but its empty! This is maddening. Additionally, I can't delete any empty components from the model components (using components in the tools menu) This is maddening right now. Any hints you might care to share?
That's because what you are selecting is attached to unselected geometry. Select what you want in the component, hit G to Create Component and then immediately tick the box for Replace Selection With Component. Then hit Enter.
You're the second guy today that I've worked with who has had the exact same issue which stemmed from not making components/groups as they went along.
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