Thick vs. thin lines?
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Hello group! I am brand new to SketchUp and am trying to model a condo floor plan. I seem to have messed up my walls because it has become difficult to try to do something simple like cut a hole in the wall for a window or door. I think I caused this problem by trying to clean up the lines of walls that met - i.e., when I would pull up one wall next to another, I would then erase the line at which they met to form a solid-looking wall.
Anyway, I have a simpler question - when I look at my model, some of the lines all thin while others are thick. These thick lines seem related to my problems. When I erase such a line and redraw it, it's thin again. Any idea how I caused this? Take a look at the attach image (in wireframe to show the obvious differences).
Thanks!
P: jaredmac
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jaredmac, first off, welcome to the forum, it looks like your off to an admirable start.
The thin lines mean you have a closed loop or a surface that will opaque (skin 0ver). The dark lines are just independent lines and haven't formed a closed box. Dont worry about duplicate lines, this isnt like cad where the lines just keep stacking up, the software is smart enough to absorb (as one of the experts calls it) a line placed over it. Keep your lines as long as possible, as not to have short segments, if possible.Just keep drawing, use the group tool,(one of the first big concepts) to isolate your lines from all the others) and you will see as you complete the squares your lines will get more consistent.
Good luck. -
@rhankc said:
The thin lines mean you have a closed loop or a surface that will opaque (skin 0ver). The dark lines are just independent lines and haven't formed a closed box. Dont worry about duplicate lines, this isnt like cad where the lines just keep stacking up, the software is smart enough to absorb (as one of the experts calls it) a line placed over it. Keep your lines as long as possible, as not to have short segments, if possible.
Ah, excellent! So simple and makes complete sense. And I'm glad to know that drawing repeated line segments doesn't keep piling them on. I was wondering about that. I haven't used the group tool yet - thanks for the tip. Will try it out now.
Attached is an image of the layout so far. Now to add some windows and doors...
Jared
P: jaredmac
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Jared,
Your last pic shows you have profile edges turned on and set to something larger than one. If you rotate the model you'll see that which edges are in "profile" changes.I usually keep this feature on when doing initial drawing because, as Hank said, a edge on a face will show thick until you form a closed shape...then you know you can push that face around separately.
Best, Tom. -
great JMac... coming along nicely.
don't be affraid to save your model as different names along the way, so that you can easily go back if you mess something up too big for undo...
if you look up components in the help file, you'll see how they can help you work on different areas of your model with out getting sticky with these lines, as you've probably noticed.
anyway good start and let us know if we can help.
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Jaredmac,
In your last image there are two kinds of faces: white and blue. White means "front" or "outside" while blue is "back" or "inside".
Make sure to have only white faces shown (and the blue ones inside the wall thickness).You can right click on a white face and choose "orient faces" from the context menu. However this tool does not always work properly. If so, you need to select the blue faces and right click again and choose "reverse faces".
As for now it is not a problem yet but later you may consider rendering or placing in GE where they might cause some problems.
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@tomsdesk said:
Jared,
Your last pic shows you have profile edges turned on and set to something larger than one. If you rotate the model you'll see that which edges are in "profile" changes.I usually keep this feature on when doing initial drawing because, as Hank said, a edge on a face will show thick until you form a closed shape...then you know you can push that face around separately.
Best, Tom.Interesting. So I'm just a bit confused now because it seems the thick/thin lines are doing double duty, as it were: one, indicating closed versus open loops (which shouldn't change as you rotate the model around); two, indicating which edges are the "profiles" of the image, which varies. Is that correct?
Thanks for all the info.
P: jaredmac
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go to View > Edge Style > Turn the check 'on' for Depth Cue, and I think your lines will be consistent.
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Jared,
Edges in space (or on a face) will be considered an edge to show as a profile by SU. Closing them merely flattens the edges onto the bigger face with the smaller face...it's just a trick of function that lets you see when you have closed the edges.
On attached:
Left face has profile outside edges, 3 profile edges on its face, and the 4 non-profile edges closing the smaller face.
Right two faces show profile edges show if either bigger or smaller faces are grouped together with their edges...you can't cut a hole in a grouped face if you aren't inside and editing the group.Hope this helps...took me awhile to get the benefits of this trick, but really helps my speed now: if I draw the last edge to close a face and the edges don't go light I know right off I have a glitch :`) Anytime the wide edges get in your way you can toggle them off (I use "p" as a toggle shortcut)
Best, Tom.
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/sas/Newbie/profiles.skp
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Gaius said . . . *In your last image there are two kinds of faces: white and blue. White means "front" or "outside" while blue is "back" or "inside".
Make sure to have only white faces shown (and the blue ones inside the wall thickness).You can right click on a white face and choose "orient faces" from the context menu. However this tool does not always work properly. If so, you need to select the blue faces and right click again and choose "reverse faces".*
That's my something new for today. I had noticed I was getting some blue surfaces, some white, and some grey. Figured the grey was shadows, but could figure what the blue was. Now I know. Thanks!!!
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