Layers vs. Components/Outliner
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The one most important bit of layer advice I would offer is to always keep them to a minimum. It's fine to have 20+ layers in Autocad (or 200+ if you're a surveyor!), as you tend to only work in a few at a time (and they tend to be coloured by layer), but in SU I find multiple layers become a pain to deal with as they need to be switched on and off so often and it's not obvious visually which geometry is on which layer. I try to keep less than 5 ideally: typically (for architecture) "plans" containing dwg plans and sections for setting up the model, "roof" so I can switch it off for working on interiors, "furniture" and "trees" as these components can really slow down an SU file when you're working on it.
BTW, the hidden attribute of components and groups are saved with scenes, but only if they are independent i.e. if a group is within another group it's hidden attribute will not be saved with a page. IMHO it's important to understand this as it can really help reduce the number of layers you need to create.
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@jackson said:
BTW, the hidden attribute of components and groups are saved with scenes, but only if they are independent i.e. if a group is within another group it's hidden attribute will not be saved with a page. IMHO it's important to understand this as it can really help reduce the number of layers you need to create.
That explains why I was so confused earlier this week. Thanks for pointing that out.
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Hang on... I just thought of something.....
can we "hide" a component or group in a scene and have it visable in another even if it was on layer0? If not why not? Wouldn't that help? A simple script to right-click, select "hide in current scene only" would do the trick......
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@utiler said:
A simple script to right-click, select "hide in current scene only" would do the trick......
ASU does this as default- if your component is visible in all your scenes, but you hide it in one (and update that scene) it will still be visible in the others..... although it might be handy if you could right click and select "hide in all scenes"... in fact if the same function were available for layers that would be very useful. Hmmm... time for a wish list post I think.
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one of the best advice i was given when starting with SU: draw ALWAYS on layer 0 and move only the grouped elements to another layer (the geometry remains on layer 0).
as mentioned by many people in this forum, layers are a visibility tool. you do not actually move an element to a layer, it stays where it was drawn. so, as hard as it may seem to understand, when you draw something on layer 0 and after grouping it "move" it to layer 1, it actually stays on layer 0.
this will save you a lot of headaches. when i first started i thought i should move the geometry to another layer as well: this caused me many hours of perplexity as i did not know where some geometry went.
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I nest groups/layers on a regular basis, try this:
Create 3 layers - Layer 1,Layer 2 & Layer 3
Ensure that your current layer is the default (Layer 0)
Draw 5 Boxes
Select and group 3 of the boxes
Select the 2 remaining boxes and group them
Pick one of the groups and change its layer to 'Layer 1'
Pick the other group and change its layer to 'Layer 2'Select both groups and Group them together
Select this super group (sorry couldn't resist) and change its layer to 'Layer 3'
Make a few copies of the super group
Try turning the layers on and off and see what happens.
Try turning Layer 1 off, copying one of the super groups and then turning the layer back on.Here's a practical example:
I recently did a housing scheme consisting of around 200 houses, as you can imagine the model would get a bit slow with 200+ detailed houses visible.
I had the following:
The house grouped on Layer 'House-Type1-Body'
A footprint (Grouped) of the house on Layer 'House-Type1-Footprint'
And a super group of the two on the layer "House-Type1-All'I was able to have the house's (House-Type1-Body) switched off, whilst still being able to copy/rotate/mirror them in to position and only when I needed to see them did I switch on the houses and off the footprints.
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This is excellent idea Paul - something like using "dummy components" (that you can "reload" later).
Another way could be if SU allowed "sublayers" (as I read on one of the forums). -
DoorMaker uses this method:
D-Leaf00 - Doorleaf @ 0 degrees (Shut)
D-Leaf30 - Doorleaf @ 30 degrees
D-Leaf60 - Doorleaf @ 60 degrees
D-Leaf90 - Doorleaf @ 90 degrees
D-Swing - Arc on floor (For plan views)
D-Door - Master layer containing the super group of the above.This way you can have all the doors open at 90 with the swing arc visible for plan views and open at 60 for 3d views.
If you create a scene with 0 then one with 30 another with 60 then a final one with 90 you can have an animation of doors opening/closing.But the best thing is that copying the super group will copy all the groups within it whether they are visible or not.
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Yes, I definitely see the reason and usefulness of this workflow.
I did this monster Gothic reconstruction and also needed to find out workarounds to be able to work within the model but still hide the details (tracery windows, ribbed vaultings, galleries etc).I just made the individual pieces in separate files and then joined them in a final, master model. But then these entities were grouped together so I could turn individual parts/details OR the whole building on/off.
Just I was not very consistent with it from the very beginning so I got a bit messed up - well, I had not had such a (physically) "big" project previously.
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excellent tut, paul. the solution is deceptively simple as it has tremendous potential for use. thatnks.
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excellent tut, paul. the solution is deceptively simple as it has tremendous potential for use. thatnks.
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SchreiberBike - Exactly right.
Here's a quick file using the houses example above.
Copy/Mirror/Scale one or more of the footprints then switch on the House-Body layer.
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