just learned something. if you clcik the picture box, after it gets all distorted, it will reset itself well the out of shape problem is solved.

I don't think I'm doing that, though. I draw two lines, then convert both to pipes with zero ID. I use the Intersect With Model to show where they touch, and that's where I run into trouble, when I try to back away one tube from the other for editing; the intersecting line says on the other tube. I figured out that I can select the pipe - and must also include the intersecting line - in order to move it for editing. That works better though I was surprised that when I selected the intersecting area and hit Delete, it also deletes the entire tube, but I can deal with that. Subject change: Somewhat related, my chassis consists of a mix of square and round tubing. Is there a plugin to produce square tubes the same way that pipes are created? I realize there may be an issues with how to orient the flat sides but having a tool would be much better than placing a square normal to a line and projecting it. I found when I use the Extrude or Follow me tool, it doesn't act the way I want and a plugin would be a great time-saver. Thanks again for the generous help and I hope to pass on the favor to others. [edit] Found this: http://sketchup.engineeringtoolbox.com/section-steel-to_2.html Don't know if it'll do what I want but I'll give it a try. Regardless, if anyone has a "Line-to-square-tube" plugin I'd like to try it.

Yes, Joy (catamointain) and others like Taff for instance have really worked hard to put all those excellent links together

You can always move that text to any position you want.

@Txusic View the forms with Hidden Geometry ON. You will probably find that the 'good' intersection results from the segmented edges of the two cylinders aligning correctly. If the segmented edges don't align you'll get jagged edges when they intersect - as you might logically expect

How well you are !!!

i think i i get it it now. i dont want to just make layers/groups/components just for the sake of making layers and groups/components i want to make them for a needed use, like for example, making a component to create multiple edited copies, or a group to er group. i think that was a my problem, i was trying to make all these complicated layers with groups and components and it was making editing very difficult because each group/component was connected to a different layer. and when i wanted to edit one layer on one component, i had to edit any layer that was connected when i selected 'edit component' till i realized that i don't need need to do that because as you said groups/components have nothing to do with layers

figured it out

There are some pretty styles here: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewforum.php?f=40

@spence said: Thats good information Wo3Dan. Now how did you get the 1.66667 number? Spence, You are pulling my legg aren't you? Anyway. Your input (in the copier) is 1:500. The output needs to be 1:300 which is a larger scale. So you need ?:500 to equal 1:300. What more can I say? (500/300):500 = (1.66666667):500 = 1:300 b.t.w. don't underestimate the SU scale tool features whenever you encounter such a thing in SU. success, Wo3Dan

Thanks everyone... I'm still working on it and I will look into some of the rubies and the movie! Thanks for all your help!

Are you clicking the 'submit' button in the bottom right hand corner, after youve selected the woodworking usergroup? Once youve been signed up, it should show up in the forum index.

i dont think it is, because of the way you need to set it up.

Thank you ridix. It didn't occur to me the dark slider would do this. Peter

The shape is called a torus. You can make it or any other circular symmetrical object by centering a profile on a circular path. It doesn't have to be in contact or even the same size...just share the centre of rotation. Then you simply select the circular path and click on the profile with the Follow Me Tool. It's called lathing. If you only want a partial lathe, not the full 360 degrees then you can manually drag the profile around the path with the Follow Me tool. You have to be careful when doing this, though, because of the way that SU calculates the change of course between the segments on the circle. You can end up with a face that isn't orientated at the angle you expected it to be. It's often easier to do the full 360 then delete the section you don't want...either directly, or after having done an Intersect with a "negative" shape. [image: pFO1_lathing.jpg] lathing.skp

Problem Solved. Just down loaded SU pro from google again and ticked the repair option, works fine now. Stan

thanx components are cool

well, maya has quite a good documentation too. and you can literally do anything with it. but the lord of the rings seems a a short magazine compared to this huge manual I love the ammount of control maya gives you though. seperate control over faces, edges, whole curves, or vertexes, together with loads of different snap modes. that is really some nice programm. but by the time you are able to create simple objects, you will design complicated shapes with SketchUp...

Deep exploration has a batch conversion option and it converts .skp to .3ds amongst many other formats.

It finnally painted the tongue! YAY! I went to check if there was another surface like tobobo was saying there might be. I deleted it noticed that there was not another surface so I undid and tried to paint it one more time. Then it finally popped it in. Maybe it was a glich or it didnt work lol. Anyway I really appreciate all the help you guys have helped me with. You guys R Teh Awesome! Thanks a bunch! ~Rsdevour