Ah yes! Exactly what I was looking for. And more! Thanks for your quick reply. Trees ahoy!

Dear Plot-Paris, Yes, that all makes sense. What is confusing is that after using the off-set tool one can click on individual areas and see that they all separated by circle entities. So intuitively, one assumes that on the next push-pull the circle entity will divide the cylinder, which it doesn't. Pulling the the outer annular area first solves this problem, or doing what Alan suggests, intersecting before deleting Another mystery solved. Many thanks, Bob

This is a brilliant post. Thank you! I know it is going to help me a lot in my chosen tasks! . richardplant

Sorry it took me a couple of days to get back. Surprise birthday party put me in "summer" mode real quick. No worries with the .tiff stuff. I was able to work around it, and all the info i was able to find said that .png was a better format anyway. i'm in good shape now. I just wish i was better at post processing. I've been busting my butt on some of the tutorials posted - but i was trying to use GIMP rather than PS to really no avail. I think i'm going to return this GIMP how to book and just shell out the dough for PS. Its just easier to work around - no bugs. I'm not trying to be a programer, just a proficient designer. LOL! Anyway thanks for the trys. Archi

Why don't you use 3Ds MAX with Vray (I know it is expensive) via boot camp (I would prefer XP, not vista). You can model on SU then render on Max. You can control the environment a lot better than any program I guess. Alternatively C4D with Vray or Maya with V-ray can be used. On windows Rhino also have Vray. I have not used it before but some people say that Modo 302 native renderer is very good (3D painting is excellent by the way).

sounds about right, it's an imported 3ds tree. Getting rid of it corrects my shadow problems, but podium still won't render shadows however.. Thanks for the reply

or use section planes.

What remus said. I had a similar problem with the MS Intellimouse. After I uninstalled the mouse software and allowed XP to run my mouse all was well.

Hi Jugganaut, hi folks. If you have smoothed the edges of your I-Beam, all of them, you wont be able to push or pull the ends since it will be seen by SU as a curved face. If this is the case, make hidden geometry visible and then unsmooth the perimeter of the ends. You will then be able to pull your beam to whatever length you want. Just ideas

Eureka! I just forgot the simple task of resetting the axes to its original position. All is well now. Thanks again for your help!

that is wise! cause we all know: preparation is the first step to success!

hi, i had a similar problem but used photoshop to find the best alignment for the model, save a JPEG of the image and then photomatch it with the SU model to get the orientation right just so i could get a nie high res shot with shadows etc... its not the solution but it might save you a bit of time

Hi Jackson. To speed up your rendering have to tried to simply select the entire model, right click and set everything to Static. You can reset it all back to Dynamic as needed. I work with large city models too and this speeds up rendering a lot. Regards Garth

Thank you Pilou. I will try the method and the script. edit: Piou thanks again. This is exactly what I was looking for.

Try this: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=253&t=9342&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=

Thanks Guy..great hints Andrew

Well done igor, sounds like you all had fun and learned a lot. The experience should set you up well for the future.

I played around with backlit leds today. Here's a little array. The visible part is a transparent cylindrical component with a plexiglass material. The lighting is from five small rectangles that are coloured emitters hidden just behind the cylinders inside the 'work surface'. Just an idea, not to scale. Bob [image: QC9v_leds.jpg]

@mateo soletic said: Who said anything about 3D models? I cant find anything either. Well... As johnsenior already said, it's all in the subject of the thread... Don't pull your gun so fast... Somebody might get hurt sometime... @johnsenior - thanks for the heads up... Unfortunately it seem as if the 3D models are few and far in between...

Thanks also DAVE R, there are a lot of secrets in that fabulous software. MALAISE