render times - well, it depends from render to render. I have a quad core too. it is very comparable to other high quality render engines... and the new KT beta I'm testing is much faster than the current official release, but I'm not at liberty to say more right now on interiors I get great results using the KT preset 'Photon Map Medium +AA' this will generally get me something very nice at 2800px wide in about 30mins. for exteriors I us an unbiased render method called Path Tracing Progressive - this takes some time to clear up, but gives me nearly instantaneous 'preview' renders. So it's great for both uses. Since I'm on a quad, in less than 30 mins I will have great exteriors (assuming lit only with Sun and Physical Sky) Sometimes if the scene is extremely reflection and poly-heavy I can wait up to an hour or two for large px renders. For interiors of extreme high lighting quality and more than 2000px wide on unbiased render preset such as Metropolis Light Transport you can wait up to 12-13 hrs (I start it, go home, come back to finished render the next morning) This is similar to high qual + high res Vray or Maxwell renders.

Surely. Or 3DS Max or other programs. Just turn on hidden geometry to see that the mesh is really different from what you'd most probably create in SU.

Yes, basically these two sites. Most of the "free" scripts at Smustard (and many more) can be found on Didier's site (second in the list below) http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=6792#p6792 and as you can see, there are some more sites listed. That's about all you should start with. For landscaping, I could suggest you the following thread: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=6799#p6799 and an update: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=6787#p6787 It creates guide points (and then a mesh from them) from x/y/z coordinates of points simply as a text file as an imput (I myself use it a lot or "reconstructing" archaeological layers etc.).

Hi TxCelt - Csaba is correct. If you do not edit your group, anything that you draw will actually be on top of the group and not affect its surface planes. It's difficult at first to notice that you have a group selected when the geometric object is a rectangle, because the group (and component) bounding box is also a rectangular shaped cube. To illustrate this more clearly, create a circle, then use the Push/Pull tool to create a cylinder. Now make that a group (or component). You'll now see that the group object will have a rectangular bounding box when you select it. Now double click on this object and you'll see that you are now editing INSIDE the group. This is what you'll want to do with your plywood group objects. One other note: components are similar to groups, but have a more powerful feature. When you create a component, and then copy that component a number of times within you model, editing any one of the components will affect all of the other instances in the same way. This is very powerful if you are modifying a number of repeating objects because you don't have to edit each one individually. If however, you would like to edit a component and not affect the other instances, you can right-click on the component and select "Make Unique". This will break the link to the other instances and allow you to edit it without causing the others to change. I hope you find this information useful, and you share with us your successes and questions as you go! And thanks for using SketchUp, we hope you enjoy it!! Cheers, CraigD

I should be thinking of scenes + templates more. I always find things out "on the fly" but there must be some common feature(s) which I always use...

The ground plane position is fixed in the model. It is not determined by the location of the origin or red and green axes. The axes can be moved but the ground plane cannot. You can move the model up if you need it positioned above the ground plane. You can't move the ground plane down, though.

much appreciated!!! P: syburn

well i will have to try a few different ways - see what works. Im mainly working on interiors but as i want to design with this toolas well, i was thinking that i should create a layer template to make things easier. P: syburn

ahhh, thanks guys. that should do the trick. i was doing a push-pull copy and then scaling the end. this should be much more smooth & accurate. I'll put this up as a component soon as i finish.

i think the problem lies in the page that has the Q on it at first? after the Q disappears the video starts loading and doesn't finish...scroll down that page, and you will find a list of available videos, select one...you will go to another page...select the video you want to watch again...on the next page ther are selectable titles at the top...I have had best success selecting the little Pod icon . HTH

Tom, you did not miss anything. Now that the move has taken place, a solution is in the works that will make use of the SAS; Kelly's server.

Thanks for all those tips! I will probably leave looking at rendering software till later. Just try to use photoshop at first. P: syburn

YES - brilliant find there!!!! P: syburn

Bolter, The hint is in the SU User's Guide: here (go down to "Folding Along an Axis of Rotation"): http://download.sketchup.com/sketchuphe ... Rotate.htm According to this method, you first place the cursos (and click) on any of a point that's on the axis of (the desired) rotation, Wiothout releasing the left button, you start dragging your cursor in the desired direction - of the rotation axis (let it be a "regular" x/y/z axis - when it changes the colour, as well - or any other line whith which you'll have some inference with) 3( Then releasing and choosing an appropriate point in the selected geometry to rotate - either by snapping it or entering precise values into the VCB. That's all - but if I were you, I'd experiment with these (new) tools a bit before applying them on "serious" models.

Gai, you are correct, the material was indeed applied to the group. I've replicated the original circumstances in the attached skp file. It appears as though applying a texture to a group associates the texture with the larger entity, not with the individual face. Thus, to work around the issue, simply open the group and reapply the material to the specific face. stair_tread[1].skp [image: stair_tread.gif]

Or you can just use the Outliner to see all your components/nested components.

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!!!

Nice feature, thanks for the explaination.

EDIT: (wrong answer replaced, sorry :~l) The control point of the copied/pasted item(s) is the origin of all its stuff...the leftmost, frontmost, bottom. Best, Tom.

Ok, I found an OLD photo I like. My best are those with my tongue out or I'm snoring. Add twenty years and even more pounds, a lot less hair that's almost all grey now and it looks just like me. <cough> I'm a lifetime member of the fat club so no diet tips from me.