I'm using a Razer Naga 2012 and I'm verry happy with it, all the buttons have a function in skecthup, the lowwer numbers are the ones that I use the most. For a 2 handed person is it a dream to use this in combination with a spacenavigator.

@rdx007 said: Hi all, I have a skp file which displays different parts of a design using layer manager. I want to make a form with drop down boxes in webdialog which is user friendly and performs the same function as layer manager . Is it possible to do so? If yes please let me know how go about it . There are numerous plugins that do things such as you seek. Search the Extension Warehouse and the sketchUcation plugin store for "layer". Steve

As a start. [image: xAS4_asastart.png]

Try Cubic Bezier from Fredo's BZ_Spline set.

@cotty said: With the attached image, you can do it like in this screencast... See image above) Thanks Cotty, that is exactly what I ment. I didn't have the right transparent png at hand. The texture can be resized to show any grid one needs, even X and Y independently Jim, if you are going to follow Box's suggestion I would advice you to go for limited construction lines, (limited in length) made by a plugin, written by Jim Foltz. See his blog and look for 'Construction Line Tool': http://sketchuptips.blogspot.nl/p/my-plugins.html Thing is that with a few (not even that much, really) infinite guides in your model you might get lost in modeling space when orbiting. Even 'Zoom Extent' would not bring your model back until you delete all infinite guides.

When talking about BIM you need to ask yourself what you're looking for. Take the words "Building Information Modeling"- What does it mean? It means Information about a Building through [the interface of] a Model. By that definition, SketchUp is BIM software. Software companies like to confuse the issue when talking about features of their software, such as parametric modeling, room areas, scheduling, etc. They give the strong impression that anything else is not BIM. This is total deception. Don't get me wrong, these features are hugely advantageous for massive greenfield modular projects, but where one-off buildings are concerned you need to seriously question the return on investment where your platform requires you to create bespoke parametric elements for every single object in the model. How is SketchUp BIM? Surfaces contain area data. Groups & Components contain volume data. Objects can be programmed (including parametric and other features) SU exports data to spreadsheets. SU supports energy analysis, cost analysis SU Pro creates construction documents (when you know how- Nick is a great exponent of this process) There are a vast and growing number of automated plugins for ease and speed of virtual construction (e.g. 1001bit tools, Buildedge, etc.) SU files are now accepted by Tekla BIMsight. SU interacts very nicely with Google Earth. There are several add-ons for rendering SU models. I don't know what your requirements are and maybe you are right to go for the above packages- but I just question the need for parametric-only software for bespoke limited/ one-off building design & construction.

Well, for anyone coming across this thread, I'm abandoning this issue. I've searched the vray forums, and followed those to other sites as far as I can, and It seems there is no easy way to reproduce these effects without knowledge of texturing. The files seem to be included so that ppl with skill can load the seperate images into 3dsmax and make their own version from the source files. I've hurt my brain just trying to get that far, I'm not even gonna bother trying to mess with the files. I've gone over to twilight, which seems much easier to get the simple but good results I'm looking for. I'm not trying to take a college course to get this better, and it seems that's the only thing that'll get me the real results I want. Thanks for both of your responses

Just remember if you use two different versions of a material (horizontal and vertical), you increase the file size and potentially reduce performance and speed. If you have to edit the materials, you have to edit them both. You waste even more time that way. Applying and aligning a material isn't at all difficult to do in the model and once you've set it to each required orientation, you just sample the needed orientation when applying the material to other faces. Still, as with most other things in SketchUp, you can choose how you want to invest your time and how much to invest.

Simon, it already works on my Mac. I haven't tried it on my PC yet because I don't normally save SKP files out there. I can check when I get home from work unless someone else does before then. [image: kDgS_2014-01-08_06-14-04.png]

@flenn said: I've reported it many times but still the same, is there any other recommendations for me about another plugin that has the same or similar functions Never write this here: @flenn banned said: hello all .... I need a little help .... I use artisan v.1.2.1 with crack but every time I want to subdivide and smooth artisan its always bug splat and SketchUp automatically closed.... please help, I'm using OS: Windows 7 Ultimate and sketchup pro 2013..... @rich o brien said: Banned again I think you should buy the regular version.

Components dropper (works also for groups) by Thomthom

here's a better example (warning: 1.2 MB) example.skp

Hey Thanks a lot guys, Box, those ideas worked like a charm. Hadn't realised I could convert lines into poly-lines. Gilles, that plugin is epic thank you very much, and ill remember to save out in sk8 for next time! Thanks again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHsRRLCAOm8

I don't know what you wish to use them for, nor the exact method of modeling used by Form Fonts, but you could try using the Artisan plugin to sculpt some low rez models for Sketch Up, or if you need really good quality posable models you could use Poser or DAZ3D... DAZ's models are fairly affordable and DAZ Studio 4.6 is still free, so if you don't want to spend a lot on the program its not bad. You can export the models you make in SketchUp into OBJ format using Pros native OBJ export or TIG's Free Object Exporter... once in OBJ format you can import them to Poser or DAZ studio. One thing to note, DAZ base figures are nude, so you need to buy clothes for them (or not)... which is basically how they make up the cost of the free program... Poser on the other hand does come with a whole lot of free content as well as several clothed figures. If you go for Poser, try finding an older version like Poser 8 or 9 on Amazon, you will save a lot. Edited to add... sorry I just notice you said "for SU"... Well, Poser models are pretty detailed and make huge SU files in general... I sometimes pose and export DAZ people into SU using an older version of DAZ which had a Level Of Detail option for certain figures... I drop the LOD pretty low, since I need the figure only for scale reference... I don't know if LOD export is possible in Poser, or how it now works in DAZ Studio (I think you now need a $$ plugin called "Decimator"). I hope this was of some use.

The manual way of doing this is much faster if you have already a model with all scenes. 1 - You save 3 copies of the model that has all scenes. 2 - You delete everything in that model 3 - You open copy 1 and import model 1 4 - Do the same for copy 2 and 3 and you now have all models with same scenes. If you haven't got every scene in one model you can copy only the scenes you need from other models into the model with most scenes and save some work, and start from line 1 after that. Besides Eneroth's plugin, if you install Thomthom's "camera tools", you can also easily copy camera properties from one model to the other. If you use a plugin to copy camera positions between scenes you can, after that, copy properties between scenes by ticking/unticking the scene properties boxes on SU native scene manager. I hope this helps. JQL

Thanks for the response; I did what you suggested to find the scale by measuring a line in the image and scaling it to that size. Still, parts of the model didn't match up, but it was just one driveway, which I modified to fit with everything properly. Now it's all correctly geolocated and the model is in my Google Earth layer, which is what I wanted.

I did several searches but obviously not in the right place. I didn't realise there was a forum for the Plugin Store. Thanks again

No problem ! Just take your time to discover the tools and play with them. I believe you could use the FFD plugin with simple lines and the use the Follow me tool if that is what you want. Happy Sketching !

Thanks you all!! really thank you guys for the help. I really mean it! wow you guys are awesome!!!!!