Thanks. A pity my Cad software cannot handel OBJ files. Rob

This might help as well? http://www.netfabb.com/basic.php

Okay I gave the suggestion from Dave a try. You have to use the menu if you do this, and dig the commands out by drilling down. So the procedure would be something like "Tools" and then "Paint Bucket". That may seem a bit silly; or it might be a case of how sick and tired you have become of selecting commands! The cursor then follows the selection being called out which is not ideal. What you can do with VR and Sketch Up is this. Call out the shortcut for the new tool and it will exchange at the current cursor position which is nice. That lends some practicality to using the VR software. VR does a pretty good job at calling up commands compared to dictation with Word. With Windows the process is "Press 'L'", which gives the pencil. You want to orbit, so call out "Press 'O'". What I like now is undo, redo, and escape are just called out by name. Say "undo" and it will undo. Or "escape" to drop a tool. Cheers Nick

Have you used SketchUp at all? If you have you should know how to take something from 2D to 3D. It's almost the most basic action there is in SketchUp. Importing the vector lines into SketchUp instead of drawing them is the only difference in this case. Without an example of what you are trying to do, it is difficult to give more guidance. Meet us half way at least and give us some useful info to be able to help.

I once read an articale onlina about these virtual worlds like second life and Entropia Universe which have a virtual economy but in saying that they generate real money also, these worlds have the ability to import 3D models created from SU, and many members of the second life have used the warehouse to download funiture, buildings and so on to create there virtual homes, you can set up a business in these worlds selling models, for example a furniture shop, shrubs, maybe even a car sales company i think, imagine that, but now when i reserch it i find very little about selling models in these vurtual worlds, a virtual nite club sold for over $600,000.00 in real USD on Entropia Universe, and this isnt the only high selling item on these worlds, its staggering how much these worlds generate in real cash, and 3D Models are exactly what is selling here, has anyone have experience in this field?

Hi folks. By typing toolbarsin the search field of the Help Center, you will find this: http://support.google.com/sketchup/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=70172 The Help Center can be reached from the Help Menu of SketchUp. Just ideas.

Each tool loads in a way that its author considers appropriate to its use. The tools' installation and activation/use are clearly explained on its download page... Each tool that has an RB file in the Plugins folder will 'auto-load' when SketchUp starts, Some tools are made as 'Extensions' - these need activating from the Preferences > Extensions list, after they are first installed. This is appropriate for more complex tools - you can switch then on/off this way, although the Extension that's 'off' only becomes unavailable after SketchUp is restarted. Some tools have a Toolbar - activated from its View > Toolbars entry. Clicking on the buttons runs various aspects of a tool's operation. Many tools have entries in one of the standard SketchUp menus, or submenus within them. These items allow you to set a shortcut-key to them - in the same way that you can with the native-tools. Many 'tools' will appear in the Plugins menu. However, some are regarded as 'Tools' or 'Draw' items and can appear there. Also some are to do with File, View/Camera etc... Some tools are accessible from the right-click context-menu. Usually these are only displayed or not-disabled [grayed-out] when specific conditions are met - for example a tool that only works when 'one group' is selected might only display when you have 'one group' selected. Some very specialized tools don't even appear in any menu or toolbar - these are activated by typing commands into the Ruby Console - they are for a one-off use in unusual circumstances when a menu item would be rarely used... So... read the tool's usage notes and use them as indicated...

From my Windows System Info, it appears that the Nvidea has 1.5GB Again, not necessarily all that you need. However, what you need is tempered by what you feel you can afford. May I suggest you also do maybe a googlesearch "comparison of graphics cards" which is what I did well in advance of purchasing the system I have. I do not do very much rendering. I do not do any Nonlinear Editing- which is what video folks do in post processing (and these systems apparently require a lot of horsepower). However, I find in conjunction with the Studio XPS W7 I7-930 and 8G System Ram, my Sketchup experience has significantly improved from my old XP machine which had another Nvidea card.

For me, too. Don1t worry. Those Google sites are so bloated; it will take a while till they updated everything (as it took almost a year to insert "Google" everywhere 6 ys ago)

Got it now! Thanks so much

@rich o brien said: you know thomthom has a plugin for exporting 2d .png? Yes, I am aware (thank you)just thought i would share this in case it offers other options. Charlie

@brookefox said: I failed to mention the wireframe, edges only selection as I thought it was clear. Seems it was not, but as you say 'line to tube' doesn't require that. Here's one with the non-radially faced sphere (dome), in which the faces are more approximately equal on the surface. If it is desired that the grid be regular before draping then take the faces only and drape the even grid from '(sandbox) from scratch' or other and drape as Pilou showed. Once draped of course the grid is distorted (except in ortho plan view). can you please explain how you made those constructions beam ? step by step ...

The first time I hooked up an external monitor, I had the same trouble, I couldn't drag anything left to right from my lap top to the secondary. Then realized I had my laptop on the left and the secondary on the right, but in the control panel, I didn't notice that I had my secondary monitor on the left side and laptop on the right. Just identify and make sure they are oriented to match the 1--2 on the monitors and the control panel. Sounds elementary but sometimes the best answers to frustrating issues are the most obvious. [image: weDg_screenorientation.png]

I was wondering when they'd starting using this type of maps. There's several other providers already out there. Even in Norway, a local provider has had it for a few years now: http://kart.finn.no/ It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for Google to produce data for my area - it's always taken quite a while before their product news reached this region.

The example SKP did indeed have custom axes. To reset to the model-axes place the cursor over an visible axis line and right-click and use 'reset'. Then draw the line parallel to the red axis and a unconnected curve, orient the group and make the bend...

I am not an expert at these rendering terms myself but I think both specular and Fresnel control shininess here. Specular would be the overall "strength" of shininess and Fresnel would be how much the light is reflected and how much of it is scattered (think of a satin glossy material or a sharply reflective one).

@unknownuser said: @troypiggo said: I also downgraded Safari as was suggested in another thread, but the black text boxes are still there. are you sure you downgraded safari? if you click on the Safari menu then choose 'About Safari', what does it say for the version #? i'm assuming 5.1.7 still. you can't just grab an old installer and run it normally and expect it to downgrade.. you'll have to use another app called Pacifist to open the .dmg then choose 'replace' at the prompts when installing.. (better pacifist instructions are out there.. on my way to catch a plane at the moment so i can't be entirely helpful) Aah, you're quite right. It hadn't downgraded successfully. I missed the requirement to force it using Pacifist. Done now, downgraded, and all looks good so far. Thanks so much for the tip.

Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback guys. Will look forward to messing around with it!!