Right. So that's why I ask what's the difference between the mentioned rotatable north arrow and the solar north tool? Daniel says they took it (rotatable north arrow) from the Pro version.

@aerilius said: But: SketchUp does not recognize the opacity in transparent texture images (because it's separate from the opacity slider), so you could apply a material with a completely transparent png image to all entities of which you want to see only shadow, like in this example. I have the exact same problem with pipogianni, I am trying to get some tree shadows from png tree images (with transparent backrounds) in my model, without rendering the png tree plane itself. I only want the shadows, so I can add the trees later with photoshop. The example that you posted here seems to manage exactly that, but i can't figure out how. ! Can anyone please explain what am I looking at in this model? How are the two lateral shadows created without the smiley faces being displayed?

i've seen this before...when i would see that somebody enters this i would post myself infront of it and perform something like this ->

@dave r said: The results are to be expected when you divide up a face into smaller faces. It really is exactly the same thing happening as when you have a 3D shape, draw a smaller face and push that in. You can skin those recesses by tracing a line segment along the edge of the recess. It would be better to start with just the outline of the gun and extrude that. Then add the lines for the various smaller faces and use Push/Pull on those. Since the gun is mostly symmetrical, model one half of it. then copy the half with Move/Copy and flip the copy to make the opposite half. I will try this. Thanks

An alternative would be to move the vent component into place, Hit Ctrl+X to cut the component, open the lid component for editing and hit Edit>Paste in place. Since you're getting into nesting components you might think about how the lid could/should be made. I would set up something like this if you look at the Outliner <Lid assembly> |- <Dome> |- <Handle> |- <Hook> |- <Vent> This will make it easy to handle the lid assembly and yet leave the parts as separate components.

Yes it is the script written by the notorious Fredo. You can find an index to the Plugins available here by clicking the appropriate red button at the top of the page.

Thanks for your helpful replies! All good suggestions. I started naming materials but its the ones that come with downloaded models that I'm concerned about.the ruby MrMike pointed out is a big help (material select). Even though not perfect, it pretty much helped me discover what model brought in that dark red color. And if I select a material I have the opportunity to see if its in use and by what. Cool. I actually would rather make my own models to have more creative control, especially when it comes to material introduction. There's not enough hours in a day for 3D modelin when working on a deadline.

Tittle is changed but not the URL

Thanks a lot, I'll try your method right away!

This www-site will quickly covert NCS to RGB for you http://jsfiddle.net/jdias/b3hEa/ then you can just use the three RGB values it gives you in the SKP's material-editor to make a new material to match... It would be easy enough to incorporate this code into a webdialog and then make the color for you... Perhaps some brave scripter might have the time to do it [one day]...

This is great stuff thank you for the help and information.

Very goooood, thank you

Thanks guys I will look at both those plugs as a solution.

@d12dozr said: There is the Polyreducer plugin you could try... Cool, I'll try it out... The reviews aren't very positive but you never know

Read this. It's been explained ad nauseum.

My PurgeAll script also allows you to control what is purged - unlike the Model Info version which purges everything. With my script if, for example you don't want to purge unused layers, you can choose not to... You can also get a report written showing what has been purged...

To be honest, I was imagining simply two or more edges/ arcs in the scene, not necessarily overlapping any faces. As if one were starting a new model or something. So I learned something here, too.