There are several on this very forum use our Search facilities with 'style', also many free ones at Sketchup Artists - http://www.sketchupartists.org/downloads/... and some to buy at FormFonts - http://www.formfonts.com/index.php?area=9...

Pilou will be along directly and suggest that you use Shape Bender which you could certainly do but you can also do it manually without problem. Draw a cylinder for the hole, Rotate/Copy to make a radial array of the holes, copy the array up and rotate halfway between to get the staggered holes. Draw a cylinder centered on the the array of holes Intersect the "holes" with the cylinder. Delete the waste. Copy the section up as many times as needed. [image: 8txy_holes.png] If you have the pro version of SketchUp, you could use Solid Tools to create the holes more quickly.

Why would Google run to improve Sketchup? It already has very big number of users because of its ingenious interface. I don't think they'll try another product for other features SU doesn't have. At least not soon.SU doesn't have a competition. It is unique, one and only. It is like Volkswagen Beetle, @Last hardware . It was not made for "every year" new profit, like Windows. @Last software was good name for it. It doesn't need improvements besides its golden plugins. Not yet. The only thing that could happen is to move more features (old or new) to Pro version...

On the Mac version of SU you could easily import them. On Windows, you need to convert them to something SU can import. If they are vector data, find a program that can convert them into dxf for instance and then import that. If they are simple raster files, convert them to image first and import that into SU.

Also... the Simlab .fbx importer (90$) mentioned in this thread just converts geometry, no materials. So it is not more useful than the DWG importer in Sketchup which is free. Since 2011 Revit version,Autodesk changed the way it writes Collada and FBX files, so they only can be read by Autodesk products. Way to gooooooooooooooo Autodesk

@gaieus said: ...skm files are actually renamed zip archives... Thanks Gaieus and Tig for clarifying that - and for adding this new chapter in my personally D'oh Book

Are you saying you import the images in psd format? Well anyway, I would suggest to explode the image if you are importing as an image. SketchUp will create a face (true geometry with the four edges enclosing it) which you can turn into a face-me component quite easily. Below is a short video how to do it (it's a Roman soldier but trees work the same way) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvI6A7Njw4k

Set your length snapping to 1.5" and use my WorkPlane with a 1.5" grid set, to to make a planes to snap to to its intersections etc.......

@tig said: Sounds like he modeled the surface in 3d in CAD but drew/imported the carpark layout flat in 2d at z=0. So moving them up will mess up if they are all flat and the surface is 3d. A solution to this would be to group all of these carpark lines and then move the group vertically [as Gaieus explained]... but so that they end up well ABOVE the surface... then use the Sandbox tool's Drape function to make a set of lines drawn over the 3d surface - the 'flat' grouped set can then be erased, or put onto its own 'off' layer... Thanks Guys - worked a treat. (original file created in AutoCAD with over 250 layers - there is a lot of extraneous data "floating" around which is slowly being deleted to get the file down to a manageable size). Cheers and Thanks Max

To open holes or shapes on curved faces [image: 4pW7_Capture.JPG]

Also http://vyonyx.com/category/down/tex/ is great for textures, cut-out people/trees etc.

thanks, I notified it, will send you the file asap

@solo said: Hmmm... What render engine do you use? This kinda looks like Vray and tons of photoshop (all added stuff in PS has no shadows) Hmm I see what you mean now. I am using Podium at the moment. I'm not to worried about the post photoshop stuff, trees etc. Its just developing a style similar to the actual building?

Hi Dave- Thank you for your considered response. No, your watermark solution is not quite what I had in mind! -- But it's a whole lot like how I'd have approached it back in the drafting table days: lay out grids/guides for the plan & 1 or 2 elevations, slap a piece of trace over the top and start drawing! Except if I understand correctly there's no using the lines in the watermark for inferences, right? So not exactly a step forward... From your 4th paragraph I'm thinking maybe I need to learn about layers -- which I know something about from 2D CAD and Photoshop but am barely aware of in SketchUp. Might I create a lattice of guide lines (x, y, z grids) or other geometry in a separate layer? I'm in the weird place where I don't use the program enough to get fully on top of how to use it, and the more I use it the less I know... Anyway, thank you for re-addressing my question. I think I'll look into layers and see where it gets me!

hi, erzane: I think in your last image above, you did not include that remnant in your selection before moving the selection. Maybe not. But it kind of illustrates the good practice of making a component as soon as you have constructed an assemblage of unique geometry. You do not have to give the component a unique name right away, if it interferes with your workflow, but is good to go back and name it, even set up layers to place these components. After all the time I have been using Sketchup(a few years), this is finally sinking in to my thick head.

Thanks Gaieus, as usual on the money. Sketchup is so modestly sophisticated, the more I learn the more I realise I know NOTHING! Thanks Steved

mitcorb thanks for the feedback. I use an external usb drive to work from. I find i can keep my computer lean and mean by removing all the file clutter out of it. The issue went away when i restarted Su after the files started appearing. What's annoying about it is that every time you save it saves another copy of the file and numbers it 1,2,3 so forth. the original file does not get saved, if that makes any sense. Anyway, thanks for the feedback.

i final uploaded it! here is the link of my project http://www.mediafire.com/?2s29lcwwov7v777

I'd be willing to draw them for a fee. PM me if you want to discuss it.