I think there is no API method to set any image file as thumbnail. Jim has a script that uses standard Ruby to extract a thumbnail, so it could be doable to write a script for replacing the thumbnail in the skp file, but manipulating binary files is a bit risky and errors could lead to corrupted skp files.

This is exactly what I´ve been searching for a long time! Could work similar to "layers panel". Or does anyone know if such a plugin does exist?

Tale the 'cm' out of there. You get a choice between cm and inches so you can't enter units as M or mm etc. [edit] fwiw, you can change between inches & cm via the button shown here: [image: oLnJ_dc_units.jpg] as far as the # error, i'm not 100% sure what it means but i think it's something like "DC is expecting a number but you entered a text string"

Layers do NOT separate geometry [unlike in CAD], all that SUp layers do is control objects' visibility. All of you 'raw' geometry should be made on Layer0. By making/moving geometry inside groups or component-instances you separate the geometry from other geometry that might otherwise stick to it. You then control visibility of the groups/instances using layers of those. You cannot separate some geometry by simply moving it onto an invisible layer as any new geometry you add within the same context will still merge with it. You are best advised to always have LAyer0 set as your current-layer. For example draw a rectangular face on the current-layer [Layer0]. Select the face [not its edges] and change it to be on another layer [say Layer1] that's switched off. You can no longer see it. Now erase one of the rectangle's edges. Switch the Layer1 and the face has gone too, that's because although you had [inadvisably] moved the face onto a hidden layer it was still connected to its edges on Layer0 and therefore was erased when an edge went. No try this... Draw another rectangular face on the current-layer [Layer0]. Select the face and Group it. Draw another rectangular face on the current-layer [Layer0] exactly over the group. Erase the face but leave the edges. Now select the group and move it onto Layer1 and switch that layer off. You are left with the unfaced edges. Erase and edge. Switch Layer1 back on and the face reappears. This is because you have separated some of you geometry using groups and changed visibility of the group's layer. So if you want to trace over something make sure you are working over a group/instance and then only the geometry in the current working context will interact

Thank you so much for your answers, I notice that Fredo have recently implemented something like an "Update Observer" don't know how this work but it would be a great thing if it could scan every plugin installed. @unknownuser said: if you're a volunteer you could do it I was thinking of something like the big red button named Plugin Index

No problem. I knew about the "Must Have Plugins Visual Edition." However, this ain't about me. Acidblue gets his info-that's what counts. Merci

I have the same issue at the moment but have been working around it with Virtual Box. I installed XP and Sketchup 8 on the VM and it exports just fine. Not really a solution to the issue but it gets the job done... NVIDIA 7600-GT

. the easiest/fastest way to draw this (that i know of) is with the CurviShear plugin by fredo: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=29230 [image: Ssf8_curvishear.jpg]

As I said, I just pulled the shape out of my hat. I didn't intend it to match a production Y. The process would be essentially the same anyway.

Hi Aerilius That was it, exactly, thank you very much. cheers Nigel

Edwin I've answered you in a PM... but it might be useful to 'all'... What you want to do can be achieved by hand because the elements are nice and straight [I'll cover the general 'complex' case later] - just think of it as a weird 'spiral-staircase' laid on its side... Make a grouped beam and a grouped rafter - each drawn flat and somewhat longer than the actual length you need [we'll trim them later]. Draw the four edges of the roof-form at the appropriate angles/flatness [inside their own group too]. First let's do the beams [long side]. You can calculate how many copies of the initial flat beam you want from the roof's length and the beams' required centers... Choose the orthogonal-view that lets you see it in end elevation. Select the flat beam. Activate the Rotate Tool, locked in the plane of the view, press Ctrl to enter its copy mode. Start the rotated-copy horizontal and end it so the copy is at the maximum angle [snap to the angled end], immediately type in the number of copies required thus /7 and the intermediate copies will be made divided evenly into that angle. These beams are currently all at the start of the roof. Change your view so that you can select all 7 copies and use the Move Tool to locate them along the roof at the first center distance. Deselect the lowest angled beam that is the remain there [Select+Ctrl+Shift to remove the picked object from the selection]. Use the Move Tool to move the 6 to the next center etc, repeat removing a beam from the selection and moving what's left until you have relocated all of the beams at the expected centers. I suggest that you select all 8 beams and group them for ease of editing later... Now repeat the process to copy and move the rafters... You now have a set of purlin groups and rafter groups inside their own 'container' group. They are now too long on the up-slope end and need trimming to suit. If you want square-cut ends to all of them simply edit each group in turn and PushPull the end face until it aligns with a roof-edge line you drew earlier. If you want angles ends then do this... inside the containing group, draw a large vertical rectangle aligned with the appropriate roof-edge line, group it and move it so it intersects the ends of the all of the grouped beams/rafters. Select the grouped face and use Edit>Cut to move it onto the Clipboard. Edit a grouped let's assume it's a 'beam'] and use Edit>Paste_In_Place to add the grouped face into the beam's entities. Select All and right-click context menu Intersect with Selection. The grouped face will slice through the beam's geometry. Select the face-group and Edit-Cut it again. Now use Erase to remove the unwanted end of the beam you've just sliced off - you will need to draw over one edge of the cut end to get a closing face to form... Repeat the process editing each group and pasting the face-group in place until all ends have been sliced off. Repeat for the rafter groups with the face-group rotated 90 degrees in plan... Explode groups of things as desired - it's recommended that you leave the individual rafters etc as groups as it makes moving/editing them easier as they won't stick to other adjacent geometry... Now... let's assume that the verges/eaves weren't straight lines... It means each member needs an individual rotation etc and then you can use the EEby* tools... [you could use them for the roof you illustrated too - simply Divide the four roof-edges in turn to suit the number of centers then use Weld to make Curves - use the 4 curves as profiles/rails in EEbyRails to make the roof-surface (later use JointPushPull to add thickness to it), then use EEbyLattice with just Rail and just Profile to make the center-lines of the beams/rafters (do some exploding of nested groups etc), then use EEbyFace to extrude a pre-drawn profile for the member along each of the lines you've just made - the beams/rafters will always have square ends...] For a roof like a 'hyperbolic-paraboloid' the four edges are curves and each member is itself curved...[image: S7Pg_Capture.PNG]

Thanks all for the help. I deleted the phantom group and all is well. No idea why it was there in the first place. Tig, thanks for explaining why some of my solids had problems. I previously stumbled upon the fact that I can have multiple separated solids within a group/comp and now I use that "feature" in places.

Sketchup.active_model.pages returns a list of the SKP's scenes. pages["Scene 1"] returns the scene with that name pages[1] returns the second scene etc This list is in the order the tabs are displayed. You can set_current/add/erase pages etc so you can manipulate the list... pages.add(name,flags,location) adds a scene [or replaces the scene at 'location' - e.g. 1 for the second scene - if no 'location' is given a new page is added at the start]. The bitwise 'flags' is also optional - it represents the scene's properties - http://code.google.com/apis/sketchup/docs/ourdoc/page.html#update explains this... So it would be possible to write a script to reorganize scene tabs... BUT it's complex. Smustard.com has several 'page' tools [some free, some inexpensive] that might help you. One way would be to use the scene [page] export method [provided by 'pageExIm.rb' - $5], then sort the lines in the .sup file that's generated [with Notepad++ etc], then erase all scene tabs and immediately reimport the scenes in that new order as desired, using their names ? Tip: this tool might cause problems if you haven't [temporarily] reset your Model Info > Units to 'inches' when doing the 'export' - it exports details in current units, but then imports assuming they are in inches - at least in the [perhaps older] version I have [that I have adjust to automate this temp-units issue to always export/import in inches irrespective of current-unit settings]... There are also a Smustard tool to rename scenes logically after reordering if needed...

I am trying to get some good renderings and am new to the rendering effort. After trying several programs, settled on Shaderlight recently. Seems like good features at a reasonable price. It appears that the 2D face me trees are usually more realistic. But would be interested in both.

I used Artisan, made a simple proxy (see image) and ran 2 iriterations. [image: VTq2_quickshapeproxy.jpg]

See what Alan means by this offset/scaling technique below. Here there is no offset but Ctrl+PushPull but the basic idea is the same; you create a series of connected contour lines which you can easily adjust with the Scale tool. [flash=640,460:2evsvnvv]http://www.youtube.com/v/QO_D3ltOilk[/flash:2evsvnvv]

Thank you for the welcome, Leedeetee, here's an example of the exhibition stand things that I create in SU. Basic at the moment but I'm getting the hang of it. I like what you've done and hope to progress in that way. [image: d0e6873cb7a606b5f1d45741fd90ad833a282e35d4cddee08b5a7a4ced4c137c6g.jpg] I just need my manager to allow me to purchase Pro so I can export to Illustrator format. Solo, you wouldn't believe it but the sun is shining today. I shan't go out in it as I want to preserve my pasty English skin. Wagoneer

Hi Patrick and welcome! I would be honest with the little geeks explaining that you have just got this job and practically speaking this will be a common learning curve. Believe me, they will appreciate it much more than anything when it turns out that you do not know a detail. Certainly you can (and should) be a bit ahead of them. Here (below the boring forum stuff) is a couple of links to various tutorials and videos (some links are outdated a bit but you will discover): http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=1398 Another thing: do not "ban" them from online resources. If just one is interested in the material, will eventually find this forum and you - so that honesty would pay twice; instead, encourage them to visit online resources (including these forums). People are generally patient with newbies (and especially youngsters) here so there should not be any issue (and if there is any, here are the moderators and me to kick butts)