[quote="minguinhirigue"] Render[In] and Shaderlight are still in beta-phase but both have thoses abilities you are looking for. quote] The full release of Shaderlight was launched in October and can be downloaded from http://www.shaderlight.com. At the moment it's Windows only but a Mac version is due in Feb 2011. Shaderlight is a tool designed to work with your workflow. Its simplicity and high quality results and seamless integration with SketchUp make it the perfect tool to dive straight in to. Let us know what you think!

[image: C9uC_9bef6e189c33c5340eb2a0870f724701.jpg] Hello there ^^ Newbie here and rescue needed Does anyone ever create snail shell in sketchup as attached ? I need to adjust the size of the head (for the speaker) of shell and keep the snail shell body in that size.. but i dunno how to do it (especially when i import the file from STL it become small pieces).. or i need create the new one.. ? (hope not) If somebody here ever adjust it, kindly share how to do it.. Many thanks, T Snail shell.skp

Thanks.

@unknownuser said: . in this case, i didn't scale up.. wondering if jim did anything else to the skp prior to outer shell? I don't remember, but it's possible. However, I just tried it again, this time scalingup 10x and Outershell cleared the inner geometry again. And you are correct, the final piece is not a Solid when using this method for reasons Jeff has indicated.

I'm not quite sure I understand the question but the one with the box samples the actual values SU is using whereas the monitor one samples whatever pixel color happens to be on your screen at the time. -brodie

This is killing me... The fact that I can right click a material, means I can't "forcefully remove" a material (and convert existing faces to default). Well, I can actually right click, but after freezing for about 10 seconds, the context menu appears and disappears really fast before I can click... It only seems to be a problem with "large" models.

Hi folks. Try doing a right click on any axis. If the "Reset" choice is greyed out, your axes are OK. Otherwise, choose Reset. This shall help in making sure that the model is indeed, correctly oriented. I have seen a few model lying on their side or even with the blue axis pointing down. Just ideas.

When you click on either su v7, or su v8 to start, your system will recall that that as the default su. Because of installing su v8, your system is starting with that version. All you need do is to start up with su v7 for your system to default to su v7 thereafter.

Thanks to all who have posted here so far. With the holiday fast approaching I'm a bit tight on time but have been reading your posts. I have more to say/ask on the subject but may not have time for a thoughtful post until after dec 25th. In the mean time I'm looking at sony vegas movie studio hd platinum 10 production suite for my post SU work. Also looking into thea render. any thoughts. Thanks, Donovan BTW, nice video

Let me ask you another question. Why do you want to break the model down. Is it just for the purposes of viewing the model isolated one floor at a time, or do you need to physically have a separate file for each floor that you need then then make changes to. If it is just a viewing issue then I would use section cuts. If you make a to level section cut you can cut for example at the top of the third floor. If you also want to cut at the bottom of the third floor (or top of second floor at the same time) then you can put everything at the top level into a group, now enter that group and make your second section cut. Now you can save that as a scene and do the same thing for all of your floors. When you get an updated model next week you can drop it right in place of this (very easy if you make your model a component, then you can reload from another file). You won't have to re-create the section cuts or scenes every week, ready to view as soon as you bring in your new model.

@jim said: I could make a little plugin that uses VisualBasic Script to open the Save As dialog and select version 7. It would at least take some of the tedium out of it. (I'm already testing it. Windows-only, I'm afraid.) Is this possible with 2013? I'm getting a 2013 version, but my co workers use v.8.0 pro. I'm afraid they won't be able to open it. I hope the developers will consider this option.. like in AutoCAD, you can set what default version to save as.

Hi Ariane, The only face style that allows complete "shadelessness" is hidden line mode but that comes without textures. So with a textured model, you will always end up with some kind of shading on the faces.

There is a plugin for import-export of UV maps from a number of UV tools (some of them free) ... and here it is http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=23725&hilit=plugin+uvtools

Now basic plugin

One of the easiest ways to make one is ...first build a straight ramp with the required slope then use Chris Fullmer's shape bender plugin to bend it along a path...

I would suggest using TIG's .obj importer plugin. Then make sure all materials are in the same folder as the .obj file. That might do the trick. I'm not sure what the .ppm file is though.

Looks like. Good eye!

No problem. If you wanted to optimize a little more, then instead of 2 ends components, one with a DC copy would work. If you had needed the hole diameters to be dynamic, that would be a little more challenging.

Another trick is to use the Section Tool, as follows: 'cut' the geometry; map the rectangular cutting plane to any orientation by rotating successively as desired; and, with the rectangular cutting plane selected, Right-Click and choose the option to "Align View" It's a work-around but it does what's necessary. Cheers, . Diego.