How about editing the texture rather than suffering with SU-to-GE? Combine the two with whatever transparency (that fits best) on the top layer...

I managed to figure out what the problem is and I see you have given me very good advice in your replies. I had some geometry far away from the model I was working on. It appeared when I imported a dwg file into SU and it was so far along the vertical axis I didn't know it was there. When i zoomed out and deleted it the shadows worked perfectly again, no clipping. Obviously focal length had nothing to do with my problems. Thanks very much everyone

Uh... 'twas because the edges defining the faces were on a different layer than the other entities in the group and not '0' and the mother entity was on another layer still. Should'a looked there first.... and saved myself the humiliation of being an object lesson in answering one's own, or some such contained more explicitly herein, about being very mindful of nested layers almost always being best '0' and '0' only. (Which I knew and practice, but made a boo-boo just the same.)

I avoid Collada as it never imports right in any app I've ever used, I do not know if it's due to SU not exporting it right but it just does not work. I also say .obj is true universal, just remember to flip axis and you are golden.

Thanks! That worked.

bmike: Perfect, thanks again. Al

rclub24: I have repeating sub-components that must be identical as I increase the length of the parent. The idea is to have it totally change only key sub-components as the parent is lengthened without having to interact further with the drawing. Even if I can do this with DC Options it would be one step closer to what we are hoping to do. Scaling doesn't seem like the approach I need. It seems to me that I need to have the parent component copy until I have the length required and have the sub-components change out at pre-determined lengths of the parent component. The sample models for a floor joist system or the fence do exactly what I need except change out key sub-components. When I scale the parent component all the sub-components scale also as you indicated, and the model is no longer correct. We don't want to have to pull components out and in to another SU window as that would defeat the whole purpose of the idea. We just want to indicate that we have a 50 ft. length rather than a 40 ft length and have SU do all the replacing of sub-components without any further interaction. I can make the parent copy to the lengths required. What I am unable to do is have the sub-components change as I do this. By the way, there are more than two sub-components that need to change, but if I can figure out how to do two, I can figure out the others as well. Thanks again for your quick response.

You can hide the rest of the model whilst editing a component [under edit menu] that way you can see what you are doing and more easily erase unwanted overlaps from the 'intersection with model', by hand...

No, but thank you for asking. I did an update on the graphics card and it was up-to-date. I have a dead line this afternoon so I dummied the file down to SU6 and I am crossing my fingers that the "Splats" do not follow... I hope to have some time at the end of the week to see if I can figure this out. Thanks again for your time Gai, ethip

You just have to go to the link I sent you, and go through each page to pick out what you want. That's all I did. Those are the only bike parts that I've found.

Yeah I plan to go into architecture and am currently running off-road karts. You can't beat those. I've gotten a max horsepower of a Toyota hyprid using my Hemi engine. But of course that's counting when the Toyota's breaks are working. Anyway, I've been looking for somebody to do some tracks in SU with and maybe have it converted to 3DS MAX for a NASCAR Sim game. Anybody want to join in?

Hi ThomThom DUH! I will slap my self now hahaha thanks anyway TT, I'll put this in the DUH thread ultimatez

You just need to extrude one to the correct height (with the PushPull tool ) then keep double clicking (still with the PushPull tool) on each face and they will repeat the same height.

@jakerlund said: Last question.... how do i get rid of that line on the lower part of the bulb? If i select the line and delete it opens a rectangular hole in the bulb, can i weld the two surfaces in some way? Just soften those lines: Eraser + Control key (or Option key if on Mac)

On a second reading... it seems like you want to use the built-in COPIES attribute. So if the LenZ of the Component is at or below a certain value (min height of a course), then the number of copies of the coarse is 0. Otherwise, the value of COPIES is equal to (something like) the LenZ of the component divided by the height of a single coarse. Found this model on the 3d Warehouse: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=8a97a7ff65d55ffc8095ba2080357053

@aesthete.design said: Hi, Just wanted to introduce ourselves. We are Aesthete Designs, LLC. We are a young and vibrant interior design working with residential clients in the Indianapolis, Indiana area. We came across the site while searching for Artlantis Studio 3 reviews/complaints. We are not "new" to SketchUp as we have had it installed for awhile; however, we have not yet played with it and need to go through the tutorials and such. Looks like this site has a lot of great information and we look forward to browsing around as we start to use SketchUp more often. Thanks Welcome to the forum from a fellow Hoosier (Crown Point). You will not regret stumbling on to this group. By all means play with SU and although it is a very intuitive program, the tutorials are great for getting a fast start. Forum topic areas are also a great way to pick up and offer info when your ready. Browse the Gallery too, it is a good way to see how the program is used over many different professions, trades and purely artistic endevors. Again, welcome and look forward to seeing you somewhere in the forum Jim

I've had a time with the zoom feature with middle trackball on mighty mouse. Randomly stops working. Zoom extents and it's back on track.

here is my latest result. I'm still working on the piping [image: 9ger_cor-yucca2-render005pp.jpg]

Thanks for all the advice. I have a couple photos I will bring my model into. The videos and text links were extremely helpful. Regards, John