Hi Chris, thanks for the clf_notes:-).

Sorry for missunderstanding I was so literal

v2 is now published.... The v2 rails AND the profiles can have any number of segments - the rail/profile with the most segments dictate the number of mesh facets... You can go down to only one segment in a curve if desired... but it will be automatically re-subdivided into the same number of pieces as its more segmented sibling... Keeping a pair of rails/profiles with the same segment count or simple multiples thereof will produce the smoothest mesh but any combination will work...

@joe wood said: Oh! is that it, my viewer is displaying the segments, but the CNC machine won't?! I'm using DWG TrueViewer 2010 as my viewer. http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=6703438&siteID=123112 right on, I'll send that new dxf to my cnc guy and see what he says! Looks like you've saved me from a lot of sanding, all my joints thank you I also looked at the DXF with DWGTrueview201o and it does 'look' steppy BUT if you do a plot preview it's a pretty smooth Arc as far as your screen resolution will allow - that's how it should arrive at the CNC... Hopefully the CNC will take the DXF's Arcs as ice smooth Arcs - but I can't promise for someone else's bits of kit !

The way the Components dialog box works is that it actually looks inside a folder to see if any files there it can display. To get a better picture, here is what you have to do in a Windows computer: Computer>Hard drive(or where SU was installed)>Google> Google sketch up [your version]>Components Thats where SU stores its components, if you want an extra pack look at the guy above or wait until Google makes a v7. Personally I just put any models that I like into this folder. Some of you might not know is that now the dialog box actually links to the 3-D warehouse, so whatever you search in that search box there will come up the same in the warehouse dialog box. Simply its just a faster way to surf the warehouse without taking up so much space when you don't want it to. Yea its messed I know.

The edges Drape creates will end up on the current layer. So if you create a temp layer for the drape and set it as active, then you can afterwards select one of the draped edges and Right-Click -> Select -> All On Same Layer. That way you can be 100% sure you get all draped edges.

Thanks All, downloaded VLC and I like it, works fine, now to teach this old man (me) Sketc hup will be eazzy. Old

Chris, Thank you for a detailed solution and explanation of the way Sketchup perceives scenes. I tried toggling the hidden attributes but the model would keep on reverting to earlier versions. I was able to solve the problem by Select All > Make Component > Copy of my 'healthy' frame and opening a new file and pasting there. The scenes did not copy into the new file, and starting with a blank Scene list I was able to make the animation. Thank you for your help, it led me to some realizations about Sketchup!

Then I put these guides on a separate layer whose visibility you can turn off any time. Guides are handy for other reasons, too, as their visibility can be toggled on/off in the View menu globally as well as you can delete all construction geometry (when finished and they are not needed any more) in the whole model from the Edit menu (although keeping them on a separate layers can always be better as you may need to revise your model later) That gives me an idea, I could add something (on a separate layer) to aid the layout process and turn off that layer later.... [attachment=3:756gjb1f]<!-- ia3 -->PanelsWithGuides.png<!-- ia3 -->[/attachment:756gjb1f] Still not sure if this is what you need however... [/quote] (One hour later) Brilliant! The simplest things are always the best! The ovals are on their own layer for final presentation, etc. Check out the .skp, works best in Front View. Thank you! It would be interesting to be able to prevent a surface from passing through another, make it literally solid. Perhaps in Version 12. [image: ppOR_panels_registrationpoints.jpg] panels_registrationpoints.skp

Thats why i think it could be a bit memory hungry. I thought it could work like a viewport type box (like in AutoCAD).

@unknownuser said: @unknownuser said: yeah, component stringer does makes different surface areas while remaining editable so does simple scaling of an individual component.. the method i tried earlier was breaking the link between components but this .skp shows that it's possible to do what you want. just had a brain flake earlier hey Jeff.. thanks for showing that it's possible to do that.. do you mind showing us how you did that? oh hi Jeff.. long time no see.. sorry dude but i can't remember how i did that.. it's been a while..

I am not sure but you could do it in two, separate pieces and put them together.

If you repair one corner by hand, you will see why the plugin has problems to make it... [image: ft8U_corner2radii.jpg]

Yeah, even if you do not purchase and use it for PR renderings, the eval version (and its 800x600 pixel output) should be enough to experiment with your "products" - as for how they behave there. They should more or less render the same way in Kerkythea then. AND I presume, the soon coming Thea Render would behave somewhat similar - although its material handling is said to be different, still Tomasz is the one who writes the exporter (as of Kerkythea's original su2kt) therefore there shouldn't be any issues with it. I really wonder why V-ray hasn't been made to recognise alpha transparency yet. One of the most powerful rendering applications - and not only for SU but for several, other modelling soft as well. BTW nice trees/shrubs again (what are junipers - trees or bushes?)

@unknownuser said: Dave, here is a link to a Nana Wall video of the panels being used in Aspen. I have specified them on projects and they are quite good, but expensive. But like everything you get what you pay for (usually). http://www.nanawall.com/Gallery/viewer.aspx?media=wmv&mid=74 Oh, by the way guys, thanks for the textur Dave, here is a link to a Nana Wall video of the panels being used in Aspen. I have specified them on projects and they are quite good, but expensive. But like everything you get what you pay for (usually). http://www.nanawall.com/Gallery/viewer.aspx?media=wmv&mid=74 Oh, by the way guys, thanks for the textures! Jim

@whit said: I may be going about this all wrong, but I'm trying to make something very specific. What I want is: to generate copies of a component which land in the model on the same plane as the original and equally spaced apart. I see how to do the stretch function, but I need individual copies, in AutoCad it is the array function. Can you point me in the right direction? I think what you want is to add 'Position' attributes X and Y and define them based on the 'Copy' variable. Attached is an example that creates columns and rows of a fixed size solar panel by scaling the frame that wraps around it. X and Y for each copy of the panel are defined as follows: X=solar_array!frameThick+(rowXLenX) Y=solar_array!frameThick+(rowYLenY) 'rowX' and 'rowY' are custom attributes of the panel, defined as follows (note use of 'Copy'): rowX=FLOOR(Copy/solar_array!numY) rowY=Copy-(rowX*solar_array!numY) 'numY' (and 'numX', which is not used here for positioning) are computed at the top level of the component hierarchy, along with the exact dimensions of the surrounding frame, based on the number of panels that will fit within the re-scaled frame (by dragging its edges): LenX=CEILING((current("LenX")-(2frameThick))/sun_power305_single_crystalline!LenX)sun_power305_single_crystalline!LenX+(2frameThick) LenY=CEILING((current("LenY")-(2frameThick))/sun_power305_single_crystalline!LenY)sun_power305_single_crystalline!LenY+(2frameThick) And some code to make sure the minimum size contains one panel (not zero!). I now frequently use DCs like this instead of move/copy; there are advantages. Solar array will scale in two dimensions by replicating a single panel as needed.

Hi Santa, That's a style setting. Open your Styles dilaog from the window menu, go to In model > Edit > Edge settings and turn off endpoints and extensions. Make other changes if you like and save the file as a template (File menu). Then in Window > Preferences > Templates, select your newly created template as default when starting a new SU model.