Well, pixplant has a feature to incorporate repeating patterns (if there are any of course). Also you can add as many "seeds" (i.e. colour variations) as you wish. (Which brings into my mind that I should go out and take a bunch of photos for my pixplant...)

@scottminor said: So, I probably should have posted in here, but I guess that's why I posted in the "newbie" forum...haha....i'm a newbface. Never mind. I merged the replies and deleted your double post. Both gentlemen have good suggestions above. You can, of course, "hand stitch" anything any time but it's certainly time consuming in most of the cases (sometimes however it gives a fairly speedy result rather than playing around with plugins). How about attaching the model file, too?

@remus said: @gaieus said: "Duh" +1 Its strange how you just dont notice these things after a while. Maybe the triangles are another solution to a problem that really doesn't exist. They don't disturb me, either, but if the feature disappeared, I doubt if I would notice. Anssi

If you go to your Component browser > In model and right click on any component, you can select "Properties" which will open the exact same window as the one you are in while creating the component. You can make all settings there. Note however that if you change the gluing/cutting plane, the already inserted components, though "inheriting" these changes, may not behave so so you may need to re-insert them.

@mark carrabbio said: Attached are some of the errors. With regard to the problem of the Windows Installer being unable to write to C:\Config.msi... I know this issue has been quiet for a while, but I was searching about this earlier today and found a hint that may be helpful, so I wanted to share it. There are some forums where people have suggested that this error is a result of the MSI service not being registered properly. To see if that's the case, you could try the following procedure and then retry the operation that was failing. On the “Start” menu, choose “Run”. In the “Open” box, type “msiexec /unreg”, and hit ENTER. On the “Start” menu, hit “Run”. In the “Open” box, type “msiexec /regserver”, and hit ENTER. That will re-register the MSI server, possibly repairing the error.

@gaieus said: V-ray wouldn't be much friendlier that is true! one of the easiest render engines you can use is Indigo. it is an unbiased render engine, meaning that it simulates light exactly as it is in real life. generates beautyful results and is extremely easy to use. but it will take many hours to clear up, depending on the amount of reflection in your scene (that is the price you pay for unbiased...)

WHy not just installed SU 7 free instead of the viewer?

I am interested in using that style. My email is kleenhaus@live.com Thxs in advance!

If you mean guide lines and points (aka construction geometry, the dotted ones), you can always delete all existing guides in the Edit menu. Then just use the Tape measure tool or the Protractor to set up new ones.

The Sandbox tools (and a couple of other ones) are still marked as "Pro only" features in the SU Guide for version 6 but that's obsolete and for some reason, they have never changed the "Pro only" tags although almost all those features are available in the free version, too (see below). Note that you may need to activate the Sandbox tools (and some more) in Window > Preferences > Extensions. In version 5 (when there was an original, @Last SU Pro and Google came out with its free "Beta" version after the acquisition), these features were different - i.e. "Pro only" (I know, I started with that): Sandbox tools 2D raster image output larger than screen resolution Print to scale Animation export 3D and 2D vector export formats (other than Google Earth kmz) In version 6 everything but the last (vector exports) was made free but then LayOut and Style Builder was added as Pro only In version 7 it's still the same as 6 except the additional possibility to edit Dynamic Components. Now as for Plugins not working in the fre version,I had such experience with ado by Didier but that was back in version 5 where the features of the free version didn't allow some of those (OR I was too lame to make it work). I haven't tried ever since but that was the only one that didn't work for me.

Sorry Eric, just saw your reply. Here's the other thread. http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=45412

Yeah, Shaheen, the .3ds format is a mesh format. Its not a "solid" format. And SketchUp is not a solid modeler.

That sounds like a job for a plugin although I'm not positive that it could be done. You might want to post your question in the Plugins forum instead.

Thank you all for the help!

He said he put it in his second post.

Chris: I sure hope your thesis is not suffering, and your lawn gets mowed on time. mitcorb

Well, if you don't mind the work, turn it into a component then add jambs and other details. [image: DwUy_temp03.jpg]

Yes, Hypercosm is something that's the closest to a SU interface. It needs a plugin on client side however. It has a free version which is great and fun and you can navigate all around although everything that you mentioned (and some more like making annotations on client side) is only available in the pro version. Also note that it won't run on every browser however the very major ones are supported and there is already a Mac version (for viewing) which used to be badly needed.

Thank you, Bep and Gaieus. I hope my brother-in-law will adopt sketchup for his business. It would be a great design and sales tool for him. We shall see. Some day I may have a go at creating some geology-realistic rocks. When I do I'll put them out here for anyone to use.