Color by Layer question
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I had a client of mine send me a .skp model of the building I am working on and he has everything set to color by layer. I find this really annoying to work with.
Is there a way to reverse this or convert everything while still keeping the original colors?
Thanks.
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window->layers then hit the litle menu bar thing (top right) and deselect 'colour by layer.'
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Well, unless your client has actually coloured the faces as well as the layers, deselecting Color by Layer will simply turn the entire model the default SU front/back colours.
I believe there is a Ruby to take things the other way...and create layers from materials, but that's not what you want. I think there is no option but to do it manually.You'd need to work your way through the layers one at a time. That is, with only 1 layer turned on. you'd then need to select everything on that layer and manually colour it with the closest match from the Colour palette. If you want the exact colour...and it's not in any of the palettes, you're going to need to click on the swatches in the Layers palette and make a note of their RGB values then mix it yourself.
When done, switch to the next layer and repeat...and on...and on. -
You are correct. The client left it as a default color model and then colored everything per each layer.
Oh well. There are not that many colors actually so I guess I will just try your method you suggested.
Thanks Alan and Remus for the quick replies.
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i was just about ask this very same question but in a different context. what is the reason one might 'color by layer'
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I imagine itd be quite good for engineering illustrations. Perhaps highlighting specific elements of a model during a presentation?
Id say just use your imagination really.
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Someone told me a long time ago that they use coor by layer because they export everything they doto 3dsmax and prefer that for some reason. I never did quite figure it out though...
Chris
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Perhaps there is a Ruby script to select everything on a particular layer. This will allow you to assign materials to faces really quickly.
Assigning materials by layer in theory is a really efficient way of doing things. If you create geometry on a specific layer, you don't need to assign materials, it is done automatically. This sounds great but the drawback is that you have no flexibility with texture positioning.
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Bigstick, you need to turn round three times and spit; never use the words "...create geometry on a specific layer."
If you create geometry on any layer other than Layer0 you end up in big trouble. What you do with it after that is wide open.I have actually seen models of things like refineries done in layers; where all the different pipe runs were on a different layer, enabling them to not only be easily identified, but turned on and off for further clarification. I'd imagine that to be more useful than photorealistically texturing everything...complete with rust.
Layer colours can also be more useful if you want to take the SU model into something like Revit.
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Bigstick, thats already possible in native SU. If you right click some geometry on the layer->select->all on same layer
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@alan fraser said:
Bigstick, you need to turn round three times and spit; never use the words "...create geometry on a specific layer."
If you create geometry on any layer other than Layer0 you end up in big trouble. What you do with it after that is wide open.i agree
i tried this technique and i ended up becoming very confused and frustrated. never create geometry on any layer other then layer one -
Actually forget the radio buttons and never change the default layer.
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@unknownuser said:
@tekkybot said:
never create geometry on any layer other then layer one
No! layer0 !!!!
OR whatever the 'default layer' is called in your language - it's NOT Layer0 is Spanish for example...
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@unknownuser said:
@tekkybot said:
never create geometry on any layer other then layer one
No! layer0 !!!!
thats what i meant
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@ Alan - hmm, I do this all the time. works for me without problems. Even with rendering. I'm not sure what the problem is. Am I missing something obvious?
@ Remus - thanks!It's great when you learn little tips like this even after years of using an application almost every day!
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Well I guess the problems depend on what you are modelling. But most people find that drawing directly onto layers other than Layer0 (as opposed to drawing on Layer0, grouping then moving to another layer) almost invariably leads to a complete bird's nest of a model...faces on different layers to their edges...groups and components on different layers to their contents.
The mantra for almost every serious user, right from the earliest days has been "Always draw on Layer0"
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