[Plugin] Solid Inspector

thomthom

Go back to the first post and follow the link to the required TT_Lib2 - under the "Requirement" header, right above the Download button.

Ralphxyz

What is Solid Inspector telling me?

Sorry I am new to SketchUp but really having problems with making Solids.

What do I do to fix the problems?

What specifically do the colors represent?

Thanks,
Ralph

thomthom

The red colour is just indicating the current issue - you can cycle through the different issues using tab. The camera should zoom to the problem area.

The highlighed areas either means there is a hole or internal faces. You need to correct these before the object can be considered a solid.

olishea

Excellent plugin thomthom. Thank you and all the best.

jgb

You can zoom INTO the object and see the problems defined in red or orange. It really does not matter which you tackle first. Put your cursor on one item and deselect the group/comp. Then select again and edit. The cursor is on the problem. 99% all you have to do is delete it.

You can also change to XRAY view (Wireframe will not show problem faces) In XRAY you can move the cursor right onto the problem from outside the object, then edit it.

Sometimes you may have a circle that seems to be well outside the object. SI found a line fragment within the groups bounding box but totally outside the object. Pan and zoom such that the circle is seen against BLANK background, ie open sky or ground. Place the cursor in the circle, then deselect and edit again. Make a sweeping right to left selection to catch the offender and delete.

Note: You cannot edit the object while SI is active. You cannot activate SI while in edit mode.

There is also a companion pluggin, Solid Solver that "fixes" these kinds of errors, BUT, it can also destroy (undoable, almost always) an object that has a lot of problems.

I once had an object that started with about 600 lines and ended up with about 30 when Solver finally got done, so it is a good idea to SAVE before trying to Solve a complex mess.

I also have had objects that were deemed by Solver as "Can NEVER be made solid" fixed with just a few missing lines added.

joepotato

This plugin saved me from countless hours of trial and error in correcting issues with my model. Thank you!!!

rbedoya

Hi Thom,

I installed the Solid Inspector into my mac, in the plugins, but when i launch SU i get the following

Error Loading File tt_solid_inspector-1.rb
no such file to load -- TT_Lib2/core.rb

what might be the problem?

Gaieus

Please, re-read (or at least read once) the installation instructions and download/install that library this plugin is dependent on.

rbedoya

I have installed the library required and i get that error.

rbedoya

Here is the library i have installed and the plugin

TT_Lib2%20-%202.7.1.rbz
tt_solid_inspector-1.rb

thomthom

@rbedoya said:

Here is the library i have installed and the plugin

TT_Lib2%20-%202.7.1.rbz
tt_solid_inspector-1.rb

Placing the RBZ file in the plugins folder doesn't work. It's a package that must be installed. Note there's a big difference between RB and RBZ files.

Follow the installation instructions linked in the red box near the Download button.

driven

@rbedoya said:

Error Loading File**tt_solid_inspector-1**.rb
no such file to load -- TT_Lib2/core.rb

what might be the problem?

is that a copy, or are there two versions?
on my mac it's **tt_solid_inspector.rb**,
if so does your TT_Lib2 also a copy i.e. TT_Lib2-1
if it is, SU won't find it...

john

Jim

Rather than implement this as a Tool, I wonder if it makes sense to apply a material to the offending edges and set the style to color by material. That way, I could exit the tool and explore the model at my leisure.

thomthom

@jim said:

Rather than implement this as a Tool, I wonder if it makes sense to apply a material to the offending edges and set the style to color by material. That way, I could exit the tool and explore the model at my leisure.

Could be added as an option. I'd still want to have an non-modifying inspection method.
I had originally planned to try to implement methods to fix various errors - but .. you know Time and all that.

xiombarg

Here's are two really handy tips for using this plugin, especially on complex models:

Set the solid inspector as a shortcut key so you don't have to keep using the drop down menu. You can waste half your life away using drop down menus to access frequently used tools.

and combined with this...

Use Jim's "Custom Toolbar" plugin and then go to the VIEW drop down menu, then go to TOOLBARS and choose "Options". Having these buttons (or setting shortcut keys) for "Show Hidden Geometry" and for "Hide Rest of Model" is indispensable for fixing complex models into solids. It will save you A LOT of time.

scott216

I'm having trouble using this plug-in. I can't get it to turn off most of the time. I'll go go the tools drop down menu and click on solid inspector to hoping to uncheck it, but it doesn't uncheck. How do I turn this off. I'm using sketchup 8.0.16845 on Mac 10.7.5

Dave R

You turn it off by picking another tool. Since the next thing you'll likely do is open the component/group for editing to fix the problem, you could hit the space bar to get the Select tool. You could also right click and choose Edit Component and then choose the tool you need which might be the Eraser or the Select tool. Just like any other tool in SketchUp, it is active until you choose another tool.

Jpac

Thom,
This is an excellent plugin and one that is a part of my 3D printing workflow. Thank you for the time and know-how you put into making it!

thomthom

guilherme1978

Very nice, thanks.