SketchUp 8 Random Line Bug/Glitch

[tahwos]

I searched the forum for something related, but to no evail...

I've been using SketchUp since Version 6, and currently Version 8, since it was released.

I encounter the strangest random bug/glitch... Random Lines will appear, and subdivide previously drawn polygons. It's only happened a handful of times in the past few months, but when it does, it has the capacity to totally wreck a complex model. Today it happened twice - the first time; 3 lines were added to a large face, no big deal, just delete the new lines. The second time however; 50+ tightly packed lines were added to a narrow face, and that entire section had to be deleted and redrawn.

In the attached image, the white area should be entirely white, no lines. The darker line near the bottom of the white area, is actually a group of several lines. When these lines showed up, I was working on a totally different part of the model, and the end points of these lines are random in nature. i.e. They look parallel, but they aren't, they're just really long. The second image, is of the bottom, of the same area - the two points that fan out int o the face, were not drawn, they just appeared, same with the void/stripe from the lower left corner.

I am aware of the small geometry issues; proximity snapping, distortion, etc... This is a large scale model - none of those issues apply.

Details;
No hidden geometry warnings pop up.
The end points of the new lines are not connected to any "deliberate" edge points.
This usually happens on any model that reaches a certain level of complexity.(not sure what level that is yet, as it never happens on the simple sketches.)
Undo has no effect - its as though they were drawn first - I have to remove all connected features, to get the new lines to stay "gone".(In most cases, simply deleting the new lines, fails, and an entire redraw is needed.)
The new lines are not always visible - sometimes they are hidden or "softened" and not selectable.(Sometimes all 4 edges of a face, can be perfectly parallel, but it will still draw a striped face.

Any suggestions or just acknowledgement of the same issue, would be great - Thanks!

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[mitcorb]

Well,
As an acknowledgment, I have experienced similar conditions in versions 6 and 7 with edgeless faces and faceless edges. Sometimes this may have to do with the scale of the model. I suspect it is OpenGL trying to interpret the model on a refresh or a navigation instance. I remember getting the face/edge problem after applying Protrude to an already complex pile of graphics. People have mentioned the appearance of hard edges that were previously softened or hidden on starting a new session on works in progress.
Maybe someone else can answer your question more specifically, and maybe my observations will rattle some ideas loose with someone else.

[mitcorb]

You know, I may be a little impatient, but I think someone really needs to fill in the information and help tahwos here. I was just trying to validate his concern with my past experiences. Maybe someone in Boulder or Mountain View knows something?

[tahwos]

Thanks for the reply mitcorb...

I was messing around with it today, trying to duplicate, and instigate the undesired behavior.

It just appears to be "Hidden Geometry" becoming unhidden... Usually when I hide something, to get it out of the way of what I am working on at the moment, I'll click "Unhide All", when I'm finished. The randomly created hidden geometry, appears to just be SketchUp doing it's thing, behind the scenes, when edges, faces, and points, cross that forbidden "proximity line", where SketchUp no longer offers you a choice of precision - it just decides to do what it wants.

In future releases, they really need to crack down on the math in this program... I'm getting sick of the same root problem, that seems to know no scale, or visibility. If any two edges, points, or faces are close enough to "snap" into another form, in the free version - then there really is no point in trying to market a pay version, which is essentially the same program, and same problems.

Thanks again...