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    [REQ] Auto-Group Geometry

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved SketchUp Feature Requests
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    • Dave RD Offline
      Dave R
      last edited by

      @plot-paris said:

      Hmmm, but its true. Its not wholly intuitive. One would probably need a little explainer about groups / components when first starting SketchUp as a new user...

      And maybe they should just get the "explainer" about making groups/components up front and learn to do it as part of the proper process for using the software. 😉

      I'm not trying to shoot down your idea by the way. I do think that there's such a thing as too much automation, though.

      Etaoin Shrdlu

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      • plot-parisP Offline
        plot-paris
        last edited by

        Well, yeah. The Auto-Grouping would be a way of forcing people to do it right (or at least push them in the right direction).

        Its similar to the plans of forcing people to take videos on smartphones in landscape mode. Most people don't think about it. But if there were a big onscreen message, telling people to hold their phone horizontally, most folks would do it.

        I guess we would have to test it. Maybe this auto-grouping would introduce speed-bumps in the workflow that can not yet be forseen...

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        • P Offline
          ParallelProjection
          last edited by

          This really interests me - but I think I have a band-aid solution that a plugin could solve for thise users that already understand group/component etiquette....

          How about the ability to create a group or a component with no current selection - you could create a keyboard or mouse shortcut for this command. The group/component wont know where its axis should be placed, i hear you say. Let's assume that the first click to create a line etc then defines the axis origin and away you go.

          Anyone seen anything like this around?

          Maybe even add a preference to prompt for group name/description/layer etc on creation or not. Maybe there is a separate command for one with name prompt and one without.

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          • P Offline
            ParallelProjection
            last edited by

            Not sure what happened to my post - so here's a abridged version...

            For those of us that already know the value of grouping geometry - a helpful tool/feature would be the ability to initalise a group BEFORE any geometry was selected or drawn. In order to create a group or component now you need to have created part of the contents and this can be a pain if you are creating nested groups where you want to limit the number of groups within (an onion type arrangement where each group level has ungrouped elements as well as groups which themselves have ungrouped elements etc etc....)

            Issue - SKP wants to create a axis point for the group or component on creating. Two possible solutions:

            • The files origin becomes the default until you change it later....
            • Better still, the group is "initialised" but not created until the first element is selected or drawn at which time the first click becomes the axis/insertion point.

            This would help my workflow....anyone seen anything like this about the forums?

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            • W Offline
              wfair
              last edited by

              I know i am kicking a thread that is almost 4 years old...but this would be very helpful. I have no idea how to write plugins/extensions for SketchUp, but it seems to me that all we need is any time any geometry is drawn that is not already part of a group, it should automatically become a group once it is a solid. This would not get in the way of drawing the way we already do...and once you have a 3-d solid it would group itself. That group could then be converted to a component or edited to expand the shape further (but at least for me 98% of the time i group each solid separately and put my groups together to form larger shapes...rather than making complex single shapes).

              Does anyone know how to create a plugin that could do this? I have looked for something like this on-and-off for several years with no success.

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              • Dave RD Offline
                Dave R
                last edited by

                Please explain how this plugin, if it existed, would know when to create the group. What would be the trigger to get the plugin to create the group?

                Etaoin Shrdlu

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                • BoxB Offline
                  Box
                  last edited by

                  There is a plugin called Loose to Groups that will take all individually connected geometry and make it into groups. No automagic grouping tho.

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                  • srxS Offline
                    srx
                    last edited by

                    Interesting idea. There are already tools that do similar. For example a s4u Make Box.
                    Regarding components, I think that next logical step would be: If one tries to copy a group, sketchup asks to make components from both of them...

                    www.saurus.rs

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                    • D Offline
                      DOD3R
                      last edited by

                      Hi, guys
                      I recommend to not use groups. I use components only.
                      Whenever I need to do extra geometry, that would differ from each other I make it a unique component.
                      I would very much appreciate if I could assign a shortcut to the "make unique" command instead of being forced to use only the right-click menu option.
                      Another thing that would speed op component creation is the ability to "confirm" component creation with the same key "G" instead of Enter, that forces me to do unnecessary gymnastics on my keyboard.
                      I am using SU for 12 years now and never made a group. Now I am wondering what do you use it for?

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                      • BoxB Offline
                        Box
                        last edited by

                        @dod3r said:

                        Hi, guys
                        I would very much appreciate if I could assign a shortcut to the "make unique" command instead of being forced to use only the right-click menu option.

                        Select a non unique component, then open preferences and set the shortcut to make unique.
                        Without having a suitable object selected the make unique option will not appear in shortcuts.

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                        • D Offline
                          DOD3R
                          last edited by

                          Maaan, I didn't know that. that is a big Duh moment for me.
                          Thanks a lot.
                          For what else do you use shortcuts from the right-click menu?

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                          • Dave RD Offline
                            Dave R
                            last edited by

                            @dod3r said:

                            For what else do you use shortcuts from the right-click menu?

                            I have shortcuts for the Flip Along commands among others.

                            Etaoin Shrdlu

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                            • TIGT Offline
                              TIG Moderator
                              last edited by

                              Reverse Faces
                              Orient Faces
                              Explode
                              Soft/Smooth Edges
                              Divide [edge]
                              Mirror Selection [my own tool]
                              Intersect [the three permutations]
                              SolidSolver [my own tool]
                              Explode-to-Layer0 [part of my LayerWatcher toolset]
                              Selected-Geometry-to-Layer0 [part of my LayerWatcher toolset]

                              TIG

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                              • D Offline
                                DOD3R
                                last edited by

                                cool, I am glad I learned something new today.
                                Thank you all.

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