A Welcome Message to New SketchUcation Members
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Hi Meike and welcome!
Well, it's difficult to give a full description of all the info you'd like to get. SU Pro does not have any special feature that would allow you to put something directly to the web. There are third party applications SU can export its models but that doesn't necessarily involves the Pro version.
As for a comparison to C4D; no, just because it is the Pro version, it will not make you render like C4D. SU is a modelling program and its built in "renderer" is what you see in the free version, too - a "sketchy" style. We use third party software here, too. Either by exporting models to those formats or the plugins work inside SU.
Look around in the gallery to see what people do. For most of these things you do not need the Pro version.
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Hello all !
I started using sketchup 7 about 4 weeks ago and think its sensational. Just got the book by Daniel Tal and I see that there are 2 ruby scripts that can be downloaded from this site (they are Surface Tools and Joint Push Pull) and I see them from the extensions index, but where are they and how do you download them ?
I would really appreciate your help !
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There are a few ways. From the extension index, you should be able to follow one of the links to where the plugin is located. On this forum, most plugins are just located in a thread of their own, inside thePlugins forum. So you could go to the plugins forum and search there for those plugins. When you find the thread where the plugin you want it located, the plugin is normally at the bottom of the first post in the thread.
Those two specific plugins can be located here:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=6708
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=11212Hope that helps you get started, and welcome!
Chris
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Hi Walter - and welcome.
All plugins can be found down in the forum index, under the "Plugins" forum.
Tools on Surface:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=11212&hilit=plugin
and JointPushPull:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=6708&hilit=plugin
for your convenience - but look around there because a lot more can be found and since Daniel Tal wrote his book, a bunch of new ones have been published already.
I see Chris beat me (he loves doing it)
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Thanks Chris and Gaieus !
Really appreciate your quick response.
How do you open these files ?
One is a lang file and the other is a rb file extension !
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Hi Gaieus
I went to your links for the ruby scripts and downloaded them.
I plugged them into the plugins folder but the joint pushpull is giving me an error when I open sketchup and the surface just dont show up at all.
Was wondering if you or anyone could give me some hints as to what to do ?
Thanks in advance !
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Hi Antonello
For those scripts you must install the latest version of Libfredo, simply extract the zip to your plugins folder.
ultimatez
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Thanks Ultimatez
But I still get an error on opening sketchup.
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hmmmm....a bug? maybe PM fredo and see what he thinks
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Antonello,
How do you unpack those files? Could you make a screenshot of your Plugins folder? It is very important that you copy the whole file and folder structure straight under Plugins (sometimes Windows tends to create a subfolder for everything).
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Hi...
I'm new to SU, having installed it only the other day. Since then I have installed FredoScale 2.0 and like it's capabilities. One of my hobbies is CNC machines. I built a 3-axis CNC machine 2 years ago and use it to route wooden plaques. I have to create a file, save as .dxf, then import it into the software that runs the CNC. That software then creates the G-code from the info in the .dxf file and G-code is what tells the machine what and where to cut. I have 2 issues for which I need help.
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Since I've been trying to get the hang of SU, one thing that I need to learn to do is develop a template. It seems that when SU launches, the display screen represents about 2 or 3 feet per inch. Once I start, I have to zoom-in a lot before I can really get working since most of what I do involves roughly 8 inches by 8 inches. I'd like the screen axes to be scaled at about 0.5 to 1 inch per inch of display screen. How would I create a template like that?
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I have experimented some with TEXT and 3D TEXT. 3D text outlines the letters and I'm not really needing that to happen since the CNC uses a Dremel Tool as the router. I'd like to just use 2D TEXT (stick letters if you will), but can't figure out how to have the text sent to the .dxf file. I am able to get 3D text to be sent to the .dxf file. Also, is there a way to use Push/Pull with 2D text and then have it included in the .dxf file?
Any help would be appreciated.
So far, I really like SU. It seems to be intuitive and fairly easy to use.
Mike
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Hi Mike and welcome!
As for a template - that's simply an skp file you can save easily. With your wishes, I would go along these steps:
- open a template (Window > Preferences > Templates) that is closes to what you wish
- go to Window > Model info and make any changes you feel important (check especially out the Units tab and set your precision, I would suggest turning at least length snapping off etc.)
- you can still make any changes especially under stlyes (like turning off profiles if you wish and such), add layers that you always use and many more. Maybe even scenes to represent your top view and all - this is handy when you quickly want to go back to a standard view you are using...
- Now draw something that would be about the same size as you work with (a rectangle of 8"x8" would do), press Shift+Z to zoom to its extent (maybe after this, zoom out just a little bit to have a more convenient overall view)
- delete your rectangle but do not orbit, pan or zoom away from now
- go to File > Save as template and now go back to your preferences (step 1) and choose this newly created, custom template as your default to load SU with.
As for the "2d" text tool - that is not geometry so you cannot use it for what you want.
3D text is made up of "regular" geometry however - and you can practically have it as 2D (with no extrusion) or 3D (with extrusion) as you wish. As it comes in as a group, you can use the PushPull tool only if you go into the editing context of it and apply the tool on its flat faces (double click a group - or component - to edit it)
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Hi all.
Just joined a few days ago. Rick R from Ontario Can. I have been using the SU for a few months and just got SU 7 pro. I am using it for designing jigs and fixtures for machining and electron beam welding at work and all sorts of other interesting stuff at home. This is a great program to use and now that i have discovered alot of new tools to use I have alot of reading to do to learn how they work, but that is what makes it interesting. -
Thanks for the great info, Gai. Following your instructions, I was able to set up a template that starts with a scale near where I want it to start. I really do need to figure out how to get 2D text to pass to the .dxf file. Is there a way to make the outlined letters of 3D be as narrow as possible (while preserving the size) so that they almost look like 2D letters? I'm afraid that if the Dremel tool has to route the letter outlines, there won't be enough wood for it to look right. An example of what I need a drawing to look like when it is exported to .dxf is the attachment. An assistance would be greatly appreciated in this regard.
Mike
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Well, 3D text uses your system fonts (and whatever you still install) so you can have an idea what they exactly will look like. You can always draw your letters of course (or import something from an external application as geometry).
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You can't get SUp's 2D text to export into a DXF, 3D text will export and it can be made 'flat', i.e. a 2D face, if it's given a zero extrusion. It can also be very thin in its width given the right font - you need to use a tt 'stick-font' - either find and download a free one, or if you have CAD it'll probably already installed some too. However, even this flat 'stick-font' will still have a small 'width' to form its shaped faces - this is equivalent to the 'line' in the 'stick-font'... I have Monotxt.ttf, 'Proxy', 'RomanS', 'Simplex' and 'Txt' stick fonts on my PC.
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Howdy Pardners, I'm new in this town.
I'm just starting out building tracks for GTR2 & GTL and I hope to make most of my scenery with sketchup.
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TIG...
Thanks for your reply to my 2d text issue. I'll have to play around with fonts to see if I have something that will work. Is there a simple way to convert a 3D structure to a 2D one in SU?
Mike
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Hello everyone, I've been using 3Ds Max for years and recently I've decided to change it up a little!
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@mike_in_ky said:
TIG...
Thanks for your reply to my 2d text issue. I'll have to play around with fonts to see if I have something that will work. Is there a simple way to convert a 3D structure to a 2D one in SU?
MikeYou can set 3D Text to have no extrusion so it is effectively 2D already ?
There are various 'flattening' scripts about that take selected geometry and make all of its z-values=0/
BUT use them with care: your 3D model might just squash to nothing !
This one-liner pasted into the Ruby Console + <enter> will make all selected edges 'flat' in the Z...m=Sketchup.active_model;s=m.selection;es=[];vs=[];ps=[];p0s=[];ves=[];ts=[];sa=s.to_a;sa.each{|e|(es<<e;vs<<e.vertices)if e.class==Sketchup;;Edge};vs.flatten!.uniq!.each{|v|ps<<v.position};ps.each{|p|p0s<<Geom;;Point3d.new(p.x,p.y,0)};0.upto(ps.length-1){|i|ves<<Geom;;Vector3d.new(ps[i].vector_to(p0s[i]))};ves.each{|ve|ts<<Geom;;Transformation.translation(ve)};m.active_entities.transform_by_vectors(vs,ts);s.clearBUT use with care [2] ! You were warned...
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