User's Guide

Virtualwind SketchUp Plugin Tools   →   Correcting Geometry   →   Geometry Correction Tools

Geometry Correction Tools

The Virtualwind SketchUp Plugin provides a variety of tools for detecting non-watertight geometry. However, it is limited in the amount of correction tools it offers. It is much easier to know that a piece of geometry is not watertight than it is to know what to do about it. Nonetheless, a couple of correction tools that are available, for situations where the solution to a watertightness problem is relatively straightforward, are looked at.

Remove Zero-Faced Edges Tool


An Edge that has exactly zero connected Faces is the easiest type of Edge to correct: it can simply be removed from the model. This tool performs exactly that: it traverses all Edges within the model and automatically deletes all those that do not have a connected Face. Once finished, the tool will inform you of how many Edges it removed (or will tell you that it did not come across any qualifying Edges). The feedback will be presented in a dialog box similar to that shown in the following example:


This tool operates over the whole model, regardless of any current selection or the current Group being edited. It traverses all edges, regardless of whether they are visible or invisible.

Sew Edges Tool


This tool allows you to connect two disconnected Edges. It is intended to be used with "unsewn" geometry – two (or more) Faces that are clearly meant to be connected, but which have a tiny gap between them. This tool therefore "sews" the two disconnected Edges together.

To use this tool, you must first select it from either the toolbar or the menubar. You will see that the tool remains active (the icon will stay depressed). With the tool still active, click on the first Edge you want to sew; the Edge will appear selected. Then click the Edge that you want to sew the first Edge to. Upon selection of this second Edge, the Sew Edges tool will sew the two Edges together – that is, it will connect the corresponding end-points together, it will draw a diagonal between a pair of opposite vertices, and it will fill in the resulting Faces. If the original two Edges are co-planar, the Sew Edges may not connect the diagonals – this is normal behavior.

Pairs of Edges that do not conform to the Edge Sewer's expected input may behave unexpectedly. For example, Sew Edges is known to have problems with pairs of Edges that are not disconnected (i.e. that share a common vertex). Similarly, attempting to sew two perpendicular Edges sometimes produces unexpected results.

The "Sew" operation may be performed repeatedly while the tool remains active – there is no need to re-select the tool for subsequent "sew" operations. If you select an Edge that you did not intend to select, hit the Escape key, re-select the Sew Edges tool, then try again.