I think that I've had the same idea as Coen. FF's bandwidth and storage capacity is limitless....we run our own servers. I'll ask around and see if it's technically possible to set up a resource (not the FF Exchange) that is entirely outside the FormFonts firewall and open to everyone, regardless of subscription.
I'm making no promises, but if it is possible, it might be fairly easy to copy the whole Exchange GUI into a new, free area that specifically services this forum. This means that not only would you be able to find stuff via links on these pages, but you could directly search the site as an independent resource....like the old Objective Networks. I'm sure those of you that are subscribers know how much easier it is to find stuff on FF than on the Warehouse.
Myself and others here might be able to keep an eye on the place and delete any junk that appears. I guess we could either make it completely open, or you'd have to log in using the same User/Pass that you have here...which would limit it to SketchUcation members only.

Given FormFonts' secret plans for the future, it might even be possible to host stuff like video and audio. You would probably be able to organise collections too, as you can at present.

As I say, I can't promise anything, because I'm not sure of the technical difficulties, but I'll make a few enquiries.

poster-Alan Fraser

Yes, if sketchup.rb is in there just delete it...as it's already in Tools.
Regarding the older scripts; this is only a loader so, as you say, as long as you rename the newer version to match the existing one I don't see that there should be a problem. Alternately, you could edit MENUS.rb to load the newer version, but it's probably easier just to change the filename.

All but a couple of them go into a sub folder called Scripts, so they don't clutter the Plugins folder itself. MENUS.rb loads them, so you will get "No such file to load" errors if you simply delete them. However it's probably not that difficult to customise it to your own needs by deleting the files you don't need whilst having MENUS.rb open in a text editor and simply deleting the relevant file entry. Each one is separated by a line of chevrons, so it's a fairly straightforward task.

I thought that it might be useful to write a fairly comprehensive account of how to import custom materials into SketchUp, so that they can be saved as permanent library files. It's a question we often get asked on FormFonts (I'm pushing for a skm slot, so that we can offer ready-to-go materials).

There are several ways to do this, including simply dragging the image off your desktop into the drawing area. However, this requires that you partially minimise SU...so that you can actually see the desktop...which totally screws up the tool bars, so I prefer to introduce the graphic via the Import menu....as an image, not a texture.

Having imported the image, you then need to correctly size it. Obviously, if it's something non-critical like stucco or grass you can probably just scale it by eye to match the existing content. If it is an image of brick or something similar then the scaling will need to be fairly precise, based upon the standard brick size in your part of the world. In the US that is likely to be around 2.25", in the UK it is more like 2.5" (65mm) allow about 10mm/ 0.5" for each mortar course. A quick calculation will give you the necessary height of the image, based upon how many courses of brick it contains.

If you are scaling an image imported into an otherwise empty file, there is no problem in using the tape measure tool to measure up the height of the image, overtype the correct distance into the VCB then hit Enter to rescale the model. If you are importing such an image into a file which already contains content then the rescaling will need to be done inside a group in order to limit the rescaling to just that element, not the entire model. The easiest way to do this is to draw a single line up the side of the image, then group that and the image together...then go inside the group and rescale the line.

Having got the image to the correct scale, you then simply explode it. At which point it will instantly appear on the In Model tab of the Materials browser. If necessary, edit the name of the material at this point. When you are happy with all its properties, you have a few choices...either you can continue to add more materials to your file, to build up a collection, then save the entire tab as a new library, or....
You can open up the secondary pane on the Materials browser, navigate to the appropriate existing library, then simply drag the material from the In Model pane into the secondary pane. If this was, for instance, Bricks and Cladding, then a skm file of the new material would be automatically produced in that sub folder of Materials and would then remain as a permanent addition to that library.

That's it...it takes less time to do than explain. By the way, the new format of skm files in V6 are actually just renamed zip files. That is where the image files themselves are hiding. The old style skms were located in the Library folder and covered an entire library of materials. They were just simple text files, referencing external images that were located in the Materials folder. The new style skms relate to just a single material and contain the image itself plus an xml file that deals with its properties. The Library structure is created simply by arranging these skms in the appropriate folder. V6 will read any sub folder of Materials as a library and will take any skm in that folder as a material in that library.

Alan
poster-Alan Fraser

Guys,
If you just right-click the component in the In Model tab and choose Reload it will replace all instances of that component, throughout the model, with the new file you choose....all correctly rotated and scaled. (assuming that the component axes are the same in both)
All instances also includes the one in the browser. So if you want to use the original component somewhere else, it will need to be re-imported.

poster-Alan Fraser

This is a script by Max Coppolletta, based on Didier's menu loader. I've copied it here from the SU Ruby forum. It comprises MENUS.rb and a few support files, which you probably already have, which go into Plugins root, a couple that go into delauney...then an entire catalogue of rubies, renamed in capitals, that will unzip into a Scripts folder.

MENUS_02.zip