Normally, SU will go through a progressive series of display abbreviations as you attempt to navigate a complex model.
In that columns skp I posted earlier, when it's first opened, you will probably find the SU initially refuses to do anything at all for quite a few seconds. However, once it 'gets used to' the model you will most likely find that you can actually rotate it...but you'll lose shadows, all the texturing on the columns...and all the fine detail up top, like the acanthus leaves, is replaced with simple bounding boxes.

I think the word is simply ACE. What appears to be a partial letter before the A isn't lined-up precisely on the baseline and is most likely just background feathers.

@rose123 said:

Alan -so is it possible to have a low file size, but high in geometry (and hence run slow)?

Absolutely, Rose. I started a notorious thread some years ago called Geometry is Everything.
It had a repeated component of an image-mapped Corinthian column...1000 of them if I remember correctly. It was 125Kb...that's Kb not Mb...and killed most people's system stone dead.

EDIT:
Correction. Apparently it was 187Kb...but only 100 columns

columns.skp

Actually, file size isn't all that important...except as a general indication of complexity or if you need to email it to someone.
What really counts is the amount of geometry in the model. This translates as the number of nodes/endpoints that SU has to keep track of.
Generally, your faces are going to be quads or tris, with the odd circle or arc thrown in for good measure, so the number of edges tends to be around 4x the number of faces.
There are exceptions, however...like if you decided to model a sycamore tree containing a leaf component that, although it was only a single face, had a nicely detailed outline needing 50 edges. No use congratulating yourself that you modeled a tree with only 2000 faces if it has 100,000 edges. A few of those babies are likely to slow you to a crawl.

My general rule of thumb is that in most arch-viz/interior design situations you are unlikely to get closer than about 3 ft from anything in your renders...so detail it accordingly. For interiors which don't require a plan view, I'd tend to use 2D plants. If necessary, stick them in a 3D pot so they interface more convincingly with the floor or tabletop

For what it's worth, I was trying out a roof-builder plugin a couple of months ago. It caused a bugsplat every time I tried to apply a material that had been added to my material libraries since its install.

Matt +1.
2013 is way faster and more stable. A cold start of V8 on my laptop takes 15 seconds to load all the plugins. V2013, loading exactly the same scripts takes 4 secs.
It may not have lots of shiny new toys, but the way in which it handles scripts (which are shiny toys in themselves) is hugely improved.

That wood texture is a nasty piece of work. Just trying to open it in an image editor was enough to freeze my laptop...had to do a forced reboot.

I seem to recall running SU in Administrator mode solved some of these issues. Although, having updated everything, I can now run all my installed scripts without resorting to that. Might be worth a try for those still experiencing problems.

I completely agree with Thomas; rogue scripts are a pain in the arse. I recently had SU begin bugsplatting every time I tried to apply certain materials (I’m talking plain colours, so no iffy image format or mapping to contend with). The culprit finally turned out to be a roof-builder plugin I was trialing, which…as far as I can recall…didn’t even use materials, so the detective work can be pretty tricky and time-consuming.

As for the point about experts in a particular area coding scripts that get the specific job done, I think that is precisely what the devs are aiming for in this release. If you recall, the stated aim of Trimble acquiring SU was to use it as a platform across their range of applications. What better way to do that than to provide the plain vanilla program with an extension link built right into it? I’m pretty sure that all the coders resident on these boards will soon have all their scripts uploaded to the EW…but so will all the other 3rd party developers, be they involved in rendering solutions, landscape architecture, town planning or some aspect of interior design or straight architecture.

The first scripts to populate the EW were SketchUp’s own. When the Trimble buy-out was breaking news, all manner of speculation arose here as to the future of SU. The doomsayers were predicting that it would veer away into a variety of new flavours, none of which would suit them. In fact, what it appears to be doing is staying exactly the same, but readying itself for a whole new raft of bolt-ons, dependent on what you want to use it for, including Trimble’s own. To me, that makes much more sense than bringing out half a dozen different flavours…none of which might completely fit the bill.

Congrats, Utiler. No flies on you, mate.

I wouldn't worry about it, Juan. If you have been keeping up with the latest updates to some of the most popular rubies, you've been using 2013 versions for weeks. Did you notice any difference?

The SCF Plugin Store and the Extension Warehouse both have their strengths and weaknesses. Favour and competition don't enter into it.
The EW will reach a much greater userbase of SU users than SCF can hope to reach (ie. every single person that uses SU2013 Pro or Make)
On the other hand, despite its ability to give developers a great shop window to display their wares...complete with extensive Description, links to websites and blogs, Comment section etc. it does not offer the intensive back and forth dialogue between developers and users that is possible here on SCF...the ability to beta or fine-tune a plugin to perfection.
The two facilities complement each other; they are not in competition. In fact, if anything, via its links, I suspect the Extension warehouse may well drive more users to SCF than ever before.

@Rich,

I'm not suggesting any kind of sneaky insider knowledge, Rich...just the SketchUp dev team and a 3rd party working on similar ideas simultaneously. Apologies if it is taken any other way. Need I mention the 3D Warehouse opening shortly after FormFonts? I'm quite well aware that months (if not years) of development work go into such things...so a difference of a few days in a public release is neither here nor there.

@kwistenbiebel said:

@alan fraser said:

@tomasz said:

Right. The "extension warehouse" will reach much broader audience... but it doesn't work in SU8 ((free) for commercial use)

Now when I think about it, there can be more reasons for this: financial, summer holidays coming in the northern hemisphere... I know well that a middle of a summer is not the best time for a release.

The Extension Warehouse wiindow in SU is just a web dialog box. It works anywhere. You can get to it by merely typing the URL into any browser address bar.

Am I reading this right and does Trimble actually consider Sketchucation as a competitor?
If so.....OMG ! Lol

How could you possibly infer that from anything I’ve written…especially when I stated earlier that there is no ‘competition’. The SU userbase is orders of magnitude greater than Sketchucation’s.
I’m quite sure the dev team look upon Sketchucation as they have always done…a useful point of contact between a good many of their most avid users and talented 3rd party developers…very useful for almost instant feedback and a source of ideas for future development.

As for the complaint by Tomasz that the Extension Warehouse doesn't work in V8, which software company has EVER rolled out a new version of its software with new features that could be used in earlier versions...especially a version that was released under different ownership, with perhaps all manner of conflicting revenue and royalty implications. That's plain crazy. Isn't that what a new version is all about? And as I said earlier, it does actually work anywhere...just not in the program itself.

While I'm not personally convinced of the advisability of actually charging for this release, it does mark a new direction after the wilderness years with Google. Overdosing on negativity isn't particularly helpful.

@tomasz said:

Right. The "extension warehouse" will reach much broader audience... but it doesn't work in SU8 ((free) for commercial use)

Now when I think about it, there can be more reasons for this: financial, summer holidays coming in the northern hemisphere... I know well that a middle of a summer is not the best time for a release.

The Extension Warehouse wiindow in SU is just a web dialog box. It works anywhere. You can get to it by merely typing the URL into any browser address bar.

@gaieus said:

Alan, you might even break NDA' here...

Diplomatically edited.

@unknownuser said:

Maybe It will be a good idea to make a board with the plugins working or not with the new version ?

Maybe, but other than Jim's Toolbar pretty much all plugins ought to be be working. Between them, I would imagine that the Beta testers have probably got just about every plugin out there (if they don't actually write them). They would most likely have come across most problems during the test period.

Yes, Twilight migrates ok by simply copying...because it's all contained within Plugins. On Windows, at least, V-Ray also has a ASGvis folder in Program Files(x86) with dlls and stuff, some of which point to the SU installation...so it needs re-installing.

@tomasz said:

My impression is that SU2013 have been released earlier then expected, because the new feature of "extension warehouse" have had to start competing with SCF "Plugin store" as soon as possible.

actually, I think you have that entirely backward. I don't think it's any coincidence that the Sketchucation version appeared on the very same day as the Beta trials started...and certain people here got to see what was coming.
There is no 'competition' the extension warehouse is built right into the program. Sketchucation always has been a great resource and community, but the plain fact remains that most SU users are unaware of its existence...or if they are, they don't visit.

Pilou, you don't need a custom toolbar ruby anymore. The customization of toolbars is built right into the new release. You can drag icons from one toolbar to another or even create new toolbars from scratch and drag whatever you want to them. This ought to make most people's workspace far more economical, as you don't need to clutter it up with stuff you seldom use...like having to load an entire toolbar even though you only regularly use one tool on it.