Don't progs like Max and Maya do this?

I agree, SketchUp should have a basic "reduce polys/edges/lines, based on angle"

In the above example, set the angle to 0 (zero) and any superfluous items will get nuked.

Minor annoyance --

You can't create an empty group
You can't create a group with only one object

(plus you can't rename groups with a double-click... as you can with Layers)

Actually -- I take that back, using Styles is the solution. Changing the size of the endpoints to 2 (9 is the default?) makes all points appear as a simple dot.

Nice!

Is there a context menu script somewhere that allows you to move your selection (component, group, or raw geometry) from one parent component/group to another parent component/group?

I thought there was a way with Styles to show it -- thanks for pointing it out. Maybe someone will whip up a simple "show dot" script

All very good info!

I forgot about SMustard's remove-all script. And it's good to know about purging all from one location (Statistics)

Thanks again!

What's the way to show points on edges?

This would help me quickly see what edges are actually two edges, even though they look like one continuous edge. It would also help show the bends in an arc.

What's the way to remove a material from a face (defaulting back to its original blue-blank face) ... without deleting the face and redrawing it?

On a side note -- this came up when I realized you could instance color components if they didn't have any materials associated to them. For example, make a cube, componentize it, then duplicate it. Color one red, color the other green. Modifying the geometry of one, modifies the geometry of the other, yet they are visually different. (cool!)

This technique is not possible on faces that already contain a material. (What I was looking to do was color shade all a component's materials to individualize the component but keep it's relationship to similar components).

I agree with you on a small scale or from a community perspective. This option would greatly speed up game level production, though. With multiple people working on one large level, it takes a lot of time to step through all the objects and manually update them (or at the very least, stop by everyone's desk and ask them what/if they changed anything from the day before).

It's definitely a low-level difference, having an option to externalize internal elements. I could maybe see a script or external app. that could compare/check SU against external elements, but I suspect that parsing process would get bogged down after a hundred or so files.

Can't wait to see the final version!

@cphillips said:

-Added an option to create a NxN 2d patch. A grid with a control point at each intersection.

I mis-read this at first -- I thought you were saying you made it possible to encase the model in a grid box, rather than floating points (to help visualize the distances between points).

Great work over all! I'd love to see SU incorporate this as a scale tool (lattice) option.

--alz

Ah... thanks for the clarification, Gaieus!

I remember discovering SKMs and KMZs were just zip files – all things should be packaged as such when possible!

So to paraphrase(again) --

(Materials = the shader wrapper for the texture)
(Textures = the raw jpg file)

In SU 5, the models contain the materials used. The browser points to Textures, requiring you to create a Material every time you use it.

In SU 6, the models contain the materials used. The browser points to pre-made Materials.

Maybe my initial confusion rested with the Material Browser. If a Texture changes, that change doesn’t update the Material SKM files.

In trying to verify this, I hit a brick wall... is something wonky with my SU or am I realizing you can’t EDIT a Material from the Browser, unless it’s been applied to a model in the scene? If that’s the case, you’re actually editing a copy of the original Material – meaning you never touch the original SKM material (unless of course you apply to a model, edit it, then save it back out).

To reiterate this thread for sanity – a feature I’d love to have is the ability to not save Materials with Models. Have the model point to external SKM files. In addition (if the above paragraph is true), have Materials point to external Textures, instead of sandwiching them inside the SKM file.

So to paraphrase -- before V6, each SU file would have any number of Materials pointing to external textures. Whereas now, each SU file contains one (base?) Material which includes the external textures?

If I remember correctly, before version 6, SketchUp use to reference materials -- not include them with the model.

Now SU takes a copy of the material from the library and saves it with the model. If that material is ever updated, it has to be updated manually for each model that uses it (and of course communicated to everyone it's been updated).

I can't tell you how many times I hit ESC to cancel or reset what I'm doing and inevitably close a dialog window that was active.

For example, I want to "clear" a Component floating in hand and end up collapsing the Components Window.

A simple one from Maya -- it repeats what you last did (whatever that may be). It was very handy at times.

(This could probably be an easy Ruby script to make)

I wish there was a way to simply rebuild the whole Context Menu. Or if not possible, then allow plugin context menus to be places at the top, instead of the bottom.

If you want to get crazy, how about a radial pie menu? Or if not possible, a quad menu (4 context menus cornered to each other... similar to what 3ds MAX has). Each quad would be devoted to a commmon action, like Current Selection, Object Management (layers), Tools, Editor (axis, globals, etc.).

BTW, I did find if you simply rename your ruby script, you can change the order where it appears in the menus. For example, if you want options in Zoo.rb to come before Ape.rb, then rename them to 00_Zoo.rb and 01_Ape.rb.

Agreed!

Just like Windoze "New Folder" action... the name field is active when created, allowing a simple double tap to accept the default name, or immediately enter a unique name.

The ideal grid:

• it can be scaled by a hotkey which doubles in size
• it is infinite (no need to set distance points)
• it isn't an actual object in the Outliner
• it has line weighting (ie. every 4th or 8th line is darker/heavier)
• it adjusts its visual screen draw to prevent moiré patterns
• if in an orthogonal view, it covers the background (ie. front, top, right)
• it is tied into the snap distance and unit of measurement

Thoughts?

http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2007/08/plugin-webconsolerb.html ?
http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2007/08/plugin-ruby-toolbar.html ?