Just a quick thanks, I'll try to take it all in at the weekend. I'm going to meet up with the Shaderlight people soon as there doing an open surgery type event soon.

TIG is correct...otherwise beta testers would have real problems. Most beta testers continue to run a licensed Pro current version while also running a separately licensed Pro beta version of the next release on the same machine. There is no interaction. It sounds like in this instance there may have been some hiccup in the installation procedure. I've experienced similar...usually by forgetting to run the install as an administrator, or something like that.

No, both versions will co-exist in parallel. It's relatively painless... The only complications are that v8 grabs SKP files opened by double-clicking - but you can drop-open files, or use 'open with...' right-click context-menu, or open them from within an active v7 SUp session etc; by default it will also save from v8 as a v8 SKP, meaning that a former v7 SKP can no longer open in v7 - BUT you can do a 'save_as' in v8 and specify an earlier version - so v8 can save as v7 [or even earlier] but you need to do it deliberately each time. Also remember that you will need to transfer/copy any custom components/materials/styles/plugins/importers/exporters/etc across from v7 to the equivalent folders in v8 [do not mess with anything in the 'tools' folders - the v8 ones will not always be identical to v7's]; your current shortcuts in v7 should be auto-replicated into v8 [but check after the install] and check that the v8 preferences for folders etc look to the correct v8 folders - some might still [wrongly] look for the v7 equivalents and the image-editor etc are set as in v7...

Thanks for your quick help!

May be you need a new mouse? Borrow one to see if that's the problem. Most of use have more parts then we use.

Here is the vector version [image: Uv1L_Screenshot2011-05-25at17.04.04.png]

The DXF's imported 'text' isn't Text it's 3dText which is geometry that looks like text. It will import as 'geometry' [on layers corresponding to the DXF] - ensure that the layers are 'on' in the scene-tab used in the Layout viewport and that everything has been saved and the links updated across to Layout etc... You really shouldn't be uses lots of 'Text' in the SKP if you are using Layout. Layout has lots of Text tools of it's own that are better suited to this 'sheet' work...

Were they high res textures? What happens if you paint on some of the textures included with SketchUp just as a test? Will they still disappear?

The difference between the two is probably best explained on a simple cylinder. [image: EwXZ_soften.jpg]

Autodesk Alias? It can import .obj files as far as I can remember.

Thanks TIg and Fredo!! That plugin is very very good!

Best is to keep it on automatic unless the model is very complex and LO is unresponsive. In that case, sometimes it's better to be able to control when it becomes unresponsive. (Just like automatic vs. manual saving in SU although of course, not that risky)

Hi i resolved the problem by restarting the computer.

I am on a windows 7 64bit machine and I opened 4 sessions at the same time and got NO expired warning and no lag. Scott

Thanks guys I'll give both methods a whirl!

There's also a curve maker plugin that allows you to draw different spirals (not only this parallel, if I am not mistaken, "Archimedes" spiral) [image: 9YM2_curve-maker.png] Also check out the other plugins on that site as they are really awesome for certain, special tasks.

I made a model a while ago with pre-set isometric view angles, here.

No not particularly just this happens reasonably often and I also had some autoCAD problems, which the AC forum thought was RAM/videocard. I'm just guessing really. The renderer is podium.

Also a good idea is to try removing all other plugins and see if it is not a plugin conflict. There are a couple out there that will completely crash SU when combined with other plugins.... More specifically speaking, I had a VERY similar issue with another renderer - turned out it was a different plugin I had installed that would cause SU to crash when I tried to run the rendering program. So you might just remove all other plugins for a bit and see if that helps?

@tails said: AutoCAD WS!! Still don't think I can edit line colour. You should be able to. I just tried it and it worked for me.