@unknownuser said:

@arail1 said:

This is a Novedge webinar from a couple of days ago that's pretty good if you haven't already seen it.
http://www.novedge.com/webinar/74

Arail,
Yea, I had a good look at that webinar, quite impressive and very similar to SU in alot of ways. I agree Grasshopper is one impressive plugin but something that would take me years to master.
Another vote here for SU to Rhino / VisualArq thread.

I'm somewhat intimidated by Grasshopper also but I intend to download and try. I wanted to make sure that I had at least a basic grasp of Rhino before I started branching out into the numerous plugins available. I haven't yet tried to go back and forth between SU and Rhino but I will be doing so soon. If anyone following this thread has any experience moving between the two programs I'd like to hear about your experience.

@pbacot said:

I wonder if a shortcut could be to build things in SU and combine a scene, plus handle organic things, in Rhino.

Petr

I think it's important to note that Rhino is not a organic modeler like a sub-d modeler is. Rhino is the master at curves - curves of all kinds and all categories (think complex marine hulls, consumer products, etc.) but if you wanted to model something truly organic - say, a dinosaur head for a commercial or something like that, you'd want to do that with a sub-d program. I use modo for sub-d work but I am interested in the two lesser applications numerobis mentioned: T-Splines & Clayoo because they can both work within the Rhino environment.

I think a thread about transitioning from SketchUp to Rhino would be a great idea.

This is a Novedge webinar from a couple of days ago that's pretty good if you haven't already seen it.
http://www.novedge.com/webinar/74

I bought a license for Rhino a couple of months ago and I'm real impressed. I use AutoCAD LT for 2D work and SketchUp for 3D. I think I may be able (fingers crossed) to get the best of both worlds with Rhino. The Gumball and sub object selection brings modeling close to SketchUp speed and the annotation capabilities are close to what I get from AutoCAD LT.

I have basic functionality in Rhino now so I'm going to start working in the program at the office on Monday (bailing out to AC and SketchUp when I get in trouble). Next week I'm going to download Grasshopper and watch some tutorials - that's a real impressive plugin.

You have two issues - curves & lines meeting curves

In AutoCAD put the curves on a separate layer from the intersecting lines so you can turn off the intersecting lines in SU and increase the segment count to get smoother curves without the intersecting lines interfering

The other problems is that intersecting lines that meet curves in AutoCAD will either cross over the 'curve' in SketchUp or stop short of it, depending on which curve segment it meets. This will prevent you from making faces in SketchUp at those points.

SketchUp doesn't have a native Trim or Extend function like AutoCAD but you could try the plugin called 2D Tools to see if that helps you. But, whenever you can, extend the lines that intersect curves well beyond the curve in AutoCAD so you can trim them back in SketchUp.

SketchUp doesn't have real curves, AutoCAD does.

After you import the DWG go to the Entity Info panel (Window > Entity Info), select the circle or arc and increase the number of chords in Segments

@dave r said:

Francois, I will tell you that if you aren't establishing the views you want as scenes in SketchUp, you're probably wasting your time with LayOut. There is a proper work flow for this stuff.

If you have the time would you consider expanding on the comments above? I stumble around in Layout, using it mainly to format 3D output without annotations. I'm sure I'm not alone in needing some insight into a more productive workflow with the program.

@alan fraser said:

Don't you find criticizing a decision to remain silent a little hypocritical...when your own profile contains absolutely zilch?

Gee - maybe take a chill pill? My post was meant as humor and I wasn't criticizing anyone for being 'silent' - I was making a joke. I don't keep track of who posts and who doesn't ... none of my business. As far as my profile - it never occurred to me fill it in. I don't think I've ever looked at anyone else's profile so I give no thought to my own.

Let's see ... what would it say? ... 'Professional draftsman (over worked and under paid, beaten down like a dog by the IRS). Loves SketchUp (but flirting with Rhino and thinking about having a full blown extra marital affair leading, maybe to divorce), hates AutoCAD but uses it 4 or 5 hrs a day.

Probably the same profile that most people here would have .... no?

@gaieus said:

Let me shed some light here...

There are no "moderators" over the SU Goups ("Forums") but a certain group of (what it is used to be called during Google times) "Top Contributors" Emphasized; "Contributors". No power in hands (like the mods have here) or anything - they are "just" contributors who happen to be "top". (like myself as a matter of fact).

On a side note, they are also called as "SketchUp Sages". A title so far only given by the SU Team to certain members of the SU Community.

Some of them are also active here (and are "Top SketchUcators") while others have chosen to be silent. But they are here and are respected members of the community. Some are a bit hard to handle. But hey; I am not an easy-going person myself either!

WTF?!
I thought this was all about software. But you guys are ... what? Some kind of cult? Some of you are Masters and some of you have taken a Vow of Silence? And a few have transcended to become Sages? Do the Sages wear different robes than those who have Vowed Silence? Is there, like a holy book or something? Can I join? Do I have to surrender my bank account? Is this the group that Katie Holmes is running away from?

Signed: Confused

@thomthom said:

@arail1 said:

The OP described clearly what he was doing (clicking in the box). The appropriate answer therefore would be: 'Don't click in the box - that may be the obvious thing to do but it's not - initiate the tool function - then type a dimension without leaving the SkechUp field.

You didn't describe what the OP said. Just quoted a generic response as an example.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'a generic response' - it was a very specific and insulting response and, regardless of the OP's question, inappropriate. If you mean 'generic response' as in 'generic to that moderator' then yes, that is characteristic of his replies. Which largely determines the overall 'feel' of that forum.

@thomthom said:

@arail1 said:

Can you imagine a mod ever speaking to a new user like that at Skechucation?

Yes. Making an effort to describe what the problem is instead of shouting "It's not working" is vital in getting any assistance. I get that all the time - "It's not working!!!" - often with more grief towards me or the tool itself. And the only thing I can reply with is asking them to provide more info. And there are repeaters who consistently fail to give any useful information to what their problem is - in which case such a response is a valid one IMO. I found that quote to be constructive feedback.

All due respect - much as I value your Vertex Tools I hope your beliefs as a moderator don't become standard here.

The OP described clearly what he was doing (clicking in the box). The appropriate answer therefore would be: 'Don't click in the box - that may be the obvious thing to do but it's not - initiate the tool function - then type a dimension without leaving the SkechUp field.

No need for comments about 'sullenness' or the OP's 'approach to learning' or any comments about the individual's personality or world view or anything else unrelated to the question at hand (worth pointing out - the OP leveled no such comments at the moderator).

Years ago when I needed the AutoCAD forums I always typed a comment at the top of the post asking two people to please not answer - they were the bulls that I mentioned earlier and like many who take this line, they assumed that all questions were directed at them and therefore they had a right to set 'standards'. I avoided both of them and their macho nonsense and always got good answers, more often than not form other newbies like myself (back then) and without all the attitude.

A quote (from the 'official' forum):

"There appear to be at least two main factors that will prevent you from achieving proficiency with SU unless you start making some changes in your attitude and approach to learning:

Your failure to read the documentation--which would tell you the correct procedure to follow when using the Measurements toolbar
Your sullen unwillingness or inability to communicate your exact situation--which would allow you to receive effective help from others."

Can you imagine a mod ever speaking to a new user like that at Skechucation?

The AutoCAD boards used to be like this - a couple of 'bull's roamed the forums 7 days a week shouting down anyone suspected of not thoroughly reading the manual (770 or so pages long) before posting a question. It was an awful place and the very last resort if you needed to know something about AutoCAD. Fortunately now, with the Internet, you can avoid that forum altogether just by typing in a query in Google.

Makes you understand (and value) the concept of 'community' - which means people helping one another.

@krisidious said:

... If I make the mistake of purging too early in a model's progress I lose most of those layers.

Somewhat of an aside to the issue of being able to lock layers (+1 for that) - in AutoCAD I use what I call a 'seed' drawing as the base for all drawings. The drawing has, in the lower left corner below 0,0, a miscellaneous assembly of lines, dimensions, texts, hatches, leaders, some basic items like hardware (I do a lot of shop drawings for fabricators), architectural symbols, section cuts, etc. The purpose of the seed drawing is to make all that material readily available to me and to prevent it from disappearing when I Purge. Keeping that rats nest of stuff means that after I Purge I haven't lost my dashed line, my center line, or any of the other items that I might not be using at that moment in the drawing but likely might later on.

Not as hatches.
You can explode the hatch in AutoCAD and it will then Import as lines into SketchUp but not as a hatch.

@frederik said:

@kwistenbiebel said:

The people that left back then have taken the key?

... today we do have some good tools through great ruby developers ...

This is what I find most mystifying. 2D Tools and Vertex Tools changed the way I work in SketchUp, these two plugins changed the look of my drawings. Why is it that the independent ruby writers can do it but Trimble can't? SketchUp 2013 will change nothing about the way I work (I don't see using pattern fills in LO and curved leaders - well, they're nice but hardly 'fundamental'). I will be optimistic and hope that the effort of the last year has been focused on overhauling the foundation of SketchUp such that great improvements that might not have been possible in the past are possible now. Hopefully.

@arcad-uk said:

... just stop with all the gripes. Some of us are very grateful that we have such a fun program to work with.

Not going to stop griping, complaining. I think we have a legitimate basis for these complaints considering the extraordinary gap between what we have come to expect from a paid 'upgrade' based on our experience with other programs and what we received from Trimble.

For many of us 'fun program to work with' translates as - 'a significant function of our day to day business structure' and if a company you do business with isn't treating you well - you should tell them so.

@unknownuser said:

... pick up more chix,

Of course, after paying for the MAC you have no $$$ left to take her out to dinner.

@jason_maranto said:

BTW, feature-wise AutoCAD LT is missing some of the things in Layout that make presentations so nice... like the perspective views and rendering (that are also missing in form.z).

Best,
Jason.

I work in AutoCAD LT which, unlike full AutoCAD has essentially no 3D at all - that's why I started using SketchUp. My workflow goes back and forth between the two programs all day long - so I hunger for a program that can combine the two. As I've said in other posts, Rhino looks real promising. I'm new to the program so I don't have the ability yet to really push all it's features but I'm very hopeful. Nonetheless - a vector 3D output with editable dimensions associated to points and editable text - still hoping and waiting.

Those are nice looking drawings.

I've tried that - a 3D thumbnail on the page but all the annotations on a 2D view.

Unfortunately, there are lots of occasions where I want to pop out a detail (a corner, a joint, whatever) in 3D with dimensions so the shop can see what I want them to do. I don't see any of these programs being able to do that without some downside. Rhino can do it but the output is raster and annotation scaling can get suddenly wonky (annotation scaling seems fine in all modes other than perspective), LO has vector output and a nice raster / vector hybrid but there is essentially no usable dimensioning in 3D space. What I can say about Rhino is they're aware of the issue and have made some noise about addressing it but so far, no love.

Still wandering in the desert ...

@jason_maranto said:

That said, Layout (for presentations) remains the one redeeming quality of updating SketchUp 9 Pro at this point.

Best,
Jason.

Maybe it's because my 2D presentations are done in AutoCAD LT and the weak point of my workflow is 3D dimensions that I don't see the excitement about LO. I see Rhino as a way forward for me but even in Rhino dimensions on 3D geometry in Layout mode are troublesome. Clearly this must be a difficult challenge for programmers otherwise the problems wouldn't be quite so universal.

@bmike said:

starting to peak at rhino and formz (used it along time ago in grad school... on a powerbook 1400cs! - man has it changed!)

i do need layout solution though, might have to download some trials and play around.

Just starting w/ Rhino. What can SU Layout do that Rhino Layout can't? (I'm a real newbie at Rhino - haven't even set up a title block yet so my question is sincere.)