@unknownuser said:

Would it be possible to make the path which branches?

Hi Sepo,

Cool idea, but it would be hard for a program to figure out what you want done at the fork because that will depend on what the content/meaning of the model is, and not just its shapes.

Meanwhile, you could try just making the two branches separately, with each one including the root part, doing the two Bends separately and overlapping the two versions. Anywhere along the root part that things are exactly duplicated, SU will automatically remove the duplicates if you un-group them so they are not separated from each other. Then you figure out how to adjust the fork according what you are trying to do.

I hope this helps,
August

Hi Chris,

Thanks for an amazing tool!

I have not read through the entire 163 (so far) posts on this subject, so please forgive me if this has been mentioned before.

@chris fullmer said:

Version: 0.2 Beta - Special release to Sketchucation only.

Does that mean that we are prohibited from mentioning this outside of SketchUcation, e.g. in personal blogs or on the Google SketchUp Group?

August

Hi folks,

I'm interested in creating an expanded tutorial using Gjenio's technique for Lineweights aimed at SU Free users who won't have LayOut available to combine the various line-style images.

For a sample drawing, I would like to use something "professional looking" where different line weights and dotted and dashed lines are part of the drawing's requirements. I don't have anything like that at hand, and to create something from scratch would be a time-consuming sidetrack.

Do any of you folks have anything like that on hand that I might re-create in SketchUp, or do you have ideas of sites where there might be such drawings? Content is not particularly critical, but relative simplicity would be a plus.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
August

Has anyone done up a set of dashed and dotted line styles in various line weights?

If no one has done so already, I'm going to make up a set to go along with Gjenio's Lineweights technique (in the Tutorials section).

August

Thanks to all contributors for this.

Using the Spacebar makes it even easier and a bit intuitive. The Eraser first selects but does not actually erase until you release the mouse button. Think of pressing the Spacebar as changing the Erase selection to a Selection selection. "Opps, I didn't mean to erase, I meant to select; I'll just change tools in mid-action."

You can, of course, make the reverse change, in a way. "Opps, I didn't mean to select, I meant to erase." Just hit Delete.

But to collect the selection in the first place, dragging the Eraser tool is a LOT faster than Shift-Click, Shift-Click, Shift-Click, Shift-Click.

The Eraser is the only tool that I can think of that collects a selection before it actually operates. Anybody got any others?

I hope this adds something to the discussion,
August

@unknownuser said:

SU free (SKP)-->Double CADXT free (DXF 2000 2003)-->Blender(free) with Plug DXF Autodesk--> 3DS

OR:
SU > KMZ > rename ZIP > extract DAE > Blender > 3DS
(One less external app.)

Thanks, I got it verified on the Google group. Yes, all the Pixel-weight Line Styles are present in Free.

So all that's needed is a source for dashed and/or dotted line styles in various pixel weights that SU Free users can import.

Anybody got anything like that already built?

August

That 3D Warehouse file is from an Official Google SketchUp Blog entry from July 3, 2009, at http://sketchupdate.blogspot.com/2008/07/building-spiral-stairs.html
Nearly all of the comments on that Blog item are spam.

Does anyone know how, who, or where to report such spam and get it cleaned up? I ran the Chinese post through babelfish and it's clearly advertising adult content, on the blog site since November.

I have advised newer users many times that you can get a DXF or 3DS file from SketchUp Free by exporting the model in GE4 format, changing the file type from KMZ to ZIP, extracting the DAE file from the ZIP's Model folder, and then importing that DAE file into Blender, which can export DXF and 3DS.

I recently saw a post from, I was sure, Gaieus, about another product, also free, that could import SKP files directly and export DXF. 3DS was not mentioned in the post.

I spent the last 15 minutes poring over this site, trying to find combinations of search terms that would locate it, with no luck.

Turns out that it was indeed Gaieus who posted it, but on the Google Group, not here. The thread is
http://groups.google.com/group/SketchUp3d/browse_thread/thread/d3e627159ef5d571/4765be06e7d4a4e6
and the product in question is DoubleCADXT, free version, available at:
http://www.doublecad.com/Products/DoubleCADXT/tabid/1100/Default.aspx

And, no, DoubleCADXT does not export 3DS files.

I hope this helps,
August

Hi Gjenio,

That is very "inGjenious". (Sorry. People play games with my name too; I just could not resist.)

I think the idea can be used by Free users too, simply by using a different program like Word, OO-Write, or MS-Paint to overlap the images.

To be sure, I need a Free user to check something for me. (I have not figured out how to have both Free and Pro on the same machine for this kind of testing; I think it's not possible.)

Would a Free user please go to Window > Styles > Select, click the + in the upper right to expand the window, and in the lower scroll bar, verify for me that the choices are the same as in Pro?:
In Model
Styles
Assorted Styles
Color Sets
Default Styles
Sketchy Edges
Straight Lines
Style Builder Competition Winners

Also, would you please check that the Straight Lines set in the above list contains:
Straight Lines 01px ... Straight Lines 10px

If those Straight Lines Styles are in Free, then they should be all that is needed to follow Gjenio's method, at least for line weights. Dotted and Dashed lines are still a different issue.

That caveat raises a question that I have not researched yet: Can a Pro user create and save a style that a Free user can then use?

I hope this helps,
August

@zzzspudzzz said:

August you're spot on what you said about clay rendering; I guess I was looking for something that would make the drawing stand out a little ...

Thanks. I never know how comments like that are going to be taken. Glad you got the positive message that I meant.

This new version has the form-only aspect of clay and yet with the camera angle and the sky you have definitely created something moody. The texture of the brick and the details of the lights and the clock don't really violate the presumptions of "clay", yet they add a realism. With the colorless trees and vehicles, it takes on some of the qualities of deeply moody films from "The Cabinet of Dr. Kiligari" to Gotham in the original Batman movie. Nice effect.

Yours,
August

@zzzspudzzz said:

... how to ... give it a bit more atmosphere ...

Sweet model and some good suggestions about lighting, background, etc., but I'm a little confused about the assumptions and prerequisites here.

It seems to me that "clay" and "atmosphere" are inherently contradictory. Isn't the point of a clay rendering to remove as much texture (which, to me, is all about the "feeling" and thus the atmosphere) as possible and just concentrate on mass and form?

Or is that contradiction part of the artistic goal, to create conceptual tension by having something moody in Gumby-world?

What are you actually trying to do?

August

@remus said:

Good guesses guys ... Its a Sierpinski pyramid.

Hi Remus,

When one person guesses Pyramid and another guesses Fractal, I'd agree those are good guesses.

So, can you tell us how you did it? A recursive Ruby script or just manually making components out of components?

August

@unknownuser said:

... You can hear more details from the original preso: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FALvwBN5-hc

YouTube says: "We're sorry, this video is no longer available."

Any alternate sources?

Thanks,
August

Thanks Todd,
@unknownuser said:

A Geom::Point3d can be a point in 3D model space, or it can represent a screen coordinate, depending on its use. ...

So it's just a 3-tuple that only has "meaning" by what you put into it and what you use that for?

If I'm converting model coordinates to screen coordinates, I could use a Point3D for both input and output and keep track of them by name, etc., but it would be the same object type on both ends of the conversion?

Thanks,
August

@idraft said:

http://groups.google.com/group/Sketchup-Pro/browse_thread/thread/14168c7bbabd829/bd0617c15f78519d

That thread also included an offer from Todd Burch, "I'm sure I can write this in Ruby... it's just a time thing right now."

I suspect all such efforts were put aside when v5 (I think) introduced the PhotoMatch tool.

However, PhotoMatch has its limitations. I'm pursuing this because I'm interested in getting 3D positions of points when you have several photos from different angles that contain the same points, but you have few or no perspective lines/edges at all.

Thanks again,
August

Thanks idraft,
@idraft said:

This is where I found them back in 2004 ...

The download is in the first message in that thread, which seems to be wrapping up a previous discussion from elsewhere.

The thread includes a very good discussion of field-of-view and how it relates to the angle in the human eye where peripheral vision takes over from the sharper vision of the retina's central area.

It also has an offer from rkempke in October 2005 to put together step-by-step tutorials using camera_parameters.rb, but that was apparently delayed by "solutions for every conceivable situation you may encounter in a 1-pt., 2-pt., or 3-pt. perspective, but each situation requires its own tutorial with a unique set of instructions and calculations."

If anyone knows if Ron ever completed that project, I for one would be VERY interested. That offer was the most recent post from him containing the word "perspective".

Thanks,
August

Hi wadhahmm,

And thanks, AcesHigh, for the info about FreeRIDE. (Free Ruby Interactive Development Environment. FreeRIDE. Cute. If they drop the Free in the name, not in the policy, then there's all sorts of connections about RIDE the RAILS, etc.)

wadhahmm, at first I thought you were asking how to use FreeRIDE with the SU Ruby Console. But your question was, "I ask you How I can change sketch up tool drawing to programm."

That sounds to me like you asking if there is a list that shows the corresponding Ruby objects and methods for each SketchUp drawing tool. Is that your question?

But that question has nothing to do with FreeRIDE, so either I'm mistaken or you gave too much of the wrong information.

Like Todd, I am confused. Could you please ask your question again in more detail? The more information you give, slowly, the more it helps us get past your small troubles with English.

Please don't assume that anyone else here works with SketchUp Ruby the same way you do (or as any one else does). When you say something like, "I am using ruby console so I obtained some of shapes by this way," you may think it is obvious what you did, but it is not. There are too many terms where we cannot tell if our difficulty understanding is because of a mistaken idea on our part, or the wrong term on your part, or just an English problem. Too many variables, not enough equations, no solution. More information is needed.

I hope this helps,
August

Hi idraft,
@idraft said:

I found and saved these a while ago, very good show on how to set up perspectives (as tought in the old school days).

Do you happen to know the original author? Your use of the word "found" suggests that it is not you.

Also, ANYONE,

Months ago I ran across a similar tutorial about the geometry of photo matching that I have not been able to find again. (It was saved on my employer's laptop and was in a folder I missed in my last-minute archiving on the day of the layoff. Word to the wise...)

The tutorial I'm looking for, if I recall correctly, used a ranch-style house and constructed the camera position(s) someplace in the front yard. Again IIRC, it took a different approach than the files idraft found. In the above files A-E, the image plane and view line are straight and an object is constructed at an angle and then finally rotated to square. In the tutorial I'm looking for, the object was presumed square with the axes and the technique constructed the image plane at an angle. Also, IIRC, it did not use any actual photos but instead illustrated the geometry with a line drawing instead of a photo.

I suspect that this "missing" tutorial was old, possibly from SU v4, prior to the built-in Photo Match tool.

Does this ring any bells in anyone's memory?

Thanks,
August

Hi thomthom,
@thomthom said:

I also wish SU had this kind of Photomatch.

I took a very close look at that tutorial and, if I'm not mistaken, the 3DS Max Camera-Match tool is more limited than SU's Photo Match. It looks to me like it requires that you find all four corners of a full rectangle and a fifth point that is perpendicular to one of those corners. It looks like it also assumes two-point perspective to be able to place the horizon or those five points could not, mathematically, be complete enough.

In SU, you can use ANY lines that are parallel to the rectangle's edges and it handles 3-point perspective and tilted cameras just fine.

If someone knows that the 3DS Max Camera Match tool is more flexible and powerful than indicated in that tutorial, I would appreciate being educated.

I hope this helps,
August