Thomas,
Bonzai3d also supports cameras via DWG format (although Autodesk automatically turns on clipping). If you uncheck this option (if you have such an option in SketchUp) then you should be able to get the view to match this way as well.
However, I don't see anything in SketchUp's scenes after importing a DWG file that includes (views or scenes). Perhaps the question "How to import views to SketchUp" is a question for the main SketchUp forum?
Jeff,
We have found that as you get close to the limits of what fillets can be generated, bonzai3d may not allow them to occur when you are doing these as 2d fillets. If you extrude the shape after it has been joined, you should then be able to apply a 2d Round to the desired segment, and derive the bottom edge to get what you want.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, we will get this corrected so that you can apply the same fillets in 2d as you can with rounding in 3d.
Thomas,
Bonzai3d will export views with a number of different formats, including 3ds and DAE. Unfortunately, it appears that SketchUp does not read the views from these formats.
With bonzai3d, you can go to the Palettes Menu: View Parameters to see all the variables for the view, including the camera location, the center of interest, the view and spin angles, etc. (These values can be entered numerically into bonzai3d to change the view as well.) Perhaps there is a way to copy these values into SketchUp to set this view?
Step 1: Right click on the arc and pick 'Show Controls' from the popup menu:
Step 2: Edit the angular control on the arc so both objects overlap:
Step 3: Activate the trim tool and click the parts of both objects you want to keep:
Tom (tfdesign),
Yes, and Yes.
The next major update for formZ (version 7) will include most of the interface improvements that bonzai3d has, making it easier and faster to use. Thus learning bonzai3d now can be a stepping point towards learning formZ 7.
(You may also find that bonzai3d is powerful enough that it meets your needs!)
Complete Cocoa implementation is in the works, and will be available soon. 
EDIT -- bonzai3d is a already a COCOA application -- sorry for this error.
Gentlemen,
Bonzai3d version 2.0 is now officially released! You can see what users are currently saying about it here on SketchUcation from this link:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=25915&hilit=bonzai3d
You can also find out more about bonzai3d -- including a Free Trial, Tutorial Videos, and its many features from here:
If you would like to send us feedback, please do so at: support@bonzai3d.com
Rocky,
Our current estimate for formZ 7 is sometime this summer. 
Rocky,
It is easy to align the reference plane grid and the grid snaps, but it is not required. For example, I frequently work with my grid snap set anywhere between 1/8" - 6" -- but typically keep a 12" or 24" reference plane grid.
(This way I can quickly work to create the size objects I want without completely overloading the screen with all the reference plane grid lines...)
Gentlemen,
We have found and fixed quite a few issues since the early beta days of bonzai3d, and it should be a much more mature, stable program now that we have released version 2!
If you would like to see some of bonzai3d's Nurbs capabilities, please take a look at these videos:
http://www.formz.com/products/bonzai3d/bonzai3dVideo_640.php
http://www.formz.com/products/bonzai3d/bonzai3dVideo_640.php
If you would like to give it a try, you can sign up for a Trial version from here:
If you would like to see a general feature set, you can find this here:
Feel free to post to our forum: http://www.formz.com/forum/bonzai3d_discussion.html
...or send us a direct email if you have any questions at all regarding bonzai3d!
Dedmin,
Thanks for your suggestions, we will see what we can do to add these.
Rocky,
The Unfold tool is a tool that is reserved for formZ. (As you may know, formZ will soon be receiving the interface overhaul that we have given to bonzai3d -- and it will include many "even more advanced" tools than what bonzai3d currently has.)
The Grid Snap should affect the starting of a drawing (with a rectangle, vector line, etc) and it does in our tests. If you check this again, are you sure that this is not working properly for you?
If you compare your current Reference Plane grid settings (as shown on the top in the image below) is this set to be an integer multiple of the grid snap settings (shown at the bottom) that you are using?
(If you do not have the modules of your plane grid and grid snap aligned, then it may appear that it is not affecting the starting point.)
(If you do indeed have a case where this is not working properly for you, please email us a more detailed description of the problem, and attach a BNZ.zip file (to support@bonzai3d.com) in which you are able to reproduce this so we can look into this further. )
The RenderZone Trial Plugin does not expire. Its only limitations are the watermark, and the resolution limit.
Sketch Rendering is based on the RenderZone rendering, and as such will have the same two limitations as described above.
Doodle actually produces vector information which is based on the Wireframe or Hidden Line display. You can display this at whatever resolution you like, regardless of whether or not you choose to add the RenderZone plugin.
Jeff and Mike,
We have heard from a lot of new users to bonzai3d how easy it is to use (and how powerful it can be). I would guess that if someone knew neither bonzai3d or SketchUp, that they would probably have an equally easy time learning either program.
Of course, since bonzai3d is not a SketchUp Clone, if you are already familiar with SketchUp, then it may take a moment to become familiar with the ways that bonzai3d works. But I am willing to bet that if you give bonzai3d a serious try, you will find that the (rather small) learning curve is definitely worth the benefits that it brings. You can see many of bonzai3d's features here:
We have created quite a few Tutorial Videos that should make getting started quite easy, and you can find these directly in bonzai3d via the Help Menu: Tutorial Videos command, or you can find them here on our web site:
(As noted above, if you want it to "navigate like SketchUp" -- go to Edit: Preferences: Load Defaults: and select Preset 2.)
Tom,
Sorry to hear that you are having trouble with a specific file. Please zip and send this file (in both DWG and SAT format) to support@bonzai3d.com so we can find a solution for you.
Tom,
Glad we could get you excited!
Bonzai3d reads and writes both SAT and DWG formats (and others, as noted above). On Intel Macs and Windows, version 19 of SAT (and earlier) are supported, but we are limited to versions 18 and earlier on PPC Macs.
DWG formats 2010 and earlier are also supported.
Bonzai3d version 2.0 is now officially released -- so no need for anymore Beta testing with this, but feel free to download the Trial version and take it for a spin. You can sign up for the Trial version here:
Please let us know if you have any further questions.
Rocky,
Please contact sales@bonzai3d.com for answers to sales questions. (They have more details about options than our support team does.)
Regarding dimensions, there is not an option to relate one dimension to another, but the dimensions are associative -- so if you change the size of the part, the dimension will update automatically.
Please see the following tutorial video about dimensions in bonzai3d, and let us know if you have any further questions.
(We are keeping an eye on this discussion, but you can get faster answers in general by posting to our forum, or sending us an email...)
Daniel,
A single license of bonzai3d is allowed to be installed on any two computers at the same time. If you wish to move a license from one of these computers to a third computer, you can do this by simply sending us an email and letting us know.
(Of course you can install the Trial version on as many computers as you like...)
Rocky,
The current MaxwellZ plugin for formZ will not work with bonzai3d (yet), but the plugin architecture of formZ and bonzai3d are very similar, so it should not be hard to adapt the formZ plugin so that it can also work with bonzai3d.
We hope that Next Limit will support Maxwell for bonzai3d, but we do not have a definitive answer from them at this time.
Solo,
The price for formZ is really not too bad. (We checked out your (very nice) portfolio, and based on the quality of your work, you should be able to buy the software with the proceeds of a single job, right?)
Not to mention that purchasing a new license includes a free upgrade to formZ version 7, and there are very inexpensive options for students...
Gentlemen,
Thank you all for your interest and kind words about bonzai3d. We are very excited to push the modeling envelope as quickly as possible -- while making our tools easily accessible to everyone!
Regarding file formats, we will soon support SketchUp version 7 (SKP) format. The only reason that we do not support this right now is that we have encountered some irregularities with the SketchUp 7 SDK -- and Google has been slow in responding to our queries. Hopefully they can get us some answers soon, but until then we must continue using the SketchUp 6 SDK -- which only allows support for version 6 of the SKP format. (Fortunately it is quite easy to back-save files -- even with the free version of SketchUp.)
Translating files both to and from SketchUp also works very well with the DAE format.
Regarding the gallery -- we have (unfortunately) not updated this in quite awhile. We are currently in the process of updating this right now, though, and the new gallery should be available in the next week or two. For now, feel free to check out the images that are displayed at the top of the bonzai3d home page: http://www.formz.com/products/bonzai3d.html . (Some of these projects are modeled in bonzai3d, some in formZ, but all are rendered with RenderZone.)
Mike Lucey,
You mentioned how the navigation commands were not consistent with SketchUp. While we prefer our default settings, we realize that there are a lot of SketchUp users who are accustomed to working a particular way -- so we have a shortcut setting to accommodate this. To load the "SketchUp default navigation commands" go to bonzai3d's Edit Menu: Key Shortcuts, click Load Defaults at the bottom center, and select "Preset 2." (Preset 1 is "similar to Rhino.")
EarthMover,
You note that you had an issue with the bonzai3d download email. We are not aware of any issues, so if you are still having this (or any other problems) please email us directly and we would be glad to help.
And of course if anyone else has any questions, feel free to email us, or post on our forum. We are more than happy to help with any questions that you may have!
Hello,
A few of you asked to see projects done with bonzai3d. While it is still Beta software (which is generally not recommended for paying projects), there have been a few user posts showing projects. You can find more about these here:
http://www.formz.com/forum2/messages/32331/34223.html
http://www.formz.com/forum2/messages/32331/33952.html?1237571774
and
http://www.formz.com/forum2/messages/32331/34172.html?1237670627
Of course, we have had a lot of much larger projects sent to us, but unfortunately we have not yet received permission to publish these. Look for more images posted to our forum in the near future!
Pilou,
Great, thanks for posting. (That's a display error, not a geometry error.) Thanks for your report, we will get it corrected.
Pilou,
This is a strange error. We tried 100 similar operations, and they all worked properly. If you repeat your test, do you repeat the problem?
If so, can you save and send the BNZ file to us so we can investigate this further?
(Thanks in advance.)
IdahoJ,
We have seen a few "windows customization" settings that have caused problems in the past. We have fixed these with the latest update (bonzai3d indicates build 7218 at startup, right) but it is certainly possible that there is still a problem we have not seen yet. If you logon as Guest, do you still have this problem? Or if you change your Theme to a standard "Windows Theme" -- does this prevent the crash?
If not, can you email a screen capture showing the bonzai3d startup window as well as the crash message so we can look into this further?
@unknownuser said:
...And the Right-click-draw-blank-viewport fix.
Due to some OpenGL issues on Vista, it may be necessary to turn off Desktop Composition with some graphics cards. The symptom of this problem is that when the context menu (right click) is selected in a modeling window, the window will draw blank while the mouse button is pressed. We are working on a solution for this.