Excellent, thanks for the help once again.

That looks interesting Gaieus, I'll keep it in mind,I'm not sure about the credits and server part of it as I spend a lot of my time without an internet connection.

Come to think of it, I drew that shape in Corel and exported it as a DWG so that I could have it watercut out of a thick piece of glass, can I import from the DWG as a shape?

I'm wondering if it is possible to import an image and select part of it as a shape that can then be push pulled etc. Like using a mask in programs like Photoshop?

As a simple example.
I would like to select just the black silhouette and lose the white background.

If you click the edit part of any material you can make it as transparent as you want.

Just a tip, lock the 2D template so you can't select it.

He says he has pro, I think the problem is you don't open it, you Import it.

Go File/Import and you will find it there.

Is that like, two peanuts were walking through the park, one was a salted.

Tooth protection?

Is it Dessert Sands?

@mike lucey said:

Interesting application for SU, nice work Box.

Thanks Mike, I missed this the other day, thanks for the "Nice Work" and yes I think this is a wonderful tool for my work, I've been looking for years for a way to think in 3D and actually produce a result. Nearly every part of sculptural work is "one off", lost wax, sand cast etc etc... yes yes you can do multiples, but to be able to draw in real 3d is something else. I dabbled some time back in a few other programs but it was like learning another language from another planet. With SU I have been able to produce workable stuff in a matter of weeks, and the things I see produced by people with real experience astounds me.

I doubt I will ever move to the high end of the SU scale, but as a working tool it's fantastic.

I think remus already posted the solution here http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=179&t=6064&start=2055#p255155.

Outstanding....I can't add more than that.

As a total noob here I'd just like to add that for someone who doesn't know their way around there is so much to sort through.

Personally I think it would be helpful if the gallery had subsections.

It seems to me that a gallery is a place to display finished work, be it good or bad.
Perhaps a subsection simply called the drawing office or drawing board or the workshop, something that gives it an obvious use, where all the WIPs can be viewed with a link to the final Image, or images, that have eventually been placed in the gallery with a link back.

This way you can look through the finished work and easily find the relevant WIP or happily follow the WIPs themselves.

I also agree with others that have said it's better to post a separate thread when you want an answer to a question. I have a lot of experience with forums, as a user and moderator, and threads with a specific question in their header get a much higher answer rate than questions buried in other threads. It also makes searching for answers more effective.

And I'm have been happily amazed by the helpfulness of all the people here.
Thank you all.

Thanks TIG I'm using it as we speak, however I can't find the lasagne plugin, the wine plugin is working wonders.

On a related note, once I have these slices, is there a simple way to print them?

Each one, for the scale model size, fits on an A4 page.
I imagine there must be a simple way to export them 1:1 into layout or as a pdf or some such, so that each is centred on it's own page?

Depending on the shape of your model and the alignment of the digital photo, you may just be able to import the photo as an image and attach it to the model.

I was thinking the same thing as I wrote it.
They were just two images in the different states that I had to hand.

Nothing wrong with a little hijack, it's got my post count moving so I don't get moderated anymore it seems.

Yep, you got it.

And any edge shaping I do by hand.
This gives me the blank pieces of glass to start working with.

Yes, well, I make all sorts.

Well, so far I've tried several ways, all of them work, some better than others, I've yet to decide on the best way.

The most basic way,
I create a block of "Layer" the thickness I want, just by making one then doing multiple copies stacked on top of each other.

Then I extrude the profile shapes, which I draw separately, through that block from the two different directions, Intersect all and then erase the bits I don't want.

But having found Slice modeller and now Slice 3, I will probably attack things differently.

Basically I'm trying to learn the best and quickest ways to create the shapes I want and get them down as workable plans.

I'm not too interested yet in rendering etc, this is more for me to take the ideas out of my head and get them to working drawings.
Generally I sculpt everything from Polystyrene first and then slice it up, rather messy and time consuming no matter how much fun it is.

This is a rough unfinished torso in poly.

And then I make that into something like this.

That might explain why I can see the benefits of being able to draw in 3D

I think I understand what you are getting at, but all I need is the overall shape or outline of each piece. So in effect each of the layers you see in the image is nothing more than a square sided rectangle, so setting the slice at the centre of each piece gives me a cutting plan, and also a positioning guide.

If I was using shaped edges on the individual pieces then, yes, I think it would create a problem.

Thanks Pilou, I had tried to do it with those two plugins but found it a bit cumbersome. My main problem was getting Eclate to explode it the way I needed. I also tried exim, but didn't manage to get what I wanted there either.
It may be that I'm not quite understanding exactly how those plugins work.

Slice 3 does it perfectly, couple of clicks and I have my plans all ready to make a scale model.

Thanks for the help.