That is a regularly mentioned gripe, no solution currently AFAIK.

Those many lines are the way sketchup has to convert CAD splines into sketchup curves with high accuracy. You probably don't need that much accuracty for terrain contours.

Hi, Try changing the IOR on the refraction layer to 1.00 or 1.05.

Just a heads up that Dave is working with the LO team to resolve the issue. However in the meantime I would suggest using the ROUNDUP and IFERROR functions in Excel. For example: =IFERROR(ROUND(O11/5.678,2),"") This has solved my issue in LO.

I really do think LayOut is close to becoming a better idea of what BIM could be for many architects and design professionals. The other side of it that makes me more interested is it can become what BIM isn't: for everybody else that has a great idea and wants to communicate it easily. But to do that, LayOut seriously needs to embrace itself as a drafting program and the ability to draw to real a scale inside of the program, copy/paste back into a SketchUp model and continue to get as fast and easy to use as it's big brother. I have utilized LayOut more and more in my daily practice with the help of Nick Sonder and Mike Birghtman's approaches. I see these methods of thinking about developing design (not just architecture) as a workflow from SketchUp to LayOut that fits more accurately in a true design process (i.e. You don't have to know everything you want in a design prior to starting- discovery and "happy accidents" abound.) I really do hope Trimble understands this and continues to tie SketchUp and LayOut together in a fluid way so much that they are two sides of the same coin, rather than separate entities. Together with an ability to connect information on the web with components in models, sharing information as a project database with Trimble Connect and pushing the client use of incorporating models into a VR or AR delivery is exciting. Anyway, here's to hoping, y'all! Eric

Thanks for the suggestions i got myself a wifi dongle and its working fine. I think you are correct about the hardware, I didn't use any antistatic or ground the computer. My bad.

It can be done without a plugin or extension. First, the material needs to be applied to the faces and not the group or component. Expose Hidden Geometry, right click on a single face and choose Texture>Position. Rotate it as needed. Then turn off Hidden Geometry, use the Materials eye dropper to sample the material where you just rotate it and then immediately click the paint bucket on the surface to apply that material orientation. Alternatively, you can apply the material to another face in the model that would get the same orientation and sample that before applying it to the curved surface. I used these methods for the rush seat on the chairs and the legs on the table. [image: 11416850996_695e552ea0_z.jpg] And on the curved surfaces on this post. [image: 8511785423_9b3ca804d5_z.jpg]

It's pro only. It annoys me that generate report doesn't get area reports. Maybe I'm not getting it right, but I ditched it away since. Otherwise it's working rather well.

Is there no soft shadow selection for ies light setting?

Thank you Pilou! .....I did not fully understand your earlier scaling example (w/o visible dimension)....it is now very clear! Now OP has at least two methods to adjust imported CAD files to scale.....as we understand his needs. Best regards, Charlie PS.....RE: Try it....................I will now use this method as well!

Those videos are pretty useful, but not quite what I was looking for. I would like to be able to export auto-text FROM layout to automatically update in an excel spreadsheet. This is the auto-text which is accessible under document setup.

I'm familiar with Thea, I actually own a copy. I have not tried it since I now have compatible GPUs installed on my machine. Unity provides animation capabilities that neither Thea nor Octane can currently create in reasonable amount of time. And just in as important for my needs, you can output to a VR headset. I'll be sure and check out Thea soon. Thx!

This is a known issue and Trimble is working on it. There are a couple of workarounds that can mitigate this somewhat. Keeping viewports square seems to help. Check out these threads for more info: http://forums.sketchup.com/t/bug-workaround-high-scale-viewports/26887 http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=65251

Good point on flipped or mirrored text. We have come to expect computers software to help with more mundane tasks, such as cleaning up text, not work against us.

Awesome! Thanks buddy.

@marcdurant said: Among other minutia, looks like the library we're using to import .XLS files doesn't properly handle some aspects of locked cells. Thanks for your help identifying the issue, and keep an eye out for maintenance releases. -m Hi Marc, When will we be able to reference a password locked Excel file into Layout? I tried again after the SU2017proM2 release but no luck...

you may also try the flowify plugins for this kind of stuff, wich is sort of shape bender on steroids

I've had good luck with the Unwrap and Flatten Faces plugin. https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/flatten-faces Used it just yesterday with Flowify to create the rolled up reality board in this pic: [image: untitled.194.jpg]