XRay mode seems to be a good 'solution' to a problem resulting from trying to get coincident 2d surfaces to behave in a very precise way when by definition they may not be able to: one on top when there is actually no top even if sometimes it seems like there is, or at least that's how it seems to me. But with the X Ray you can see and snap to your drawn lines on the back side of the image. Does drawing in XRay allow you to do what you want to do?

This is new for me: context menu choosing and picks now elicit sounds (ping, ding, ching). I can't find the setting to disable it. doesn't seem to be an OS thing; I generally turn all sounds off in progs and Windows. Might it be tangled with a newly installed plugin?

My first use of this wonderful tool leads me to make a newb suggestion and ask a newb question.

S: It would be nice to have persistent settings for each of the three round types independently as, for instance, I generally want beveled edges unsmoothed but the others likely not.

Q: With a surface whose edges have been beveled and unsmoothed and which appears flat and untextured, what causes the slightly modeled appearance (slight shading effects not visible elsewhere)?

Well, thanks. And yes, to me that is a bit 'counter intuilligent': enter a point so that you may revise it. And thanks for the guides tip, TIG; I can get to point 'B' without the relative input, but it may save time to use it as would not having to use guides or draw additional geometry.

Is there a way to get the relative input when drawing lines, for instance (the VCB accepts no input)?

That seems like a nice work-around, Jean.

@unknownuser said:

SceneExporter will export the scenes in your model to a jpeg image

I personally would like some very functional scene manager plug-in helpers, or perhaps better work-around functionality in myself.

Thanks. From what I understand this is of use especially for W7 rather than Vista users (32 or 64) as they retain thumb preview (outside of SU) and preview of anything larger than a thumb remains a dream.

I updated the driver a few days ago and all is well since then (though the splats had been periodic before, so fingers will remain crossed).

On a related issue, it appears the hardware thread fruit is withering on the vine, which is too bad for folks looking for some good input on gearing up to use SU.

So its been a year and a half or so since the survey got under way? Are the results buried in here somewhere, or buried somewhere somewhere?

@unknownuser said:

SU exports are at 72 dpi. If I need a nice crisp drawing, I do the
following: In the Export 2D Graphic Dialogue Box, go to Options.
Uncheck "Use view size" and set a larger image size. I like my images
to be 300 dpi for the most part, so if I want a 10" wide image, I set
the width to (300 dpi x 10") = 3000 pixels. Then use photo editing
software to reset the size and dpi before you send to your client.

This does not work for me. I would think that SU asks to set image size if other than view it might remain at 72 dpi max, though it does seem to export as you input for the view, thereby upping the res for the view, somewhat contrary to the dialog: it is still the view but at a higher res. But then when I import the supposedly higher res image it looks no better, even worse as it is more gray, less black, even after converting to 2 color (black and white, and sharpening). Probably for an attempted line drawing export, anti-alias should be 'off'???

Thanks very much, all. Sometimes the Dell driver manager may provide some utility, maybe, esp. if the driver has been integrated with their hardware (?). As to the best way to handle the update, that is why I want to check the forums: it is populated with folks with this exact machine who have already jumped through this same hoop. I mentioned those various ways of updating the driver additionally because they were giving conflicting info, even ATI (AMD) themselves as to whether ver. 10.2 or 10.3 is THE ONE. (Yes, Anssi, AMD mentions bestowing on this card the heralded legacy status.)

Thank you, T and N.
What follows is mere whine.... Dell forums have had indigestion all day after being out for a week for servicing, but once when I got my foot in the door at the company (not forum) site, the lame Dell driver update system advised after I again registered, etc. ---> "service tag not supported"; no further advice. AMD variously advises that 10.2 or 10.3 is the current driver for V64 and my board. Windows tells me the driver (ver 8.533, some two years old) is up to date (device manager)!!!

Thanks, guys. I say the driver fails because that is the message posted, presumably by the OS. The screen may or may not have flickered once or twice or more; if it flickers off four or five times, Windows may shut down with a notice that the driver is at fault. If it recovers, and says so, it is usually just SU that splats. So I assume it is not the card itself, Anssi.

I'll go back to the Dell forums and make some inquiries. Thanks again.

I don't know about that, but Claire said this:
@unknownuser said:

SU exports are at 72 dpi. If I need a nice crisp drawing, I do the
following: In the Export 2D Graphic Dialogue Box, go to Options.
Uncheck "Use view size" and set a larger image size. I like my images
to be 300 dpi for the most part, so if I want a 10" wide image, I set
the width to (300 dpi x 10") = 3000 pixels. Then use photo editing
software to reset the size and dpi before you send to your client.

(above at http://groups.google.com/group/sketchuphowto/browse_thread/thread/a98322b32103813f# )

I'll try it when my ATI driver gives me a chance.

Might installed plugins affect the driver's tendency to fail? I've been having very many failures of late and was wondering if I should try removing a few plugins? I know about updating the driver but frankly am loathe to do so owing to horror stories related to same and my particular machine (Dell XPS Studio 435T, ATI Radeon HD 4670 512MB).

Tips appreciated.

@unknownuser said:

You have a scene that you like, and you wan to make another identical scene. So you activate the scene you like. Then you create a new scene. That is about as far as I undesrstood. But you're saying something about the new scene does not rememeber layer visibility correctly? How do you mean?

The display is correct but is inconsistent with the layer manager settings: layers which are visible in the display are not checked in the manager.

@unknownuser said:

It will not let you turn check the layer visibility box?

No problem with that, I just want the parent layer visibility settings to track to the new scene, as the display does correctly. As I said, I think the layers created 'hidden' are turned off but the display is not adjusted for that and there's the frass.

@unknownuser said:

Or it forgets what layers you have on or off?

Yes, so to speak. It adjusts away from the parent settings but doesn't immediately update the display, and I'm flummoxed when it does that update subsequently. I just want it to stay true to the parent or at the very least display consistent with the settings.

Your patience is appreciated. I'll be back in the morning. But it did occur to me that part of the problem is likely that the layers in question were created with the 'create hidden layer' plugin. This does not explain what I see as their inconsistent visibility.

The scenario:

I want a new scene approximating an existing one.
Make that one active.
Hit new scene.
Name space opens; new 'scene x' is just below the approximating scene. Visuals don't change, but layers checked visibility has changed.
Rename and enter.
Visuals still don't change.
Whether I do or do not update the layers in the new scene depending on whether I want to believe the display or the layer settings, does not matter, the layers are turned off and remain off.
Just about any ensuing action reflects faulty layer display settings, that is, the display changes and the layers are not visible.
Repeat until tired, making minor adjustments, for some reason.

Yes, thanks, HDT, I can take a snap and paste it elsewhere and that may be all I can do as I'm having no luck otherwise. PDF-XChange viewer seems to give a slighly better res than Reader (96 vs. 72 DPI, which is also what SU exports at (?)), FYI, and has other tools. Gai said somewhere, sometime, and it seems reasonable,
@unknownuser said:

Well, with a screen capture app. you cannot make higher resolution images accurately than your screen resolution. What if there are finer details within the accuracy of your drawing?

See: http://groups.google.com/group/sketchuphowto/browse_thread/thread/69dec11b98c2580c/6aea66bfa7cf2597#6aea66bfa7cf2597

But the HLR image, if I could cut and paste it, would offer much higher res, or at least that's the idea I'm laboring with.

@unknownuser said:

what do you mean by "draw the new segment from an internal break point" ?

Draw from a break point away from the outer ends, not from an end end point (on a segment not attached to another at both ends, but rather at only one end).