I have a plane and a group of points. How do I find out which side of the plane a particular point is on? I want all the points that are on the same side as a given point. All I can think of is to project each point onto the plane, and then get a vector between each point and it's projection, and then compare the directions of those vectors. Is there an easier way?

Thanks for the suggestions, Thomas. But even that is difficult, as there is nothing to snap to when I try to set the axes. Again, the inference engine won't help me. I found the easiest thing is to explode and immediately re-create (as all the pieces are still selected). Then the new axes are aligned with the global ones. CB.

sniff

I just want to draw a horizontal line....

I've noticed a new behavior in SU8. If you rotate a component, and then edit it, it seems that there is a new coordinate system that has been rotated with the component. For example, try to draw a vertical line inside a component that has been rotated. The inference engine will not help you. The coordinate system that the inference engine uses has been rotated along with the component. Is there a way to turn off that behavior? I like it the way it was before! CB.

@earthmover said:

Is there a plugin out there that will do this to multiple components at the same time? Or one that will rotate each around it's own z axis simultaneously?

Easy change. Updated file at the top of the thread. CB.

@unknownuser said:

Lads, this needs to be fixed on SU Team level urgently! Looking for a workaround is desired, but why we developers have to fix something that is wrong on C++ level, not in Ruby!
Do you expect new maintenance release in the end of 2011?

Agreed. Has anyone reported it, or gotten confirmation from Google? IIRC, there were some bugs in SU7 that were corrected fairly quickly. CB.

@thomthom said:

@daiku said:

I can confirm that this bug has broken my scripts as well. I add cpoints based on where the ray interects with a face, and the points get added "out in the weeds", not on the face. CB.

If you cache the points for where you place the CPoints until after you have done all the raytracing, does it work then? (Ensuring there are no CPoints in current context before you start)

Unfortunately, there are CPoints already in the current context when I try to preform the raytest.

No good reason, really. Just seemed intuitive to me. Easy to change, though.

This plugin drills down through component layers and will repaint the face you double-click on. Activate the tool, choose a color, and then start double-clicking. Note that a single click still retains some of it's functionality while the tool is selected, and that context menus still work (so you can still make a component unique, for example).

I use this script to color-code faces in my woodworking models that have certain attributes - for example, I'll paint everything hot pink that should not get sanded. CB.

repaint_face.rb

The normal way to rename a component instance is to use the entity info window. This script saves only one mouse click. But if you need to rename a lot of components, that can add up. Just activate the tool, and double-click on any component instance you wish to rename. CB.

rename_comp_inst.rb

Not sure what you mean. Do you want to rotate EVERY time you place it? Just re-create the component with the correct orientation to the local axes. CB.

I can confirm that this bug has broken my scripts as well. I add cpoints based on where the ray interects with a face, and the points get added "out in the weeds", not on the face. CB.

Thanks. I can't see any differences between when "back edges" is turned on or off. CB.

How do you dump out the list of rendering options? I'm looking for the parameter for the new "back edges" edge style in SU8. CB.

@jim said:

I posted a small plugin to do just this. It's around here somewhere...

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=25174

Perfect! I did a quick search before I posted, but didn't think to use the term "roll". That's exactly what I needed. Thanks Jim! CB.

I'm trying to create a plan view, so I select camera | parallel projection, and then camera | standard views | top. But of course it's rotated 90 degrees from the view I want. For the life of me I can't figure out how to rotate the camera - it really jumps around when you are looking straight down. And of course you can never get it exactly lined up using the mouse. Is there a ruby out there that does this? CB.

Excellent. Thanks Tig.

Almost all 'properly' structured models have ALL base geometry on 'Layer0'...[/quote]

I agree. Is there a ruby out there that will "sanitize" you model to enforce this "rule"? It would ignore groups and comps, but any base geometry would be moced to layer0. CB.

Many Timber Framers use Sketchup to design their frames, and having an FEA plugin would be an awesome addition. CB.

Thom is correct. It's a Ruby No-no to delete items from a container as you iterate through them.