I use SketchyPhysics whenever I can. I find it to be a great enhancement to the modeling capabilities of SketchUp. I sometimes need to make up promotional videos to show some of our department's projects, and SketchUp with SP lets me highlight certain functions of the machines that cannot be captured in video while the machine is functioning.

That being said, I haven't been using SP much lately, having been given a different assignment.

Sometimes I don't respond to posts in this section of the forum because I don't have an answer, but when I do, I make sure to contribute. I hope to be able to give back to the community here that has been of such great help to me in the past.

I assume you are using SketchyPhysics' internal video capture feature, or are trying to use the 'export animation' function that is internal to SketchUp. I am not familiar with the SP video recorder, but I know that the SketchUp 'export animation' function won't work with a SketchyPhysics simulation. It's really designed to capture frames from scene-change animation sequences.

I have always used a separate screen video capture program to make video clips of SketchyPhysics simulations. The free program that I use is CamStudio, which does a good job. I generally have it set to capture an 800 x 600 frame, and then re-size SketchUp to fit its display within this frame. The 'uncompressed' codec, downloaded separately for CamStudio, does a good job of making a clear video, but you need to re-save a more conventionally compressed version in post-production, since your captured video file will be huge.

I tried out this software, and it works pretty well for some objects. When the object presents a distinctive profile at different angles, Photofly does a good job even on a first pass. If the object is very uniform and symmetrical in shape and color, Photofly seems to get confused.

Still, it's amazing that it works at all, and it's free!

I was pretty happy with the results.

I'm late to this party, but still . . .

In the CMD window, try out the "tree" command

for help, type tree /?

This will output a tree-structured listing of a directory and its subdirectories.

tree /f gives the list of directories and their files
tree /a uses plain ASCII characters to make the "lines" for the branches

note: the appearance of the tree depends on your using a monospace font instead of a proportional-spaced font. Courier is the name of one monospace font.

To output to a file, use the redirect symbol, e.g.:

tree (path and directory name) /f /a > treelisting.txt

If your directory path or directory name has spaces in it, you should enclose the path and name in quotation marks

I use it to help plan home improvement projects. For instance, I installed a wood burning stove, and needed to know if I had adequate clearance around the stovepipe/chimney. Because I have a dimensioned model of my house, I could place a model of the stove and its chimney in our converted garage (the room to be heated), and could see if the chimney was too close to a tree that is growing close to the house.

I also needed to screen in our back porch, and wanted to go over several different design options. Finally, I re-plumbed our kitchen and bathroom, and used SketchUp to help me visualize the location of pipes.

I use SketchyPhysics to make animations of my department's engineering projects. I am particularly pleased with this one:

[flash=320,240:2ihy67sk]http://www.youtube.com/v/YRNFi0DzGm4[/flash:2ihy67sk]
The ending logo animation was also modeled and produced in SketchUp with SketchyPhysics.

I have also used SketchyPhysics to make an opening video clip to a video hosted by my department. I used the Photo Match feature of SketchUp to show an animated model of a clock tower that transitions into the photograph of the clock tower and the engineering building. http://pltw.nmsu.edu/cPage.aspx?pageid=news&queryid=110419

Another animation was made to liven up the logo for Project Lead the Way.
http://pltw.nmsu.edu/cPage.aspx?pageid=main&queryid=aboutlogo

Recently, we are using SketchUp in a course on construction and utilities. Because I don't like to talk to people a lot, I am making videos of different techniques, and uploading them to YouTube

@gaieus said:

I use it as an excuse for my wife why I am always in front of the computer.

Aaahh! You broke the sacred CODE OF SILENCE! Now my wife will find out!

OK. When you make new motors, pistons and other controllable joints, there is a control box that appears with sliders to activate the controls.

If you open the "UI" window from the toolbar button, and then click on a joint, one of the characteristics of the joint is a controller ID. It usually has some name like "slider12244"(slider12244) or something like that.

It turns out that you can assign a name to the slider control by editing this line in the UI window, so it will say: "slider12244"(LeftMotor)

Now, when you run the simulation, the control box will have a slider called LeftMotor, which is much easier to recognize than the random number identifier.

So, if you have two motors on the left side, you can assign them both to the same slider by changing the name inside the brackets. I think you do not want to alter the part of the control name that is outside of the brackets.

Now, your control window will have one slider called LeftMotor that will activate both motors. If you have two motors and give them different acceleration rates, they will speed up in relative proportion to the slider position.

SPECIAL BONUS TIP: Make sure your motors are placed in the same orientation. It is embarrassing to try to impress your friends with your SketchyPhysics simulation, and have your wheels turn in opposite directions.

I assume you made a cylinder (to be the wheel) and then put a motor on its center, then joined the motor to the wheel. This will turn the wheel, but the wheel and motor will be stationary.

The motor, and all Sketchyphysics joints, has an 'ignore' characteristic set for them, so they do not physically interact with other solids. An object that is set as 'ignore' will also not move around in the environment, and so the wheel will be fixed to the immobile motor.

To make a motor that can move around, it must be part of a grouped object. I think there are convenient pre-made motor/wheel groups in the Sketchyphysics toolbar, or you can make them yourself. For instance, make a rectangular block using conventional techniques (make rectangle, the push/pull the face to make it 3D). Now anchor a motor to this block, and then select 'all connected' to the block (that is, all faces and edges and also the motor). Make this into a group. This grouped solid will be a regular solid object for Sketchyphysics, and will be subject to gravity, etc including the motor.

Next make a wheel, and position it as appropriate, in line with the motor. Join the wheel to the motor, and then run the simulation. The wheel will turn and drag the block around. It will look stupid because you only have one wheel.

OK, you might be better off searching Youtube for a Sketchyphysics tutorial video.

I think there's a program called "PMD Editor" for creating or modifying the figures. I have never used MMD myself, but have read a bit about it. Personally, I'd love for there to be more interaction between the two user communities.

Welcome to the world of obsessive modeling!
Really nice ship models

I don't think this can be done. You can assign a "thruster" parameter to your submarine, and then it will travel forward, but it will not be driven directly by the propeller. A propeller works kind of like a screw thread cutting through the relatively low density water*, but won't interact with a surrounding medium in SketchyPhysics in this way.

• Yes, I know that this is wrong in many ways. Please don't let this spawn a side-discussion on propellors and aerodynamics.

Well, there's a Keyframe Animation plugin that could do this, in which you re-position limbs for each keyframe, then let the plugin generate the 'between' frames.

There are, I think,articulated 3D figures that are set up for this kind of posing, but not connected to Sketchyphysics joints, so you'd have to do that part yourself.

Or, maybe what you want is something more like this:

[flash=320,240:vwcttltg]http://www.youtube.com/v/tb7TThIdPmU[/flash:vwcttltg]

This is an animation sequence created largely using Miku Miku Dance, which I posted about at:

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=38705

The background "stage" is an imported SketchUp model called "Old Town Squere fachwerk style" from the 3D Warehouse. It was converted using a plugin for import into Miku Dance.

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

(sketchup.google.com)

I am not sure what you mean by "character rigging". Are you talking about creating a human-like figure with articulated joints that can be controlled by Sketchyphysics controlled servos?

If so, what do you want to create in the end? Are you trying to make a programmable animation of a human figure, or do you want to produce some kind of video of the action?

How important is it that the mechanism match the model in the video? Sketchyphysics does poorly with internal curves. The pantograph-arm mechanism is not a problem, though.

I always set up custom keyboard shortcuts, then save them to a file. I keep this file in a USB Flash drive that I carry with me, so it's handy. I also use the "Large Tool Set" instead of the "Getting Started" set, and set buttons small.

My department has computers in the lab with SketchUp installed, but students do not have Admin rights. They cannot install plugins or components into the usual places. It turns out that you can copy the program folder for SketchUp to a Flash drive, and run it from there, if the host computer also has SketchUp installed. It may require that the same or higher version be installed, but haven't tested that yet.

So, I have told students that they can install SketchUp on their home computers, install plugins and component bonus packs, and then copy the program folder to a USB drive. If they run the program from there, it will give them access to the plugin and components folders, which is very handy. Not exactly "portable" SketchUp, but close.

I have a video of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VQmkz-MraA
The relevant portion of this video begins at 5:25
[flash=425,344:2tby5oj2]http://www.youtube.com/v/0VQmkz-MraA[/flash:2tby5oj2]

In truth, there's probably no real reason why SketchUp can't be reconfigured to run as a portable app. Only a few minor changes would do it I'm sure.

Two-sided Faces

I don't usually deal with materials and faces, but this is a useful characteristic. Faces have two different sides, and are usually colored differently. It is possible to make one face transparent, while the other side is opaque. I use this when modeling a house, so I can see the interior of the house when looking through the top, but a solid ceiling shows when I have POV inside the house.

Here's a video of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivv4qcdX6lM

[flash=425,344:32vbof82]http://www.youtube.com/v/ivv4qcdX6lM[/flash:32vbof82]

Related video done by someone else:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBcI7Rzo6yU

I think something like this would do well with the SketchyPhysics plugin, which can let you give the locks and water levels movement. I'll see if I can come up with a preliminary simulation for you.

OK, I made a model and used SketchyPhysics to make moveable stuff (transparent blocks for water, a boat, and locks on hinges.

Made a video.. .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msHAjfqtgdQ

[flash=425,344:ui6vzc7j]http://www.youtube.com/v/msHAjfqtgdQ[/flash:ui6vzc7j]

Captured the action using Camtasia Recorder, but CamStudio would work just as well.

I made a video of my experiments, and posted to YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74ji-NXsdDI
[flash=425,344:21jt231s]http://www.youtube.com/v/74ji-NXsdDI[/flash:21jt231s]

For a simple articulated joint between two blocks, where the blocks must interact with each other and with other objects, and where the entire articulation is able to move about, the joint should be added to a third grouped object during an "edit group" action, making it into a moveable object itself, then joint-connected to the "arms" of the articulation.

Yeah, watch the video. My description confuses even me, and I wrote it!

I did a few experiments, because using joints is confusing.
So, I wanted to have a bar with a hinge at each end.
The bar would be joined to two other bars by the hinges (kind of like a semaphore arm).
I did not want the central bar to be static. I also wanted all three bars to be "solid" to each other. That is, they could not occupy the same space, but would block each other like solids.

1. Make the three bars
2. "Edit Group" the central bar
3. add hinges to the ends of the central bar
4. Close central bar group
5. Join the hinges each to one other bar
6. Secure the central bar to a static object, to hold it up.

Run simulation.
Result is that the two bars joined to the central one by the hinges will rotate as expected. The central bar acts like a solid with regard to its static holder.

Strangely, the central bar does not act like a solid WRT the joined bars. Instead, the two joined bars pass freely through the central bar.

--- Second experiment ---

1. Make three bars as before
2. Make two small squares.
3. Select one square and make it into a group.
4. repeat with the second square
5. "Edit group" one square
6. Add a hinge to this group, then close it.
7. Repeat with the other square.
8. Place the grouped hinges (hinge plus a square, all in a group) next to the two ends of the central bar and the bars making the two "arms"
9. Join one hinge to the central bar and one arm. Repeat with the other hinge.
10. Secure the central bar to a static object as a support

Run simulation

This works as I had hoped. The two arms rotate freely around their hinges, but do not pass through the central bar. Other objects physically interact with all three bars, acting as though they were "solid".

I will see if I can make a video of this, since my wordy description is probably not clear. Does this address some of your questions?

Is there any possibility of a protein structural renderer that would calculate sheets and helices, kind of like RasMol does?