@ntxdave sorry. I've never had any reason to even try iit so I don't know what to tell you.

@Alohaa said in How to construct a funnel:

@Dave-R PLA it biodegradable and food-safe!

I was doing some reading about that. While PLA may be food safe, the dyes used to color it may not be. Several articles I read also indicate that the hot end nozzle may not be food grade and could impart toxins into your prints.

One article for example: https://www.wevolver.com/article/is-pla-food-safe

@ntxdave I haven't investigated importing SketchUp models into Impress. It's one of those things I've never needed. I use Calc and Writer quite a bit. I guess the UI isn't as froo-froo as Excel and Word but the programs work basically the same.

@nickchun
No. There isn't a way to do that with a list typed directly into LayOut. My preference is to create my list in a proper text editor. I use Libre Office. You have a lot more control over the formatting of the text including spacing for lists. Then I save as .rtf and insert it into LayOut.

@Alohaa You can right click on the blue face and the select Reverse Faces to correct that one. You have a lot of internal geometry that needs to be removed. Use a section cut to see it so you can erase it.

@Alohaa said in How to construct a funnel:
how did you add those edges?

The edges between the rectangular part and the cylindrical part? I just drew a rectangle out from the center of the funnel and then drew the outlines on the face.

You would find it easier to model this thing if you do so centered on the origin.

It's going to be harder to transition from the square corners to the round tube. Since you aren't using Curviloft to create the surfaces, maybe you could replace the round tube with a square one.

I know my suggestion of the silicone mat isn't the same as modeling and 3D printing your funnel but at least you'll know you aren't poisoning the berries with your choice of print media.

@Alohaa Good idea to use a funnel so you don't thaw the berries with your hands.

Not sure how food safe PLA is. I don't believe it is food safe. Have yo thought about using one of those silicone mats for rolling out dough as a temporary funnel? You could roll it into a funnel shape and pour your berries through that. Use paper clips or masking tape to keep it rolled up.

Not as fun as modeling and 3D printing the funnel but it would be considered food safe, they are easy to clean, and if you've already got a silicone mat you can go pour your berries into bags right now.

@Alohaa something like this?

I added edges for the short slope on the front similar to what you had drawn for the long slope. I also copied out the curves from the cylinderical part and the edges on the top of the rectangular part so I could use Curviloft's Skin Contours tool to create the inner and outer skins. I only did this for one quarter of the thing and then copied and flipped the resulting groups to make the other three. Then I exploded the groups to combine their geometry with the rectangular part and the round part.

I think you'll get cleaner geometry if you set the number of sides for the circles to match the number of sides for the edge of the rectangular part. In this case there are 52 segments around the perimeter of the rectangular shape so 52 sides for the circles.

And, if you're thinking about 3D printing this thing, model it in meters instead of millimeters to avoid the tiny face thing.

Thaks guys. I did it for someone who asked how to make such a thing. I've not done a lot with Dcs because they are rarely useful in most of my modeling but this was actually surprisingly simple. the hardest part was figuring out the math for the position of the hour hand based on the minute hand location.

An experiment to create clock hands that will rotate to the correct time based on a typed time.

@criba there are a number of other extensions for making windows. Look here at the Sketchucation ExtensionStore and in the SketchUp Extension Warehouse.

You might also look at the 3D Warehouse. Loads of window components available there. Many of them are dynamic.

@kzrdvd also note that the viewports must be rendered as Raster in LayOut. Hidden Geometry will not be displayed in Vector or Hybrid.

Do you really want to show all the hidden geometry in the model or are you wanting to show hidden features as I have on the left in this image?

This requires a different method if this is what you want.

Another little machinist's model. The flywheel on this one is 35mm diameter.

@Bryan-K thank you sir.

@schaferron1 said in Layout viewports becoming disabled - will not connect to ref - work around, I have to replace the viewport:

The files continue to show up as embedded. How do I remove them all together or is that necessary?

If you aren't actually using the reference anywhere in the LayOut file, clicking Purge at the bottom of the References panel will remove them. If Purge doesn't remove a reference and you want it gone, you have to remove it from any pages where it might be used, first.

It doesn't make sense to keep references to files that aren't being used. Doing so just bloats the LayOut file. It's all liability with no asset. The same applies to unused content in SketchUp.

@schaferron1 said in Layout viewports becoming disabled - will not connect to ref - work around, I have to replace the viewport:

How do you purge the Default Tag Geometry

I didn't purge the Default Tag Geometry. I just removed tags from the edges and faces in your model. ALL edges and faces should be created and remain Untagged. I did it using TIG's Default Tag Geometry from the Sketchucation ExtensionStore.

I used TIG's Purge All to purge unused content from the model. You can do the same thing with Model Info>Statistics>Purge Unused. I use PurgeAll because it also creates that neat reoprt to show how much hoarded stuff got purged.

@schaferron1 said in Layout viewports becoming disabled - will not connect to ref - work around, I have to replace the viewport:

It looks like once I unlink the skp. files all of the viewports that were linked to that skp. file become blank. Is this to be expected?

No. That's not to be expected. Did you unlink or did you relink? It implies there's something changed in the SketchUp model from when the viewports were setup.

@schaferron1 said in Layout viewports becoming disabled - will not connect to ref - work around, I have to replace the viewport:

How can I determine which viewports are linked to these purged unlinked skp. files?

Purge only removes unused references in LayOut. If there is even one viewport linked to a SketchUp reference, the reference will not be purged. The same applies with purging unused content in SketchUp. Only components, materials, and styles that are not being used in the model will be purged.

As for identifying which reference file a viewport is linked to, you can select the viewport and look at the top of the SketchUp Model panel. Or you can select a reference in the Reference list and look to see what is shown selected on the page. If nothing is selected, go through each page selecting the reference and looking to see what is selected.

@schaferron1 You have two similarly named but different SketchUp references in the LayOut file. Some of the viewports are referencing a different SketchUp file. There's no reason to expect those viewports would link to this file directly. You could relink the 07-10 file one file to this one.

What are the complete paths for those .skp file? Is there a reason for having two different SketchUp model references?

I note you've modified the Camera properties for some of the viewports. That can create problems.

I did my usual cleanup process to the .skp file. Lots of incorrect tag usage and a fair amount of unused content that could be purged.

@djh OK, this is what I got after sending your model to LayOut. I only did the one scene but rendering as Hybrid was almost instantaneous. I set Line Scale for the viewport to 2 pt and used A0 paper to make it large.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kzpt1in2jl12y9ifeq6y5/DJH.pdf?rlkey=bht6vawz32jzi7ggrgtzf2cpt&st=0mey22sa&dl=0

I do see incorrect tag usage and some unused content that could be purged. Most of the textures in your model are not very high resolution. At 1000 dpi, the "Sketchy Siding Scale" should be 0.25 cm wide.

The largest texture in the model is for the cover of a book and that book's spine is all that is visible. I don't really think that most of your textures will hold up if printed at 1000 dpi

If this SketchUp file is causing LayOut 2024 to run slowly on your machine, I'd suggest it's time to upgrade the machine.

@djh I'm about to start with an online student but when I finish I'll look at your file.

And thank you.

@djh said in Why is LayOut so slow in 2024?:

How do I share the .skp file

Upload it to DropBox or We Transfer and share the link.

@djh said in Why is LayOut so slow in 2024?:

I'm in the middle of a big project and it makes problems with the fonts to start with different software and hardware

I haven't suggested starting with different software. I've only suggested that things can likely be optimized to improve performance.

BTW, I just made a PDF export from LO 2024 from one of my models. Is the quality high enough for your needs?
Watt Micro.pdf

@djh
In LayOut's Preferences switch off the Experimental Graphics Engine.

If that doesn't improve things, go back to using SketchUp/LayOut 2023.

@djh said in Why is LayOut so slow in 2024?:

Nvidia doesn't support it anymore. i'll have to trust Windows or Dell, I suppose.

That doesn't bode well for improving speed. If the graphics card is so old that Nvidia is no longer supporting it, Windows and Dell won't be supporting it either. It also doesn't sound promising for getting higher quality exports.

@djh said in Why is LayOut so slow in 2024?:

I'm printing a book.

At 1000 dpi?

@djh said in Why is LayOut so slow in 2024?:

I'll look for a tutorial.

If you share the .skp file I'll take a look at it and give you suggestions for improving your model. I expect that unless you're willing to update the hardware to something current, optimizing the model is going to be especially critical.