@dermotcoll said:

I uninstalled the software and then reinstalled it using the drivers on the website -(why bother with a disk in the box?) and it has installed all the the sketchup required menus.

Should have asked if you had the latest driver version!

Glad you managed to get it all working. I'm sure you'll enjoy it once you get used to it... mine has totally transformed the way I work with SketchUp.

Cheers!

@dermotcoll said:

If someone could please point me in the direction of a fix I would be very grateful as I would would love to post a review of this very weighty and "potentially" tasty little 3d navigation device!

Did you click the 'Install Plugins" button that is found on the "Tools" pane of the 3Dconnection control panel?
Then, be sure that inside Sketchup Preferences you have enabled the 3DxSketchUp extension.

Not sure if it's any different on Windows, but that's all I needed to do on my Mac.

Hope it helps,

Doug

Beautiful modeling Dave.

Quick question: though I realize it's not part of this piece's design, have you tried modeling a cabriole leg with a ball-and-claw foot in SketchUp?

@dave r said:

I'll have to write a short instruction sheet and package it up.

Would love to know how you create a style like this / how much work it is.
I'm sure I'm not the only one that will appreciate your instruction.

Like this style a lot Dave... really looks hand-drawn. Very cool.

@tommyk said:

I use 3D warehouse a lot, particularly for things like furniture and fittings. However, I always find myself trawling through dozens of poor quality models before I find one I can use.

Couldn't agree more with the original post. I've spent untold hours finding models in the first place, and then even more time cleaning/purging/optimizing before I can use them... if I've actually managed to find an otherwise well-drawn (but poorly structured) model after an extended search.

Other common problems to add to the original list:

• object is distant from origin, making placement through the component browser a pain in the ass.
• ungrouped geometry: either no grouping applied at all, and/or only groups used with no components -- resulting in an unnecessarily large model size
• no use of mirrored components (especially in complex organic shapes), so again model size is larger than needed.

To follow-up on the curation/community tagging/moderation issues and suggestions:

1. create a group of certified super-users as 3DW editors that can verify and stamp models as 'validated':

• clean geometry -- no gaps, stray edges etc
• drawn to SU "best practices" norms
• optimized complexity/model size -- through components/mirroring/curve segments etc
• purged of excess/unused components/textures/layers etc

1. This group of pre-validated models would exist in either a separate curated section or simply tagged as "Validated" or "Approved" or "Top Model" or some-such, with a dedicated search option for only those models.

2. Eventually restrict access to the curated section to paid versions of SU as a value-added service to the product bundle... once there is a large enough library of validated models.

3. Not sure how feasible it would be, but it could be interesting if all uploaded models automatically went through a clean-up/purge/test process before being made available through the 3DWH. How difficult would it be to modify something like ThomThom's CleanUp plugin to run in a sort of optimized auto-mode on every uploaded model?(Given how long it can take to run on a single complex model, I can easily see scaling problems, but there's enough smart guys on the SU dev team --including TT himself!-- to resolve any potential issues.)
   Lots of other thoughts on this, but this post is already over-long!

@otb designworks said:

Awesome! Any way to change the layer behavior after it has been created?

For instance, if I make a layer and choose for it to be hidden for new scenes, but then I change my mind and want it visible for new scenes, is that possible to change?

thanks!

Not sure from within this plugin, but the VisMap plugin is invaluable for managing scene/layer visibility:

[Plugin] VisMap 2 - Improved Layer/Scene Visibility Map by MartinRinehart
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23029

It populates a layer/scene matrix and allows you to see in one glance which layers are set to visible in what scenes -- and allows you to toggle visibility across all scenes / layers. Not sure if it's 2014 compatible as it was last updated in 2009.

I'm using it in SU8 and it works perfectly.

Thanks for the quick response, ThomThom.

It may well be coincidence as you suggest. It seemed related as I hadn't had a CleanUp crash or console error until applying the Library update.

@unknownuser said:

But whenever I've tried to track that down it has disappeared, either by itself, a reboot, or reinstallation.

After disabling all plugins but CleanUp/TT Lib, I have tracked down a possible telltale behaviour -- it seems to work on the first run (after SU launch) without error -- regardless of model. It then throws an error on the second run in the same session. (with any other model). So from the fully initialized state it runs fine, then it seems to spit out errors. Should also mention that for the first model run in a session (than cleaned successfully), subsequent runs of the plugin works fine on that model. But the same model opened in a subsequent session --and after CleanUp has started throwing errors -- generates the same error.

So from the fully initialized state it runs fine, then it seems to spit out errors. Is it possible that some variable/method is not being properly reinitialized/declared?

The other weird thing (which I don't remember from before) is that after running CleanUp the cursor becomes the paint tool??

@unknownuser said:

2. The crash, when you did get a BugSplat, did you submit it? Did you enter your email or any other message? I can then look it up and see where it crashes. Without I cannot do much.

No I didn't, but when I have time I will try rolling back to the previous TT Lib version and see if it clears the issue... and if the behavior persists I will send you the bugsplat report. Don't want you to waste time chasing it down -- mostly wanted to let you know in case others were experiencing the same issue, and/or if it was easily identified.

@unknownuser said:

Mind you, SketchUp 8 is nearing four years old this year. Many bugs has been fixed since then. The issue you experience might very well be fixed already.

You're right about SU8 -- I'm still using it because of license restrictions on SU13 Make. Hoping to finally be able to upgrade to Pro sometime this year (at this point I might as well wait till SU14 is released... at BaseCamp maybe ).

Oh, and many thanks for all your fantastic plugins!

Doug

Hi ThomThom --

I've had a series of intermittent crashes since updating the library yesterday -- most similar to the output shown below (though undefined method has at times has also been 'color' or 'edges') . After the first crash, I tried again with outliner and components windows closed, and it continued to crash with a series of different models (although there were some, both simple and complex that didn't crash it).

Sometimes it crashes the whole app and other times it simply pops up the bug splat report. I'm running SU8 on OSX Snow Leopard. Any thought on what might be causing it?

@unknownuser said:

undefined method `faces' for #Sketchup::DefinitionList:0x17ae57ec

/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/tt_cleanup/core.rb:875:in erase_duplicate_faces' /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/tt_cleanup/core.rb:875:in map'
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/tt_cleanup/core.rb:875:in erase_duplicate_faces' /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/tt_cleanup/core.rb:871:in each'
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/tt_cleanup/core.rb:871:in erase_duplicate_faces' /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/tt_cleanup/core.rb:541:in cleanup!'
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/TT_Lib2/model.rb:102:in each_entities' /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/TT_Lib2/model.rb:99:in each'
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/TT_Lib2/model.rb:99:in each_entities' /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/tt_cleanup/core.rb:703:in each_entities_in_scope'
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/tt_cleanup/core.rb:540:in cleanup!' /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/tt_cleanup/core.rb:409:in show_cleanup_ui'
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/TT_Lib2/inputbox.rb:183:in call' /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/TT_Lib2/inputbox.rb:183:in event_inputbox_close'
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/TT_Lib2/inputbox.rb:14:in to_proc' /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/TT_Lib2/inputbox.rb:164:in call'
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/TT_Lib2/inputbox.rb:164:in close' /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/TT_Lib2/inputbox.rb:164:in event_inputbox_accept'
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/TT_Lib2/inputbox.rb:14:in `to_proc'

@db11 said:

Thanks for the answer -- I'll download the other one and give it a try.

Just realized that it's all one package with two toolbar options... got it!

@sketchdata said:

There is a "big" Webdialog toolbar which really works best in Windows version

I thought that one looked like a Webdialogue - and typically those seem to be problematic unless the author has specifically modified their code to be mac-friendly.

Thanks for the answer -- I'll download the other one and give it a try.

@sketchdata said:

a new version of the Extension can be downloaded from the website http://www.sketchdata.com/#!/page_downloads.

Is the SketchData toolbar Mac compatible? (Didn't see any indication either way on your download page)

Love your DC cabinet collection, and would use the toolbar if it works with OSX / SU8.

@tmwoodcrafters said:

Hi, I think it would be great if you posted them. Thanks!

When I posted this, I wanted to see if there was any interest. I probably need to clean up the models a bit before posting them to the 3D Warehouse. I don't have time at the moment to do so, but will do when I have a chance. In the meantime here are a couple of them as jpeg's.

@jiminy-billy-bob said:

FYI, TT is currently helping me porting the plugin on OSX. Cheers to him !

Been patiently waiting for a functioning OSX version of this must-have plugin, so this is the best news I've heard in a long time!

Any idea on the ETA?

A couple of years back I modeled our cabinetry shop in order to test new layouts / workflows. In the process I had to model several machines that I couldn't find in the 3D warehouse.

The models include a 10' Casadei sliding table saw, a Holzher edgebander, a Hettich Blue Max line bore/hinge bore, plus Craftex (more or less Grizzly equivalent) 25" dual drum sander, 6" x89" edge sander and a few other pieces.

I am wondering whether these models would be of any use to any others on the forum and if so, what is the best way to share them - directly here, or through the 3D warehouse?

If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll post them.

@dave r said:

I'll be interested to hear what you think about using SketchUp on the two platforms.

I'll definitely report back once I'm set up —though it could be a couple of months still (since the latest rumors suggest a late October launch for Mavericks and it seems likely that the hardware and OS upgrades will be synced.).

@notareal said:

Personally I would avoid VM if program uses OpenGL too, I seen odd behaviour with that. So be it CUDA or OpenGL, stay away of VM. There are good uses for VM, but mainly on server side, testing and so... but for workstation, you really need to know what you are doing if you want to use VM.

I appreciate your advise, especially given your expertise. One of the things that I'll apparently have to pay attention to is the Open GL / CUDA rift relative to the combination of graphics card/render platform (as if there wasn't enough complexity to deal with in rendering already!).

Once I get closer to actually springing for the new computer / SU Pro / render platform I may have some more questions, but for now I really appreciate all the well-informed feedback. Awesome place here!

Don't know if you saw this, but AllThingsD this week has confirmed a late October launch:

Apple Likely to Ship OS X Mavericks in October

Have to get iOS 7 out the door first ...

AllThingsD (allthingsd.com)

@notareal said:

Anyhow for Thea or Kerkythea the boot camp is not needed as there are mac versions for both.

Good point. Even if I did my drawing in Windows (whether Parallels VM or BootCamp), I can still render natively in OSX. The two decisions (of drawing vs rendering environments) share no necessary dependency — at least with KT / Thea as the choice of renderer.

Thanks for your thoughts.

@sketch3d.de said:

Q5: SUP licences are either for Windows or OSX regardless of running on the same system, i.e. you have to decide which platform to buy.

Thanks Norbert, for your feedback and the licensing clarification... I was afraid that was the case.

The other consideration for running a Windows version under Parallels vs. the native Mac version is that I want to learn rendering once I have my new machine (plan is to start with Kyrkethea and move to Thea when and if I figure it all out). I would imagine that there would be an additional performance hit rendering within a virtual machine - not to mention the higher likelihood of additional glitches.

Will probably end up buying the Mac version - seems less risky overall, even if there are some Windows version advantages that I'll miss out on. Still plan to test both free versions before making the final call.

Thanks again.

Thanks for the feedback Steve - exactly the kind of info I'm interested in.

@slbaumgartner said:

I have a MBP Retina with Windows 7 running under Parallels.

Close to the setup that I'll likely end up with. Waiting for the Haswell version of the MacBook Pro 13" Retina and assuming that it has a decent graphics setup (i.e. Iris 5100), I'll spring for it — also looking forward to the vastly improved dual monitor support in Mavericks.

@slbaumgartner said:

Since both have issues, your choice ends up being based on which kind of glitches bother you the most.

Seems from what you've said that my best bet is to test both Mac and PC versions of Make and see which glitches on what platform end up bugging me more before deciding which pro license to spring for...

Since most of my modeling will be done at my desk — hooked up to a couple of Dell monitors (U2412M) — the Retina Display issues you describe may not end up being that significant in my case.

Plus, I have to imagine that most of those bugs will get squashed with time — especially since pixel density is becoming a PC issue also, (with the current adoption of high-density displays in ultrabooks)

Thanks again.