Nathaniel —

Any thought of creating an auto-generating mode for the wiring module?

I imagine it working something like this:

1. Select start device (set startType)
2. Select end device (set endType)
3. Resolve path type:

• outlet to outlet
• hot wire to switch box/junction box
• switch to fixture
• fixture to fixture
• etc..

4. lookup presets for device heights / wire path height / curve radius etc.
5. create wire path based on presets / rules
6. generate wire geometry

(The logic would be a little more complex for resolving 3-way switch to fixture paths, but doable)

Of course the resulting paths would be editable using the same mode as you've shown.

A similar approach could then be used for the HVAC module, using the appropriate rules and presets (including room volumes, desired CFM, ACH etc) to set duct sizes per trunk/branch etc.

Not to add to your substantial to-do list(!), but the value of auto-generated wiring / plumbing / HVAC runs would be huge. This function doesn't have to be perfect or encompass every possible use case — even if the auto generating only achieves 60% of the end result and the rest need to be edited, it's still a huge reduction of modelling time/effort.

Interested in your thoughts on this.

Really beautiful work Majid, and a bit of a salve for the soul in this ugly, chaotic year.

Looking forward to seeing (and buying) your book when it's available. I was planning on teaching my two grandkids how to draw with perspective sometime this year, so it will be a particular help in working out the pedagogy — not to mention that I imagine it will improve (and speed) my own drawings!

I appreciate all of your contributions here, and your demonstrated abundance of humanity, positivity and talent.

Doug

Thanks Pilou. Looks like there's at least one more extension that implements that same function.

As I said over at the SU forum: there are so many extensions with so many overlapping functions, it's really tough to keep them all straight... so that even when you're aware that one exists to meet your problem, it's hard to remember which plugin does what — let alone if you've never come across one

An extension index-by-function would be a very useful addition to the EW and/or the Plugin Store. But given the amount of work required to set it up, I think it's something the SU Team should do, then require developers to fill in their own entries to define what functions their extensions offer.

Would really help in extension searches and for comparison across competing plugins — or to identify overlapping functionality when you're trying to pare back the total number of installed extensions.

@dave r said:

He showed it to her. She liked it. He's in his shop building it. That's the way it should work.

It's very cool that a model that you can knock out so easily is such a help to both the person building it and his daughter to visualize it.

I like the splayed legs as well, but what does the McCobb-style refer to?

@TIG

I have a a series of guide points on a site survey that I've converted to 'Mark' components (via TT's Guide Points). Would there be an easy way to set the Instance Name as the height for selected components? That way it would be easy to ID specific height points / benchmarks via the Outliner (would also be useful for topo lines).

In case anybody else has a similar need, Cotty ID'd one of ThomThom's extensions [Guide Tools] as having this exact function.
(It didn’t show up on my forum searches because TT uses cpoint / construction point and I searched on guide point.

@Fredo6 @TIG

Is there an extension or script that would allow me to replace (selected) guide points with components?

I have a site survey with guide points representing the the point cloud from which the terrain contours were generated. I would like to replace them all with a mark component so that I can add height data directly to the points.

I tried searching both forums but didn't turn up any results, so I suspect there isn't (yet) a plugin or script that does this. If anyone knows of one, or another way to accomplish this (other than manually) it would be a big help.

Thanks,

Doug

(I'm also posting this at the other forum, but I'll check back on both for replies)

Thanks Dave, I appreciate the advice.

Going to play with Style Builder this weekend and see if I can create something interesting. I have Gimp, but can't really say I'm that adept with it — that's another thing on my to-do list, so that I can start looking at post-processing.

I love your tooling and machinery modelling — and that lathe is fantastic.

Also really like the drawing style: I assume that's one of yours? And while on the topic, do you have any advice for learning Style Builder — tutorial etc, or should I just dive in?

I found a Skill Builder video from Aaron that I'll start with:
https://blog.sketchup.com/training/sketchup-skill-builder-style-builder-on-a-microsoft-surface-2

Any tricks or tips?

Very cool! Looking forward to seeing the panos...

@Fredo6

I seem to have encountered a bug:

Button bar missing at bottom of Model Tasklist, as seen in this screenshot:

I'm running MacOS 10.13.6 on a MacBook Pro (13" Retina, Mid 2014) with a 34" Dell Ultrawide (U3415W) display.

Any idea what's causing it?

@Fredo6

I find Souvenir very useful in logging and tracking issues/to do's in SU, so many thanks for creating it!

Two additional features would really increase its utility (at least for me):

1. Add an 'Import' function:
   I have pre-existing workflow checklists that I would like to import as csv (preferably) or text. An import function would allow me to preload my checklist at the start of each project.

2.Add a 'Filter' function to the Tasklist:
It would be really useful for managing longer lists to be able to filter items.

While my Excel-based workflow lists are fully tagged (to work with Excel's Autofilter) it would be easy for me to concatenate the tags with the list items before import, then use the filter to narrow the list by context. A filter function would be helpful even without an import capability.

Thanks for the consideration and for all your amazing efforts and output.

Great job David, and a very interesting piece.

It always astounds me to see the quality and craftsmanship of pre-industrial pieces like this.

But maybe one advantage that the craftsmen had in that era — at least those lucky enough to have the support of a patron, like the Emperor — is that they could take the time necessary to produce such work, without having to worry about whether they could still afford food and rent.

Very nice job.

As you say, SU is invaluable for working through a design like this — and once you're done on the computer, you have the rare opportunity to buy all of your required plumbing parts in a single go! (anyone who has ever done any plumbing will get this

Aside from the 3DConnexion SpaceMouse Enterprise, his (right-hand) mouse is this one:

https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/mx-master-3

Fantastic models! Thanks for posting.

Unfortunately, Sam has removed all his plugins for download because of bogus copyright problems he had with another plugin (Floor Generator-search the forum).

Other than individual user copies, there are no other remaining (legitimate) download sites for his plugins.

Thanks for posting Pilou — really amazing series! Leo's knowledge, skills and ethic are incredibly impressive and compelling to watch in action. Plus it's a gorgeous design.

The episodes on (manual) lofting are really interesting to understand how old-school boatbuilders transferred 2D plans of complex organic 3D shapes and made them into full-sized templates — before the advent of 3D software/CNC machining!

But it's your fault that I've lost the past 4 hours to watching them... and I'm only on episode 30

@garystan said:

Does this relate to the "Classic" Sketchup ?

Yes. See here: https://blog.sketchup.com/article/same-sketchup-you-love-a-new-way-to-buy

...and this thread over at the SketchUp Forum: https://forums.sketchup.com/t/same-sketchup-you-love-a-new-way-to-buy/127392

Shouldn't have any direct impact on your continued use of SU8, at least as far as I can tell.

I'm also curious about the panos...

How long do the Twilight renders take on your side (and what hardware are you rendering with),
and how long does the pano take to generate after you've uploaded to Roundme?

Nice work, by the way. Always enjoy seeing your creative output.