thank you for the reply. yes, zoom exte se save the day. still annoying though. I didn't have this trouble for 20 years of using SU.

Just curious if you tried any of the suggestions above? Perhaps once you have the form you are looking to do a print of you can re-create a clean solid version in a new sketchup instance with the intent of 3d Printing it. I would think most "Design Architects" would agree with the previous comments posted above regarding workflow. Any chance you can post an example of a model you created so we could take a look at what your needs are?

Here too, good luck mate.

I feel ashamed, making a button is over my head. However, just pasting the script in to the command line, works. Import does bring the files in. The script doesn't place the imported DAEs into the model. It just loads them into the memory. I can see them in my component menu but not in the moles. (during manual placement - I got to click to place the DAE in. With the script -there is no click to place it.) How to do?

Nifty Plug. Doesn't update real time. It is a small step up over the original leader tool as it is possible to update. However, the fact that I have to dig in into the component to update cancels all the fun. Ideally, 1.it would place a disconnected tag (so it always floats in the corner). 2. Give real time update 3. able to reference total material area. 4. Tag without getting into the component

@dennis_n said: Can Thea bake shadows? No... Not with current available version... However, I'm sure it will be available in a future version...

In the early days of SketchUp, before there were any renderers at all, one method I used for depicting a more ambient light in an interior was to go to the Shadows control (now part of the trays setup) and reverse the position of the sliders. Move the Light one way down and the Dark one up. As long as you don't slide them clear to the end (which is effectively the same as turning shadows off) you'll still have shadows, but they'll be far more muted.

Have a subscription for 2 years for pix4d. Strong mature and reliable tool. Neber the less switching to Bently's ContextCapture for their LOD algorythm and crisp models. Another contender is RealityCapture, faster and as crisp. However, not a mature software yet.

There is no secret. It is just photogrammetry tools gotten that good. Take thousands of photos, dump them in,a few days later get the result.

Given enough effort, yes...

If I am making a publication where I must combine many kinds of material and SketchUp appears only as renders, and the material is unlikely to change, then I use InDesign or Illustrator, but for a presentation of a SU design, especially if design changes are likely to happen, LayOut has proven very useful to me, as updating the model is a snap, compared to outputting every view as a separate image or drawing file, postprocessing these to fit the publication, and adjusting every page for the inevitable glitches appearing in the process. Anssi

@dennis_n said: Thank you everyone for stopping here to read about my little graphic trick. My name is Dennis Nikolaev, I am a licensed architect, AIA member and a big fan of SketchUP. Here is a quick and effective method of creating an artistic image from your SketchUP model. It was posted way back in 2005 on the original SU forum. The thread became so popular, it was active for over a year and a half and still could be found here http://groups.google.com/group/pro-gallery/browse_frm/thread/ac10461fa662ede0/2181e36017e1604fq=dennis+method+review&lnk=ol& . Here are a few examples: cuisidelice promotion-voyage Thank's for this share

Did you find a solution to this? I am also looking for a way of getting dynamic areas.

I'm glad I could help.

@unknownuser said: I use RPC for Revit as well as Piranesi and they work great. Having this feature in Sketchup would be great. Scott Thanks to you and Dennis for the comments. I will pass them on to ArchVision/RPC. We have developed a RPC to SketchUp interface, but we are trying to convince them to approve it (we need their permission to create SketchUp Components from RPC objects) and to fund it (we want them to give it away free to RPC users, rather than our trying to sell it) It's good to hear that people like you, who already use RPC, would appreciate it. It would be even better if we could find some people who don't currently use RPC who would start using it if it worked with SketchUp.

and maybe you'll just keep writing such cool plugins that make the rest of our lives a lot brighter

I agree with most of you, of course. But we have to admit a weak point of baking methods. Animated reflections!

@marked001 said: @dennis_n said: wow, so many years have passed and people still remember. Glad to be here. wow... the man himself! welcome, dennis... great work. Ditto! Hi Dennis! I loved this image you created, you've still got "the touch". looking forward to more.