Is there a way to see if a set of components intersect/overlap???

I want to make sure my parts do not hit each other.

Unbelievably great answer. I shall read it multiple times to make sure I get it all.

Ok I went to make my viewports transparent as you suggested and actually found your post here http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=79%26amp;t=63380 confirming how this is to be done. It did not work. Is this because of the Layout 2017 bug seen here https://forums.sketchup.com/t/transparent-style-views-rendering-opaque-in-layout-2017/35331/10 or am I doing something wrong (the sketchup background was set to white)?

Thanks again

Dave R

Your private message was very very helpful! I now see why i was having some problems. Particularly Layers! Your suggestion is simple: Groups and components on layers<>0 everything else even when within a group or comp on layer 0. (perhaps my experience as an object oriented programmer caused me to do otherwise).

I cannot reply privately yet as i am still a newbie. My email is dan dot pressman at ntuple do com

A couple of things:

While I understand your solution for the hidden edges (which are as you point out back edges in my case) what I do not understand is why on first insertion of the "Last Used ..." scene the back edges are visible as dashes?

So there is a difference between a back edge and a hidden line. Perhaps this would be a great topic for someone to post. In the meantime this is my understanding: OK my father always said that you do not understand something unless you can teach/explain it - that is what I found when trying to write up my understanding.

Attached please find a skp file I was using to try to write this up. I was wondering: a back edge is a special case of a hidden line. It is one that is within the same solid object or alternatively within the same group or component.

Part of my problem may be that I have modified the original Hidden line style. Is there a way to return to the original as delivered or could you let me know the settings?

I have leaned on you quite a bit but it has been great for me and i really appreciate it. Please answer only if you have time.

Thanks

HiddenLine vs Back Edge.layout

I will make time for you whenever.

I may have forgotton to add files

Moving Bookcase.zip

Moving Bookcase.7z

I am sorry i forgot to attach. I have now done so and have included the skp and layout files. On page 2 of layout you will find a viewport with the "Last Used ..." view.

If you will change it to "Bookcase - Moving Outer Left" you should see results similar to those reported in image 2017-09-19_14-36-38.png:

PS I thought I sent this last night - but I guess i did not if I did please forgive double submission.

Moving Bookcase.7z

Same as above but winzip

Point taken - will do!

Sorry I forgot the screen grabs

Also sent a skp and layout file in layout see page 2 and change the scene from "Last Used ..." to "Bookcase - Moving Outer Left" to replicate what happened in

2017-09-19_14-36-38.png: On first selection of scene "Bookcase - Moving Outer Left" the selection remains "raster" and no image appears.

Thanks for your time and interest!

Moving Bookcase.7z

Moderator please feel free to respond directly if you do not think this is worth posting.

How do you use the ordered list icon? I tried all sorts of versions and could not get it to work. Are there instructions someplace?

I am trying to implement the suggestion seen in many posts to keep my Scenes unmodified so that automatic updating will work.

To avoid having to create a scene for both the front and back I was hoping to simply change the view in the layout viewport however then the scene is shown as "modified". Will my models still update?

Even if they do then how can I ensure that I have not accidently created a more serious modification.

When I insert a viewport into layout it initially shows correctly with the hidden lines visible as dashes. The scene is set to Last used ....

When I then make the scene specific to what I know is the last scene I do not see the hidden lines as dashes or anything else.

After much poking around I see that when initially brought over the "last used view" has a modified style used in the scene. So How do i figure out what that modification is so i can put it in tho the scene?

The images attached show:

2017-09-19_14-04-02.png: Shows skp for the scene in question ("Bookcase - Moving Outer Left") as I saved it. I have the style tray showing in this image and that confirms that style "WoodworkingPlans01" was selected and with 5 snapshots of the other settings for the superimposed.

[highlight=#ffffbf:2o5cj57t]And yes I did update the style and save the skp and do a document update in layout - in fact I even created a new document and newly inserted just to make sure.[/highlight:2o5cj57t]

2017-09-19_14-04-09.png: This shows the viewport after being inserted into a new layout document. Note that "Last Saved ..." is the scene and the style is "(Modified) WoodworkingPlans01"

The remaining images show what happens when I change the scene from "Last Used ..." to "Bookcase - Moving Outer Left" - which implies the unmodified "WoodworkingPlans01"

2017-09-19_14-36-38.png: On first selection of scene "Bookcase - Moving Outer Left" the selection remains "raster" and no image appears.

2017-09-19_14-39-21.png: Switching to "Vector" the image appears but with no hidden lines

2017-09-19_14-39-53.png: Switching to "Hybrid" the image appears but with no hidden lines

2017-09-19_14-40-25.png: Returning to "Raster" no image appears

2017-09-19_14-41-36.png: Back to "Vector" the image appears but with no hidden lines AND NOTE THAT the unmodified "WoodworkingPlans01" is in effect

pbacot - I had not noticed the outliner before - it helps a lot - thanks.

But Dave really hit the nail on the head for me. I had the extra scenes and layers part down but I ended up creating a scene and layer for each of the 39 components. I did this so i could see each by itself. But i love your method of putting the exploded view right in the model - if things were exploded enough you could probably get away with no extra views and scenes. But I guess that would make the exploded view hard to see all at once (partially exploded maybe a few miliseconds after the Big Bang - my "far enough away" idea would be hours after).

So I will go with your nice middle ground - thanks.

OK I kept typing pan and of course I meant orbit. Sorry.

PBACOT - The alt key did not help - I did not see a real difference.

Charlie and Dave - you are of course right - I do not know why I did not think of doing just that. And Dave - see my response on the "embedded" components.

THANKS TO ALL - It just goes to show that "If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room" - I forget that I am often in the right room and should just ask questions!

I have a component with many sub-components. I do not "see" them in the component tray. To be able to print each component separately in Layout I essentially had to create a layer and Scene for each sub-component. Then for each scene only the outer component layer and the inner specific component layers are made visible.

It seems to me if I could get at the components individually I would not have to set up all the layers and scenes (I would just Insert each components SKP into Layout. This would also allow me to not need the answer to my previous post about how to rotate the view of a specific component (which I wanted to use to make it easier in layout) - I could simply change the component axis. With my current method of using many layers the default camera views are based on the axis of the outer component.

Thanks - I hope that was all clear.

While I am here:

1.Is there a way to get to the sub-components in Layout directly?

2. If your answer to the above original question involves exploding the master component and saving the sub components (which is what I will do if I get no response) then:

   2a. Where will the components be stored - is their a hierarchy of directories?

   2b. Is there a plug-in I should/can use?

[highlight=#ffff80:1htw7dy3]And Finally, I am not too proud to be told that there is a better way to do all of this. I built this very complex bookshelf in (it will rollout of the way exposing a hidden passage) making essentially each board into a separate component (or instance thereof in case they were identical) Is there a better way to do all of this?????[/highlight:1htw7dy3]

OK I am not a newbie but I have not used SU for a year since designing every detail of my ICF home.

I am having a problem and I think it is because I am not thinking of the pan tool correctly.

I want to view a long tall "board" (one side of a bookcase) on its side (not edge). Kinda of what I would see if I twisted my neck. I do not want to rotate the board as it needs to stay in relation to the rest of the bookcase (which I have hidden in invisible layers).

I can not use the pan tool to do this no matter how much I try. Essentially I want to rotate my view 90 degrees.

Thanks