i believe the best results i got was to make a standin, a tiny box, that would be the part the physics acted on. the actual thing that moved, i set to ignore.
group
-----thingy-ignore
-----joint
-----litlebox
i think it was, with just the joint and thingy in the group, the joints from other parts couldn't attach right or something, there'd be collisions. my complex models would be just the cylinders that touched the ground, and a bunch of little boxes that don't touch each other.

i just wanted to bang out some kind of list i could use to turn into an imvu pose. there's already an imvu exporter, perhaps pausing and exporting current position would do it...

[ed] yaknow... if it worked, and the positions could be played back, it'd give sketchup a fully functioning keyframe animation system. i can't remember if it's been done yet, or i wouldn't mention it.

nope, it's an imvu user made exporter. there's an improved version in beta, but i haven't installed it yet. http://www.imvu.com/groups/group/SketchUp%2BMeshing/ there's, in the version i'm using, a uvmap, mesh and skeleton... and if this site would let me upload them, you'd see them...

nope, it don't like xmf's, i'll zip em.

thingy.zip

is there a way... to move a joint, and export the position? how about several? dozens? seems something that would be useful... it'd be useful to me... it'd be good to export as either angle, or coordinates of the joints. i have something i work on that uses coordinates, instead of angle, and the hand editing of the file is not easy.

hmm, i totally would have just used a bunch of motors and set the max speed somehow to a ratio... like, 1:2 gears, motors turn .5:1, controlled by same slider.

meshout, intended for imvu models, exports to the native imvu xml format, maybe that'd do ya.

http://news.creativecow.net/story/866538 i went looking today... found this...

'(Venice, California--June 7, 2011) Lightcraft Technology, a developer of real-time visual effects technology for the film and television industries, announced that it is making its photogrammetry tools available free-of-charge to its clients and to members of the film making community.'

if the license allows... i'm up for making virtual dress forms, and imvu stuff. mom does some indie stuff, has had something go into the nfb archives... and she could use some 3d junk... if that's what i'd need to do to justify the terms.

should be tiled, factory made ships... modular...