Hi, I find that the search forums field has disappeared in the main forums page: http://sketchucation.com/forums/ it is very hard to do a search now! The search field does appear when I go into specific threads... I tried with firefox 23.0.1 and on IE.

@simoneast said: I've also been encountering this annoying bug recently, in SketchUp Make 2017. When you change the axes inside a group, even using the axes tool, it resets upon saving. Exit group edit mode before saving so the change gets written to the group definition.[image: X8cv_axis.gif] Making a component in the first place instead of making a group would give you the option to set the axes and origin where you want it as well as other benefits you don't get with a group.

@d12dozr said: There is the Polyreducer plugin you could try... Cool, I'll try it out... The reviews aren't very positive but you never know

Thanks Alan. I know my way around SketchUp, but I'm a total nitwit in how to count faces etc. I thought the file size/number of faces/navigability were all very much related to each other. My main goal to reduce file size (or better, if I understand correctly: reduce the number of faces) is I don't want to wait 30 seconds every time I click somewhere or move the camera. If it doesn't matter a lot for the navigability of the model, I will indeed stick to my first idea to extrude the entabulature in a separate group. About the column: it is really not that complicated. Much less than I would want it to be anyway. It's a reconstruction, so the idea was to make a "simple" model first and then replace these raw capitals etc later on with very detailed components, modeled from the real remains. But thanks for the link, I guess it might be an idea to project the details as an image onto the simple capitals in stead of making an actual 3D-version. Same for the frieze. Cheers!

@richardcherry said: There is a plug-in for Blender 3D that does what you are requesting. You could use it and import it into SketchUp. Yeah, I saw the blender plugin and it is very much like what I mean, only I don't like the results The columns are very crude, and I think it will be easier to start over than to try adding detail to it in SU... @unknownuser said: I think maybe you had better supply examples of the various types of bases, columns and capitals. My imagination isn't as good as yours apparently. There are many variations. That's why such a plugin would be helpful, in stead of re-drawing the complete column. A base, for example, can have one or two or even three "tori" (a rounded edge) of different heights. A shaft can have none, 20 or 24 flutes and the ribs between them can be "pointy" ("C" on the pic, mostly used for Doric columns) or "flat" ("F" on the pic, mostly used for Ionic and Corinthian columns). The fluting can start at the bottom of the shaft or higher up, it can also be filled with a round band. The proportion between the diameter and the height of the column can vary. Etc. etc. etc. [image: U7wz_bases.jpg] [image: r9QO_flutes.jpg] [image: W2yc_orders.jpg]