Fredo, thanks a bunch for this plugin.
I can finally keep my plugins in my Dropbox and access/sync them across home PC, laptop & work!!!

I had tried doing this manually the way TIG had suggested to me in a different post, but I kept having some plugins not loading, bugs etc.

Anyway, I do have one question: I noticed that the Artisan toolbar was iconless (other toolbars were ok).
I decided to try copying the artisan folder (not the loader) to the local plugin folder and the icons showed up:
I guess this means artisan insisted in looking for its icons at the absolute local path?
Is there a way to prevent/fix this?

Thanks again!

I am almost regretting doing this... I wish the SU team would add way to load an "external" plugin library.
I really want to have my plugins in my Dropbox so I have them all sync in all computers that I use for sketchuping.

Most plugins seem to work, but I have noticed a few that don't.

Every time I open Sketchup I get all these errors!
PS: I still haven't replaced the "find_support_file".

Error Loading File I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins/Artisan/artisan_load.rb
(eval):3641:in join': can't convert nil into StringError Loading File I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins/artisan_loader.rb (eval):3641:in join': can't convert nil into StringError Loading File I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins/c-midpoint.rb
I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins/c-midpoint.rb:196: syntax error, unexpected kEND, expecting $endError Loading File I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins/camera-cameraslidecontrols.rb
no such file to load -- smustard-app-observer.rbError Loading File I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins/CameraKeyMaker/camera_key_maker.rb
no such file to load -- bezier.rbError Loading File I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins/cameraKeyMaker.rb
no such file to load -- bezier.rbError Loading File I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins/q-parking.rb
I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins/q-parking.rb:137: syntax error, unexpected tCONSTANT, expecting '{'
BEGIN CHANGES BY organizerEdit.rb
^
I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins/q-parking.rb:149: syntax error, unexpected tCONSTANT, expecting '{'
END CHANGES BY organizerEdit.rb
^Error Loading File I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins/zzz-SU_Podium_Browser_loader.rb
(eval):361:in `small_icon=': can't convert nil into String

(the "E:\Libary" was just an example" the actual directory is shown below)

ok, I tried entering the what you suggested in the console, and I got this:

$LOAD_PATH
["C:/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins", "C:/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Tools", "I:\_Library\SketchUp\_Plugins", "I:\_Library\SketchUp\_Plugins"]
require_all 'I:_Library\SketchUp_Plugins'
[] " < EMPTY ARRAY ???"

I assumed the [] is an empty array of plugins, which tells me that SU was not finding the directory. But the double \ made me me think SU was misinterpreting the directory address.

And that's when I figured out what was wrong!!!

I replaced:

require_all 'I:_Library\SketchUp_Plugins'
$LOAD_PATH << 'I:_Library\SketchUp_Plugins'

with

require_all 'I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins'
$LOAD_PATH << 'I:/_Library/SketchUp/_Plugins'

and voila. For some reason (I am sure you know why) the path that I copied from windows explorer (which uses back slash) is not well understood by SU.

(Most plugins are loading ok, but when I type "require_all 'I:_Library\SketchUp_Plugins'" the console still returns "[]")

Thanks for your help. I guess now all I have to do is find and edit all the " find_support_file". RBS that use that call will
have to stay in the standard folder : (

grepWin does batch find-and-replace... I am tempted to do this because I like keeping my "libraries" on an external, where it's easier to backup and gives me more mobility.

I guess I will just backup my plugins folder, give it a try, and then test each plugin.

But before I get to this step, I need to make the loader.rb work - I think I might be doing something wrong...

Here is what I did: Moved all plugins to E:_Library\Sketchup\Plugins
Then in the original plugins folder, I added a file called loader.rb with the exact lines:

require_all 'E:\Library\Sketchup\Plugins'
$LOAD_PATH << 'E:\Library\Sketchup\Plugins'

But when I opened Sketchup, plugins where nowhere to be seen.
Any ideas?

TIG: do you think that if I use a program such as grepWin to replace all "find_support_file" with "File" it will work? (I guess it won't work for the scrambled ones).

I used to not be able to drape ANYTHING in SU 8..
My work around was usually the extrudeEdge>Intersect, or paste-in-place in SU7>drape>paste-in-place back.

A few months ago I made a test file and sent it to the SU Team.
I posted their response here:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=33289

But at least for me, 8.048 seems to have fixed, 99% of the times.

I usually fix it by closing sketchup and opening it again... I have too many toolbars to dock and undock!
And yes, i have to use "Restore" often because I have a dual-monitor setup @ different resolutions, so if I move SU to the small screen, all the toolbars get messsed up : )

Sorry my image made you puke ! How do you recommend I share images around here?

This is killing me...

The fact that I can right click a material, means I can't "forcefully remove" a material (and convert existing faces to default).
Well, I can actually right click, but after freezing for about 10 seconds, the context menu appears and disappears really fast before I can click...
It only seems to be a problem with "large" models.

At eye level or not, something like these trees that Oli posted a while ago often come in very handy when dealing
with an empty horizon:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=27540&hilit=trees

I agree with all the comments above.

I have been struggling for years to get my renderings to look more realistic.

Ultimately, there are several factors that contribute to make the image photo-realistic...
(Quality of textures/materials; lighting; scene setup; level of detail modeled; etc... and this list goes on...)

Look at other renderings to see how people deal with the horizon and context (eye level helps a lot!)
Here is a rendering I did last year: (it's not great, but I think it's decent...)
http://goo.gl/IoWPG

As for the textures, you can find tons around the web. Find one that is close to what you need and modify it.
I often use http://www.cgtextures.com/
the larger the better... if you want to make your own you should try pixplant - http://www.pixplant.com/

Good luck and post the results!

Has anyone experienced this?
(It started after SU 8.05 patch)

Notice the Freedo Scale Toolbar for example.... Only half of the icons are shown!!!! This is driving me crazy.
Ironically, I think this happens every time after I use the "restore toolbars"...

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Isn't the "reset workspace" inside the "preferences" window?

Have you tried re-installing it?

According to someone on Smustard, SU maintenance patch 8.0.4811 for sketchup fixes the bug:
http://www.smustard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=70

I have received a response from the SU team; they were able to reproduce the error and comfirmed the bug:

"Thank you for your note. I've opened your file and was able to reproduce
the crash when draping on the two scenerios you provided where the drape
was onto exploded geometry. When draping onto a grouped surface it would
work fine and if I grouped the geometry on your two "exploded target"
sections those would also drape fine. The issue seems to be specific to
what you're draping on and whether or not its a group when I perform the
operation in SketchUp 8."

It seems to me that if you group the "target" object it helps... sometimes.

I have reported on Sketchup's official Bug report:
http://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/request.py?contact_type=bug

Maybe if we can get everyone to report it over and over it they will fix it by this weekend

Whenever I am working on a large model and I need to right click on a material in the material tab, it takes a loooong time...
I would say it actually takes about 20 seconds before the context menu shows up (although sometimes it feels like an eternity).

I really hate this because sometimes I have to click on several materials when I want to forcefully purge them... (when purge doesnt work because the material exists somewhere in the model)

Has anyone experienced this?

... forgot to mention that I have been able to obtain occasional success by grouping the geometry being draped.

I have created a SU 8 file with a relatively simple geometry that gives me a bugsplat

I created 4 cases: (grouped geometry on exploded target, grouped on grouped, etc.)

I am able to drape on cases 1 and 4 on SU 8 - no problem in all cases on SU 7.

Give it a try and post your results...!

Cheers

Drape me if you Can - skp file

• 10

I thought I was the only one

Simple drape operations causes Bugslapt on SU 8

Here is a few things I have tried.

-SOMETIMES, if I copy and paste the geometry into a new SU 8 file, it works. 90 % of the time it doesn't
(my current work-around is to "save as SU7", open 7, drape it, save it, open it back on 8

-I have disabled all my plugins (by renaming the plugin folder) - didn't help - that tells me it is not plugin-conflict related.

-I have tried disabling hardware acceleration (just in case it had something to do with video card driver) - no change.

-I have reinstalled SU 8 - nothing.

Anyone else experiencing this?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

PS: I am running SU 8 on Win 7 x64

Thanks Chris.

I have been looking for this for a while...

I guess whaat is aware of it:

File Not Found

(www.smustard.com)