Just to add,
use AO (ambient occlusion) switched on in Indirect Illumination, this will add some "dirt" to the edges where they meet other objects
make a dirt material, this will do something similar, is deeper controllable an will only show up on these certain material (it's a little tricky but maybe good for your brick wall)
Good luck
btw: it's more controllable if you add your lines or layer in a photo editing software
Man, that's great! Thanks to sdmitch!
Thanks to Pilou for this tut- even if i didn't really get it..yet. 
I'll give it a try asap.
How are the components replaced? By replacing it a the origin of axis within each component?
Is it possible to add random scale and orientation as well (like for scattering trees)?
Looks nice already!
Glad you picked up the thread again!
There would be really lots of situations where you could use it. It would definitely add some feel of realism / naturality where otherwise would too much repetition which makes it "flat"..
Your topic, Pilou, started with a similar but very special need- if i got it right. It ended in the same wish. I didn't really understand the french part (my french is quite poor ) but anyway in the end the thread got lost?
I don't know how to use compo spray to achieve that. Maybe there is something i have missed?
I thought it randomly places selected components onto intersections of line- right? Different to "fur" which places components randomly onto surface..
It's great that you can check the options change angle and size to get more variation.
I hope there will be a solution one day, would be so great to place trees and then:
quote myself:
"And later you can just: click, "ok, i don't like this look of the trees", so i click again and get a different variation." or for sure, use other trees as well..
One vote from me for such a plug.
Btw:
It would really be great to something like a "texture variationer" changing the texture of components slightly (dark to light, colors etc..). Similar but totally different..
-edit- Ah, i just saw it, your thread was only 2 weeks before..
Some may have seen this in the sketchup discussion section, but i thought it would be better placed here.
What do you think about a plugin that replaces one component with a selection of other components?
You could draw some siteplan, add "placeholding trees" and then replace these trees with a random selection of trees, and these randomly scale and turned.
Similar to component spray.
Or is it possible to make a group of construction points and scatter trees via compo spray on them (with a density of each point = one tree)?
Would maybe be nicer if you can place components to be replaced later, just for your personal imagination..
And later you can just: click, "ok, i don't like this look of the trees", so i click again and get a different variation.
Is it clear, what i wanted to say?
Ok, got it. Uninstalled / installed several times..
Then went to registry and deleted some old relicts, now it works all fine again...
_h
Gaieus, thank you 
probably you're right, that's what i will have to do. reinstalling skp is not that bad.. it's just annoying rearranging all icons and stuff again..
if you don't hear from me it should be ok again
-closed-
@tig said:
and looks more like an apple-pie than a cake
more precise its a lemon-pie.. and yes, no chance to deceive you TIG, its a muffin from the warehouse squeezed...
you should have searched with the dynamic hand tool (opening stuff etc)- and not with outliner.. you technician
and @speaker: therefor, because its a muffin and no cake, its a lie.. but thanks
No idea anyone?
Unfortunatly it didn't solve itself..
To complete this:
sometimes it will happen that you have a more complex shape with some softened lines on it which makes it impossible to select single faces of that shape.
The whole surface will be selected.
You can:
open window "soften edges" and (with face selected) turn down the slider so all lines will appear.
The better way will be by downloading this great set of plugins (really essential)
http://www.special.eclipse.co.uk/_ruby.html
especially the CD Standard Tools.
Activate them from the view > toolbars menu. You can then deactivate the native sketchup standard toolbar, it will be obsolete.
There fifth icon from the right will show all hidden geometry (and therefor softened lines) and you can edit all single faces (eg of one shape).
Good luck, have fun!
Probably not the most impressive on earth, but it may be exciting, because..
where is the hidden cake?
Filesize too big to upload (12mb) > dropbox link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15831878/2011_Find%20the%20Cake_Dynamic%20Components.skp
It was an entry for some competition,
thanks to the people from sketchucation helping me with some difficulties.
The one or other may learn from looking into the dynamic components properties.
Good luck searching..!
Any size (screenratio or set aspect ratio with thom's tools), any kind (jpg, png, bmp) until now.
It appeared first at the export of a model with approx. 60 components, 1000 instances, 500000 faces, 1100000 edges.
Even if i try to export an image of an ordinary box it crashes.
Hm..
Hi all,
for some strange reason sketchup newly crashes when i try to export 2d images. I don't know why or since when i may have changed sth. or added some plugin.
I tried without any plugins installed (moved them to a seperate folder) as well as a quick reinstallation but had no luck.
Pdf export works fine. CAD and 3D (3ds) export as well.
Any suggestions?
@dave r said:
A little off topic but why do the extra work of making the component from a group? You don't have name a component when you make it. Just hit G (G is the default shortcut for Make Component) and Enter. The name will be Component#1, Component#2, etc.
Ah, alright, sometimes i'm just stuck in old ways. Good idea. Thank you!
@thom: I'll dig throught that, i think it has to be somewhere between these icons in front of my face... There could be some record function as well (like photoshop actions) select some element and "play" the recorded set of actions...? Was just wondering.
_h
Yes, thanks!
I was wondering if it was something like that, because there didn't seem to be a reason for it. (Btw, it worked by opening a new skp-instance and pasting the groups there) Sure i have some of Fredo's plugin installed I don't know if all of them are up to date- but anyway i have definitely many plugins i can really get rid of.
It's purging time! I delayed that too long..
Thanks, again, and best wishes,
_h
PS: something off-topic, so i don't have to start a new one.. i remembered there was a tool "keeping tool active / persistant (recalling the tool to use i a couple of times) and i remember it was from you, thom. am i right? i couldn't find it by searching. today i thought it would come in handy .. thanks.
Hi there,
maybe i'm just blind, i just can't find a solution. This problem never happened to me before..
I made some strokes and converted them into cylinders which made groups automatically.
I prefer making components from groups, this saves me from naming components (they just take the name group#xy). This works fine normally and did in this case for the first group, but then after, when right-clicking on one group to make it a component the command is just gray... Even though the explode command (if i want to explode the groups)
I'm stuck and hope someone can help me, there should be some reason for this, i think...
Thanks in advance
_h
that was even quicker than i was able to edit my post
it at first glance doesnt seem to make the trick.. i don't really get what action the plugin performs and it seems quite unfinished developed- the author says in his topic that it was in a hurry.. there is some how-to instruction missing in that thread. maybe i should give it a deeper exploration.
anyway, i seems like it could be possible and that's a good start
Great, i didn't know about that! (..obviously)
Thanks you very much, and by the way, that was quick!
_h
Hey,
is it possible to make a push-pull tool that is able to push or pull faces of a group directly from outside the group?
It appears quite often that i have grouped objects, e.g. pillars of different length, which i'd like to adjust- and then you have to double-click to enter the group, click outside, go on to the next group, and change the tools during that action all over again..
I hope you understand what i mean, it seems that i'm explaining thing a bit difficult sometimes..
So, any suggestions?
Maybe there is already one and i just didn't know. Would be quite good then, actually..
Just wanted to say thanks! Comes in very handy!
Great work you're doing, man
