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    i5963c

    @i5963c

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    Best posts made by i5963c

    • RE: SVG or other vector file import WITH colors

      I use Sketchup sometimes for non-professional stuff.
      Therefore, I stick to the 2017 Make version with a series of plugins to do what I want to do. Basically, my only 'inconvenience' with this old Make version, and for which I did not find a decent solution via plugins, was the lack of support for importing vector graphics.
      On Reddit, I found some 'traces' of a very old plugin to import SVG files (origin 2008, updated in 2013). However, it missed many SVG features. There were also some incompatibilities and dependencies that made it quite complex to install. More recently, Samuel Tallet (author of some great plugins on Sketchucation) removed some of these dependencies, and made it apparently also compatible, up to SU version 2024. But, the old deficiencies in terms of SVG features remained.

      Because I had no solution for the import of 2D vector data with my old Sketchup version, I decided - a couple of months ago - to jump into this gap myself (only for personal use). I had to dive into Ruby coding, the Sketchup API and the SVG specifications. Quite an endeavor, but I finally succeeded to come up with something that works... At least for me😳 ...

      • I extended the original support for the limited set of SVG shapes (i.e. rectangles, and 'shapes' composed of lines and cubic beziers) to the full set of SVG geometry (i.e. addition of circles, ellipses, horizontal and vertical lines, polylines, polygons, as well as support for elliptical arcs and quadratic beziers, including the smooth variants of cubic and quadratic beziers).
      • I added support for all types of transformations (translate, rotate, scale, X- and Y-skew), including combined transforms.
      • I added support for fills and line colors in a more robust way.
      • I added support for text, although this still faces a number of limitations (as I encounter problems to fully convert some SVG font attributes into equivalent 3D text objects in SU).
      • I could substantially improve the import performance, especially for complex SVG files (often from many minutes to just some seconds).

      Below are some examples. The first example shows a screenshot of 3 files in my 2D graphics editor (Affinity Designer). Inkscape is a popular - and open source - alternative. Such editors allow to create SVG files, can read multiple vector formats (e.g. DWG, DXF, PDF) and also support the conversion towards SVG.

      The first example is a site plan, with lots of text (measurements) and line colors, the second is a garden plan with multiple color-filled shapes, and the last one is a more 'graphical object' (that demonstrates an 'inconsistency' between 2D and 3D design constraints - cf. below).

      (Screenshot 2025-08-07 124257 - Summ AffDsgr.png)

      Next, you'll see screenshots of the corresponding SVG imports in Sketchup.

      Screenshot 2025-08-07 120856 - IPfull.png

      Screenshot 2025-08-07 120232 garden SU.png

      Screenshot 2025-08-07 121725 - dragon shaded.png

      Screenshot 2025-08-07 121633 - dragon xray.png

      Due to the inherent differences between 2D and 3D modeling approaches, there are some caveats to take into account. The last 2 figures (the dragon) explain this. SVG works with lines and shapes. Lines ('strokes' in SVG) have a thickness. Shapes can be filled with color, but SVG shapes can also be put 'on top' of each other ('layered' and blended, like in a photo editor). However such layering is not possible when converting the 2D drawing into a 3D modeling tool like Sketchup. You'll end up with 'Z-fighting' of different shapes on the ground plane. All lines and shapes are properly imported, but they may overlap, which leads to the 'black dragon'. The overlap between the different shapes can be - manually ! - manipulated by selecting the shape in the outliner and cutting it out of the larger shape. You can 'visualize' the different composing shapes by using the X-Ray mode (cf the second dragon figure). Alternatively, this 'avoidance of shape overlap' can also be performed (and likely more efficiently) in a 2D editor, before exporting it to SVG, and importing it afterwards in Sketchup.

      My 'extension' supports colored shape fills and lines, including transparency. Line widths (~edges) are (as always in SU) without stroke thickness.

      The (optional) shape fill 'enhancements' in SVG (i.e. gradients, patterns, filters, masks) are, due to the lack of an equivalent, non-rasterized alternative for SU faces, always 'solid colors'.

      If any such 'enhancements' would be required, this must be done (manually!!) in Sketchup via the import of bitmap files as material textures, after the SVG file is loaded. However, be aware that the rasterized nature of such textures, nullifies the benefits of the vectorial nature of SVG!!!

      The 'extension' supports various color definitions (RGB, 3-digit and 6-digit hex, as well as the W3C color names). As Dan Rathbun pointed out above, this last color coding mechanism may not be supported anymore in SU2025. It should be possible to adapt the extension to translate these color names into equivalent RGB values, but this is currently not implemented, as I don't use SU2025. Thus, I also have no clue what may be the impact of the new PBR materials for my 'SVG Importer'...

      As mentioned above, the support for texts is currently not 'perfect', due to inconsistencies between the way the SVG specification allows text formatting and the way SU's 3D text can be manipulated via the Sketchup Ruby API. However, if a 100% accurate import of the text elements (e.g. a detailed font design) is absolutely necessary, this can be achieved by 'translating the text into curves' with a 2D graphical editor. In this case, the text is handled like a regular 'SVG shape'. This will lead to a larger SVG file size. In case of lots of text, it might be easier to create the text directly in SU as well.

      There is no documentation available for this 'personal extension'. I'm also not pretending that it is 'professional-grade' software. E.g. the only dialog box (to capture some parameters) is an old-fashioned (ugly) Sketchup UI.Inputbox. I had no need or intention to learn how to code HTML dialog boxes and how they interact with Sketchup...

      I don't know your exact needs in terms of SVG import. But, if the above clarification of what I did, looks like a potential match, I have no objection to share it (without any guarrantee and/or liability). If so, please reach out to me via a PM on this forum.

      posted in Extensions & Applications Discussions
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      i5963c
    • RE: MatSim not working after buying licence

      Yes, I just did that. Now, I indeed see the License option. But, if I click it, I get the following screenshot:

      Screenshot 2025-10-03 122835.png

      Clicking the 'Activate License' button in this dialog allowed me to select the license file that I received via mail after acquiring the license, and everything works again now. So, the issue can be closed nowπŸ‘ .

      posted in SketchUcation Community Forums
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      i5963c
    • Error with Joint Push Pull

      Re: [Plugin][$] JointPushPull Interactive - v4.8a - 30 Mar 24
      I have the latest version of this plugin installed. I also have the required versions of LibFredo6 installed. I'm using Sketchup Make 2017.
      On regular times, the plugin crashes. An example of the crash report is shown below:

      ***Date: 20-May-24 13:15:14 - SU2017.2
      An error occurred in Joint Push Pull
      Error in Analysis of model

      wrong number arguments: 4 or 6 required

      body_lib6g6.rbe: 3139 -- linear_combination
      body_lib6g6.rbe: 3139 -- vector_exact_average
      jointpushpullalgo.rbe: 1369 -- joint_compute_direction
      jointpushpullalgo.rbe: 1315 -- block in block_prepare_vertices_J
      jointpushpullalgo.rbe: 1315 -- each
      jointpushpullalgo.rbe: 1315 -- block_prepare_vertices_J
      jointpushpullalgo.rbe: 1200 -- block in block_prepare_vertices_all
      jointpushpullalgo.rbe: 1200 -- each
      jointpushpullalgo.rbe: 1200 -- block_prepare_vertices_all
      jointpushpullalgo.rbe: 524 -- algo_prepare_calculation_exec
      jointpushpullalgo.rbe: 504 -- algo_prepare_calculation
      jointpushpulltool.rbe: 866 -- dragging_start
      jointpushpulltool.rbe: 1574 -- onLButtonDown***

      As I mentioned, this doesn't occur all the time. However, one process to trigger the error is as follows;

      • Start Sketchup with a new file.
      • Draw a circle in the origin
      • Convert this circle into a cylinder with the standard Sketchup Push/Pull tool.
      • Convert the cylinder into a group
      • Activate the Joint-Push-Pull methods and try to increase the volume of the cylinder.....
      • The error window pops-up...

      From time to time, after doing some other actions, the joint push pull starts working again (even with the same cylinder!)
      PS1: I also tried to downgrade to an earlier plugin version that I still had available on my system (4.6a). The same issue happens with that version.
      PS2: The error happens on my 2 PC's where Sketchup is installed (Windows 10 and Windows 11).

      Thanks to verify what' going on. Hopefully a fix can be provided.
      In case more information would be required, please don't hesitate to ask.

      posted in Plugins extensions bug
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      i5963c

    Latest posts made by i5963c

    • RE: Sketchucation Tools 5.0.3

      OS = Windows 11, SU = Make 2017

      posted in Extensions & Applications Discussions
      I
      i5963c
    • RE: Sketchucation Tools 5.0.3

      One more finding: The 'Shortcutter' is also empty (see screenshot of the dialog). Wasn't the case in earlier versions.
      Screenshot 2025-10-07 231410.png

      posted in Extensions & Applications Discussions
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      i5963c
    • RE: Sketchucation Tools 5.0.3

      Something that I noted after installing version 5.0.1: everytime I launch Sketchup, the toolbar with the 3 icons reappears in the viewport. I don't want this behaviour, when I need the Sketchucation plugin, I will use the menu entries. I never saw this behaviour with earlier versions. I have already switched OFF the selection box for the toolbar settings in the View menu (many times) but at every relaunch / start of the application, the toolbar is shown again (and the selection box in the settings is switched ON again...)

      posted in Extensions & Applications Discussions
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      i5963c
    • RE: MatSim not working after buying licence

      Yes, I just did that. Now, I indeed see the License option. But, if I click it, I get the following screenshot:

      Screenshot 2025-10-03 122835.png

      Clicking the 'Activate License' button in this dialog allowed me to select the license file that I received via mail after acquiring the license, and everything works again now. So, the issue can be closed nowπŸ‘ .

      posted in SketchUcation Community Forums
      I
      i5963c
    • RE: MatSim not working after buying licence

      As said in my previous posts, clicking this 'Manage License...' button does nothing, it just closes the dialog and nothing happens. But, I'm currently trying the suggestion to uninstall/re-install. Not yet there. I describe what's happening via another post.

      posted in SketchUcation Community Forums
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      i5963c
    • RE: MatSim not working after buying licence

      Below is the requested information. Please also notice that, normally, for the pc that's used to generate this report, I normally DON'T have curviloft, tools on surface and visuhole installed. Due to a bug in the last Sketchucation plugin (v. 5.0.1 - see my other post about this issue), I was required to install these 3 extensions to prevent the startup error when launching Sketchup. But, I would like to uninstall them again on that particular pc, because they are never used on that pc. I only got them as part of a bundle with other Fredo extensions that are frequently used.

      Fredo6 Plugins Information on 2025-10-03 12:01:04 +0200

      • Platform: x64-mingw32 - Ruby: 2.2.4
      • Sketchup: 17.2.2555
      • LibFredo6: v15.4e
      • LibFredo6 Binary loaded
      • Sketchucation ExtensionStore: 5.0.1
      • SCFLicense: v7.1a - 74
      • Fredo6 Plugins

        Curviloft v1.9b - licensed FULL: 128367 - CP1685441324.0X
        Curvizard v2.5a - licensed FULL: 128370 - CP1685441324.0X
        FredoScale v3.6a - licensed FULL: 128368 - CP1685441324.0X
        FredoSpline v2.6a - licensed FULL: 171193 - CP1685441324.0X
        JointPushPull v4.9a - licensed FULL: 128366 - CP1685441324.0X
        MatSim v1.5b
        RoundCorner v3.4a - licensed FULL: 128365 - CP1685441324.0X
        ThruPaint v2.8d - licensed FULL: 210207 - CP1685441324.0X
        ToolsOnSurface v2.5a - licensed FULL: 128372 - CP1685441324.0X
        TopoShaper v2.6a
        VisuHole v1.4b - licensed FULL: 128371 - CP1685441324.0X

      • SCFLicense directory present

        Signature File: 2023-05-30 12:08:44 +0200
        ClothWorks: 2024-01-16 19:24:38 +0100
        Curviloft: 2023-05-30 13:21:28 +0200
        Curvizard: 2025-02-06 22:35:51 +0100
        FlatText: 2025-02-11 23:43:42 +0100
        FredoScale: 2023-07-13 20:43:02 +0200
        FredoSpline: 2025-10-03 02:06:03 +0200
        JointPushPull: 2023-07-13 20:42:30 +0200
        RoundCorner: 2025-07-12 09:15:58 +0200
        ThruPaint: 2025-02-11 23:44:25 +0100
        ToolsOnSurface: 2023-05-30 13:26:16 +0200
        VisuHole: 2023-05-30 13:27:23 +0200

      As indicated before: the Mat Sim license file that I received via mail is installed in the same directory where the equivalent license files for the other Sketchucation extensions are stored. When launching the MatSim extension, the popup dialog as shown in my earlier message pops up. Clicking on the 'Manage License...' button just closes the dialog box, and nothing else happens...

      posted in SketchUcation Community Forums
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      i5963c
    • RE: Sketchucation Tools 5.0.3

      OK, just a small update on the previous post. I noticed at the top of the error chain, that a specific extension would be missing (curviloft). It's an extension that I acquired quite a while ago, but it's not installed (certainly not at this moment, unsure whether it may have been installed on this machine in the past). I acquired that extension as part of a bundle. But, apparently, the simple fact that this extension is not installed, triggers the error with Sketchucation's new version. After manually adding the 'missing' extension, and relaunching Sketchup, the same error popped up, but this time about a different extension. Only after having installed ALL missing extensions of that bundle that was acquired quite long ago, Sketchup returned to a normal way of working when being launched. I nevertheless still find that this is a bug.

      posted in Extensions & Applications Discussions
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      i5963c
    • MatSim not working after buying licence

      As of October, the Fredo 6 Matsim extension became payable. I acquired a license, but I can't activate it. I installed the license file in the directory where all my SFC licenses are. However, the menu of the extension has no option 'License...', like the other Fredo extensions have.
      Screenshot 2025-10-03 023408.png

      If I select the application icon in the toolbar or the menu option, I get the following window:
      Screenshot 2025-10-03 022955.png. Clicking on the 'Manage License' button, doesn't do anything.... The window just closes....

      All relevant extensions are up to date (Sketchucation, LibFredo and Matsim). I'm on Windows 11 and Sketchup Make 2017. I'm facing issues with the latest version of Sketchucation Tools, but I don't think it relates to the MatSim problem.

      posted in SketchUcation Community Forums
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      i5963c
    • RE: Sketchucation Tools 5.0.3

      Sketchucation Tools 5.0.1. is broken on my system (Windows 11, Sketchup Make 2017). The Sketchucation menu only has the following entries:

      Screenshot 2025-10-03 021134.png

      Next: everytime I launch Sketchup, I get the following error messages
      Error: #<Errno::ENOENT: No such file or directory @ rb_sysopen - C:/Users/xxx/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp/Plugins/Fredo6_Curviloft/Curviloft.plugin>
      c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_dialog.rbe:892:in readlines' c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_dialog.rbe:892:in block (4 levels) in getMyPlugins'
      c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_dialog.rbe:883:in each' c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_dialog.rbe:883:in block (3 levels) in getMyPlugins'
      c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_dialog.rbe:868:in each' c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_dialog.rbe:868:in block (2 levels) in getMyPlugins'
      c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_dialog.rbe:865:in each' c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_dialog.rbe:865:in block in getMyPlugins'
      c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_dialog.rbe:864:in each' c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_dialog.rbe:864:in getMyPlugins'
      c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_loader.rbe:99:in <module:SCF>' c:/users/xxx/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2017/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scf_loader.rbe:13:in <main>'
      C:/Program Files/SketchUp/Tools/extensions.rb:197:in eval' C:/Program Files/SketchUp/Tools/extensions.rb:197:in require'
      C:/Program Files/SketchUp/Tools/extensions.rb:197:in load' C:/Users/xxx/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation.rb:173:in register_extension'
      C:/Users/xxx/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation.rb:173:in <module:SCF>' C:/Users/xxx/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2017/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation.rb:17:in <top (required)>'

      posted in Extensions & Applications Discussions
      I
      i5963c
    • RE: A dilemna

      Isn't triangulation of all faces a native feature when you export your Sketchup model to Collada? Normally, it should be available behind the 'Options...' button in the Sketchup 'Export Model' dialog.
      Next, there are indeed separate extensions that offer similar functionality, but these may be beyond your needs. So, best is to start with the out-of-the-box feature, and see how it works for your specific requirements.

      posted in SketchUp Discussions
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      i5963c