Dider:

1. I am using a PC and I still am having problems with the Add Point and Spotlight options.

For Point lights I found I have to press the ESC key for it to execute.
For Spotlights, I have to press the ESC key for the 1st prompt to select the target, then when the next prompt for the aperture angle appears my cursors changes but when I click the next step of the script is not triggered and if I press the ESC key the script goes in a loop.

2.a. If the Add Point and Spotlight options/scripts can't work for me (possibly because of other scripts I am loading), if I import the .skp light components should they function in a similar manner as if they had been loaded via the scripts?

2.b. Will the components only work if they are placed on the su2pov layer or will they on other layers too?

3. Am I correct that quotes need to be put around the N in ......Output_File_Type="N" ....?

Hi Joshua:

No, I have not come across a script that can do what I have described. I suspect there is not enough percieved interest to prod a coder into writing one.

John

No. I followed the instructions in the PDF of the zip file I downloaded and they were added to the Plugins/Su2pov subdirectory.

gcon:

questions:

Can you animate SU 0bjects along a path and controll their orientation along that path?

If so, could you use your program to imported an entire SU model and use it to animate various geometry contained within the model and could you prepare a video demonstrating this?

Hi Didier:

I tried creating a spotlight per your pdf instructions.
I open the dialog, changed the settings, and clicked the OK button but nothing happened when clicking the mouse.

Also, I tried to render a couple simple cylinders and got the following (the jpg is copy of the bmp that POV generated)..

Is this due to the limitations of SU regarding how it deals with softening and smoothing?

Finally, is there a way in POV to change the format of the POV render from .bmp to .png or jpg.?

test.skp

I downloaded the zip file, went to its properties and unblocked it, but still couldn't extract the contents without the Windows Block Content dialog.

I sumbled across this link. Photo may be useful

http://www.arnettslandscaping.com/prairiematerials.html

Thanks, Craig for the reply.

A suggestion. There may be a presentation running concurrently with another that an attendee wants to see. Might there be a chance of it being repeated on Day 3 sometime if requested by popular demand?

In a handout, have a survey where atttendees could submit their 1st and 2nd choices for a "repeat", then collect them at the end of Day 2. The Google staff could then make a judgement for a repeat and announce/post it at Day 3's breakfast.

Speaking of Passwords,

I found this link in one of the major PC magazines recently as a recommended utility:
http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/

It is free.

It allows you to put all your user logins and passwards, etc., in an encrypted file. I believe the basic premise is you only need to remember the one passord for the encrypted file (which you can transfer to another PC to use provided you install the program on that PC), you open the file then can cut and paste the info into a login dialog.

The samething that happens if you forget your spouse's birth date.

I am hoping there might be some ad hoc discussion/presentations, perhaps by attendees if not the google staff.

For example, reviews of various rendering products.

I agree, Plot.

There are scripts that can do things like this, but to me it seems it should be incorporated into the basic code ... just like purging layers, components, and materials are.

Plot: I realize there is potential for a slowdown, probably similar to that when you go to Xray mode, but when the model is "finalized for presentation" that could very well warrant having specific Scenes saved with this view mode turned on; it would certainly facilitate the print-output or when there is a need for a closeup which examines specific details.

The surface appearance can change depending upon edge-length and detail, model scale, and the smoothing/softening properties of the intersecting geometry. Part of the idea for the suggestion, aside from doing the actual physical intersecting, was to eliminate tweeking smoothing and softening properties by merely superimposing non-smoothed "virtual-edges" representing the intersection.

Bob: I use a similar method already. But with more "organic" or dense geometry, the method can be time consuming and not conducive to making fast changes at later date; it some cases it might involve reconstructing the original geometry (or retrieving early versions of the model).

Regards, John

Fred06:

This is excerpt of an email from a friend of mine who uses Lightwave extensively.

"Awesome! ...Subdivision modeling is very powerful. That's pretty much the only type of modeling I do in LightWave nowadays. Do you know if this is Catmull-Clark subdivision? The results look like it might be. ....This is definitely a great addition to SketchUp. It would be awesome if you could import LW sub-d meshes into SketchUp and vise-versa."

Regards, John

Fredo, you took the words right out of my mouth. I was thinking of asking you earlier this morning to consider revising SU's Drape tool because it only works on the "vertical" access, but I thought that might be a bit too much to ask for so soon after the time you've been spending on the 3D offset script.

Ahem..... so while you opened the subject a do-over of the SU's Smooth Tool might also be appreciated by this crowd as it has similar limitations as the Drape tool. [SoapSkin&Bubbles could "suck" up a surface without being confined to the vertical axis and also protect the outside edges of a surface from being distorted, but doesn't seem that SoapBubbles will be supported.] Also, there could be further enhancements that would be useful such as:
1- an simple way to input how much "pull" is to be exerted
2- not limiting the shape of smoothing area to a circle. If possible, allow the user to define the bounds from a preselected shape in a manner similar to the Drape tool.

Fredo:

When I look at the context menu, all but "Generate as Group" seem to report just the opposite of what the tool is doing.... the Yes's should be No's and vice versa.

Anyone else seeingthis?

Regards, John

p.s. Excuse me, I should have begun with, 'incredible scripting and support documentation, I am amazed as I watch it work. Thank you' .

try this for Hidden2Layer version 1.2:
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=6870

Rick, thanks for the summary.

Here is another idea ... or rather farout/pie-in-sky idea. Be nice if it could be eventually done.

Enable the scene names and their groups (and maybe visible layer names asscociated with them) such that if the model is imported or somehow pasted into another file the scene-groups are maintained, while the current model's scenes are left in tack. That way it would make it easy to build a "final" model with complex page sequencing.

It has also been helpful when using the 3DS export filter (been experimenting with using it for passing my files to a Lightwave user as it will do somethings better than the Lightwave Plugin version 006).

Too bad.

Thanks for the quick reply, Jim.

Do I assume that this has been put on "the wishlist" at one time or another?