@arail said:

What's worth pointing out is that drawhelix isn't mathematically accurate.

you might want to try curve maker instead:
http://www.drawmetal.com/

this is the helix dialogue:

and attached is the resulting curve:

helix.skp

aw phil, that's too bad.. you must be an old guy.. i'm still seeing 20/20 and they're coming in clear to me..

@marklas said:

Hi guys, do you know how you enable this on a Mac?

Thanks,

Mark.

it's not so simple but it's doable... one way is to select custom icon in the 'save as' dialog..

the weird thing about this is that the icons have to be bigger than 48x48 in order for you to see them correctly.. [finder / ⌘J / icon size] .. if you don't want the bigger icons on your system, make a folder for skp files and have only that folder display larger icons (and that works out ok since you're actually trying to look at the icon)..

another problem is that your system isn't showing a preview in the same way it does a .jpg.. you can put a generic icon jpg on your computer and be able to see its icon as a preview.. with the skps, you're only seeing the preview because you custom made an icon for it... so, only the files that are saved with a custom icon will be able to be seen as you wish.. all the other ones will still have the generic sketchup icon..

this is how it will look vs. the standard view.. (the icon doesn't have to be this big btw)

there's an app called GraphicConverter which used to ship with os x... it stopped shipping with macs around the same time they added .skp support to the app ..
there's a trial available here: (the difference between the trial and full version is that the trial has a 10sec. waiting period before launching)
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/10057380

once installed, you only have to browse a folder containing skps in order for it to make preview icons for the files.. super easy -- file/browse folder/navigate to folder... the icons it builds are much nicer than the sketchup customs and it changes the icons very quickly.. these icons are also visible at any size.. if you really want, you can turn on the GraphicConverter automator actions and search your whole system for skps instead of via folders..

sketchup made icon on left -- GraphicConverter on right

and this is what happens if you want to view the icons at 48x48 or smaller

so those are the two workarounds i know of.. maybe with snow leopard we'll see system support for this.. 10.6 is supposedly going to be a more fine tuned 10.5 instead of a bunch of new features.. focus will be on stability, memory use, etc and i can imagine support for a wider range of files which not only will have preview icons but will be viewable with cover flow & quick look..

i know this isn't what you're asking for newone.

this is what i do when faced with finding an unrecognized arc's centerpoint.. it's definitely a workaround but it's fast and painless.. all done via inferencing. you need at least 3 segments of an arc for this to work.

i don't know anything about that card but i will say this..

i have sketchup running on 3 macs and they are all fine.. i can't tell much of a difference between any of them..

G4 powerbook 1.33GHz powerPC... ATI Mobility Radeon 9600
pro quad tower 2.66 intel.. nvidia gt7600
2.0 duocore intel macbook... GeForce 9400M

the new graphics cards outspec all of these (blows 2 of them away).. i really wouldn't worry about it.

@peter gunn said:

I had a couple of questions. What are you using that invokes the dialog boxes that say "find faces for this curve" and "close curve?" Not sure what you were doing there.

that's Weld.rb (and i actually put in a request with rickw to make a version without the dialog that you saw.. we'll see ).. it joins lines and will make them select easier (click it once instead of selecting each individual segment) and it also allows for smooth surfaces upon extrusion..

@unknownuser said:

Also, am I correct to assume that if I carried the roundover to the top of the leg instead of stopping it short as in the tut, that I would need to draw a line extending that edge beyond the curve at the top for the followme path, then copying the top curve and using that to intersect with model after using the followme tool to create the roundover? Seems like that should work. I did use your method to create a rectangular form with all edges rounded over. That worked beautifully.

possibly, i'd have to look at the file again (i'm out of town right now and that stuff was done on my home computer).. i watched the video again and realized i didn't have to extend the line and draw the roundover where i did.. as long as every part of the extrusion is past the plane of intersection, you don't have to extend the line past..

@dave r said:

@xrok1 said:

i watched the video and the 1 thing i saw was that mac has invert selection . i've always wanted invert selection

All you have to do is ask.

yes, Just Ask .. thanks again TIG, i use that one a lot.. i often base the way i'm going to draw something around that one ruby.. the single most unenjoyable thing i can do in sketchup is deleting a bunch of small lines or faces and invert selection will eliminate most of the deleting..

i did a different movie last week which is highly based around the selection inversion at the end.. around 5 posts down in this thread:
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17102
you'll also see a weld.rb move in there that i like to do.. instead of selecting individual line segments, i'll delete some things so i can tripleclick the whole line before welding then close the face again.. like i say, i don't like doing the little selections/deletions and these two rubies come in very handy for that

Using the select tool (looks like an arrow), select the surface and hit delete on your keyboard.

Either that or I'm really not understanding the problem.

nah bob.. no sucker punch..
i just found out about it 3 weeks ago or so when i finally upgraded to leopard and read one of those "99 hidden leopard features" type of articles..

http://homepage.mac.com/jeffhammond/.Public/scf/leg.mov

@unknownuser said:

Jeff,

Where can this be found for download/purchase?

you can buy it here..

Apple

Discover the innovative world of Apple and shop everything iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple TV, plus explore accessories, entertainment, and expert device support.

Apple (www.apple.com)

just spend a few grand on their hardware and they'll throw the feature in for free.

it's built into leopard.. it works with all apps... i see you also have a mac so try it out on there.

certain apps don't get that big of an advantage (photoshop for instance: the clone stamp tool is only in a tool bar and you can't navigate the menus to get to it so it won't show up in the search).. it works really well with sketchup however because all of the tools/actions can be found via the menus.

it's only searching the menus items and help files..

here's the tut.

i will say this.. there's no way i would do it like this if i were starting from scratch.. the radius is the hardest part so i'd deal with it first and let the leg grow around it.. if i find more time later, i'll show you a much easier way to go about this..

here's how i did it starting with your drawing as a base. [use scene tabs at top of window to switch between steps]

Leg_Tut_jh1.skp

oh.. ok..
i'm running out for an hour or so but i'll draw up a tut when i get back.

[edit] i double checked and your first skp you posted had them backwards.. the 3 1/2" deal is on the vertical side.. not the rounded one. no biggie though.

see if this is how you want it...

Leg_round.skp

re: this thread
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=17082&start=0

i assumed windows had already stolen this trick from os x but apparently not.. oh well windows users, maybe someone can write a ruby that will do this inside of sketchup (though it works with all apps on macs)

@ecuadorian said:

Easiest way to do that is..

nice solution miguel..

@burkhard said:

Below could be a field for selecting toolbars show/hide. Not all are needed everytime.

oh yeah.. it can do that too.

http://homepage.mac.com/jeffhammond/.Public/Find_that_too.mov

[note kerkythea tool bar next to the standard tool bar]

[edit].... and speaking of kerkythea... i'll try this on windows via x11...

http://homepage.mac.com/jeffhammond/.Public/Benchmark.mov

.

@daniel s said:

A good idea will be to have a webdialog and something like a filter to search the plugin.

Then with a double click execute the ruby.

Here I make a simulation:

this one isn't a simulation:

http://homepage.mac.com/jeffhammond/.Public/Find.mov

[edit] just in case the movie isn't clear as day: you can either choose the tool using that method or it will simply show you where it's at.

@double espresso said:

These are incredible Jeff.
Are they long lens shots or are you actually in the crowds using something like a cellphone camera?
Very Jim Jarmusch...

no long lens.. ultrawides..

12mm on a d2x which = ~18mm equiv. on a 35..

handheld flash in there as well.

i think he's asking for the look of those pictures Ecuadorian except...
there would be no faces..

the pictures you posted still have faces (click on a window and it will highlight)..