@honoluludesktop said: I would consider resetting my system to a point when everything was functioning OK. That did work.... Big Thanks Went back 2 days to be sure.

And pay attention that holding ctrl will soften them, and holding shift will hide them. It is important to use the right key. I virtually always want them softened, not hidden, so I tend to only use ctrl. Chris

Last night I converted about 300 groups into 1 component in 1 swell foop. It also showed I had about a dozen almost identical groups with a common very minor change in them, that did not convert, as expected, but they would be hard to find otherwise. I did this by selecting ALL, and converting. After the conversion to a single comp, only those unique groups that did not convert remained highlighted. Note: it is not necessary to highlight any of the multiple groups, except the single any one group to effect the conversion. All same groups in the model will convert. I have not tried testing with layered and visible same groups yet, but I will. Now I will try to figure how to convert those similar groups into the same single comp. I think I know how, but I haven't figured out the correct sequence yet. (edit added) I just noticed that my old 43mb+ file is down to 31mb, and I'm not done converting yet. And it saves faster too. Bonus.

Yes, I only need the exterior mold (shape) of the plane, with very few internal (structural) elements. It will be used (at 1/12th scale) for planning the manufacturing stations (sizes and locations) in the facility. Once that is firmed up, I have a partial full scale detailed version of the facility that I will modify and use. I went to a scaled version because it is easier to navigate and change than at full scale, even if the full scale planning model was low-poly. There is very little detail in the scaled version, and a full scale version would entice me to add details. I will try "polyreduce". As for the footprint, I cannot figure how to set my geo to the equator at noon (time I figured). But you got me thinking about scaling the airplane model down flat i.e: 100% scale down the blue axis. Then I'll intersect it on a flat plane (no pun intended ) and trace that outline. I'll get back to you on both. ======================================== Well, scaling on blue to "flat" did not quite work. First, "scale" only allows a "-.11" scale factor so I tried ".01". It was not flat enough, even doing it twice. Also my dwg was too complex. Scrap that. Still can't see how to set my Geo to the equator, so I can trace the shadow. However, since I used to draw boats and calculate the heeled waterline, I tried something like that. I made a flat plane group, and successively moved it up and intersected the plane at various "wide" points on the airplane to get a close approximation of the outermost footprint, plus a myriad of extra lines from the airplanes internal structures that I could not turn off. Spent a lot of time deleting those lines, then hit the old SU 6 problem of non-intersected crossing lines, coupled with Intersects' bad habit of not keeping lines on face as well as omitting a lot of intersecting lines. A LOT of cleanup to do before I can get a cohesive footprint. Back later.... ================================== Frustrated!!!!!! I cleaned up the outline, but it will not form a face within the outline. Many lines are just off the z=00000 level, so that the face won't form. Then as I was replacing 2 short lines with one, SU crashed. Fortunately, SU autosaved just a few minutes prior so I lost almost nothing. Back on this tomorrow, as I gotta pick up my "warden" at the subway.

@d12dozr said: @jgb said: Now if only SU allowed mouse button shortcuts, I can make use of the many extra buttons on my mouse without interfering with other apps use of those buttons. Ditto that! heads off to Wishlist Good idea, good thing I thought of it. Kidding.... Posting it there now.

Got it, thanks, TIG. I'll Try it on Wed as I gotta take the Mrs out for a quick dinner (she was too lazy to cook) and tomorrow I am out most of the day.

while searching for k-tools, i came across 2Dfillet (fillet.rb) that's exactly what i wanted http://www.ohyeahcad.com/download/ [edit] oh, and TIG.. are you talking about 1001bit tools instead of k-tools? http://1oo1bit.com/

But does he wear them??

Hello All, Among other things, I'm a professional content developer and it is my primary responsibility at my day job to build tutorials and other educational material. I'm willing to donate a bunch of hours to get a meaningful tutorial put together provided that I can set up some phone conversations/web meetings (I have the tools) to discuss. Let me know how the "owners" would like to proceed...

For those of you who are following, I have a Landing Gear Demo version 3 and associated notes now posted in the "Basic Tutorial Posted" topic. http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=9115 I put it there as it now is part of my contribution to the tutorial Curbs is writing instead of me. jgb