@jhearcht said:

I have Pro versions of SU 5&6...

@jhearcht said:

But my old serial number didn't work for the license. And it asked for an authorization number that I don't have.

SUP license data is in general version specific, the serial no of a SUP v8 license starts with a "M...".

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=33019

Off Topic :

FYI, for the benefit of anyone else struggling with a large background model, such as an urban area, here's a tip I learned the hard way.

The urban model in its own separate file was 6MB. After exploding most components in order to change the face material (manually & locally, as it turns out) the file size ballooned up to 11.5MB. When added to my own building model that produced a filesize apparently too large for my system to handle.

So I exported the urban model from SU8 to 3DS format. That step reduced the file size back down to 2.3MB. Unfortunately, it also undid most of my laborious material changes. So, next time I'll export the complex background to 3DS before I attempt to make material changes.

PS---The Global Material Changer script still didn't work on the 3DS file. Instead it caused a lockup & shut-down. Maybe even the reduced total file size is just too big for my system. 4MB of physical memory (plus 256MB of graphics card memory) should be enough for most SU models. But I noticed that my Task Manager showed almost no Virtual Memory in use, even when the CPU was maxed-out. The system Page File is set for Windows to automatically adjust to memory demands. But it doesn't seem to be taking much of the load off the physical memory.

9bef6e189c33c5340eb2a0870f724701.jpg

Hello there ^^
Newbie here and rescue needed 😢 😢 😢

Does anyone ever create snail shell in sketchup as attached ?

I need to adjust the size of the head (for the speaker) of shell and keep the snail shell body in that size..
but i dunno how to do it (especially when i import the file from STL it become small pieces)..

or i need create the new one.. ? 😢 😢 (hope not) 😢 😢

If somebody here ever adjust it, kindly share how to do it.. 😞

Many thanks,
T

Snail shell.skp

@dave r said:

Is there any chance you could upload the SKP file with the imported DXF?

I gave up on the idea of directly projecting the DXF lines, and instead used the Circle tool to match the curves. Even the SU curves were difficult to work with. After I clipped off the part of an ellipse I wanted, I found that sometimes the Selection tool finds individual edges, and other times it finds the whole curve. What's up with that?

Anyway I'm past the imported curve hurdle, but now I'm having difficulty skinning the curves. The SU drawing file is linked in the Curviloft post dated 12/15/10. The original imported lines are on the None layer.

You have to have the lines on the the surface so that you have a smaller area to paint with the logo. There are a number of ways to draw the lines on the surface. You could draw a rectangle and use Push/Pull to push it through the curved surface and then use Intersect to place lines on the surface. You could use Tools on Surface or just draw the lines by hand.

Since the surface is curved, you won't be able to position the material using the pins or the other position adjustment tools.

Cool! Thanks TIG.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5123/5200775567_16187f31b0.jpg

Well, PS can be good then (you can also export the image this way from LO for PostProcess)

@gaieus said:

There should be a layer manager. Try Window > Preferences > Workspace and reset your workspace there.

Ah yes! That did it. Thanks.

Well, how would I know that?!
😄

Was there anything you imported by any chance?

It would be plagiarism as I have read something similar before.
😉

@unknownuser said:

Any reason why you're still using v6?

Jeff

Thanks for the nudge. Due to recessionary cash-flow cessation I was trying to get by with SU6, since I don't use it often. But I was having so many challenges, your question caused me to throw caution to the wind and take the plunge. If I drown in debt, it's all your fault. 😉

SU8 does seem to be somewhat faster, but I just had another Select-Tool-fail event. SU is not autosaving in the background, and the CPU is not busy. It acts like the selection "call" gets stuck in a traffic jam from SU to the OS. Eventually, the jam clears, and the intended selection is highlighted or deselected. Other tools work OK, and I can minimize the page. Other programs don't have this problem.

I'm just throwing this out to see if it's operator/hardware at fault, or some glitch in SU. For now, all I can do is find something else to work on until I get control of the clicker again.

I had given up on the idea of showing internal illumination of an LED-TV screen on the shaded side of the building. But I just discovered a glitch that looks like internal illumination. The first image is the normal image with two signboards. The second is what happened while I was playing with the UTC setting for time of day. The rendering would stop with everything dark except the screen facing the sun. Then after a few random clicks, it would render properly.

I don't have any idea what's going on here. But maybe someone can figure out how to take advantage of this anomaly to simulate internal lighting for an object in shade.

Normal View :

http://home.mindspring.com/~gnomon/LED%20signboard_in%20shadow.jpg

Glitch View :

http://home.mindspring.com/~gnomon/Dark%20wall_bright%20screen.jpg

You might have better luck with something like the fur plugin. It might take some playing around, but you might be able to get a good result.

After making the changes in the style in SU, make sure to update the style (there is a round arrow in the style dialog). Also, best is to use scenes for a LO export where the scenes are updated (after you update the style), too.

@escapeartist said:

Something I've had happen a couple of times where the select tool quits working is that there are actually 2 faces on the surface. There's no Z-fighting visible, so you can't tell there are coplanar surfaces there at all. Usually happens on complex surfaces that have been edited a lot when it happens to me. Anyway, turn on "view hidden geometry", get rid of a few edges on the surface you are working on (it will obviously disappear), and then rebuild it. See if that doesn't take care of it.

Coplanar surfaces may have something to do with the disabled Select tool. But my current problem, at this moment, is that I have a component selected, and I can't deselect it. I used it to Intersect With Context, then moved it away so I could select the outline left behind. But the component remains selected and highlighted no matter what else I do. I used Close Component in the right click menu, and it was deselected. But I still can't select anything else. Maybe I'm not holding my mouth right when I click????

After shut-down and restart, everything is back to normal. But I'd like to know what the hang-up is.

@anssi said:

One thing that might be worth a try would be to import the old file as a component in a new, clean file.

Anssi

Even after I found an earlier backup that was stable enough to work with, it also began locking up after a couple of hours. So I tried your suggestion, and made a component of the model, then imported it into a clean file. So far, knock on wood, it seems to be back to normal. Thanks for the tip.

Since I can't have Gray Edges unless all edges are By Material, maybe there's a way to force the white edges of white materials to receive shadows. Bright white profile lines on a shadowed surface just don't look right. Shadow Settings has an option for From Edges, but not for On Edges.

Does anyone know how to set white material edges to receive shadows?

http://home.mindspring.com/~gnomon/White%20profiles%20in%20shadow.jpg