Antsvam—

I used to have the fear of Rubys too, but some ideas just don't fit into SketchUp as it comes from the factory. Once you start playing around with them you will never go back! Check out the Rubys forum, ask some questions or watch a tutorial on how to begin, then start to play. You will find your modeling skills increasing as your models start looking more and more amazing.

Try a great Ruby by our very own Fredo6— FredoScale. It scales in some ways that SU doesn't, and I find myself using both of them to get different effects, or to scale to dimensions in different ways. One of the effects in FredoScale is Box Twisting, where you rotate one end of an object and the whole thing twists evenly, instead of just the last line segment. You can find it, along with a thread that describes how to install it, in the Plugins page— use the link at the top of the Forum.

I used only that one plugin to model your lamp. If you follow the tabs in this SU file I explain my workflow. Note that some aspects are different than Damon's model— you can get a lot of different looks depending on the tools and process you use. The more you play, the easier it is to find the one that works best for you.

Jim

lamp_top2.skp

I have a couple problems.

Camera Jumping—

Often when I go from view edit mode the camera view jumps significantly, so I can no longer see the relevant part of the model if I see any at all.

Scale Selects Improperly—

Often when I set a scale in an orthogonal view the scale does not select the number I click on. It's not possible to set scale if the view is not orthogonal. I don't know if matters if it's in view edit mode or not when this happens, but I remember times when it was not.

Best,

Jim

I often model items (sculpture, furniture) in SU and print from LO, full size if possible. I print on 3' x 4' sheets, as that is the largest digital copy I can make at the local copy shop.

When I work with 36" w x 48" h paper I cannot shrink the image of the sheet small enough to see the whole thing at once. This makes it very difficult to lay out a page nicely, and quite inconvenient to adjust the different images on the sheet.

Could you change the limits on LayOut to allow more zooming?

Thanks,

Jim

I've set up scenes in SU showing front view and sections. When I move them to Layout they don't come through.

I even have them saved in SU as the proper view: The front view shows a full front view and the section vews show as sections. When I update references in LO, they are all sections.

I've opened the Styles Window to try to figure out what's going on. None of the styles show anything about section visibility. The styles change as I shift scenes and I don't seem to be able to change that by saving different styles in the scenes.

Any suggestions?

TIA,

Jim

MacBookPro 10.6.5, SU 8.0.3161, LO 3.0.3161

When you save a scene you can check off the aspects you wish to save in the extension panel of the Scenes Window. Until you try to save a section cut, when you have to play around with the Styles Windows. Why? The descriptions of styles don't include Sections, you have to guess whether or not section visibility is included. On the other hand, sections ARE included in the Scene Window, though checking it doesn't seem to do much.

I turn sections on and off by the menu when I want to see them in Sketchup. When I want to show them in my output I save them in a scene.

I don't change styles because the default works for my purposes, so I confess, I don't much use the Styles Window. I always thought of it as something you use to change the style of the output, not the content.

Best,

Jim

When you save a scene you can check off the aspects you wish to save in the extension panel of the Scenes Window. Until you try to save a section cut, when you have to play around with the Styles Windows. Why? The descriptions of styles don't include Sections, you have to guess whether or not section visibility is included. On the other hand, sections ARE included in the Scene Window, though checking it doesn't seem to do much.

I turn sections on and off by the menu when I want to see them in Sketchup. When I want to show them in my output I save them in a scene.

I don't change styles because the default works for my purposes, so I confess, I don't much use the Styles Window. I always thought of it as something you use to change the style of the output, not the content.

Best,

Jim

So what's different with SU 8 that the file system changed? Something to do with Solid Tools, perhaps?

Jim

The sense I have is that you are dealing with what Brodie says, you just don't realize it. The values SU gives are adjusted by where you place the spyglass.

I've run into this when filling in color on a model I've edited. I pick up a sample from a plane and drop it on the adjacent one. The color is noticably different. I assume that's because what's sampled has shading or tinting in it and when it's placed, even in the same plane, the shading is added again.

I don't know the mechanics of this but that's how it acts.

Best,

Jim

I'm working with some complex geometry and using Outer Shell to merge two groups. A lot of geometry remained inside. I'm attaching a file that shows what happened. Some is loose geometry and some might be other solids.

I expected Outer Shell, in fact all the solid tools, would yeild only another solid object or objects but this did not happen.

Best,

Jimbo

Using 10.6.5 on a MacBook Pro, with SU 8.0361.

Outer Shell Issue.skp

You must lead a charmed life, Jeff, it doesn't work for me. In this model, I tried it with rails at 1080° and also at 900° (essentially, in the same or opposite direction).. The second way worked better but it still flattens out.

Helix 2.skp

Ecuadoran—

Wile the answer to this and many other questions remain shrouded in the realms of mystery, you can select an object, Scale, start to move a control point, and then type in the percentage or size you want to end up with. If you are shooting 0.1% (or less, say 0.01), just grab a control point and move it a bit, then type in a number. Less than one shrinks, more than one expands, negatives make mirror images. If you add a unit of length afterwards, it scales that dimension to the number you typed, as in 1mm; 3.5"; .7m; 42'.

Best,

JIm

I'm trying to extrude a curve around a helix. I'd like it to be convex the whole way around. I tried TIG's EEby Rails and this is my result— the profile flattens and reverses as it wraps. I'd like it to remain normal to the rails.

Here is a test run with a 360° helix, diverging as it rises. In Method 1, I used the semicircle as both Profile and Melding Profile, then the two helii (sp?) as Rails. At 90° and 270° the profile flattens and at 180° it reverses.

In Method 2, I break the helix in half with a rightward semicircle at 180° and use this as my Melding Profile. It still flattens at 90°, which suggests that even if I break it further the profile will flatten somewhat.

Is there a trick I'm missing, or is there another tool that will give me what I want directly?

What I'm shooting for is a helix that wraps between 4 and 5 times, which is to say 1440-1800°. That's a lot of hand drawing— I could use a tool big time.

Thanks in advance,

Jim

Extrude Spiral.skp

hellnbak—

WIthout seeing the geometry I can't say, but I just had success with a similar issue when someone posted the technique for making edges invisible without erasing them:

—Find the inner edge that's bleeding through
—Open the group or component that contains it
—Select the Eraser tool
—While holding down the shift key, click on the line that bleeds through

You still see any color or texture, but without the hard line that ends it, and the inner color does not bleed through.

Best,

Jim

Here's a picture of my first attempt. I'm referring to the carved worm between the top and bottom turnings. The extra lines above and below them I left in for editing purposes.

Thanks in advance,

Jim

SU model of where I"m at nowI'm trying to model this twisted piece. First, it's a helix that increases then decreases in diameter. Second, the profile on the helix is a large convex curve joined to a smaller concave valley. The diameters of them increase and decrease with the overall diameter. I'm attaching a rendering of a badly drawn version.

I first modeled it with K tools, spiral around z axis. It came out misshapen and was very difficult and time consuming to fix. Now I'm working with Loxodrome ruby (for the initial helix on a sphere) modified by FredoScale to taper different sections. The real stumbling block has been EEby tools— I keep getting crashes after I extrude a circle by two parallel helical rails. I've reduced the circle to a square and reduced the length of the helixes and it's still no good, SU still crashes after computing faces but before displaying them.

I then tried Pipe Along Path, hoping with FredoScale I could section the helix and open it up to 20 or so smaller tapers. Looks like by that method I'd have to taper every section of the pipe (i.e. every facet of the helix), more like 150.

Can anyone suggest a faster or more appropriate way?

Thanks,

Jim

I'm turn in in a project to a CAD shop for fine tuning of model and prototype machining. In the course of revising some turnings, pieces were pulled way out of round— it's so easy to do with the Scale tool, in fact, so hard to keep circular. Not only can you type the percentages into the VCB, but it's incredibly easy to select Option (Command for PC) to scale around center, then hit Control to get the contextual menu that allows you to type in final dimensions by axis, and to understand which axis is which (an arcane SU skill I am nowhere near approaching— first red, last red, it's all so contextual!)

Fredo, thanks so much and so much again! I could have passed it off as is, but now I don't have to look like a dweeb to the CAD designer.

Jim

Often the scale goes one off of what I want— like if I'm going to 1':1" I get 1":1/2". Sometimes it's different but I don't know if it goes to 1/2" all the time, I'll have to take note. I am very careful not to miss the scale I'm shooting for.

When the view jumps it goes a bunch to the side and a bit vertical. Often the object is completely out of view so it's a bit hard to tell exactly what wentg on, but I'd say it's typical for the object to shift left 4-5x as much as it moves down [wish I could remember if there is a pattern to what views but its a mix of perspectives and front views as best as I recall]. Often it is accompanied by a shift to a smaller scale and I imagine the shrinking is part of it. Again, I'll have to take note of patterns.

It happens often enough that it's a real pain. Perhaps 10% of the time, perhaps more. Maybe half of the documents. Sometimes more than once on a view. I get things lined up and adjusted, then go out of it and bam, it's all gone.

Best,

Jim

These are edge lines, and if I try eraser + shift the whole group disappears.

JIm

Is there a way to hide lines?

Building my model I find it very convenient to work in sections, even though they will join seamlessly in the finished piece. I can smooth other lines easily but can't take out these joins even though they should not show. It would help if I could make these edges invisible without changing the faces they are attached to.

Even if it happened in layout it would be okay.

Thanks,

Jim

Dave,

Thanks so much for your clarifications and your PM explaining things. You answered a number of questions about process and workflow.

Putting all the geometry on the default layer (thank you TIG) solved my immediate problem. I'll work on the other issues in the next model.

Best,

Jim