I have been trying to think how you could do this one... only way i could see it happening is by unfolding the surface, applying the regular component spray/shape and then re-folding the surface back up, if it were possible; you could then make any number of patterns across a 2D mesh or component spray across a 3D mesh - once it had been refolded, which would be a very nice ruby for mesh designs to be cut at certain points - and designing buildings like *the eden project's geodesic domes would become easy.

Am trying to get quads so I can use *Paracloud for applying components across a mesh in sketchup, though if I use triangles, I get less control over the application of these components. I could always use soap and skin plugin, and then free-form, but was just wondering if it was possible with TIGs tools, as the curves are more accurate.

Joe

hello TIG ! - I'm trying to make a double curved mesh with only square faces.

With 'extrusion by rails'; if more than 1 rail is used; erasing coplanar edges (in the post curve production) cannot make the faces square and do not delete coplanar edges.

Do you get this too? (sorry if this another noobie error with these tools)

Joe

Thanks TIG - Noobie error here --> <--

TIG - the other extrusion tools are awesome and i now use them as much as i can,

But the Extrusion by Rail by Face; just has never worked for me, i've included pictures for you to understand...

It always says i haven't selected the face and so wont extrude them across either rails or profiles (though as you can see, i defintly did select it),

I have a MAC pro with sketchup 7 - and on bootcamp in both MAC and PC worlds i get this trouble...

hey Gaieus,

I just had a look at the ghost plugin and it will definitely come in handy to reducing larger models, i do feel like this has solved some of my qualms,

Thanks

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the forums, but not to Sketchup. I have many of the Ruby script plugins and do realize the strength of Sketchup as a tool,

I am an Architect by trade and mainly use Sketchup to model up Architectural concepts and Final renders (i have included a bit-mapped image of a previous project - Sketchup with Artlantis). I have both Sketchup 7 (latest) on Mac and PC and use both as much as the other. I have also used various internal/external rendering engines such as Vray/3dsmax/Artlantis/Twilight/Cinema4d/Maxwell Render and of course i do post-processing in Photoshop.

But one thing i've always wanted when doing rendered views... is the ability to lower model capacity (as i've had so many troubles exporting models on the edge of being too big, models slow down too much as i keep pasting in extra parts to the models, or large models freezing or pausing indefinitely).

So like the ability in photoshop... to flatten visible:

1. • to remove all objects/edges/lines/faces that are not visible (i.e behind the visible faces)
2. • or a button that rebuilds (in the same materials+ planes) the outer skin of several objects that protrude over 1 another/lie next to one another and then makes this a new group.

• ( this could possibly even save to a new SKP file, so as not to clog the already massive Sketchup file being worked in), this would then allow the New group to be Referenced back into the model if the original groups are deleted and the original file purged.
  -this referencing action could be a separate ruby for any complicated process in which people know their file will crash or have trouble (where they would normally have cut into a new file to paste back in).
  2b - this could also have a simplify function (lower polygons, or set edges/selected edges to axis's)

I hope you lot find these ideas helpful, as they are Sketchup problems i have had to achieve manually or rebuild from scratch... hopefully it will be possible to have process models in an easier state to work with, rather than simply having to redraw everything again and again.

Thank you guys for your great work,

Joe