Images cannot be exported to CAD (well they can, but they won't be valid to acquire dimensions from).

However I don't really know if Sketchup would be faster to export the images, than Layout would be at regenerating them, so the trade off might not be worth the trouble.

I agree with you medeek. But Sketchup needs some (a lot of) finetuning. Especially in Layout and Sketchup's integration in Standard workflows.

Sketchup is easy in modelling, not as such in technical presentations. We are capable of creating them, but we are not fast.

So producing what matters is where Sketchup shines, the final product, is not easy to achieve.

It's this gap that plugins cannot overcome and Trimble hasn't yet been able to deal with. It will get there I believe and when it does, then Sketchup will be a true leader, and it will coincide with your plugins maturity so I think you're in the right track.

I also use Save As/Reload and it's also much faster for me, but also less troublesome as it requires a single right-click reload.

Also I can keep working with colleagues on separate parts of projects and sync within computers with sync/backup software.

You might have something there that gets particularly slow. Do you have high definition textures?

EDIT: Edit in place is a great tip. I used another one that doesn't work on 2019 anymore, but the function was the same. Thanks!

Sketchucation is less active not only because of plugins, but because Sketchup forums work nicely and are official.

Before you had Sketchucation as the best source of info and plugins. I learnt everything here and it seemed everyone that mattered was here too. Now it's no longer the case.

I think this site could also get a bit more modernized. Forums are different these days, but the content around here is huge and people still follow it, so it shouldn't die.

EDIT: At the bottom of the page there's a BlendUp banner. It has been discontinued. I owned it and I can't use it anymore on recent Sketchup versions. You click the links there and it seems dead.
I understand why, but it saddens me a bit that Sketchucation is a bit in decay.

@fredo6 said:

@rv1974 said:

Do you have plans to add a flatten (skp) generation from selected parts?

That's my plan to produce FaceMe component, but not sure this is useful as I never saw a user request for that.

Would a flat generation of Sketchup parts be easy to develop?

That would be a tremendous thing for Layout.

Layout doesn't handle complex Sketchup 3D models fast. But it's incredibly fast at 2D objects.

If, somehow, your plugin could batch export a set of scenes for 2D skp files, and if those files would then be inserted in Layout, Layout would be a breeze to work in.

To regenerate those 2D exports and layouts we would simply re-export a batch of the 2D skp files.

I know it sounds convuluted, but it would be easy on a lot of aspects in Layout from dimensioning to rendering and even could help in some complex presentations too.

That capsule is a great concept. You always have things covered! I will try this one, as well as portrait, in September, both hold much promise if used right.

Just came across this Fredo. Amazing stuff!

I'm on vacations so will be difficult for me to try it, but one question came to mind: what happens if I convert a component to a ghost and then purge the model. will the original component be purged?

After converting all groups to components, you can replace them all by a single one using component replacer plugin, also from thomthom

The method I have used before is to create several copies of the same texture and offset it by a given value each, and then piant each plank randomly. Not exactly what you asked for but...

The problem is that the component's UV for default material are difficult to control, so you should carefully place your axes inside them.

Classy!

@fredo6 said:

@jql said:

I'm used to have this layer turned on by default for a long long time. Layer's panel is a fundamental tool.

But the small bug can be fixed by in Layer Panels...

It's probably true, but Layer's Panel isn't being maintained anymore for a long time. Thomas (the autor) didn't have the time and open sourced it.

Even so, it's one of the most useful plugins to have around.

@fredo6 said:

@einstein said:

There's an error related to layers. Any time your plugins are used, there's a new layer created "LIBFREDO6_TEMP_LAYER", the geometry-to-remove is moved to that layer and it immediately gets turned off, probably due to another plugin that I use - LAYERS PANEL. As long as I remember to turn on this layer, everything goes fine and UNDO doesn't break anymore.

The bug/error is not related to any particular model or shape.

This seems definitely to be related the another plugin, jbb_layer_panels, which has an observer and does not cover cases when layers are deleted. Who is the author?

I use the TEMP layer to simply hide faces temporarily, but JPP (as FredoCorner) deletes the layer afterwards.

Fredo

I'm used to have this layer turned on by default for a long long time. Layer's panel is a fundamental tool.

Nice renders and incredible attitude. I remember KT's fast stary for architects.

You can overwrite the file inside the zip, for a v8 version. That should cover everyone.

@pixero said:

Would it be possible with some kind of Global on/off switch so we can keep SU light and just turn it on before rendering?
Maybe even some code that render engines could use to have it render even without turning it on in SU view?

+1 For the Toogle

+1 For the Render engine only corners

The preview mode is much faster than generating geometry. Would it be possible to send it to a render engine like Thea instead of the sketchup geometry?

A bit like Skatter does.

Amazing work Fredo. It's really impressive how much you've put into it.

I always avoid using round corners just because of everything you've tried to circumvent with FredoCorner, so even if I'm already so used to avoid them I will definetely give this one a try.

Thanks for pushing the boundaries! (around corners)

PS: I hope this can open new paths to a lot of stuff being it at the core of Sketchup or only at plugin side of things… let's see what happens!

PS2: I'm not offering for a PT version because I'm out of time, but if you don't have someone else doing it and if you need it, then don't hesitate to ask and I will find the time.

It would be cool if they would have Sketchup scene support.

Thanks for the heads up

What a cool image hornox.

That rename components feature is great Gordon!

Here you go:

SketchUp Extension Warehouse

Your library of custom third-party extensions created to optimize your SketchUp workflow.

(extensions.sketchup.com)

Try tgis one it does what you want and more and it does it nicely. I use it sometimes when setting up my projects...

Are their release features in sync with blender?

Do they support the exact same features?

Intant depression seeing your image. I bet that was the intent. Nice work!