I am having serious issues with Skethcup crashing. Last night I had a total of 23 crashes. Of all versions of Sketchup, version 8 is by far the most buggy. I can do some of the same things in an older version and no crashes... My crashes usually occur while using Sketchy Physics. It gets extremely frustrating while in the middle of making a model and BAM!!! Crash!

I make very complex Sketchy Physics models using all kinds of joints and literaly hundreds of grouped objects. I do understand that having such complex models broadens the way for more and more crashes and more often. But as I said I have made similar models in older versions of Sketchup and Physics with little to no crashes.

I need help making the pistons move back and forth of the model in the pictures below. I have done everything the way it should be done but the technical level of this model has me at a stand point. I am altering one of my previous models which uses oscillating motion and I'm turning it into a radial piston. However, the technical level comes into play where the hinge at the very bottom center (hinge 1) of the stack is just a hinge and the next 2 hinges up on the left (hinge 2) and right (hinge 3) of the center hinge are motors that are attached to the 2 arms (arms 1 & 2) and when the motors spin it creates a force which causes to center hinge (hinge 1) to rotate. The problem I'm having is I can't get the pistons to move back and forth like they are supposed to. I have all my hinges and sliders in the right places. I convex hulled everything individually and grouped them including the hinges correctly. Here is the link to the model I'm trying to get to work. http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=1926f8a59404c40d8511f64868e7c781 If you fix it please do not upload to the 3d warehouse. Please send to me in a .zip file. Thank you.

P.S. If you need additional information please contact me at jeremyryan45@yahoo.com

I was wondering how I use the thruster and emiter properties in the UI menu. Any help would be great. Thanks!

Thanks modelhead and Gaieus. That helps a lot. Kudos!

There really is no purpose of the lines in the hinges. It basically tells you the axes on which the hinges are aligned too. And try using a ball joint or a universal joint to create the shoulder movements instead of 2 hinges

Thanks Gaieus. That's a good idea. However I feel like this post is getting off topic. I still need to know how to create low-poly renders.

For some reason when I make odds and ends; things I think might be useful in other models I make, I can't find them when I make them into components. I can find the In-model components. I can't find them when I start a new model.

I made a construction zone set called DEconstruction Zone http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=44c961a868603d078511f64868e7c781 and so far I have two good reviews. In one of the reviews I was asked to make a low-poly version. Not to sound to noobish but, how do I make a low-poly version? And can I just convert my original model into a low-poly version without redoing the whole thing? Not that I have a problem doing so because I love Sketchup.

Awesome! Thanks Phy. It works perfect.

When I was trying to learn how to use Sketchy Physics I looked for tutorials on You Tube. You can also look though the 3D Warehouse. Some tutorials are more helpful than others. But the useful and helpful ones are far and few in between.

Basically what I'm trying to figure out is how to make a servo spin back and forth from clockwise to counter clockwise (or vise versa)from zero degrees (being the start point)to 90 degrees (being the end point)automatically without having to manually control it. (Example of manual control to auto: Make a hinge into a motor by altering the properties in the UI console.) Any help would be great. Thanks!