Hi Fredo,

Thanks again for the awesome plugin (as usual). I was wondering if you (or anybody else) could have a look at this topo to see where I've gone wrong with it. We graded this in the office, and the whole thing is working great except for the rear portion, where there is a bit of a sheer cliff. I wanted to see if you have any thoughts on how I could approach this area on TopoShaper, or whether there's a better way to use it, or if there's something wrong with the terrain itself.

Thanks!

Matt

Topo Master_For Fredo.skp

Hey Renderiza, great plugin so far, I'm excited to see what you come up with next!

Just wanted to give you a head's up that there's a little typo (components is misspelled) that shows up in the Status bar when you hover over the Canvas Icon.

These are some pretty amazing tools!

I'm getting an error that I'm not sure is just me. Once I start the process of Voxelizing a model, if I don't choose the voxel size first, and then the group, I get locked into a pop-up dialog that won't go away. It simply warns me how many copies of the voxel there will be, and there is no way to exit aside from killing SketchUp in the task manager.

Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong? Thanks!

Matt

I've been fiddling with it since it came out, and while I understand there's not really new features, I'm excited about some of the UI and core program changes. It's been discussed in the developer forums more, but I think it's really commendable that they're turned attention to setting up a full C SDK, and that they've taken the time to make the UI work as it should. True, they're not new features, but I think they're important infrastructural changes that signify the degree of polish and usability to which Trimble intends to release with SketchUp in the future.

It may not have any new features, but in both starting up, quitting, and heavy modeling, it's stupidly fast and stable for me. As I said before, the UI changes are really starting to feel as if the whole package is beginning the transition to a much more tightly put together package.

Just my $0.02.

Hi Didier,

I'm getting this error when trying to add CompoSpray to my plugins library that's hosted on my company's network drives (utilizing Fredo6's 000_Additional_Folders script). Any suggestions on how I can fix it so I can avoid the error, and still deploy the plugin network wide?

I'm trying to learn Ruby for SketchUp, so let me know if my assumption is correct. The error is resulting from CompoSpray being directed to look at C:...Plugins for the language file instead of the location that Additional Folders is redirecting it to, correct?

Thanks!

Hi Didier, Great job as usual! I'm just starting to use this plugin, and it's quite powerful so far. I was curious if there's any way to map keyboard shortcuts to step back and forth through the layer states that I've set up?

I have Shift Left + Right to step through scenes, and I thought this would go hand in hand to create a seriously powerful workflow.

Thanks again!

Absolutely astounding work as always sir. A donation will be on it's way soon

Hi Unigami!

I've been teaching a SketchUp for Architects/Students since 2008 at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA, and am in discussions with Cal Poly Pomona at the moment.

I'd say my overall experience has been absolutely incredible. For me, it's been great helping students and Architects go from being able to get by in the program to being proficient. Most of the videos out there teach a lot of basics, but I find it's the real nitty gritty stuff that ends up helping the most. This of course, depends on the student. Some people like those details, some couldn't care less.

I will say this: If you're in it for the money, there's better ways to go. Freelance model building/rendering pays much better if you can find the right clients, at least in my experience. It is, however, pretty satisfying to teach. It's also a great networking opportunity. I've gotten in touch with more Orange County Architects through teaching than I ever did through school or work.

I haven't needed permission from Trimble to teach SketchUp yet,and I don't expect to. I would think the only area to get into trouble is if you're touted as being a "Certified/Authorized Training Center" through Google/Trimble (or however that works now). I wanted to do that, but the cost is rather high for one person.

Let me know if you have any more questions. I'd be happy to discuss it further with you

Matt

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the help so far. I'm going through and writing out a series of steps I need to take, so as to get the basics down first and not bite off more than I can chew (at least not more than I have already) So I've got this question for you. Would it be faster and smarter performance-wise to create the Spot Elevation Marker Component "on the fly" as it were, in the script itself, or to include a folder with the script and have it simply import pre-made Spot Elevation Marker Components?

I figure the latter might be nice because, theoretically, I could add different types of markers in the future without having to constantly re-vamp the code every time. I don't know if this is a smart way to go though, as I don't know enough yet

Thanks!

PS - Any refernces you guys have as to the Dynamic Components API? I haven't really found a lot yet on adding DC functionality through ruby, but then I probably haven't searched enough yet. I'll likely find it as soon as I submit this comment.

Thanks Dan! I've been fiddling with DC's for a little bit, and I see what you mean. Already I can get a DC that will update it's Z-height when moved. The next bit will be, as you said, searching and updating all the text within each marker. Thanks for the kick start...I'm sure I'll have more questions

This looks amazing Rich! Great work! Willing to Beta test if you guys need

@dan rathbun said:

So IMHO your plugin would be much easier.. if some of the issues with the API that we have already logged, were to be fixed.

Hi Dan! Thanks for your input. Let me ask you this based on your knowledge of the API. Do you think this is a decent project to move forward with given the lack of extended documentation in the API and my relative lack of experience? Or would you recommend a different project (perhaps a simpler script), at least until the API is updated?

As I've said before, I'm all up for a challenge, but giving myself an insurmountably difficult task due to lacking API references sounds more like and exercise in frustration.

@erkan said:

I see, so can you share what your plans are? From the sound of it I can't help dreaming a plugin that will create an object in the SU to dynamically output the difference to the -+0.00 level.

Some questions around that would be;
1- Do you want to attach this to an object that will be manually placed, moved or to a specific surface (i.e. floor, paving, deck) and it will be automatically updated?
2- Styles for the markers to be customizable?
3- To be graphically handled differently in elevation and plan view.
4- Interaction with the section planes (i.e. how close it could get to a section plane?)
5- Match the drawing units or have it's own unit controls (It is quite common to use Meters for elevation markers in a drawing where the other dimensions are millimeters)
6- I think it will be wonderful to extend the capability to mark slopes in plan and elevation as well.

Whew it looks like you'll have a challenging task starting

Good luck,
erkan

Hi Erkan,

What you are describing is very much what I hope to achieve (someday). I've included a PDF "plan" of what I would like to do so far. But to answer your specific questions:

1. At least in it's first iteration, I'd like the plugin to be able to read the z height of any given point (when clicked on, and create a marker that is dynamically linked to said height. (Ideally keeping track of the height as you modify terrain).1. I would like to build in several graphic styles or options for the markers, as you suggested 1. Different handling of views would be good (IE visible in both elevation, plan, perspective, etc. 1. This one's interesting, I hadn't even thought about the interaction with section planes. I'd love any suggestion you have here. 1. I think the individual or special unit control/readout would be a great idea, as you said. It would be a pain if working in mm to have the markers read in mm for a Master Plan or some such project. 1. Slope marking would be another great addition to the list that I hadn't even thought of.

Thanks for the input. I guess my first question for those of you familiar with Ruby is where to begin?

I wanted to build a fairly complete road map of the project before starting, so that I can at least try to minimize how much I have to go back and rebuild for new features. That being said, I know that it's going to be a very challenging task. For me though, I usually learn better through bigger challenges.

I'm thinking the best place for me to start is to knock out most of my "road map", then start building the individual modules to piece together as I go. The first one I'll probably try to tackle is just the task of creating a Spot Elevation Marker in 1 graphic style wherever I click. That'll probably be a heck of a challenge for now.

Again, I'm super new to this, so if there's significant flaws in the logic of this or how I'm going about it, let me know.

Thanks again,

Matt

Spot Elevation Markers Script - Development Map.pdf

@sdmitch said:

GB_Spot_Elev.rb in missing an end statement for the unless statement.

Thanks! I'll make myself a note of that to put in.

@erkan said:

Hi Matt,

It sounds like a neat idea for a plugin, unfortunately I'm getting the below error on load;
"Error Loading File GB_Spot_Elev_Loader.rb
C:/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/GB_Spot_Elev_Loader.rb:34: syntax error, unexpected kEND, expecting $end"

cheers
erkan

Hi Erkan, I went back and updated my description for the plugin. Since I'm extremely new to this, I'm looking more for advice and feedback on the idea and how best to go about writing the plugin than I am testing at the moment. The plugin doesn't work at the moment, and likely won't for a while. I wouldn't recommend loading it or using it in SketchUp yet; it just isn't there yet.

Ok gents, I forgot to publish the branch. It should be good to view now. Thanks!

Hmm, alright then, looks like I have some investigating to do.

THIS PLUGIN IS NOT READY FOR DISTRIBUTION OR USE. THIS POST IS FOR ADVICE FROM DEVELOPERS

Hello Developer Gurus,

I've been a SketchUp user for probably 7 years now, but I'm finally trying to get into learning Ruby. I've been digging in and learning as much as I can from various resources (Lynda.com, The Pragmatic Programmer, Codecademy, Code School, etc.), but I figure that the best way there is for me to learn is the hard way: jumping in and writing (and re-writing * 1000).

So, that being said, I'd love to have you guys tear into my project and tell me what you think. Thus far, it's only at the conceptual & planning stage. I know it'll be a long road, but I really want to learn what I'm doing, and I figured this would be a great resource. I'll openly admit I don't know much , so whatever you gents would have to say is welcome (related to the ruby code itself, good practices, Git stuff, or anything else you feel I need to know).

I've included a link to my GitHub project page, so you're welcome to have at it! It's currently not so great, but hopefully with some time, it'll get there.

https://github.com/mattgordon320/Spot-Elevation-Marker.git

Just to make it clear, this plugin is not ready for use. It's only in the early planning stages. My request is that Devs have a look and give whatever helpful feedback they see fit. It's FAR from being functional.

Thanks Guys!

This is still an issue with my install of SU8 MR5

Thanks TIG! Great tool!