@gaieus said:

Now with the new solid tools, if a group/component is really a solid, the entity info reports back an exact volume, too. That could be used to count weight in a way if you assign each group a specific gravity.

What I am saying, I guessit could be done (not as if I could write such a plugin)

I'm not a pro user but I don't think the solid tools are doing anything different than we free users are doing with groups and intersecting with model.

@maxius said:

One more question.... is there a plug in to calculate and assign weight values?

There's this volume calculator: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=3188&st=0&sk=t&sd=a but this isn't SketchUp's strong suit - it's not actually modeling solids but infinitely thin lines and surfaces.

@maxius said:

Thank you Martin!!! could you describe the steps u made to create that?
I tried to use the that tool but I was unable to get the results you got...

You click on the tool button then select the curve you want to extrude, then the two rails you want to use as paths to extrude along, then enter and click through various dialog windows and you should end up with what you need. I took the result, duplicated the group, flipped it and then aligned it with the first group to make a whole fuselage. Here's a video that demos the various extrude tools http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_jCQ-hGDz8 - unfortunately there's no commentary but it should give you an idea.

Have you tried the plugin extrude along rails? Here's what it came up with when I applied it to your model. Hope this helps.

Your model with skin created

@unknownuser said:

I loved this movie as a kid. I was about 14 or so when it came out. I did a space station in Architecture school that was inspired by this. A space station iiwth a green house dome but my rotated to make artificial gravity.

I think Pete did some models of the little robot drones. Huey, Duey and Louie.

edit
@unknownuser said:

Martin, I remember your Huey drone as well.
viewtopic.php?p=182719#p182719

Forgive me Martin.. . I need to give credit where credit is due

So tell me. . .you can admit it . . .did you call cry when Louie gets lost?

Awesome Model!!!

I can well-up just thinking about it. I was a massive Star Wars fan growing up in the industrial North of England in the late 70's and 80's and they used to play this movie on TV all the time after SW hit. I loved the Droids and ship but hated the superfluous Joan Baez numbers. You could also spot this ship, or bits of it, in the original Battlestar Galactica fleet. They even knew how to reuse components back then

@honoluludesktop said:

I remember that movie, Bruce Dern (sp?) wasn't it?

Yes - I even put a screencap from the movie of Bruce Dern into the window of the model - you can see it and him in the video: http://www.flickr.com/photos/martintaylor/5459329786/

@unknownuser said:

It was Bruce Dern.

Martin, I remember your Huey drone as well.
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=182719#p182719

That was me; can you tell this movie had a big effect of me as a child in the 70's? I used a lot of reference photos of the original 26' long model when building this model. Unfortunately they aren't that numerous or that detailed so I had to use some imagination too. Hopefully it captures the spirit of the ship even if all the greebies are correct.

I recently 'finished' this model that I began 18 months ago and then abandoned. You can find it in the 3D Warehouse here: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=846f837ba72374c7932c511df6d2aa45 I'd love to know what you think of it.

Here's a video: http://www.flickr.com/photos/martintaylor/5459329786/

Here are a few renders, some using Twilight, some native from SketchUp:

I've already heard from geodesic dome experts that the both greenhouse domes and the fuel cells at the rear aren't correct but I don't currently have the energy to go back and rework them.

Regards - Martin

@perk said:

Does anyone know where I could purchase real scale figures? I recently build a 3/32 scale model and I am in need of scale figures to place on it (people, trees, cars, etc.) I am not looking for realistic looking figures that you would find on train sets only representational ones.

Thanks in advance

3/32? Close to 1/10 or perhaps a mistype - 1/32 perhaps. Could you not use train set figures and use them in their raw plastic - I'm not sure how 'representational' (abstract) you need - you could plasticote railway figures (http://www.reynaulds.com/catalog/dept_358.aspx) and paint them a solid color or even get some Sketchup faceme figures printed and laser cut on card to mount in your model. Perhaps you have an image of the type of figures and other collateral you are wanting to emulate in this scale?

The lego accident is especially impressive - can't wait to see what you do next.

It's been rumored for so long, with so many release dates that I'm in the "I'll believe it when I see it" camp. Will Sketchup run on Chrome do you think?

This might work but I don't think Sketchup is really an uprez utility - try the open source SmillaEnlarger ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/imageenlarger/ ) instead - or if you're made of money, Genuine Fractals.
Regards - Martin

Google must have been listening - today it seems they've enabled a link in the 3D Warehouse from your models to see your profile. A step in the right direction me thinks? eg: http://www.google.com/profiles/TheOtherMartinTaylor#

Welcome Jos - you don't look like a beginner to me - as for your uploading problems, I had a couple too and was given some suggestions here that you might want to check out: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=21366

I prefer the one you can see through but the glass in most modern office buildings doesn't usually let you see through the building so perhaps non-transparent one is more accurate? Nice images BTW.
Regards - Martin

I know it's a dry subject but working as a programmer I know the importance of file organization and version control software. As such I've written a introduction to file organization and version/source control as it works for me in my personal SU work:

• File Organization & Version Control [part 1]: Introduction
• File Organization & Version Control [part 2]: File Locations
• File Organization & Version Control [part 3]: What is Version Control?
• File Organization & Version Control [part 4]: Installing and Setting Up TortoiseSVN
• File Organization & Version Control [part 5]: Daily Use

I hope this is useful to someone else - I am interested to hear what version control systems others are using - also, for a future tutorial, what asset management systems are people using?
Regards - Martin

Thanks for the comments and suggestions - I put the rendering aside as I got sucked in to modelling the Spaceship "Valley Forge" from the same movie. I'm about half way done so give me a week or two and I'll have something to share in the warehouse other than just one of the biosphere domes: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=be91d70e92b87ddab573489cede05c27

I loved the movie as a kid but probably more for the props and special effects than anything else. I bought and watched it again a year or two ago and it does seem a little dated and heavy handed - ripe for a remake?

Not being in a career that has anything to do with construction I had always wondered how these cranes got up there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB91Sm-kGJ8

The models look very 'sketchup' but I can't find any info on what the animation was created with - could this be Sketchup with SketchyPhysics?

• Martin

I run 64 Vista - I mainly got it to have PS run faster and I haven't been disappointed. I did have to replace a couple of older pieces of hardware though - a webcam and an audio interface - because drivers weren't available. I did keep my old XP machine around for that purpose too. It runs Sketchup and the Twilight render very effectively.