I'm working on a model of an accident that occurred at a gas station and it's coming out really well. But one problem, everywhere lines intersect is really bold and the lines themselves are a little fatter than I would like. This results in my whole model appearing "fuzzy" around the edges. The maddening thing is when I move the scene, these fat lines and intersections basically disappear and the model appears exactly as I would like it to all the time. As soon as I stop the movement though, they appear again making my model look quite sloppy. I don't want all of the lines to be hidden so that doesn't work for me.

Any suggestions? I can't post the model here, it's too big a file I think (I've included several items from the 3D warehouse to complete my scene).

Thanks in advance for any help.

I got it, thanks. I just worked backwards from your suggestion and re-grouped everthing and then double-clicked and painted individual surfaces. It's working now. THANKS!

I have exploded the figure so nothing is grouped. The back of a cube I made will NOT paint as well as a couple of other surfaces... I just don't understand.

I am trying to paint an object I have and several faces won't paint. If I hit the shift and do the whole thing at once the paint goes onto all faces. But I don't want to do that. I want to paint only certain faces and when I click on them absolutely nothing happens. It doesn't matter what paint material I use.

Any ideas why only certain faces of an object will fill in and not others?

Thanks!

As I'm still a beginner, take this for what it is worth. The biggest help for me was the Aidan Chopra series of videos on YouTube. I now also have the companion guide.."SketchUp for Dummies". He is very plain spoken and easy to understand and has lots of great tips. Just perfect for a complete newbie to 3D graphics like me!

Hope this helps!

Now that I am becoming a little more familiar with Sketchup (still quite the newbie, though) I thought I might try my hand at rendering a model. I've never worked with it before and am not even sure how it works but I have been doing a little research and think I have decided to download the Kerkythea renderer. I have found a site that gives me step by step instructions for downloading the program and also what ruby plug ins I'll need (not exactly sure what that is but I'll figure it out).

Anyways, wanted to know if anyone had any opinions about Kerythea. I'm wanting something to try without spending any money first so I can find out if I like it or can even figure it out! Is Kerkythea a user friendly program? Is is good for absolute beginners?

Any opinions and help are greatly appreciated! You guys always give me good advice. Thanks!

By George, I think I've done it!!!!! I need a few adjustments before I publish it here for you but I will try to have that done later today. It's not brain surgery...but I sure am proud of myself...lol. I'll let you know as soon as I have a decent animation to show.

Arrrgh! this is all making me feel like such an idiot!!!!! I have made the array but can not for the life of me figure out how to put the copies onto layers. I'm just not getting this. I've watched the video on youtube about layers and I don't seem to understand. I understand the concept of what to do, just not HOW. Am I making this too hard?

I'm such a visual person, I need someone to show me how to do this and then I can figure it out. Trying to do this from written instructions is just driving me crazy! Oh well, I'll keep trying and maybe I'll eventually figure this out.

LOL, thanks everyone. I will work on trying to animate my little wheel. And by EASY, I guess I meant something a newbie could understand and follow. I do understand that easy is a very relative term!

I know that you can do a simple animation, such as a wheel rotating on Sketchup. I have seen it done. I would like to take my model of a water wheel and attempt to make the wheel rotate around a center axis. I understand this has do with layering and making scenes but am not sure how to do that.

I've tried but can't get the layers to actually copy. As a beginner, a lot of the tutorials I have seen are a little over my head and was wondering if anyone had an EASY way of telling me how to correctly make the different layers and placing them into scenes.

Thanks for any help!

I'm very new at this too but I think all you need to do is to make your rectangle and then just type in your measurements such as 18', 12' for an 18x12 foot box or 18", 12" for an 18x12 inch box. As soon as you have dragged out a rectangle, just start typing, the measurements will automatically show up in the bottom right corner of your screen in a little box. You don't have to highlight it or anything. If you are making a circle, you can also type in the circumference that you want. Hope this helps.

Also, as a very new beginner, I have found several of the Video tutorials on YouTube very helpful...especially the ones by Aidan Chopra. He is very clear and easy to understand.

Good luck!

I was wondering why it was doing that. Guess that makes sense. Thanks!

Just realized that my first model had nothing on the underside of the roof...it was hollow! I filled in under the eaves and tried to add a little detail to look like a gutter around the roof using the follow me tool. I also added some shadows just to make it a little more appealing. Here's the updated model.

waterwheel.skp

Thanks. I've been working with the tutorials on YouTube and have ordered the "Sketchup for Dummies" book to help get me started. Hopefully it will be in a few days. People here have also been very helpful.

My second sketchup model...it's very simple, I basically wanted to see if I could make the wheel. Again, it's not perfect but I'm pretty happy with it for a first try on a wheel. Please let me know what you think. As a beginner to 3D and to sketchup, I'm kind of just fumbling my way along... I really enjoy the input. Thanks!

waterwheel.skp

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

(sketchup.google.com)

Here is the link to my model in 3D warehouse. Let me know what you think.. and be kind, it was my first ever model...lol.

wow! thanks! I'm not sure if I know what all of that means (lol) but I will definitely watch the tutorial. I will try to work on this over the weekend. You've been a great help! Thanks for your patience.

well, I got it to save in a skp file but it's too large to load right now. At least it can be viewed on 3D Warehouse!

Thanks for all of your help.

one more question...when I save it as an skp file it automatically saves it as .skp.kmz and open it in GE. How do I stop it from doing this?

Thanks so much!!!!

My first skethcup model.