I never took notice of the 'free version' part...too quick to reply. Only pro version can export...sorry.

Hi Gil Great presentaion and ideas of what is achievable. Loved the building. What a place to live thanks for sharing Alan

THANKS! I was going about it the wrong way. P: mensa180

I took a look at the file last night and did not see any glitches.

Hi Everyone, I'd love to post our lab, however we're still in a stage of patenting parts of the process so I think the best thing would be to first remove the equipment I've put into the lab before posting the lab itself. I'll get to that sometime this week while at work. Tom PS: "atoddb", you're SO close to figuring out the 'code'! P: atomb

whosamama, One important point: you shouldn't click into the VCB box to enter you values! Just as Dylan said, after starting your first endpoint with a ractangle for instance, release the cursor, start typing and hit Enter. For some European computers however you need to type a semicolon (;) instead of a comma (,) to separate the values. The units are not necessarily needed if you have set them in the template you are using. To learn more about the correct (and extensive) use of the VCB, see the Usres Guide - especially at the en of each section it tell you tips&tricks about the VCB: http://download.sketchup.com/sketchuphelp/gsu6_win/gsuwin.html Have fun (and yes; welcome here, too! )

Bert, that's what we are all here for; learning and sharing... I have learnt a lot from this or the "old" and even the "Freee GGroups" forums...

Thanks a bunch! P: Fidly

Well, Ryan, Nothing is easier than that, have a look at the SU Guide here: http://download.sketchup.com/sketchuphelp/gsu6_win/Content/I-Construction_Tools/ConTool-SectionPlane.htm Also, I'd warmly suggest to go through every pages of it: http://download.sketchup.com/sketchuphelp/gsu6_win/gsuwin.html I'm still learning a lot from there. When I started SU, of course, I also just jumped into it but then I realised I needed a much more systematic way to learn it. Go along the pages with your SU open and try everything - it's worth! Have fun

We aim to please

Gotcha. Like I said, before I import any cad file I clean it up to a fault. I make everything a polyline and make sure all lines are zero elevation. I also delete any door and windows in the cad file. No need for them if you are using the cad information in SU. If you would like, post the cad file and I can play around with it. You might have to zip it as I am not sure if a .dwg will upload but a .zip will.

Hi Bill, hi folks. Move one of the points to which the dimension is attached. Just ideas.

Surely. Or 3DS Max or other programs. Just turn on hidden geometry to see that the mesh is really different from what you'd most probably create in SU.

Yes, basically these two sites. Most of the "free" scripts at Smustard (and many more) can be found on Didier's site (second in the list below) http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=6792#p6792 and as you can see, there are some more sites listed. That's about all you should start with. For landscaping, I could suggest you the following thread: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=6799#p6799 and an update: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=6787#p6787 It creates guide points (and then a mesh from them) from x/y/z coordinates of points simply as a text file as an imput (I myself use it a lot or "reconstructing" archaeological layers etc.).

Hi TxCelt - Csaba is correct. If you do not edit your group, anything that you draw will actually be on top of the group and not affect its surface planes. It's difficult at first to notice that you have a group selected when the geometric object is a rectangle, because the group (and component) bounding box is also a rectangular shaped cube. To illustrate this more clearly, create a circle, then use the Push/Pull tool to create a cylinder. Now make that a group (or component). You'll now see that the group object will have a rectangular bounding box when you select it. Now double click on this object and you'll see that you are now editing INSIDE the group. This is what you'll want to do with your plywood group objects. One other note: components are similar to groups, but have a more powerful feature. When you create a component, and then copy that component a number of times within you model, editing any one of the components will affect all of the other instances in the same way. This is very powerful if you are modifying a number of repeating objects because you don't have to edit each one individually. If however, you would like to edit a component and not affect the other instances, you can right-click on the component and select "Make Unique". This will break the link to the other instances and allow you to edit it without causing the others to change. I hope you find this information useful, and you share with us your successes and questions as you go! And thanks for using SketchUp, we hope you enjoy it!! Cheers, CraigD

Tom, you did not miss anything. Now that the move has taken place, a solution is in the works that will make use of the SAS; Kelly's server.

Bolter, The hint is in the SU User's Guide: here (go down to "Folding Along an Axis of Rotation"): http://download.sketchup.com/sketchuphe ... Rotate.htm According to this method, you first place the cursos (and click) on any of a point that's on the axis of (the desired) rotation, Wiothout releasing the left button, you start dragging your cursor in the desired direction - of the rotation axis (let it be a "regular" x/y/z axis - when it changes the colour, as well - or any other line whith which you'll have some inference with) 3( Then releasing and choosing an appropriate point in the selected geometry to rotate - either by snapping it or entering precise values into the VCB. That's all - but if I were you, I'd experiment with these (new) tools a bit before applying them on "serious" models.

Or you can just use the Outliner to see all your components/nested components.

Gaius said . . . *In your last image there are two kinds of faces: white and blue. White means "front" or "outside" while blue is "back" or "inside". Make sure to have only white faces shown (and the blue ones inside the wall thickness). You can right click on a white face and choose "orient faces" from the context menu. However this tool does not always work properly. If so, you need to select the blue faces and right click again and choose "reverse faces".* That's my something new for today. I had noticed I was getting some blue surfaces, some white, and some grey. Figured the grey was shadows, but could figure what the blue was. Now I know. Thanks!!!

Ok, I found an OLD photo I like. My best are those with my tongue out or I'm snoring. Add twenty years and even more pounds, a lot less hair that's almost all grey now and it looks just like me. <cough> I'm a lifetime member of the fat club so no diet tips from me.