Thanks Dave & Box, this does the trick for me. I have used it to consolidate some plugin toolbars but with only the features I want/use (at least at this point).

Any more "tricks/tips" you guys have that will make me more productive?

@dave r said:

Look at Window>Preferences>Files and check the paths for Components and the other things there. I expect Components is probably pointing at your 2013 Components folder. You can change that and should if you'll be deleting SU2013.

Well, interesting to say the least. I had always thought that it was looking in the folders under the programs folder. I see that it is looking at the Users\Me\Documents for subfolders there for the appropriate topics (i.e. materials, styles, components, and etc.) so it was pulling from my Documents subfolder and that is why it found them. Now I need to go and rethink some things because I had a folder named components where I put thinks while I was still working on them. I just need to readjust my thinking a little and rename some working files. I do like this though.

Given that, I have another silly question (I know, I am full of them). When I created a style and dragged it to the "default styles folder" in the Styles pane, it is stored in that folder under the programs directory. So, if I want to create multiple styles and save them is a folder under Documents, how/where do they show up in the Styles pane (yes, I could go create one and see for myself but I thought I might as well ask)?

I guess, I need to spend a little more time exploring things like this instead of trying to get the work done for my client. JUST KIDDING!!

I used to teach some basic programming classes and all of this type of stuff was built into the courses. Yes, there are tutorials out there but a lot of these kind of things are not very well covered. This is why I keep posting most of my stuff through the Newbie forum. I do not feel that I have learned some basic things like this that will help me do a better job of "managing" the tool in addition to "using" the tool.

Please be patient with me. I have built a bunch of components for my client but when I went to 3D print them, I found out a bunch of very fundamental things that I had messed up (and the "experienced" person who proceeded me with this client had made a bunch of the same fundamental mistakes). Enough of the whining on my part, just keep educating me

@tig said:

Being an Admin is no guarantee of having FULL permissions to any folder.
By default Windows limits EVERYONES rights to ALL subfolders [and their contents] within the Program Files 'tree'.
You can change that by context-menu > Properties > Security > Edit and giving every entry listed FULL read.write permissions.
Typically you should do this for the Styles, Components and Materials folders... and Plugins [prior to v2014].
The MAC has been sorted for a while, but on PC these folder permission are slowly getting resolved - e.g. recent v2014 Plugins folder improvements - but so far it's not for all such solders...

I did go back and allow ALL USERS to have full control over those folder so it should not be a problem in the future.

One thing that I noticed with SU 2014 is that it recognized my personal components from the 2013 version. I still and going to copy my library over to 2014 though because I anticipate deleting 2013 at some point in the future (unless you and/or others think that is not wise for some reason).

As in my other posts, thanks for the feedback and advice.

@dave r said:

Any native toolbar.

I did do some more experimenting and yes I can change any of the native toolbars. I kind of wish I could also do the same thing with some of the plugin toolbars. There are a couple that I use a fair amount but only use some of the features of the plugin. I would like to be able to pick the features I use and drag them to my custom toolbar.

Maybe that was what I tried yesterday when I thought I could not edit a toolbar. Not sure now what I did but I WAS WRONG.

Over the past week in particular, I have picked up some very interesting and useful tips on this forum. This one plus the tips I picked up related to reversed faces will help me move forward far more productively.

My background is not in engineering and I am not an artist so all feedback is appreciated even when I look foolish. Because of the lack of the type of background it appears that most people in this community have, I do no always comprehend the terminology used. It would be interesting if there was a dictionary or something along that line where people like myself could "learn the language". I have also found several instances where the user guide is not current of just not very useful when trying to find answers.

Again, thanks to you and many others who try to help the rest of us. Just remember though, that sometimes we do not have as extensive background as you do in this arena and that you may need to "bare with us" as we try to learn and expand our knowledge.

@dave r said:

You can edit your custom toolbars. Just open View>Toolbars and edit them. It sounds as if you didn't even try it and just decided it can't be done.

Excuse me but I sue thought I did. Does that mean I can edit ANY toolbar?

@dave r said:

Just a guess. I'll bet the permissions for the Styles folder aren't sufficient. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\SketchUp\SketchUp 2014 and right click on Styles. Choose Properties. Then click on the Security tab. Click on Edit. Select your user account in the top pane and set Full Control to Allow. Hit Apply then OK. Go back to SketchUp and try dragging the thumbnail from the In Model Pane to Defaults in the lower pane.

While you're in there, you might set permissions for Component and Materials, too.

My user ID is set up as the administrator.

Hope you cannot see the big red glow.........I think I may have been dragging from the wrong place (and I DO know better). I was dragging from the top thumbnail (clear at the top of the Styles pane).

I am glad many of you are patient. It is not like I have never used a computer before. This was just REALLY STUPID on my part.

@agrazdi said:

Now that you are reseting your work area, i would suggest to create your own paths to templates, scrapbooks and patterns under LayOut Preferences.

Thanks for the tip.........

[quote="Box"]Ok, a simple one, remember to use ctrl to make a copy of the buttons when you drag them otherwise you take them off the original. That isn't a big deal to fix though, just use the reset button for the individual toolbars to restore the default buttons if needed.

Very Good.........Was nice and easy to do. Just wish you could edit it (like go add another item to my custom toolbar).

@box said:

Click the 'New' button, give it a name and click ok. this gives you a tiny toolbar, now holding down ctrl click and drag the tools you want from other toolbars to your new one.

I can make a video if this isn't clear.

Thanks, I will give it a try but others might enjoy it since the documentation is not correct (not the first time the documentation was not accurate or complete). That is one of the reasons I like this forum.

@box said:

But there is nothing to stop you making your own custom toolbar with all the same buttons, or whichever you choose and putting it up there.

I was going to do that but did not see how to do it. The documentation says View > Toolbars > Customize but I do not see the "customize" option.

Could someone share how to do it? There is onr toolbar I would like to customize and I would like to have but did not see how to do it.

@tig said:

@ntxdave said:

I have used the AUTOINSTALL 3 times now to add this plugin in SU 2014 and it does not show up anywhere that I can find. The installation process says it was installed successfully but I can not find it anywhere.

Am I doing something wrong or is there a problem using the plugin with 2014?
This Plugin was started 9 years ago, and in this form it is 6 years old.
I unpacked it, did some very simple editing, and it worked in v2014 just fine.
BUT Didier as the author must make these changes and republish...
I suspect he won't want to support this any further... because Trimble now have their own newer [better?] STL Import/Export plugin - it is available free from the EWH...
Why not try that ?
http://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/sketchup-stl

Yes, when I saw that the other one was not showing up, I did go install this one. The whole 3D thing is new to me

I have used the AUTOINSTALL 3 times now to add this plugin in SU 2014 and it does not show up anywhere that I can find. The installation process says it was installed successfully but I can not find it anywhere.

Am I doing something wrong or is there a problem using the plugin with 2014?

I have upgraded to SU 2014. I have been able to install all of the plugins I had in 2013 but I cannot get the Large Toolset to be anything except floating or in a vertical orientation. Is there a way to put the toolbar in a horizontal orientation at the top of the page like I had it in 2013?

I also notice that the plugin toolbars load slow compared to everything else. There is a few seconds delay. I did not see that with 2013.

@dave r said:

.... When you've made the changes you want, type a new name for the style and click on the little plus icon in the upper right part of the Styles window. This will create a new style for you. If you open the secondary pane of the window, the other plus icon not in the circle, you can set the secondary pane to maybe the Default styles library and drag the thumbnail from the top to the bottom. This will make that style available for future use.

I am setting things up in 2014 and I have created a default style that I want to use in my modeling but I am not able to drag the thumbnail from the top to the bottom. What the heck am I doing wrong?

@box said:

One of the first things to fix in the model is the highlighted section in the image, it is all loose geometry and therefore isn't a solid and can't work in 3D printing. There are other sections that are floating in mid air and parts that cut through other parts. And there are still some reversed faces on the mount of the motor.

Thank you for pointing these thins out. This is not one I drew (rather, one that I inherited but is the first one the client wanted to have printed).

I just got a quote from the company that said they could print it. It will be "At an overall size of approx. 8" x 6" x 5.3"".

I used the trick of setting the back face to a bright green and could no longer find any reversed faces. On another component, I have the challenge that part of the component is a "hollow" section that has another piece that fits up in it. Not sure how to handle that one

Maybe for the printing I am going to have to make some 2nd copies that are 100% solid and somewhat simplified for the printing process. I have also gotten feedback from the printer that the brushes need to be thicker because they might break. This is turning into quite a learning experience.

@dave r said:

What's the capacity of the 3D Printer? How big do you want the finished model?

As for cleaning it up, I looked it over and decided if I was tasked with that, I'd rather start from scratch and draw it correctly from the beginning.

Thanks for the feedback. We are using a 3rd party for the 3D printing so I do not know anything about the capacity. I was thinking something along the line of 1" or maybe 1/2" to the foot.

I will probably not start over. Just trying to find out what with wrong with the pieces that keep showing up as problems in the STL file (about 5 or 6 of them - support arms). I have checked them for solids and have cleaned up the reverse faces. For what we are doing, I do not understand what you see as being so bad. Yes, I did mess up the alignment after I fixed the solids problem with the rotating brush but in the models that are built using these components, they show up fine.

This is a part-time endeavor for me (I am retired) and to date, the client has been very pleased with the results. We just attended an export this past weekend where these components were used in some animations allowing the viewer to walk through an entire car wash.

@dave r said:

I expect you'll need to go through and clean up so all the bottom level components/groups are solid. If you're 3D printing this you probably can't print it all in one go so breaking it up into sub assemblies is a good idea.

I'm curious but are these big rotating brush assemblies supposed to be off center?
[attachment=0:2sjix9d0]<!-- ia0 -->2014-02-26_12-06-21.png<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:2sjix9d0]

No, they were not supposed to be off center. The part that is out of alignment was something that was not solid. I moved it and fixed that but did not get them realigned correctly.

I actually did not draw this one. It was done by my predecessor. This is the first component that the client wanted printed so I am trying to clean it up. Not going real well so far.

I do not understand why it cannot be printed as one unit.

Please bear with me through this as I am trying to learn from this one.

@pbacot said:

Dave C.

You probably aren't printing that whole machine in one shot? Maybe you should post the sketchup file of one solid object that you are having trouble with in STL.

I did post it in my previous post...........and yes, I am selecting the whole model when creating the STL file.

OK - I need some help/advise. I am attaching a SKP and a STL file for a component I am trying to get printed in 3D. I have used the Solid Inspector plugin and the Reverse Faces plugin (along with Dave R's trick of setting the back face to a green color - which I might say is a really neat trick) to inspect faces and make sure I have eliminated those two types of problems. However, when I view the STL file, it is still pointing out problem areas but I do not understand what is wrong with them.

I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction to solve these problems. I am going to have a bunch of models/components to review and want to understand this before I move on.

Mitter&WrapWashers_updated_4.skp

Looks like it is not letting me add the STL file

Dave R - You passed along some VERY good tips. I like the idea of the green back color as it is very obvious when you have the reversed face. I also like the tip of not applying any colors or materials until I am done drawing the model. This, coupled with the more obvious back color could be a great time saver in the long run.

@TIG - Some interesting information about the Ruby coding (I assume this is Ruby) but I am not doing any Ruby coding so hard to see how to apply any of the information.

I am going to download the plugin suggested and give it a try on my file. I am posting my .skp file as requested before so that you guys can give me more tips.

Now for some more "newbie" type questions:

1. How do I create and save my own styles (want to apply Dave R's suggestion)?
2. Since I am not an architect nor an artist, I sometimes struggle with this concept of drawing in 3D. I have downloaded plugins like Profile Builder and some others to help me when drawing things like structural beams and etc. I think the Push/Pull has lead to some of my problems (like changing the size of a cylinder with the Offset and the push/pull items a couple of you have mentioned. Now the question, what is the best method for people like myself to really learn to use the tool correctly?
3. I have a collection of around 100 components that have been built to be used in models. Does anyone have a good approach for going back through all of those components and cleaning up these problems? Yes - I am going to assume there is no alternative than to just go back and painfully clean up some probable messes.

This thread has been a real eye opener for me and I really appreciate the feedback that has occurred/is occurring.

Mitter&WrapWashers.skp