@unknownuser said: Maybe some answers here ? I downloaded the trial and I am looking at the tutorials. Thanks for the response.

Mate I think it could be the case of all of the above! I think that how you present is based more on what you want to present and how. If the presentation is a page type, or more a web interface. Certainly LO has limits, and for client presentations other than fixed images it doesn't allow much by way of what you want to do! Sadly!

I'm still not sure there's an issue. I didn't see it at all when I tested it. Here's an example. I don't see any cropping of the image in the video (in the ZIP file) do you? [image: vFgZ_Swedishstool1.png] [image: UCtB_Swedishstool2.png] [image: n8FU_Swedishstool3.png] I set the viewport to 1280 x 720 and exported these images at screen size. Then I exported the video. Is it possible you're setting the window instead of the viewport to your video size? At least based on my results there's nothing that needs to be fixed by Trimble. Mp4 video from scenes

@unknownuser said: ntxdave, If I understand.....why not look at creating a.pdf "portfolio" It will require you to have Adobe Acrobat Pro (maybe you have already?) If you create your "slides" (pages) in LO and either export to .pdf or print to .pdf you can then convert the file to a .pdf portfolio that you can share wih your clients/etc. Backgrounds/colors/styles of the portfolio can be custom or just use stock templates. Upload a small .pdf file and I can quickly create a portfolio if you like. C I appreciate your reply (especially since it was the only one ) but this is not at all the direction I am looking to go. I did go take a look at Portfolio. I do not want a static file like a PDF. No animation of the objects on the presentation screen and no 3D objects. We already use PDF files for "static" information for our customers. I am looking for a PowerPoint/Keynote type of product that will allow me to insert SU (or other 3D modeling) models/components that can be displayed and manipulated during a presentation. I do not see PDF as a "real" presentation package in any sense. If I am wrong, I would be happy to be corrected/updated. Since I got no other responses, I am going to make an effort to go define how I would like to see enhanced in LayOut, or a new presentation product offering that would more fully exploit SU models. Part of my dilemma though is where to post it. I toying with the idea of putting together some UI suggestions for what I would like to see.

I've also struggled with this in the past but as Dave says using layers is a major help. I design kitchens so the wall are always 'in the way' but you need them for reference. I now set up scenes with different layers turned off for placing mouldings etc. such as a birds eye view with the ceiling layer turned off. I also use Profile Builder(Pro version) a lot as you can lock the the axes/direction as you place runs of moulding- easier than drawing lines and using follow me tool

The way you did it will work, but ONLY if there is just 1 instance of the component. Where there are component copies, and you try to redefine the exploded elements (of one copy) as a component again, using the same name, it will become a unique component, with the desired new t-nail view. The other copies will belong to the "original" comp. and will retain the old t-nail view.

@dave r said: With Mac there's a native option. With the PC there isn't but ThomThom's Export 2D With Alpha will do it if you export PNG files. JPGs don't support transparency. Thanks Dave - does EXACTLY what I want. This should be a standard part of SU (IMHO).

One way when you are working on individual components is to drag the edited component from the In Model window to the Collection window and it will overwrite the old version.

@ntxdave said: Well I "cleaned up" both of the SKP files and still have the same problem. It has to be something in the receiving file because I imported into a new file and it worked fine. The "consolidated" file is too big to post to here. It is 9.5Mb and the limit is 4Mb. Wish I could figure this out. For now I just use multiple files in my LayOut document which is OK but I can see in the future that I am going to be doing this many times. I will try to find a combination that fails and is small enough for me to post here. I appreciate the education everyone has given me. How does everyone learn all of this stuff? Well, I have figured out which file is causing the problem but now I have to try to figure out what is causing it. The "base file" (a top view of all of the equipment in the model). I can consolidate all of the other files without a problem. I purged the unused stuff from all of the files and even clicked on the "fix problems" button and no problems were found (in any of the four files I am trying to merge). Guess for now I will have to live with things the way they are

@ntxdave said: If I am brave enough, I will post some of this stuff when I am done (give you a good chuckle for the day). OK, here is what I wound up with. [image: 42hG_ntxdave_Coupler.PNG]

@ben ritter said: What about making the slab a semi-transparent material? I may try that but in some situations I cannot do that for other reasons.

Seems they are changinf the cupon product each day! (Today is for Shark etc...

And even eight years later the corner radius cannot be adjusted.

Some day.

Better yet: this http://www.amazon.com/XK-24-USB-Programmable-Keypad-Windows/dp/B003MB780E I've had the 60-key version directly from P. I. Engineering for a long time and you make your own macros or use your SU shortcuts. VERY handy. Also for use in any other program.

@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

@dave r said: Good luck getting it sorted. Not sure I "got it sorted" but my resolution was to add a scene that duplicated the one that is not showing up and all is fine for the client. As long as they are satisfied, so am I

I wonder if you've got a permissions issue with the parent folder of your components folder. You might look into that and make sure you have full permissions granted. The reversed faces thing is a fundamental concept in SketchUp. Faces have a front and a back face. The blue color is your current style's back face color. Select those faces, context click and choose Reverse faces to correct the orientation. [image: L2Tc_Screenshot-2_15_20146_47_27PM.png] What's with this weird bit at the ends of that long bar? Both ends show this misalignment.

@dave r said: Did you look under Preferences>Extensions to make sure the box for Round Corner is ticked? Did you look for its toolbar? How did you install it? Did you use the SCF Plugin Store to do that? All is working now.......

@ntxdave said: @box said: Not at all, you just need to add thickness or intesect it to remove the ZFighting, it is designed as 3D text. You will find Tig's Text Tags more useful for 2D text. They are also editable. http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=47399#p47399 I tried the intersect faces and it did not work well and the text was no longer editable. Does Tis's 2D text tag allow you to "tie" it to a face so that if I rotate the object (say box) the text rotates with it or does it behave like the standard 2D text which stays in place no matter how I rotate the model or object? Thanks - I just downloaded Tig's tool and I can make it work exactly the way I want for the text I am adding to my models much easier that the other tools. Now I need to understand how to use the rest of his 2D tool set.