Sorry I had this in the wrong Forum. Would have been nice to know it was moved though.

Anyways, I (sort of) fixed the problem for anyone else who has this same issue.

First I went through all my plugins and compared the numbers beside them. I did this by going right in my C > Programs ...> Sketchup folders. Then I compared those numbers to the numbers of the updated plugins posted in these forums.
Example:

Since none of those numbers matched, I decided to go through each of those plugin folders to see if what they had inside matched. Since they did, I removed all the lower numbered folders, and decided to remove ALL of the plugins by Fredo and start over fresh, with the latest ones.

However, that still wouldn't let me open Sketchup without it crashing. So, I removed all the folders I needed (Plugins, Components...etc) and placed those on my desktop.(Drag and drop)

I then uninstalled Sketchup and did a fresh install. I put all the plugins that I use from the plugins folder on my desktop into the new plugins folder I just installed. (Copy / Paste) and did the same with all the components I made and had in the (desktop) components folder.
I also checked all the other folders that I had to make sure nothing was missing.

Whoola! It worked! I was finally able to open Sketchup without a bugsplat. Only issue I have now is, I can't seem to find my toolbars that go to some of the plugins. I also don't see some of them listed under Plugins, tools, Window and View Toolbars menu.

I am wondering if, when I moved them to my desktop, if the .rs and other .r files that I now see in their respective folders, need to be taken out of the folder and just listed under the folders? I also can't load some of them, that I know are in there. So, I missed something somewhere.

Without having to reinstall all those plugins,(that actually still exist in my plugins folder) is there a step I missed? I don't want to mess things up any more than they are, and since I'm not a coder, I don't know what belongs inside the folder, and what should be outside of the folder. I know I copied my original folder contents exactly like they were, so I'm stumped. If I have to, I'll reinstall them, but I'm afraid I might not remove all of what needs to be removed properly.

Thanks for any help!

Hi there! This evening I updated the latest Fredo plugins that needed updating via the Sketchucation Plugin Store plugin within SU. Ever since then, whenever I open SU, I get a bugsplat.
This was the first time I updated anything using the plugin store. I always did it manually.

At first, just the toolbars were all wonky and wouldn't stay in the location that I put them, and saved. When I restored them,(using the "restore toolbar location" selection thing, the SU window restored down, (not minimized, but went to half size...you know, like if you click on that second button on the top right hand corner of a window. The double box icon) and when I restored it to full window mode, the toolbars went screwy again, so I restarted my PC. After I restarted my PC, is when it started crashing on startup.

I'm using SU 8 the free version, on Windows 7. (Not sure what all info you need.) My drivers are all updated.

This is the first time I've had a problem with SU that I couldn't resolve myself. I have sent the bug reports but sure would like to know what else I can do to fix this, if anyone has any ideas. I have a lot of projects I'm working on!

As far as permissions go, I am the only one who uses this PC so I turned that (UAC) off.

Not sure what other info you need from me to help figure this out, but if you let me know, I'd be more than happy to provide the info.

Thanks for any help!

EDIT to add: I also tried to restore SU to an earlier version: one week ago, and that didn't work either.

@thomthom said:

?

Didn't you download the file? I didn't want to keep it up as public as it is a WIP for a VW. Content creators will snatch any chance they can get to swipe a working mesh!

If you still wanted to see it, I can PM it to you?

Ok, here it is! Thanks thomthom!

Edit: removed the file now since it has been d/led. OG

@thomthom said:

Got a sample model of that #1 issue there?

Sure. How do I put it in here?

My wishlist is:

1). Preventing my textures from exploding along with the group (which happens to me on many occasions!) Not sure if it does this just on smoothed surfaces, but if that's the case, then I want it to stop! lol

2). To be able to export the animation scenes along with the mesh in collada (dae) data! Why is that not possible anyways? Is there a plugin for that? I've sampled RegularPolygons Keyframe Animation Plugin, and it works like a charm, but without being able to export that animation data to collada, it's pretty much useless to me. If we did have the ability to export that data, I'd buy this plugin in a heart beat!

3). I also agree that Sketchup needs some sort of UV mapping. I do use Dales SketchUV. It's a brilliant plugin and I love it, but it's not perfect. I still, sometimes, get some stretching / warping with it, and each and every face gets exported instead of just one unified "map", so instead of one map, I get a gazillion different "pieces" of the one texture. (did I explain that right? O.o)

4). For Trimble to realize that Sketchup isn't just for architects anymore!
(No offense intended to all you brilliant architects)
I have been using Sketchup since @last owned it for creating content for Virtual Worlds.
Ok, so maybe they don't have to do this one. I'll settle for the other 3!

If I could just see those 3 little, teeny weeny things implemented, I'd be one happy camper AND buy the latest version of Sketchup!

Jason, this must be a bit difficult for you to change on to another program. I feel for you. I think your boss is right though, to take that direction. Trimble bought Sketchup for a reason. I'm sure they wouldn't invest in a product and not apply its use to their product. But then again, I could be wrong. Logic tells me that they will use it for their purposes (whatever they may be as I don't know). My heart wishes they will just improve it and keep it alive for all of us.

I have a friend who is in the process of taking exams to be a Google Certified Sketchup Instructor. Does this have any merit anymore? Or did he just waste his time and money? I sure hope he didn't. That would be sad.

@michaelv said:

As for creating plugin for the VW crowd, I think it's a matter of use. It is hard to create a plugin for something one either doesn't need or doesn't understand(see the simplicity issue above). Some can create plugin on demand, and it happens. But I think each group of user has to organically refine its own set of tools.
Granted ruby is not as "simple" to use as one may wish. I wish there was a simplicity rule applied to programming languages too, it has been tried many times too (and there are scripting languages too), but it is just a very very complex task. Ruby is very much going in the right direction, and is already quite an achievement, that is why I'd wish that in SU it didn't become replaced by C (C++, Java, etc..) or other more "technical" languages, even if arguably they are more powerful (or more widely used by programmers). Now they still could be a secondary option for the most advanced programmers, to do the most powerful features. Again a design issue.

Sorry, I forgot to respond to this. You're right Michaelv. It is, and I didn't really expect the architectural programmers to make them. It was more a "wish" for me. Also why I wished those who had made plugins for the VW area would share them in here as I'm sure there are other VW creators in here besides me and Opal. Thanks for the excellent read!

@alan fraser said:

@unknownuser said:

@last had a free version. That was my first introduction to Sketchup.

Sorry to contradict, but @Last never had a free version. What they did have was an unlimited trial of the retail version that worked for 8 hours actual modelling time...same as the Pro version now. Susan ought to know...she'd been using SU for years by the time it was sold in 2006. In fact, like some others of us, she'd already started marketing content for SU a year or two prior to that date.

Don't be sorry. Thank you for the correction. It seemed free to me, since I was able to use it for so long. I got it before @last sold to Google. (obviously?) But I mostly tried to learn AutoCad, and was using an architectural program while I dabbled with getting to know Sketchup. I only know what I myself experience. And my apologies to Susan. Had I actually known her, I might have known that she (and you others) "ought" to know. It was just a simple comment I made with what little knowledge I had.

Anyone else?

@michaliszissiou said:

@unknownuser said:

Yes, I can use Blender, but Sketchup is much more user friendly.

From the point of a blender user, blender is the friendlier.
For instance, SU isn't that friendly to me, especially when having to deal with snapping options.
How can anyone compares these two apps? Blender is a huge application, containing almost any function you may like. Not just a modeler.
SU lacks of very important tools, like a decent UV editor. Neither some addons in SU are comparable with blender (artisan, UV editing etc)
On the other hand, blender does huge steps on the SU direction these days. It's the bmesh new builds. Learn about them.
To my good friends that develop these SU excellent addons: Learn python scripting.

And... we can still use SU and export to blender via TIG's excellent obj exporter. I'll keep saying it because it was a great help to me.

People are biased to what they like most.

I can say Sketchup is more user friendlier to me then Blender, because I tried them both.
For all the things you listed for Blender that makes it GREAT, doesn't make it easier, for me, to learn.

I have this same learning curve with the SU plugins I get free and buy. Which is why I take my time to learn each one, at a time.
This, in turn, makes learning Blender all that much more easy for me.

I didn't say I didn't LIKE Blender. I do. I use it when I need to. When there are no plugins made for Sketchup that will do the job I need done.

It doesn't help that my IQ went from a 136 to about a 72 due to a disability.

So, yes, Sketchup is much more user friendly. For me.

Edit to add: [from my prior post] I was hoping that more VW creators would join this forum because they have made plugins for SU that might be useful to some people here.