Hi, I plan to get a graphic card mainly for Sketchup 2015, Vray and photoshop and a little bit for 3ds Max+Vray use as well. I found a used /bargain Quadro FX4800 in my area, I'm aware that it's an old card already but If it can still get the job done, I don't mind getting one.
The usual Sketchup projects I do has 13M edges and 5M faces (from sketchup\model info\statistics).
Anyone still using this type of graphic card? How's the performance?

Thanks!

Hi everyone! my Boss' PC have this specs-
CPU: i7-4810MQ
Video: AMD Firepro M6100 2GB
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
and it crashes every time he moves from one scene to another even though the scene transition disabled already. Model is a big mixed-use complex, about 280 MB.
Could it be the graphics card? Anyone having similar issues with AMD Firepro?

Thanks!

@tig said:

@onzki said:

By the way TIG, I noticed that the list of existing layers won't allow me to scroll down to see more layers- is there a new version that can scroll along the list?
This is a known limitation of the UI.inputbox drop-down list.
However, it is not insurmountable...
To pick a layer-name that is off the end of the list...
Select the drop-down box so it highlights, immediately type in the start of the layer name [DO NOT press <enter>] - e.g. X
The listing now jumps to show perhaps " Xref-1"
If you want " Xref-3" press the down arrow key to page to it.
If you want " Wins" and are currently at " Xref-1" then use up arrow key presses to get to it...

Works like a charm! Thanks a lot!

@tig said:

I have something similar, running from the context-menu, although it allows you to specify a layer that is 'off', entering a new layer creates it OR you can choose from a drop-down list of all Layer-names.
I'll post it in the PluginStore and add a link...
EDIT:
Here's the link to its thread...
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=563979#p563979

By the way TIG, I noticed that the list of existing layers won't allow me to scroll down to see more layers- is there a new version that can scroll along the list?

@sdmitch said:

@onzki said:

No icon or shortcut needed. Simply place copy of the following code in the Plugins folder, restart Sketchup. Then right click on any entity and select "Send To New Layer"

[/code]

Another useful one, now I got not only 1 but two.. yours and TIG's, it's great! Thanks!

@tig said:

I have something similar, running from the context-menu, although it allows you to specify a layer that is 'off', entering a new layer creates it OR you can choose from a drop-down list of all Layer-names.
I'll post it in the PluginStore and add a link...
EDIT:
Here's the link to its thread...
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=563979#p563979

Oh, I never found this on search. It's perfectly what I'm looking for, the existing layer list is also a bonus for me. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks everyone for all your replies, I appreciate the help. I will check them out. Cheers!

Hi everyone, is there a way to assign new layer name quickly, like in two basic steps or mouse clicks?
Usage example:
Step 1: right click an object, sub menu appears,
Step 2: then choose "send to new layer"- and then you type in the new layer name, press enter.
This plugin as usual, will consequently have a one click icon/button or assignable with keyboard shortcut.

As comparison, presently, what I usually do is:
Step 1. open the native layers tab (I have shortcut key)
Step 2. click +
Step 3. Type the name
Step 4. Select object
Step 5. activate entity info (I have shortcut key)
Step 6. Choose the new layer name created from step 3

So that's it.. 2 steps vs. 6 steps.

Thanks a lot for looking at this. Cheers!

Thanks! will do..

Hi everyone,

Back in version 8, I have 2 plugins that successfully worked well.

1. Flatten- Just one command and it flattens the newly imported CAD plan.
2. Rename/Renumber scene- (scene_rename.rb) Very useful in keeping scenes in order, it sorts the numbering of scenes.

Unfortunately, I didn't find one that works with Sketchup 2015, Any suggestions?
Thanks!

@box said:

There is a simple workaround for this that people often miss.
Just draw a circle around your group of faces and extrude that.
Tiny bit of clean up and reversing of faces and away you go.

Haha.. I like this trick. I'll give it a try, I never thought about this technique before. Thanks for sharing

@tig said:

However, here is a code snippet that does it for you !
Tips:
Ensure that the faces to extrude have their 'backs' to the start of the path.
Ensure the path is NOT going to be 'consumed' by the extruded geometry, by placing it below the lowest face.
Pre-Select the path AND the faces, do NOT include any faces' edges.
Then copy/paste the code into the Ruby Console +<enter>

m=Sketchup.active_model; s=m.selection; m.start_operation('xf'); s.grep(Sketchup;;Face).each{|f| f.followme(s.grep(Sketchup;;Edge))}; m.commit_operation;
> 

All of the face FollowMe along the selected path in one go.

It is one step undo-able.

Thanks a lot, I'll give this a try.

Hi there, I saw that this thread was first started back in 2010.. any solutions to date? Just want to resurrect an old query. I appreciate your help, I find my self in need of such plugin because I'm doing a steel railing that has multiple shapes and if only a multi-face follow me exist, it'll be easier for my current task Thanks!

@kaas said:

@onzki said:

... How I tested: 1. I opened it (timer start), 2. Save as to a new file afterwards (timer starts).

To my Surprise, the results are almost identical, ...

I noticed that if I disable 'redefine thumbnail on save' in 'Model info - File' saving a file is a matter of (milli-)seconds on my SSD. If I don't disable it, saving a file takes up to 20 to 30 seconds.

wow, you're very observant to notice that small box I will give it a try, Thanks!

@numerobis said:

"Interesting test, i have to try this myself. "
"looking at your test and the numbers it seems that the problem or the slow part is not the storage hardware but the way sketchup is handling the data. "
"I will try it myself with SSD and network and post the result.

Thanks for the reply. I look forward seeing your results. I agree on your assessment about Sketchup's handling of data, maybe textures and polygons varies from one file to another, and probably Sketchup has a certain file size threshold we don't know how much, that slows it down when such peak is reached-I'm just throwing some wild speculation here Maybe time for Trimble to consider making 64bit as well, if it might help.

For the raid setup, most of forums I've read discourages my current setup of raid. Another way to find more is to try it myself- for my personal home PC that I am building, I will just plug the SSD and HDD directly to MOBO, no more raid setup. I will update this post with new results once I tested it in my home.

Cheers!

Hi everyone.. just want to hear your opinion and suggestion concerning my current SSD and HDD raid configuration. I am using a Dell T5600 workstation for my workplace (please see specs screenshot). It arrived pre-configured already from Dell and I never tweaked anything. It's been 2 years old and so far, it's running well.

Recently, I decided to do a little hard disk speed test (since I also plan to build my own personal PC with SSD+HDD). As shown in my specs, I have two storage drives. 1st- Intel SSD 250GB, used as main system and current projects drive, and the 2nd one is a 1TB as files archive drive.

CrystalDiskMark's data shows that my SSD is a clear winner.

But for practical test comparison, I used two of my biggest & slowest sketchup files, first a 150MB file. Next is a 350MB file. The test files was put on SSD and HDD respectively. How I tested: 1. I opened it (timer start), 2. Save as to a new file afterwards (timer starts).

To my Surprise, the results are almost identical, and HDD even won a few seconds when testing the 350MB file. This changed the direction of my query, towards the raid configuration. Honestly, I don't know why Dell preconfigured it in this manner or why put a PCI controller (I assume it being a workstation build standard practice). Sadly, I can't find enough info of my harddisk's brand and specs except that it's on raid. In bios- I see these in first boot sequence: "(BUS 02 DEV 00) PCI RAID ADADPTER)"

My questions:

1. Do I need to change anything with the Raid settings to improve my SSD perfomance?
2. Is the result above indicates that my SATA HDD is performing faster than average HDD, and on par with SSD because of the PCI raid adapter? (I don't mind if this is the case, I regard it as good setup)
3. Or is my SSD slowing down, and functioning like a regular HDD because of raid set up?

Thanks so much for looking. Cheers!

Hi guys, thanks a lot for the recommendations.. I will try them all. Cheers! PS @Pilou: thanks for the formula link.. reminds me of my college dreadful math computations haha

Hi everyone, firstly, I'm not sure if I should post it in plugins forum or the tutorials section. I am aware of other techniques in making helix ramp, such as using a shape bender plugin and follow me and keep..something like that.

But for this type, I am really interested to know the technique or plugin used if any- if you will notice on the file or attached screenshot, the entire ramp is composed of series or array or components-a feature that attracted me most because it's so easy to modify later on (and looks so professional, IMHO). I find it very similar to a spiral staircase idea.

I haven't figured it all out yet. I appreciate if anyone could help me understand the formula or plugin used for this type of ramp.

Thanks a lot in advance for checking and for your time. see attached file and image.

helicoid ramp sample sketchup file

@onzki said:

@eddie said:

looks like uninstalling the component manager did it for me...so far. Took a while to find though since it was called BGScomposants...

Thanks for all your help everyone!

I just had this problem today.. can't find this "BGScomposants".. where is it located?

After a day of struggle of trying to work precisely knowing there's no undo available .. I finally found the culprit (in my situation)- It's the luxrender plugin that I installed few days ago.

IMHO, I think the cause will vary (I use Sketchup 8), so as a tip, I suggest to always log or remember the plugins that you install so it's easier to spot the troublemaker .

@eddie said:

looks like uninstalling the component manager did it for me...so far. Took a while to find though since it was called BGScomposants...

Thanks for all your help everyone!

I just had this problem today.. can't find this "BGScomposants".. where is it located?