@krisidious said:

Why do you flatten the geometry?
Now about that geometry... are you getting 3d topographical maps? point data? could you give us a sample?

Thanks for the reply Krisidious, I'll try those scripts that you mentioned. About geometry, I'm only using 2D CAD plans. I'll attach a screenshot below. It shows the progress right after I applied the flatten plugin. For the plan's scale, the tree you see is about 6 Meters in diameter. You'll notice that I still got a long way to go, to close in the lines to form faces.
I need these faces so I can model and texture the site. For the past two years, this has always been my bottle neck part. The vertical components like trees, pole lights, bollards, etc. are easily prepared through CAD blocks. It's just the main surface or should I say "platform" that takes a lot of time.

I'm open to any suggestion to change my workflow if that would improve the speed. Right now, I'm currently geared into 1. Create faces 2. Model 3. Texture.
Thanks!

Note: I often use the word "close(d)" line to denote a Sketchup "Face"

Imported CAD lines are notorious for having tiny gaps and roughly segmented arcs / circles. I know that this has been a common issue and I hope you can help me find some information. My boss wants me to find plugins to quickly close the line imported from CAD because so far- this part takes time in our workflow since we often make landscape master plan- lots of lines from paving bandings, etc. (Hatch patterns are excluded)

My current workflow after DWG import is:

1. Using the Flatten plugin
2. Work out each area manually whichever was left open.

Right now, I'm gonna try Smustard's Close opens, intersect overlaps and extend close lines. If you know other alternatives, I really appreciate your suggestions. Thanks!

My wishlist:

1. CAD file and Sketchup file XREF feature
2. CAD import improved.. don't break cad lines please, circles are circles not dodecagons
3. No more Bug Splats
4. Option to autosave to lower version
5. Option: to prompt Select layers to show (rest are hidden) when opening of a file. (this option has bypass- just open it, no more prompting)
6. Ghost / Invisible layer override! I cant think of a name.. but this layer setting temporarily or permanently disables "Snaps" thereby making it behave like an image underlay as long as you want.

@gistman said:

onzki... So what did you end up getting?

Hi there.. I ended up with Dell Precision T5500 (Xeon X5690, 3.46 Ghz 12MB Cache, 12GB DDR3@1333Mhz, single Quadro 4000 graphics card, 1.5TB Sata, 21.5" Dell monitor). I guess it's an enhanced T5500 because the specs is better than T7500, though the chasis is T5500. (I wonder why:) Got it for about 4.2K USD from a Dell authorized dealer in here HK.

I've been using if for two weeks now and so far I think it's performing better than my recent T3500 in a way that it's more stable (lesser crash and bug splats) and computes things smoother (seen on progress bar of my common procedures like "flatten," "joint push/pull," "round corners", sandbox features, and others (obviously I'm not a techie as evident with how I rate it:).

By the way, as of this posting, Xeon X5690 ranks only at 5th place among other fast CPUs http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+X5690+%40+3.47GHz , and the i7-3690X on first in rank is a way lot faster and cheaper, unbelievable check it out.

I also work in a landscape firm (Hong Kong) and my workflow for a usual masterplan with 3 days deadline:

1. Importing CAD file. About 1 to 5 min. depending on scale.
2. Putting CAD layers to one layer, deleting unnecessary stuff (retain those for reference, to be hidden later)- about 5-10 seconds
3. Group & flatten (free plug in) the site plan, delete old one- about few minutes (save first, I can sense a Bug splat coming!)- This is my base plan later on.
4. [option 1] search and close all broken lines, what used to be a smooth circles that became dodecagons, a trial and error procedure that will test every man's patience . zoom in and in till you see those microscopic broken links.. and sometimes it's not there, so go somewhere else. Oh man, I really hope SKU team and Autodesk team will have a small chat to improve this mess. -takes about an entire day for a big site
5. [option 2] if CAD is really too messy- I just lock that flattened layer and redraw all the lines and curves- if you are fast, lines appear to be more neat, and faces look cleaner, born from sketchup I call this my brute force manual method.
6. After the hard work comes the easy and fun part- sketchup modeling:) From this neat base plan, I will derive all other site components- roads, kerbs, buildings, pole light, bollard, site furnitures, etc. with proper layer names. I work on it from other sketchup instance (I call it parts/temporary file). Once a part is finished, I'll snap it back to where my base plan is- (I call it my assembly area). In this process, I just use simple scene style, showing only the layer I need. - composition takes about a day.
7. Boss comes in finally either to select views or do his favorite revisions
8. Softscape. All got individual layers. Hedges (if any) takes time especially on curved/classical English garden style.
   If I still have time, I round/ bevel top edges (free plugin).. it appears softer.
9. Scenes and export to JPG/avi.

In short, cleaning up CAD file is the hardest part and modeling is the fun part:) Actually, I tried once to do all roads and kerb/curb modeling first in CAD, then import to SKU (since those are my usual bottlenecks). But it didn't work for me (image below).

@unknownuser said:

SLI would probably improve performance for rendering textures and shadows (the 2 things the GPU does - geometry is handled by 1 core of your CPU) but I can't promise that.
-Brodie

Thanks Brodie, Our office ordered the Alienware, boss preferred it more. Might arrive in a week. I'll just hope for the best. Maybe in future SKU versions, GPU rendering will be one of the features so I can take advantage of SLI. Cheers:)

Hi, sorry to butt in again But thanks for all the advice in this thread, even the conversation on graphic card & monitors are cool:) Wow, seems like all you have a nice workstation setup. I can't wait to have mine in the future.
Just for update, I haven't finalize my choice yet even up to this moment and my boss is still bugging me daily to get the Alienware lol . Now my choice gets harder when our admin manager opened an option for a Mac pro (8-core version). But like what Solo & other guys mentioned above, Mac only offers ATI cards and after looking at different negative comments on web, It's difficult to take the risk.

Image below is my current short list, and here's my remarks, open for comments/suggestions:

1. Alienware ALX 51 - my office might get this, being tied to Dell since day one. I like the i7 980x benchmark but I don't need those cool light effects & vents. Does SLI boosts SKU performance? I also fear the common overheating issues discussed on web.
2. Dell Precision T7500 - this is a possible upgrade to my T3500, which is not performing well. Xeon x5675 is close in rank with i7980x benchmark. Quadro 4000 seems good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKP-bLcS2X4
3. Boxx 3970xTreme- I'm tempted with CPU @4.5ghz memory at 2133 and SSD. Does SSD boosts SKU performance? I'm worried for future maintenance parts/repairs. They only have reseller here in Hong Kong. I fear the very noisy fan as shown in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA_ys2kOsLs , my colleagues are seated just 2 feet away I hope being overclocked doesn't mean prone to overheat. I plan to use this about 14hrs, Mon-Fri.
4. Mac Pro - two processor is also tempting, though Xeon model wasn't specified. My worries on availability/price/compatibility with AutoCAD software and ATI's performance with SKU.
   Shortlist:

[[I'm not sure if I should post here or on SKU9 wish thread. Moderators, kindly move this if necessary]]

Toolbars in a switch-like mode, Auto display in columns instead of rows.

Hi, since I'm loaded with variety of plugins.. my simple wish is to have a switch to freeze or make stationary the Menu\View\toolbars, as well as Menu\Plugins thereby turning it on/off like a check box. By default it autohides after each click. A switch that may hide or freeze the floating menu might be helpful.
I also wish it automatically display in columns when max. row is reached instead of manually scrolling down

Okay my latest Duh might be not very helpful to everyone as compared with above mentioned Duh's.. but for those who forgot it- "turning on/off Hidden geometry" from view menu helps you edit a smoothened surface. Imagine I even posted a thread on wishlist requesting for un-smoothen or anti-smooth plugin lol .

@d12dozr said:

@unknownuser said:

@unknownuser said:

You can use the Move tool on the cardinal points to change the radius of an extruded circle as well

This is amazing! It's like working in 3DSmax edit poly mode haha

@unknownuser said:

One for me was when Gaieus was from Gaieus' talk at the Basecamp (I saw the video) and using the rotate tool.

When you click the rotate tool and click the rotation point, don't let go of the mouse button... drag it out to either red or green (or any other snap point you set up) then click to start. This relieves any need for a vertical plane to get your rotation set up.

See image for example.

[attachment=0:1opsd1fn]<!-- ia0 -->ClickHold.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:1opsd1fn]

I have been using SU since V2 and never knew that until last year.

This is one of my biggest Duh as well It's almost a year before I discovered it- by Accident! Before, I first do new axis, then rotate.. I've read the thread above, it's so funny and informative especially when I read things that I encountered, reminding me that I'm not alone:)

Thanks for the tweak, I'm about to request this one. I'm glad it's here already.

Thanks for the reply Jeff and Thomthom, Oh my.. lol, this is a bit embarassing.. I've been using SKU for about a year doing some big stuff and I didn't even noticed this basic feature haha.. thanks:)

Hi, I'm fond of using soft/smoothen edges feature to automatically hide some lines (+/- 20 deg.) especially on my curved mouldings. But when I need to do an editing, It's impossible to push/pull, dragging/moving it on the other hand isn't easy as well. What I usually do is to Shift+Ctrl+Eraser the object to show again the hidden lines, by then it's editable. Therefore what I'm looking for is quick-fix for this method such as Anti-smoothen or something like push-able/pull-able / stretchable smoothened edges ruby.
Thanks!

@krisidious said:

don't buy Alienware... Dell ruined it so they could whore out the name for money.
lol.. thanks for the advice. I'll check something else

Thanks for all your comments, they're helpful. I'll check those link and the Boxx series.. Cheers!

Hi guys, my boss gave me a budget within $3.8K-4.0K for a PC dedicated for sketchup modeling/rendering use. I do landscape master plans mostly, with medium detailing, sometimes it includes contours (mounds). Trees, shrubs & other entourage (except cars) are just in 2D.
My current workstation, Dell precision T3500 isn't performing well. He recommended Dell Alienware since that's the fastest i7 available at Dell.
Does anyone can share better alternative?
My priority is on modeling. I hope it'll be more light. Near to a "real-time" feel when all models are assembled. Presently, I need to activate wire frame view before I can move something, otherwise it'll slow down. Rendering isn't a problem since my boss can accept SKU exported image (JPG), even without shadows. I attached some link to describe the scale & output.

Thanks!

photo as description samples only (not my work)
First image: sample for site scale

Second image to show level of detail: close up view sample (medium detailed urban elements)

@gaieus said:

Exactly. The polygon tool works just like you described. You can activate it from the Draw menu or activate the toolbar it is in from the View > Toolbars menu
Thanks so much, I'll try it

Hi everyone..
I hope you can point me to a plug-in that creates shape from center. Similar on how default circle is created, I wish I could create instant rectangle, square, octagon and other polygon (I specify # of sides) from CENTER point- outward. I find that it would be helpful in my current task in modeling landscape architecture elements that has lots of fountains, planters, etc.

Thanks a lot!

@unknownuser said:

Well, an i7 and Quadro will definitely get you a nice computer.....-Brodie

Thank you so much for taking time writing detailed and helpful response. I love this forum:)