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@optimaforever said:
Indeed. But Thomthom could update his Raytracer too; just add an option to drop the vertices on a target mesh (he already has the command to drop Cpoints - btw I love the Drop with Trace option)
I admit I have to dig deeper into raytracer plugin, wich I only tryed few minutes and forgot about..
So not sure how the function you are speakin'abot works.
But it sounds like you could need a plugin called "trow to" (in throw to infinity mode). Do you already know it?
@thomthom said:
I just need to make sure it doesn't have any other unintended side-effects.
Please no, or at least make this as an option one can toggle on/off, because in general hidden geometry is BAD. 
IMHO it would be a more clean workflow to do all the modeling avoiding hidden geometry and only at the last stage, when finalizing geometry for rendering, select all the smoothed edges (select all geometery and then run "selection toys -> select only -> soft edges") and turn them invisible.
@vizan said:
Thank you for your attention to this!
I noticed that the FredoCorner plugin does this automatically.
Fredo corner plugin has an option for this in "rounding parameters->borders->inner edges" and you can toggle.
I think that's a good approach, because it can be adapted for different workflows.
@optimaforever said:
trying triangulate points (TIG) but ended in a mess, so I was looking for a script to recreate a quad mesh from the dropped Cpoints...
That would be great indeed.. Maybe TIG could manage to add an option to to the plugin for "quadrangulate points", like his other excellent plugin "extrusion edge by rails" already does.
Dirt jumping bike trails.
Sub-d concept
3d printed version 
@optimaforever said:
This method should work in most simple cases indeed.
I totally disagree about this. If you use a similar approach by modular patches you can manage to project rather complex quad models on pretty large terrain
Maybe this tecnique could be a workaround for your case?
(drape c-points + TIG triangulate points + QFT convert triangulated mesh to quad + VT make planar on Z + flowify without cut)
Oh I see. +1 one for this tool request! Sort of "conform quad mesh to target mesh" that would be really useful.
maybe there is some workaround using tons of plugins..
@optimaforever said:
"drape" a quad mesh on a "target" triangulated mesh (in another group, serving as a reference) along Z axis?
Is something like this what you are after?
I discovered this gem too late.. It works for me in Sketchup 2019.
Too bad it is not fully developed and looks abandoned. 
IT can be useful, even as in but, unfortunately, in a very limited way. Could have been a nice unwrapper for sketchup with some more tools and performance..
Is there a similar plugin to force align ALL selected component/groups AND nested subgroups/subcomponents local Y+ axes to world Z+?
That would be extremely handy when preparing models for game engines and similar stuff..
I'm searching everywhere with no luck.. 
Is there a code snippet i can use to emulate keystrokes?
That would be a quick way to create a custom button which mimics a shortcut for menu entry.. 
I just discovered this gem.. It would be also nicer with a toolbar button!
Edit: nevermind, I managed to do it myself, using the toolbar editor plugin. 
@icepenguin said:
if I can convert all non-planar quad into planar quad, it will make my model lighter.
Not really. Is only a visual thing. Your pc's GPU will still see two triangles.
@sketch3d.de said:
because they are free/inexpensive they do not have required a lot of effort to develop?
Of course they had.
Given this i can't figure why Trimble don't buy at least some of them. I suspect it would be more time/cost effective and would allow a better integration and better performances (being able to access to the core instead of rely on the API).
3dsmax sort of follows this concept, they buy the best plugins and integrate them over the years..
I don't mean that sketchup should have al the feature max has (i love Sketchup and I'm not a fan of Autodesk actually), but.. you know, we are in 2017 (well actually trimble is in 2018) and "Freecad" has a native loft function. Sketchup doesn't, but it does have the rotated rectangle.
@sketch3d.de said:
Comparing the effort to enhance the rectangle tool with a full blown U-V mapping in your other concerning post, c'mon, your surely kiddin'
So do you think that writing some decent mapping tools instead of the useless rectangle was impossible.
Meanwhile there are tons of plugs free or very inexpensive (Trupaint, SketchUV,Wraper..) which sorted the problem.. Same goes for other ESSENTIALS modeling features sorted by plugins (SubD, Artisan, Vertex Tools, Curviloft, Flowify, Profile Builder, Skatter..).
But we still have to read the same story "too difficult blablabla" "full-blown blablabla" over and over again.
Then, you're right.. I'm kidding.
@dave r said:
@function said:
Sketchup Make gone... hard to believe
It's not gone. You can still use Make 2017 or earlier.
So basically it's gone. Let's face the reality.
Moreover is clear enough that they are developing the software in a direction which only makes sense for architects (maybe).
No improvements at all on the actual modeling tools. They are pretty much the same as sketchup 8 (they just messed some inferences and encuraged people to do bad modeling with the useless rotated rectangle, wow!). 
The software is still usable only for the epic work of plugins developers.
If the strategy was intended to encourage free/make users to buy a pro license, I think that will fail really bad. They are just making Blender even more appealing.
An hobbist or a 3d generalist may think to buy sketchup, if only they pack some useful modeling features in the pro version, let's say native quad support, decent uv mapping tools, non destructive approach based on modifiers (well.. keep dreaming) or at least some basic capabilities, let's say dealing with small faces or a native sphere tool.. Nope. Nothing at all.
They officially dropped "general" modeling. 
I'm not sure what they are expecting after all the work they spent developing sketchup online..
Peraphs they think someone is able to model even the most basic stuff with native sketchup tools without tons of plugins?
Come on Trimble.. that's only a toy.
You may check if the "mesh smoothing" in sub-d entity info is toggled off.
In that case, you get your subdivisions, but no smoothing happening, see the example below.
@fredo6 said:
[*]Diagonals for faces and borders are now created with the quad convention for diagonals, that is: Soft, Smooth, Hidden and NOT casting shadows
Thank you sooooo much!!! 
I don't have sketchup on this pc but I'll try this as soon as possible.
