I am doing a remodel of a home.
I need to model the existing residence and have some plans.
Those plans I scanned and then imported into my beginning model, I drew the floor plan from the actual scaled scanned plans.
The issue came when I hid, then deleted the scanned plans. I went to cut some section planes and the section plane encompassed the model AND the scanned image,
(the scanned image had some additional edges to it, so it was much larger than the footprint of just the building.
Now all my section planes are huge compared to the model. So in order to control the section planes and to move them I have to zoom way out to get the "handles" to move the section planes.
I did not put the scan on a separate group or layer, I hid it, I can select it and delete it but my section planes do not rescale back down to the model size.
Any thoughts on how to "rescale" the section planes? I tried to "group" only the model elements, and make section planes of that "group" only. But that has proven difficult to isolate. Any ideas?
thanks aloha
red

Very interesting plugin,
but it seems I cannot download a Mac version?
Let me know if I am doing something wrong or keep me posted as to when it will be available.
aloha
red

Well, to a degree that worked then I got lost again.
I want to have different "scenes", in this case elevations, plan and sections of a small "test model" house.
I dropped them into LO and was creating a "test set" of working drawings. I did successfully "update" the drawings.
Then, I wanted to get the section cut lines out of one of the scenes, so, in SU I went to menu, view, section cuts/planes, unchecked them to see that view...and I lost my section cuts. I went back a couple of steps and tried the next option...
I went into "scenes" and tried to see if there was something to check off within the menu there...I checked off activate section planes and permanently lost "Section A" even rechecked it, did an update...
What do I need to do to have a model with sections and views without all the section cuts obscuring the model?
And with the ability to go back to that "scene" and see it as it was saved or updated? Do I need to or can I "lock" it?
I get these glimmers of hope and then it all crashes down again...
thanks
aloha
red
p.s. included the examples of what I am working on.

---

TestModel4-09.1.zip

---

TestModel4-09.2.zip

That works!!!!!
This is a whole new level of potential productivity!!!
Now I just gotta learn LO layers and how to make specific pages for a working drawing "document' / book.
thanks again.
aloha
red

I might be doing this wrong...but for now when I create a model in SU, I create some scenes, add some text, I then "save" the model, and then go to LO and insert a "scene" in a "template". In this case it is a "perspective view". I then go back to SU, I make some changes to the model, and want to "update" the page in LO, i.e. I added some text.
Is this possible?
What I seem to be thinking is that within SU/LO I i have a "live" document. I.e. a document that will update as to the changes I want it too.
Is this possible?
thanks
aloha
red

Thanks for the insights.
Nice trick,
I was hoping that there was a way that was not too obvious but part of the program.
And this works too, I will give it a try.
Maybe this can be on the wish list, as it is just how the model works when you "see it" in the "fade rest of model" within model info.

Thanks for the tip on the circle too, I did figure that out.
One quick question, NICE model, do you do architectural drawings within SU? or do you just use it for modeling purposes and then go to a 2d drafting program. I am envisioning a "working drawing" set of prints via SU and LO. I feel it is possible, any perspectives, examples or experiences would be most appreciated.
aloha
red
thanks again.

I want to feature certain parts of a house model, i.e. the beams or a floor joist. I get that effect in SU when I go to Mode lInfo,component editing display, fade rest of model .
It works great but does not print that way, to my limited knowledge.
Is this possible in LO?

One other question, might be too simple, I draw a circle in LO, and I want the perimeter line but not the inside area, how do I do that? I will use this as a call out bubble for a detail.
thank
aloha
red

thanks for the feedback,
are you on a Mac too?
aloha
red

I cleaned off my new hard drive, rebooted a fresh new operating system, slowly added a few applications,
got to Sketchup added it, with my Plugins that I thought were optimal.
And I spent the rest of the day rebooting....
Are there any known conflicts with Mac, SketchUp and some plugins,
I dread the thought of doing this all over again, adding only one plugin at a time and test it and maybe knowing or maybe not knowing if it will freeze up my system.
I thought it was in the model, used a plugin to clean that up too.
I crashed minutes after that too.
I think Sketchup can work, it just is not for me right now.
thanks
aloha
red

Is it me or just the way I use this feature in SU.
It seems Outliner has lots of potential but it too quirky.
It crashes SU frequently, when I click on a sub group, it jumps, expands all sub groups and I have to re orient where I was.
Why is this not simple, easy to use and like what we are most familiar with...an outline of the model?
Is this a bug, a feature worthy of working the way it does, or am I doing something wrong?
thanks for your insights and experience.
aloha
red

Thanks again Guys,
I spent most of the day trying to sort this out, 9:51pm, finally seem to have something I can send my engineer that works.
I did not have a "download linked file" options, tried a few things, and finally out of frustration tried, once again to drag if from the downloads folder to the suggested location, I got a "not authorized to modify SU" notice or something like that...but after giving my password, it seemed to have worked.
thanks for your insights and perspectives.

I do hope this is not a "typical SU' situation.

aloha
red

I found who TIG is,
and I don't quite know how to install a ruby that is "text" that says just drop in the plugin folder, I can do that with a folder with icon but text?
thanks
aloha
red

I have basically figured out how to load a "ruby"
but I do not know how to deal with this kind of text, it comes in not in a folder or an icon, so I got this text.
what to do with it?

tt_remove_material.rb

#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Version: 1.1.0

Compatible: SketchUp 7

#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Removes a given material for a selection.

#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Changelog

1.0.0 - 04.03.2009

* Remove Material

1.1.0 - 16.03.2009

* Remove All Materials

* Remove Edge Materials

#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas Thomassen

thomas[at]thomthom[dot]net

#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

require 'sketchup.rb'

#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Add some menu items to access this

if( not file_loaded?('tt_remove_material.rb') )
plugins_menu = UI.menu('Plugins')
sub = plugins_menu.add_submenu('Remove Materials')
sub.add_item('Specific From Selection') { TT_Remove_Material::remove() }
sub.add_item('From Entire Model') { TT_Remove_Material::remove_all() }
sub.add_item('From All Edges') { TT_Remove_Material::remove_edge_materials() }
end
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
file_loaded('tt_remove_material.rb')
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

module TT_Remove_Material

def self.remove
	# Variables
	model = Sketchup.active_model
	sel = model.selection
	definitions = []
	
	# Prompt for material to remove
	materials = []
	model.materials.each { |m| materials.push(m.name) }
	materials = materials.join('|')
	
	prompts = ['What material to remove?']
	defaults = ['Enter name']

	results = UI.inputbox(prompts, defaults, [materials], 'Remove material.')
	
	if results == nil
		return
	else
		material = model.materials[ results[0] ]
	end
	
	Helping_Hand.start_operation('Remove Material')
	
	# Iterate entities
	sel.each { |e|
		if e.kind_of?(Sketchup::ComponentInstance) || e.kind_of?(Sketchup::Group)
			parent = e.definition if e.kind_of?(Sketchup::ComponentInstance)
			parent = e.entities.parent if e.kind_of?(Sketchup::Group)
			
			next if definitions.include?(parent)
			
			parent.entities.each { |ents|
				# Remove material
				ents.material = nil if ents.material == material
				if ents.kind_of?(Sketchup::Face)
					ents.back_material = nil if ents.back_material == material
				end
			}
			definitions.push(parent)
		else
			e.material = nil if e.material == material
			if e.kind_of?(Sketchup::Face)
				e.back_material = nil if e.back_material == material
			end
		end
	}
	
	model.commit_operation
end


def self.remove_all
	# Variables
	model = Sketchup.active_model
	
	Helping_Hand.start_operation('Remove All Materials')
	
	# Iterate entities
	model.entities.each { |e|
		e.material = nil
		if e.kind_of?(Sketchup::Face)
			e.back_material = nil
		end
	}
	model.definitions.each { |d|
		d.entities.each { |e|
			e.material = nil
			if e.kind_of?(Sketchup::Face)
				e.back_material = nil
			end
		}
	}
	
	model.commit_operation
end


def self.remove_edge_materials
	# Variables
	model = Sketchup.active_model
	
	Helping_Hand.start_operation('Remove Edge Materials')
	
	# Iterate entities
	model.entities.each { |e|
		if e.kind_of?(Sketchup::Edge)
			e.material = nil
		end
	}
	model.definitions.each { |d|
		d.entities.each { |e|
			if e.kind_of?(Sketchup::Edge)
				e.material = nil
			end
		}
	}
	
	model.commit_operation
end


### HELPER METHODS ### ---------------------------------------------------

module Helping_Hand
	def self.start_operation(name)
		model = Sketchup.active_model
		# Make use of the SU7 speed boost with start_operation while
		# making sure it works in SU6.
		if Sketchup.version.split(".")[0].to_i >= 7
			model.start_operation(name, true)
		else
			model.start_operation(name)
		end
	end
end # module Helping_Hand

end

Thanks again guys.
"If you do have raw geometry or geometry inside groups on layers other than zero, TIG has an awesome script to fix that up."
okay, how do I get that because that probably is the issue, I just don't know a "time effective" way to do it as I spent most of today trying to sort out a basic issue that I could have done by hand in 1/2 hour...cannot bill my client for this.
Again thanks.
here is my "lite" mess. it still does not want to work within "scenes".
TIG link?
aloha
red
p.s. G, yes the little model had some groups within groups that somehow got there but I did not clean up, I think that most of my bigger model is clean, but then again....

Per your request,
here is a new small model.
and it works....so what is hidden in the "mess" that I gotta take out?
I will "simplify" the original plan to see if that works.
thanks
aloha
red

---

Test Model 4-14.zip

Gai,
thanks for having a look,
It is the most "organized" mess that I can currently come up with as my outliner still crashes even if I have nothing else on or running open. so I have not fully "organized" my organizer.
I appreciate your time, I do hope to figure this out as it seems core to having SU work for me and my needs. It currently does not, maybe I should just quick model and then go to another CAD Program to do the things I want / and need to do.
It seemed SU had promise, but I have hugely invested time into this with limited results.
But the carrot that keeps me going is the results I have seen particularly the renderings.
thanks again.
aloha
red

Chris,
I tried that. Did not get any positive results.
In fact I still got more of the same.

and am still quite confused.

"turn all layers off"
I use outliner and layers to control visibility. If I turned all layers off...I would not have anything on the scene....

So if I have the floor joists group on its own layer, and I turn that layer off, I should not be able to see that "floor joist" layer.

If I hide a "group" within outliner i.e. the floor joists, make a scene of the Floor Plan, then unhide the floor joists and beams, make a new Scene, a plan view of the Framing Plan, it seems I should be able to easily toggle between the scenes and have the scene show "how the house is to be built" but it does not work that way. I go between the scenes and I get ALL of the unhid items on the floor plan based upon the last scene created.

Why doesn't the visibility feature of "Layers" also work within Scenes, I do the Lower Floor Plan, with the floor beams and floor joists off, and make that a "scene". I then make visible, via the Layers, the floor beams and joists. And make that a "scene". Doesn't it seem that the "scene" would be just what had been represented when it was created as a scene? and that the next "scene" should represent what was saved on that scene, i.e. which layers and outliner group qualities were on. The camera angle is still in "plan view" for both scenes.
But I do not get this ability to show the difference between the scenes as I want to.
I want to show, from a plan view how the house will be constructed....

And when I try to check on "scene: properties to update...SU toggles me to different scenes, so that I have to continually reorient back to the Scene I am working on.
thanks
aloha
red

Indigo does not have a Mac app.
so expanding that question,
which renderer is best on a Mac?
thanks
red

G,
thanks for the quick reply,
the video is an hour...I will look into it when I have time,
but it seems that this is a basic question, is there a way to "lock" a scene to be what I set it up to be, a plan view of the groups, styles etc as I have set it up, not as some other scene is.
I did try your advice, that did not work either.
thanks
aloha
red

Each scene has a series of properties that you can store with that scene (Properties to save). Additionally, when you update a scene, you can choose those properties, of the properties that are stored with the scene, to update (the dialog box that appears when the Update button is clicked). If you choose to update a property that you are not storing with a scene (using Properties to save), the property will not be updated. Therefore, it is important to ensure you have all of the properties you want to store with a scene selected prior to updating a scene.

I read this and it seems to make sense.
And it does not do what I think it should.
I need to communicate with my Structural Engineer on how I have modeled the project in SU. He has a free version I have a pro Version. My client has a free version too, so in theory I should be able to send them the "plans" and model for them to see the progress.

I seem to be missing something here.

I want to have a "scene" that is plan view. in this case plans that can illustrate to the engineer how I propose to build this structure. So I have the Lower Level Floor Plan, the beams, posts and shearwalls that hold the upper level floor framing as a Plan, and the Upper Level Floor Joists, then the upper level floor plan then the roof beams, rafters in plan...I thought that I would be able to save them as a "scene"
I did it twice, I turn off the layers and the groups that I don't want in that image, put the model in plan view and create that scene, then go to the next one and add or unhide the new groups relevant to to that plan, when I get done, I have it all the new scenes (even after update) but they only are the final scene...this really does not work intuitively....
any help/insights or perspectives.
I have all the scene properties unchecked except camera location and axis location
what am I doing wrong?
thanks aloha
red
i can attach the model if that would help

---

MHStructural4-15.zip