@gaieus said:

Well, in such a twisted case, the easiest thing is to temporarily move the axes (see attached where I put the origin into the pivot point, the red axis along the intersection of your shapes and the green to where the red originally was - so the red/green plane is now the same as it was but you could also align it with the face of your component).

From here on, you can force SU to rotate it along the (current) green axis by

1. left clicking into the origin/pivot point

1. while still holding the left mouse button, dragging it along the green axis
2. when it turns into green, releasing the mouse button
3. clicking into the intersection of your leading triangle and the component plane
4. starting the rotation
5. finishing it by clicking on the upper endpoint of the triangle.
   If you want the axes aligned to the component face instead, right click on an axis and > Place. In this case

1. with your first click, you establish the origin

1. with the second, the red axis (best to place it where it is now)
2. with the green axis, click on any of the far endpoints of your component.

Ahhh Axis - way cool! Didn't explore that far. Thanks!

Rick

Nice! Wondering what post work on it you did on PS. I like the clouds - did you do those in PS?

Thanks,

Rick

@chris fullmer said:

I'm not sure how it works with the network license, but under the regular license, you are allowed to install and use it on all your computers. You just are not supposed to run SU simultaneously. So I don't know if there is a way to put your network license at home.

Also, consider installing the free version at home. It is not missing too much over the pro version (unless you use layout or style builder).

Chris

I am trying to get the powers that be here purchase a seat of SU Pro. My question is that if I wanted to also use it at home, my home machine is a Mac and work is on PC. Does SU allow for multiple platforms? Until then, I will be doing just what was suggested - using the free one on Mac.

Thanks,

Rick

@remus said:

First thing to do is upgrade your graphics card drivers. Report back if the problem persists after that.

Pardon me for jumping in.

I have some problems sometimes when zooming around. My model disappears. If I perform a zoom extents it is fine, but is a minor inconvenience.

So, I have a Macbook Pro (laptop) that I purchased this past June. How would I go about to upgrade drivers on that when I click on Mac Update, it reports no drivers available. And further, the MBP has 2 video cards in it.

I'm still a SU newbie but have been perplexed by this for a while now and thought I'd ask.

Thanks,

Rick

@gaieus said:

Hi Rick,

Could you attach the files directly (I am not sure what you want to attach as the Mac makes a whole lot of extreme subfolders and exotic file types for a single image). What is a "voila" file type, anyway?

Oops! The file I wanted to attach should have been a .png file. Voila is the screen capture program I use.

Here is the .skp file.

Thanks!

Rick

Rotate example.skp

Hi all,

See attachment. I want to rotate the blue face at the point specified to the other end specified. I tried with using the copy/rotate, but the rotation only allows from the center of the component (not the ends). I tried to use the rotate but the compass won't align vertically.

Is there a method that I'm missing?

Thanks,

Rick

Rotate problem.voila.zip

@unknownuser said:

@rickgraham said:

hope to be TE for an upcoming SU book.
Rick

Sounds interesting..... is it top secret?

Yeah, can't say anything further - sorry.

Rick

Being a completely newbie to SU and a CAD user for 20+ years - I think I have the one word answer - productivity.

For those who are doing SU for money (I envy you), if you can complete it sooner, you will most likely have repeat clients.

As for the example of CAD - I started out using plain AutoCAD. And then I got involved in writing lisp routines which automated many things. We can certainly call them add-ons or plug-ins. This has been replaced by VB and now #net. And if we take this a step further, any vertical used (Architecture, Civil 3D, etc.) are also plug-ins in the sense that I can still accomplish the same output drawing in plain AutoCAD but oh my, I would hate to do that (try creating an asymmetrical vertical curve in plain AutoCAD - it CAN be done, but oh boy..).

And for the CAD Manager - any CM worth his salt will test the app in a closed or test environment - or at least I do.

I hope I'm still around another 20+ years so I can learn everything I can from this fascinating program called SketchUp. And I'll throw a plug in - I would love to be on the beta test team for SU. I have been on the beta team for Autodesk for the past 4 years as well as other apps. I have Technical Edited AutoCAD books, have co-authored an AutoCAD book and hope to be TE for an upcoming SU book.

This site is awesome - mainly because the participants in it. I learn so much every time I visit. You are my inspiration to reach higher heights with this program.

Rick

I'm already on there - we need more SU waves.

Rick

<bowing to the masters> I'm not worthy!

I have a questions which is somewhat related. This is my FIRST model in SU. I know it has all kinds of errors in it (we all have to start somewhere).

I have it on 3DWarehouse: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?q=progress112409&styp=m&btnG=Search&reps=3

My question is how do I model the stream as the water is going down hill (not flat). Any tips you (or anyone) can provide will be greatly appreciated!

Rick

I would think that something like this is crying to be a dynamic component. Just scale it to length and it auto-calculates the actual width. But I am a complete newbie and someone might have objections to dynamic component creation.

Rick

Wow! Nice Model and rendering!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Rick