hi all,

i'm trying to rotate the bookcase doors so they open opposite each other, as shown in this video. however, the doors rotate the same direction, as if they are stuck to each other. they are components, and i did flip one of the components -i know i flipped it successfully because when i edit one door, the same edits show up on the other door, in a mirrored location. so why can't i open them opposite each other with the rotate tool, as shown in the video?

thanks for any insight.

Heh, I see the red button now. Thanks, all! Will definitely try out this plugin.

Would love to -where is it? I found the Plugins forum, and this discussion, which I think is about it:

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=30846&p=336899&hilit=hole+punch+tool#p336899

but is there a list of the plugins themselves somewhere?

And is it as difficult to use as that thread suggests? I haven't used any plugins yet, am still plugging away, haha, at the basics...

Alright, I watched the video Burkhard posted, and it looks so elegant and easy ...but I can't do it!! First off, I can't block the whole window in with two clicks for the diagonal line; nothing happens. I have to outline the whole window and draw a diagonal twice (and even then it doesn't work each time). Then, when I push the window tracing through, it still only cuts through one wall. This is what I have.

I think I'm following the video exactly, but clearly I'm not ...

I've noticed that tools are sometimes grayed out on my toolbars, but when I click them, they activate right away. So why are they grayed out in the first place? Most tools do not display grayed out. I'm not using any plugins, btw, just the free SketchUp.

Ah, it's all clear now. Thanks so much, everyone, for the explanations!

"you should try to work near the origin anyway ...

...but the origin is too far from the geometry. In some case this results in a component being inserted that doesn't seem to show. It's just out of view of the camera."

Is that why we should build the model near the origin -so that upon import, it is within camera view? Ok, but how does that jibe with the origin being on its lower-left corner, then? Ack, it's late and I'm confused.

"When using the component browser and inserting a component then immediately grabbing it at a more convenient point, SU will "help" you with the next one and temporarily change the insertion point to that at least during that session but I doubt it does it with imported stuff so if you wish to do this, prepare your files to be imported by moving their content to the origin.

Ok, re-reading the last line, I'm a bit confused ... move a file to which origin, the 0,0,0? which is the origin that is "grasped" when i import a piece of furniture into a house (for example)? the lower left-hand corner of the piece, or the 0,0,0?

"and the origin will be at the lower front left corner (using the standard views, not the direction you drew it) and this happens no matter where the geometry is when you make the componet. "

not sure i'm following -do you mean that when I make a component, its origin -which is what is "grasped" when importing it into another file- is its lower left-hand corner? so would the origin of the dresser you posted be on the left side leg (as we're looking at it)?

Great answers, Gaieus and Dave, thanks. I didn't realize that the files imported relative to the 0,0 coordinate (I think that's what you're saying, right?). So when I make a piece of furniture, one of the steps should be to make (or move) it to 0,0, THEN make it a component?

When importing a file into another file, is there a way to grab it by an endpoint or other inference, so as to place it exactly where needed with just one click? Right now I import files (either with File/Import or by cutting/pasting), but the file enters at a random location. I then have to pick it up by its endpoint and move it to a face. Am just wondering if there's a more efficient way to do it.

Hi, I've imported files of furniture pieces that I made into a model of a house I made. Most of the pieces import well, but one furniture piece imports upside down. I know I can just flip it, but any idea of why it's importing that way? As far as I can tell, the axes are right side up. I even tried readjusting the axes with the axes tool. But the piece still imports upside down.

Ok, great, thanks, that's what I thought (SketchUp is trying to replicate the effects of light).

Re: [Tutorial > Modeling] How a Pro Builds a House in SU pt

Hi, very nice tutorial, but I have some questions I'm hoping someone can answer.

1. I've gotten to step 5, where I've scaled the imported drawing and erased the line. Why can't I just trace directly over this plan now? Is it because I won't be drawing on one plane?

2. About step 6: "right click on your plan image and choose "use as material" and apply the material to the rectangle." How, exactly, do I apply the material? I select/copy, but can't seem to paste it to the rectangle.

Thx for any advice.

edit: Ok, I got the paint bucket to work. Apparently it "paints" the plan at the correct scale, and repeats it multiple times depending on how big the rectangle is. So I suppose I can just trace one of the patterns and then turn off the paint layer.

Thanks, Rich. I've played with those settings, but even so, it still looks like the outside faces take on different hues by default, such as below.

To clarify; they're all "fronts" or "backs," but still take on slightly different hues.

Hi Gaieus,

You said this: "Notice however that a face has two different sides; a white/beige one that is the front or outside of it and a bluish one that is the back face. Always make sure that the back face "faces" inside the "thickness" of the geometry and you can only see white faces everywhere in your model."

I have noticed that outside or inside faces will take on different hues. For instance, here:

the top and sides are different shades, even though they're both outside faces.

I assumed that was because SketchUp is replicating the effects of light; different planes are given different shades of the same color. Is my assumption correct?

oops, appears i posted this in the wrong place ...n/m

Thanks, Alan! A default template is a good idea, and I've got a few of those. I was just wondering about the default, though, because nothing is checked until I check "iso," and the screen does jump a bit, so I'm wondering what, exactly, is changing from the default.

When you open a new SketchUp file, what is the camera default? I ask because I typically click Camera/Standard Views/Iso to work in, and the axes lines change when I do that. But what are they changing *from?*It appears that the default is also an iso view, but thought I'd ask here.

What view do you usually model in?

Yes, selecting the whole line and then clicking "entities" works well, I think I just wasn't reading the box correctly before. Changing the size of the endpoints is also a trick I wasn't aware of, and that helps, too. Thx again!