@mike lucey said:

Its iCombiner (The Mac way to merge PDFs and images).... I can now get the loose screen grabs and bits and pieces into one PDF just by dragging and dropping them into iCombiner.
Mike

You know you can do those things via Preview's sidebar?
You can shuffle around pages within a pdf, between pdfs, delete some pages from pdf, drop an entire pdf file into another's sidebar, drop JPGs and other images into sidebar so that they become part of that pdf files instantly.

@edson said:

in the light of this topic i think it could be a good initiative to put together a list of tutorials on how to model complex geometric shapes/objetcs with straight sketchup tools.

Even better for new users might be, a series of tuts on how to model simple geometries (a cube, pyramid, sphere etc.) in 10 different ways.
By viewing how to model a pyramid in 10 different ways, a user can discover a lot underneath the simple GUI of SketchUp. Complex modeling is nothing but a bunch of simple modelings. If a user understands how to do simple things in various ways, I'm sure she/he can start thinking about complex things soon.

@remus said:

For normal images that isnt necessarily the case, you can go window->preferences->openGL->Use maximum texture size, and SU will use the largest textures your graphics card supports. Not sure if that also works with GE imports, though.

Thats in SU7, btw.

Oh I didn't know the trick, that is so good.
GE import resolution depends on your monitor size, as I understand.
So It cannot be awfully better than 1024x1024... in my case it came as 1500x1150.
From inside SU, this kind of difference is negligible. I couldn't see much improvments in image quality.

But for any other image imports, this is great.
I just tested with a 2000x3000pix image and it looked (almost) just as good as it did in iPhoto.
Thanks for headsup.

This is a very nice model, almost too nice ... and redundant .

You don't have many JPGs in there, so deleting textures won't help.

First of all you are misusing components. Those colored bags can be a single component differently colored, but you have them as four different components, red, yellow, blue and brown, not to mention four different components for identical straps and subdivided surfaces.
You can re-organize the model and correct this kind of redundancy, then your model weighs half as much.

Then comes the problem of details. Do you really need this much detail?
If you do, then file size reduction stops here, but if you don't...
I can see you imported geometries from another software. Don't know how much detail you need for what purposes, but I think usually your stool top can be just one flat surface instead of being subdivided into 2400 little triangles. Your 1" grommet is about 1MB as a component. If you don't need this much detail, I think you can have a fine grommet of 1/100 file size, and they look just as fine in your renders. Even the smallest rods in the model are at least 24-sided. That can be as low as 6-sided if the object is so small (say, 1/8"diameter).
You can have a component of the same section but differently elongated, so all pipes of the same section can be one single component, but with the different lengths.

Overall, I got an impression that your model can be reduced to somewhere around 1-2MB.

Max image size SU can import is 1024x1024 pixels (there might have been file size limitation too, check Google user guide).
Anything exceeds this limitation will be automatically reduced down to below that size upon being imported into SU. And SU does a kind of messy job on reducing.
So if you want to keep good quality of images you are going to import, first you have to break them down to below 1024 x 1024 pixels in some image editing software.

reference; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyg0b9TYkVo

majid,
That's a nice-looking screw!
But you started tapering a little too early? - a part of the thread base is not touching the shank.

Jing has been veeery good to me. http://www.jingproject.com/download/
Only SWF output with free versions (which should be enough), if you pay $14 a year you get AVI export too.

Copying everything into a brand-new file is one way, as Martin suggested, yes.
PURGE ALL Ruby script by TIG (free) is an alternative.
"It Purges all UNUSED Components, Layers, Materials, Styles. Choose which type(s) to purge from the dialog (Yes/No)."
http://www.crai.archi.fr/rubylibrarydepot/ruby/PurgeAll.rb

Just noticed you have also mentioned the diminishing threads.
I think what you can do is to use BoxTaper tool of FredoScale (http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=17948).
Create threads as I did in the flash movie above.
Apply Fredo's script only to threads, then combine it with a cone.
Hope this helps.

Hi majid,
Use Drawhelix ruby (free, http://www.crai.archi.fr/rubylibrarydepot/ruby/drawhelix13.rb) and "Extrude along sloped curves" of 1001bit tools (share but free for 30days) from http://1oo1bit.com/default.html
With them and little bit of EXPLODE and MOVE, you can create the forms you wanted.

The whole process can also be done in SU natively but a little bit cumbersome. hint: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17794&start=15#p143092
Cheers.

screw.swf.zip

One workaround;
Download Add Hidden Layer Ruby by Jim Foltz from the following link.

Plugin: Add Hidden Layer

Update Apr 2014 - Version 1.0.1 Add a Layer to your SketchUp model and control its visibility on existing and new Scenes. Use Activa...

(sketchuptips.blogspot.com)

Add a hidden layer with this plugin, name it any way you like.
In LAYERS window, make the newly-created layer current by clicking the toggle button on the left of its name, then select the layer you want it to be turned off by clicking its name.
DELETE the layer, you will be prompted by a dialog box asking you; "the selected layer is no empty, select action for contents". Select "Move to current layer" and click DELETE.
Now the layer (though differently named) is turned off from all scenes.

When using complex curves (e.g. bezier curves) as a path, Pathcopy sometimes doesn't do what it's supposed to do.
If you see that happening, try the following method;

1. Get "Weld" Ruby script (also by RickW) from http://www.smustard.com/script/Weld , drop it in "Plugins" folder.
2. Select the entire path, right-click and "explode" or "explode curves".
3. Select the entire path again, call up "Weld" from [Plugins] menu.
4. When prompted "Close curve?" say yes, and no to "Find faces for this curve?".
5. Now you are ready to run Pathcopy script, but don't erase the unwanted connecting edge created by "Weld" until you finish running Pathcopy successfully.

Hi telmac, check out the first post of this thread, "How to install and use Ruby Scripts".
http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/ruby-scripts/9467-visual-index-ruby-scripts.html
However, I'm not sure how Ruby scripts behave with Tiger...

Try drawing a cube of about the same size, zoom in to extent, and then draw a sphere.
If what you're drawing is too small compared to your viewing area, SU sometimes doesn't respond correctly.
I attach a sphere of 4mm diameter.

sphere.skp

It's not something to be fixed, I assume you are simply referring to another function - namely Plane Symmetry.
Look carefully, with two points specified in the 3Dspace, what you showed in the pic is the best they (CAD) can do.
If you want "Copied to scale -1" type of mirroring, you have to at least specify three points or two points and an axis.
Of course this is not the case in 2D CAD though.

Hi Didier, this looks like another sweeeet update, however with my iMac nothing so far works.
My situation is just like Chuck's, they don't seem like doing anything whatsoever upon my clicking icons.
I've been using Projection tools for the longest time and am very familiar with how they work.
They have been doing beautifully until I updated to ver.2.
I clean-installed them as well.

I just noticed that if I install them in [HD]-[user]-[username]-[library]-[Application Support]-[Google SketchUp6]-[SketchUp]-[plugin],
instead of usual [HD]-[library]-[Application Support]-[Google SketchUp6]-[SketchUp]-[plugin], everything works.

Hope this will be fixed... Thanks in advance!

I will say... Compo_spray by Didier Bur or MatrixProximity by TIG.

Compo_Spray
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=11746

MatrixProximity
http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/ruby-scripts/9467-visual-index-ruby-scripts.html#post131588
http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/ruby-scripts/9467-visual-index-ruby-scripts.html#post131872

Tell me what you think.

How did you weld your curves?
If you used "WELD" ruby, after each welding process it should've asked you if you want to close the curve and fill its face.

Hi Ken,
I assume your trees and shrubs are not "face me" components but 3D re-construction of plants?
If that is the case, I would say that shadow is the primary obstacle to your navigating through the model.
SU has to calculate every shadows in your view everytime you move, so avoid having complex shadows when navigate, i.e., turn shadows off or put all plants into one layer and keep the layer out of sight while you model and navigate.
12MB model size alone won't be a problem. We often handle much bigger models with no problem with less powerful graphic cards.
I don't think more RAM will help you much.

@al hart said:

Do you have to purchase Windows to use with these?

I thought it is a something everybody inevitably has for whatever the reasons... like a dehydrated clove of garlic at your kitchen corner.
I had two unused XP licenses hanging around in my office, so I just shoved it in to my iMac.