Thank you very much Thomas for this great plugin, really saved the day.

Google gets a lot more than your search history. Think of all the Google APIs used by the websites you visit.

I understand your point regarding the free content. What about the extensions built by the SketchUp Team. I paid for those when I purchased the Pro version. It makes sense that some of them are not part of the default install, but as a paying customer I should not be forced to jump through hoops in order to get them. I am not asking for a free lunch.

I don't understand why I need an account at all in order to just download a free extension and don't plan to upload anything to the Extension Warehouse.

Vjsku, I was referring to the issue where the Top view lines up the view perpendicular to north rather than the green axis.

Can someone explain to me why is access to the SU Extension Warehouse limited to ONLY GOOGLE accounts? Was this a part of the $100M deal when Trimble acquired SketchUp 2 years ago?

Extension Warehouse Terms of Use (July 1 2014)
Currently, a valid Google user account is required for accessing and using the Warehouse, and you must authorize Google to share account information with Trimble. The information Google provides may contain personally identifiable information, which will be handled by Trimble in accordance with Trimble’s online Privacy Statement.

3D Warehouse Terms of Use (July 1 2014)
Currently, a valid Google user account may be used for accessing and using the Warehouse and is required to upload Models to and access certain areas of the Warehouse. To create a Google account and use it to access and use the Warehouse, you must authorize Google to share account information with Trimble and you must maintain your Google user account in good standing subject to any separate user terms between you and Google. The authentication information Google provides to Trimble may contain personally identifiable information, which will be handled by Trimble in accordance with Trimble’s online Privacy Statement, and we may publicly display the name and profile photo associated with your Google user account.

@tiptongrange said:

Thanks. The axes tool was what I was looking for.

However, now when I switch to Top View so that I can draw in plan, the drawing is kept at an angle rather than rotated so that the edges of the site are parallel to the edges of the screen/paper. Is there a way to rotate the green axis so that it's straight up, and north is at an angle?

I wish this issue was addressed. The standard views should really line up with the current axis, not by the geographical orientation. Is there some workaround or solution for this?

These articles may help you make an informed decision:

Architosh Reviews:

Feb 17, 2014 - What Does Apple Mean by Pro? A View from a 3D pro.

Feb 17, 2014 - Mac Pro – A Buyer’s Guide Through the Best Test Results

Ars Technica Reviews:

Dec 20 2013 - You can spend $9,599 on a Mac Pro, but should you?

June 12 2013 - A critical look at the new Mac Pro

@trogluddite said:

*(*PS - apologies to any real hackers out there. As any true hacker knows, a hacker is someone who just loves finding new ways to make computers do the 'impossible'.
There's another word for the 'naughty people' we're talking about here - "criminals".)

... criminals and lawful intercept

@box said:

Has anyone ever said something to you that included the words Grandmother and Suck Eggs?

Sorry Box, did not mean to lecture you.
I only included the link for people like me. I had to look up your reference to understand what you mean.

You are right, it is called Planned Obsolescence.

Also, there is a shortcut for creating a new layer while you are inside the Entity Info window.
You can just type the new layer name inside the Layer: field and press enter to move the selected entity into the new layer without having to create the new layer first.

Just us jiminy and Dave suggested:
A best practice is to draw all your individual entities on Layer 0 and leave them there. Only after you turn individual entities into groups or components you should associate those groups or components with different layers.

When you look at the Layers window the radio button should always be on for the Layer0 and never on for any other layer. Just use the visibility check boxes to enable and disable a particular layer visibility.

@bigstick said:

Damn, no Mac version yet apparently. Bit of a deal breaker for me right now...

I don't know when it was added, but there is a Mac version available on their download page.

Did you try Shape Bender?
http://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=clf_shape_bender_v055

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18210

I have noticed that quite a few people are still running Windows XP on machines connected to the internet.
WHY?
Seems pretty desperate choice, considering there are no more security patches being released as MS dropped support for XP.

Just curious.

adt2, Did you try the SunTools plugin by Guedi Capeluto? Did it work for you?

SunTools by Guedi Capeluto

@mtnarch said:

1001 Shadows hasn't been updated but DOES work in 2014 Pro. Here's the website: http://www.1001shadows.com/en/

The plugin generates a series of shadow outlines. I don't think it draws the path of the sun.

You are welcome, I am very interested what you find out as I am bit confused with the Ortho functionality when dimensioning.

I was finally able to replicate this when I clicked the Ortho button in the LayOut's "SketchUp Model" panel.
The Projected Distances section in the Knowledge Base explains this behaviour.
Link: LayOut Dimension Tools: Dimension types

LayOut decides which distance to show based on the camera view associated with the model viewport.

I would try to replicate the page and then play with removing any stacked elements and layers or changing their stacking order.

What happens when you copy and paste the viewport to a blank page?

Can you list all the steps you took to troubleshoot this? Saves time suggesting things you may have already done thought of.