Posts made by TDahl

I just saw a post on the SketchUp Forms that a new version (4.2.5) of the SketchuCation Extension Store extension has been released, and I see on these forums that the release notes for v4.2.5 mention a fix for macOS Mojave (which I use). So I removed v4.2.3 that I had, restarted SketchUp, installed v4.2.5, and now the License... function works successfully in the various Fredo extensions that I have installed (macOS 10.14.6, SketchUp 2018).

Thank you @TIG and @fredo6.

Any thoughts on the load error traceback that I posted a few replies above?

Can anyone suggest how to avoid the following Ruby error that occurs when trying to activate Joint Push Pull Interactive 4.4e (with Libfredo6 12.5a, on macOS 10.14.6 with SketchUp Pro 2018)? I get a similar error when trying to invoke other Fredo6 extensions.

Error: #<LoadError: dlopen(/Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle, 9): no suitable image found. Did find:
/Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle: cannot load 'SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle' (load command 0x80000034 is unknown)
/Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle: cannot load 'SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle' (load command 0x80000034 is unknown) - /Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle>
/Applications/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp.app/Contents/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.2/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:54:in require' /Applications/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp.app/Contents/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.2/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:54:in require'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scflicense/scflicenseruby.rbe:156:in load_binary' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scflicense/scflicenseruby.rbe:71:in dynamic_token'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:1688:in tem_context' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:1656:in tem_launcher'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:119:in launch_action' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:244:in launch_action'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_jointpushpull/bootstrap_jointpushpull.rbe:87:in launch_action' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_jointpushpull/bootstrap_jointpushpull.rbe:135:in block in declare_command'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:1407:in call' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:1407:in command_invoke'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:1388:in block (2 levels) in build_config_commands' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6traductor.rbe:1378:in call'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6traductor.rbe:1378:in block in add_command' SketchUp:1:in call'

In case it matters, I have the sketchuCation Extension Store 4.2.3 extension installed, but it is not fully working. I can bring up the Extension Store UI and do various things, but downloading an extension fails (ZIP error). I have been in communication with TIG about that, but it remains unresolved.

I did successfully use Joint Push Pull Interactive a couple of weeks ago, I think before March 1 2022 when Fredo's licensing rules were changed. I have a license file for all of Fredo's extensions, but I cannot install any of the licenses due to similar Ruby errors when activating the License functions in Fredo's extensions (and possibly the sketchuCation Extension Store extension problems).
- Tom

The Extension Store plugin doesn't work for me (I only tried it for the very first time a week or so ago). I have SketchuCation Extension Store v4.2.3 which is apparently the latest. I have been in contact with TIG about the unzip errors that I'm experiencing, so far unresolved. Therefore, I'm downloading the SketchuCation-hosted plugin RBZ files and then using the native SKetchUp Extension Manager window to install SketchuCation-hosted extensions.

Just now I updated LibFredo6 from 12.4a to 12.5a, but the didn't help to make RoundCorner work (see traceback below).

I tried bringing up the FredoCorner UI (even though the license dialog can't be displayed due to the error listed earlier), and the UI does appear. Yay. Maybe in 30 days the FredoCorner UI will shut itself off and then the inability to enter a license would be a killer, but for the next month I suppose I'm in business with FredoCorner instead of RoundCorner.

Here is the traceback when trying to do much of anything with RoundCorner (with SKetchUp 2018, macOS 12.4.6):
Error: #<LoadError: dlopen(/Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle, 9): no suitable image found. Did find:
/Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle: cannot load 'SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle' (load command 0x80000034 is unknown)
/Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle: cannot load 'SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle' (load command 0x80000034 is unknown) - /Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle>
/Applications/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp.app/Contents/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.2/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:54:in require' /Applications/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp.app/Contents/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.2/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:54:in require'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scflicense/scflicenseruby.rbe:156:in load_binary' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scflicense/scflicenseruby.rbe:71:in dynamic_token'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:1688:in tem_context' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:1656:in tem_launcher'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:119:in launch_action' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:244:in launch_action'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_roundcorner/bootstrap_roundcorner.rbe:81:in launch_action' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_roundcorner/bootstrap_roundcorner.rbe:96:in block in startup'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:1407:in call' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:1407:in command_invoke'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:1388:in block (2 levels) in build_config_commands' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6traductor.rbe:1378:in call'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6traductor.rbe:1378:in block in add_command' SketchUp:1:in call'

I cannot get the FredoCorner extension v2.5a to display its License... UI. Here is what is displayed in the Ruby Console window when I select the License... item from the Tools>Fredo6 Collection>FredoCorner menu:

Error: #<LoadError: dlopen(/Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle, 9): no suitable image found. Did find:
/Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle: cannot load 'SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle' (load command 0x80000034 is unknown)
/Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle: cannot load 'SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle' (load command 0x80000034 is unknown) - /Users/Tom/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUcation/SCFLicense/Mac_22/SUEX_SCFLibrary.bundle>
/Applications/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp.app/Contents/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.2/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:54:in require' /Applications/SketchUp 2018/SketchUp.app/Contents/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.2/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:54:in require'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scflicense/scflicenseruby.rbe:156:in load_binary' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/sketchucation/scflicense/scflicenseruby.rbe:43:in license_dialog'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:755:in show_license' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6plugin.rbe:364:in block in populate_support_menu'
/users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6traductor.rbe:1378:in call' /users/tom/library/application support/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/fredo6_!libfredo6/lib6traductor.rbe:1378:in block in add_command'
SketchUp:1:in `call'

SketchUp Pro 2018 on a Mac running 10.14.6. I installed FredoCorner v2.5a by downloading the RBZ from SketchuCation, and then I used the SKetchUp Extension Manager to install it. Then I restarted SketchUp. (The SketchUcation Extension Store extension doesn't work for me, it fails to unzip anything I try.)

By the way, I have used RoundCorner For a number of years and love it. Today I tried to use it and nothing happens, no UI. The Ruby Console window shows license-type errors. Fredo posted a topic on the SketchUp forum recently saying that a number of his formerly-free extensions would soon become paid extensions, today being the cut-over day as I recall. So seeing the RoundCorner license error today was not a total surprise, and I'm willing to switch to FredoCorner. But sadly FredoCorner doesn't seem to allow me to enter a license.
- Tom

Animator v2.7a downloaded, installed, and started up fine - thank you for the quick turn-around!

Animator v2.6c is telling me that it has expired, but there does not seem to be a newer version available yet. Any estimate on when a new version (or a re-release of v2.6c with an extended expiration date) might be available?

Is there a way to control the thickness or weight of edges (lines) as they appear in the exported movie frames (MP4, etc.)? I am using SketchUp Pro 2018 with Animator v2.6c. I noticed that edges are rendered with thicker lines in Animator's frames than they are when I use SketchUp Pro 2018's native Export > Animation function.

In a video editor, I would like to seamlessly transition from a native animation exported clip to an Animator-exported clip, but there is a clear visual discontinuity between the line thicknesses of the two clips at the transition point. Attached is a still picture with a native animation-export on the left and an Animator-export on the right. The boundary is a bit subtle side-by-side, but it is a quite evident "pop" when viewing a video that abruptly jumps from the thinner to the thicker line weight.

I recently completed a detailed (nearly 18 minutes long) video animation that includes two sequences created with MSPhysics - the first at 8:00 into the video, the second at 14:00. The subject of the video is a description of some real space hardware, the surface sampler or "scoop" from the Viking '75 Mars lander of 40 years ago.

The first MSPhysics sequence uses about 250 short thin strips to represent a flexible cable winding and unwinding. The second sequence contains about 5500 little marbles to represent soil particles being dug by the Viking lander's sampler backhoe or shovel. (The remainder of the animations were created with the Animator beta extension.)

Thank you for such a nice MSPhysics extension, Anton!
https://youtu.be/4c5o6jaJOuI

I have just completed a detailed video animation (nearly 18 minutes long) that uses Fredo's Animator extension extensively. The video describes the design and operation of some real spacecraft hardware - the Surface Sampler Acquisition Assembly or "scoop" from NASA's Viking '75 Mars lander. The scoop was used to pick up small samples of Mars soil and deposit it into lander science instruments for analysis. The video also uses Anton Synystia's MSPhysics extension in two places.

Thank you Fredo and Anton for making such great extensions to SketchUp.

Hi Fredo,

Ohh, now I understand what you are saying about multiple instances of a super-component. Yes, this describes what I have been seeing. The components I was animating are indeed nested within a super-component, and there are multiple instances of that super-component. Thus, when applying an animation action to a sub-component, it automatically replicates to all corresponding sub-components in other super-components.

Here is a sample SketchUp file with two instances of a microswitch super-component. I applied three animation actions to different segments of the switch's lever-extension to simulate the metal lever being bent when the microswitch is triggered. In Animator's GUI I applied the actions to one instance of the lever-extension pieces, but naturally it affects both instances (because the actions occur within a super-component).
Microswitch Lever-Extension Component Animation
Sorry for my confusion!

• Tom

Hi Fredo, OK good to know more precisely the behavior of Animator with respect to nested components - thanks. I don't think SketchUp works in the same way, though at this point you probably don't want to change Animator behavior because a behavior-change would break compatibility with existing model animations that people have been creating.

In native SketchUp if you modify the content of a component then all instances of the component are automatically updated. In other words, if you open for editing any instance of a given component definition and make a change, that change applies to the definition and therefore all instances will instantly reflect the change (regardless of nesting). However, if you make a change from the "outside" of a component instance - to alter its position or overall scale, for example, that change only applies to the selected instance(s). This is not affected by how instances of the component might be nested within other components or groups.

I'll try to remember to make-unique any component instances before applying instance-specific animator actions to them.
- Tom

Is there an easy way to create a movement action (such as a rotation) that only applies to one instance of a component definition? A number of times now, I've applied a movement action to one instance of a component and later discovered that the same action is being applied to all other instances of the same component definition. I am not consciously doing anything to cause the action to be applied universally, and I do not want the action to be applied universally; I only want the movement action to be applied to the component instance that I selected in the GUI when creating the movement action.

I generally do not give each instance a unique instance-name, but I'm trying to remember to do that in the future - in case that would cause Animator to only apply a movement action to the component instance that is directly selected in the GUI when creating or editing the movement action.

When I discover the universally-applied movement behavior has occurred, what I do to "correct" it (to my intended animation) is to delete the movement action and purge it from the model and save and exit from Animator, select each instance of the component and make-unique (using SketchUp's native GUI), then re-create the movement action in Animator's GUI with the desired component-instance. This is a bit of a bother. I bet there is a direct way to create a movement action that only applies to one instance of a component definition but I don't know what it is.

Hi Fredo, it turns out on the Mac it is Option+click to select multiple elements in the timeline (I can't believe I did not try that!). Thanks for the quick reply and for prompting me to experiment further.
- Tom

Does the ability to Control-click a set of elements in the timeline to group them into a clip still exist? This was shown in one of Fredo's earlier YouTube Animator videos, #2 I think. When I try (using v1.8b on a Mac in SketchUp Pro 2017), attempting to Control-Click on a timeline element pops up a tiny gray menu thing with "Exit" as the only choice. I have not figured out any other way to collect a set of timeline elements into a group, which would be convenient for re-using a set of coordinated actions.

Hi Fredo, as you suspected the animation was done by disassembling an intact model and then running the animation in reverse. A very handy feature of Animator to be able to do that!

• Tom

@unknownuser said:

I have modified the algorithm for circular interpolation in Animator 1.8b (along with LibFredo6 8.0b).

Still not the native Sketchup scene transition algorithm, but I hope a smoother transition.

Fredo, thank you very much! I just upgraded to 1.8b and the circular camera paths are definitely better to my taste. I have been working on a sequence with multiple camera positions (see below) where the prior circular pathing was a bit too crazy for a number of the transitions. With this new version I was able to set them to circular and achieve a nicer result. Fantastic improvement, thank you again.
- Tom

https://youtu.be/0qGY8aj6E7s

Hi Anton, I'm hoping you may be able to diagnose an issue with recording MSphysics animations. With an evolved version of my model posted above containing a flat electrical cable that wraps around the interior of a hollow drum, SketchUp crashes (bug splat) when I click the Reset Simulation button after recording anything more than a few hundred to perhaps a thousand frames. My goal is to allow the simulation to run for about ten thousand frames (and then export 1920x1080 PNG frame files at a time scale of ~13, so that I end up with 700 to 800 actual PNG files). In order for the simulation to not encounter object penetration and collision problems the Update Timestep needs to be about 1/420 or smaller (which results in a large number of computed frames for a given real time sequence).

I would dearly love to be able to record a simulation where the drum (who's motor controller I activate manually right as the simulation starts) is allowed to rotate nearly 7 times, then the controller is set to zero and the simulation is allowed to settle for a bit. However, the MSphysics recorder seems to cause the extension and all of SketchUp to crash when resetting the simulation (clicking the "<<" button) after more than about 1/2 to 1 revolution of the drum.

I have tried SketchUp 2016.1 and 2017.3, with similar results. I am running this on an iMac with 32GB of memory. The SketchUp process grows to between 9GB and 10GB by the time seven rotations of the drum have occurred and 9700 to 10000 frames have been computed (and I'm ready to click the Reset "<<" button). The computer has sufficient memory to support this, though the simulation eventually runs quite slowly as the process expands memory bit by bit by bit, only doing a few frames every few seconds. My last run took about 2.5 hours of elapsed time to compute those seven rotations. That amount of compute time would be OK if the result was a usable recording.

By the way, a few weeks ago you had posted a revised version of my flexible cable model that uses fixed joints (between the ~250 cable segment objects) instead of hinges (as used in my versions of the model). I have tried that fixed-joint approach, but the resulting floppy behavior of the cable is not as appealing to me as the behavior that occurs with the hinge joints, so I prefer to use the hinges.

What approaches do people suggest for configuring a camera path that orbits around and closes in on a subject, with the goal to have a smooth motion throughout the path (while keeping the camera pointed where desired)?

I have been using SketchUp scenes to define discrete camera positions, and creating Animator camera objects in the timeline for each scene. I have a hard time avoiding a bounce when the camera reaches each discrete scene key position. The three Animator camera path choices (circular, linear, bezier) all yield bounces unless the straight-line path between camera positions is naturally somewhat linear (which defeats the goal of orbiting around a subject, perhaps dipping above or below). The circular and bezier choices sometimes yield wildly crazy intermediate pointing and pathing (compared to SketchUp's native scene-to-scene camera motion), so I tend to use the linear choice in Animator.

Perhaps I could create a curve (welded out of line segments, curves, etc.) using SketchUp tools, and then constrain the camera to that geometric path? I seem to recall that is possible, but I don't know how camera pointing is defined with that approach.

Fredo, thank you for conducting further experiments with my model files. The remaining performance issue I saw and reported with v1.8a seems to have been a transient condition, because creating animation steps has been OK for the past day or so. Sorry for the false-alarm report. By the way, I also learned how to hide the Animator GUI while playing an animation in Edit mode and have happily discovered that playback performance is great with that approach.

Thanks for the compliment on my work-in-progress model. It represents about 1,500 hours or so of time in SketchUp and Photoshop (to do photo scaling and interpolated measurement using a collection of some 3,500 detail photographs I've taken of actual Viking hardware during the past few years). In 2016 I created a making-of video that describes my process. I'm currently using Animator (and also hope to use MSPhysics) to create another video demonstration of the model.
https://youtu.be/1vyzoWudom8