I am more a mapping/GIS person than a modeler, but I am a casual SketchUp user. The recent acquisition has sparked a number of conversations, among users and non-users alike. A colleague of mine mentioned his personal belief that SketchUp does not have the architectural cojones necessary for full production work. His opinion is that SketchUp is a fine tool for preliminary drawings and presentations, but AutoCAD is necessary to produce the kind of drawings needed to actually construct things in the real world.

My question to you all is: Is my colleague right about this? I don't personally believe so, but I don't possess any first-hand knowledge I can bring to the table.

And if my colleague is incorrect, can any of you point me to any links that prove it?

I'm thinking "Google Ozone".

Frankly, I don't think much of SketchUp's handling of materials on any level. I've gotten to the point where I only use them as 'placemarks', which I replace using another program (in this case, Bryce):

• Terry

@krisidious said:

politeness is an art-form over there

Really? It certainly doesn't show.

@honoluludesktop said:

Aren't apps. on the cloud slower then those PC based?

The answer to that question is (as it often is): it depends. On the machine and the app. In most cases, if you have an up-to-date machine on an average connection, a desktop app will perform faster (and probably better) then a cloud-based app. However, if that up-to-date machine is on a blazing fast connection, the cloud apps may very well perform better. Alternately, if you have an older machine on an average connection, it will perform much better running apps in the cloud.

We just moved into a new house. My wife and I both have our own offices upstairs, but we decided it would be nice to have a laptop downstairs - just to check our email and to occasionally look something up on Wikipedia or Imdb. The predictable response would be to go out and purchase a netbook. Being who I am, I dusted off an old Dell Inspiron 600m and installed Jolicloud (now Joli OS, I think). I have to say, I am very pleased. That old dell couldn't even run XP very well, but running a cloud-based OS makes it a Spring Chicken again (because it's connection speed is good).

Don't discount the cloud. While I'm a long way from switching over to the cloud completely, it does serve a purpose.

• Terry

Umm....

If you download the model, rather than loading it directly into SU, the 3D Warehouse window persists.

@honoluludesktop said:

In the past, I could not understand the the problems people had with adapting Acad files to SketchUp. Broken, non planer, etc. Incorrect joints between lines, multiple lines in one line, untrimed lines, etc. were almost nonexistent with my own Cad drawings. With my client's Acad drawing however, I spent a day and a half

I think this pretty much hits the nail on the head. The problem isn't with either program - unless you count the fact that humans use them. You can't expect everyone to produce the kind of quality you do.

@dave r said:

Try this: Go to the Shadows settings. Tick the box for Use Sun For Shading and set the Light slider to the left and dark slider all the way to the right. Or you may have to play with them a little.

Hey - thanks, Dave. Worked a treat (although I did have to 'play with them a little').

• Terry

Can we get an image? I'm not really clear about what you're asking.

@thomthom said:

@tpstigers said:

Here's the problem with AutoCAD: it's designed by and for American engineers, a group of people who refuse to adopt the Metric System but insist on working in tenths of feet.

Which tells you just about everything you need to know about translating measurements from SU to CAD.

They are not the only ones. Everything internally in SU is inches...

Actually, I have no problems with inches. It's tenths of feet that drive me crazy.

Use the protractor tool. Bring it onto the face, then hold 'shift' to lock it to that plane. Click on one corner of the face, then the opposite corner, then the opposite corner one more time to draw a guide along the surface of the face. Now use the 'shift' key to lock the protractor to the red or green axis (depending on the orientation of your original face). Click once on the previously created guide (to start another guide). Click again elsewhere on the same guide. Type '90' and hit 'enter'.

Now you have a guide to use to draw your line. No plugin needed.

Here's the problem with AutoCAD: it's designed by and for American engineers, a group of people who refuse to adopt the Metric System but insist on working in tenths of feet.

Which tells you just about everything you need to know about translating measurements from SU to CAD.

Wouldn't it just be easier to teach someone how to use SketchUp? It's not that hard.

It seems to me that the ultimate SketchUp workstation would be something like this.

@didier bur said:

Hi,
@tpstigers: Perhaps you didn't red the doc: it is said that this experimental tool only works with the point tool and spray shape tool

Thanks. I did read the doc. I guess I should have read it with my brain turned on.

• Terry

Top-Down spray works fine. When I try the perpendicular spray, though, I consistently get this error ("This shape is not available yet"):

I did explode the image before sampling it, but I don't think that accounts for the 'projected' effect (if I'm understanding what you're saying). Rather. I think it's caused by softening the edges of the object:

The original image, an object with softened edges (on left) and the same object with hard edges (on right).

I just imported an image as an image (as opposed to a texture), placing it over the curved object. I then sized and positioned the image to suit my fancy. Then I used the texture eyedropper to select the image, then the paint bucket to paint the object.

Speaking of which, wouldn't that work to 'rotate a texture on a curve'? Couldn't you just draw a square next to the curve and place a texture on it (the square). Then manipulate the texture on the square to your liking. Then you could use the texture eyedropper to transfer the new texture onto the curve.

You can paint a texture on a curve. You just have to soften the edges first.

Once you've placed the texture, however, you cannot manipulate it (i.e., rotate it) as you can normal textures. You just have to make sure you have positioned it the way you want before you paint it.

I have a dual monitor setup - sort of. My primary monitor plugs into my main computer. My secondary monitor plugs into a four-channel KVM. My main computer uses one of the four channels, the other three go to other machines. While I will often use the secondary monitor as a reference, I usually do so through a separate machine (so as to conserve resources on my primary computer). As time has gone on, I have found that I rarely use my dual monitor setup in a 'true' fashion (both monitors driven by one machine).

At the end of the day, though, I feel that this is all just a matter of personal preference. Some people have a workflow that demands dual monitors. Some prefer to work with one monitor and multiple windows. I think the best idea is the one you explored earlier - try it out in a variety of ways and see which one works for you.