Ok, probably a good topic to get people talking in light of Microsofts' attempt at Vista...

Operating Systems; What is the future?

I have seen and read lately that the future of operating systems are changeing rapidly. Maybe an online operating system by 'you know who' by 2010

(www.osnews.com)

Then there is Dreamlinux, [thanks Jon Wood] Unbuntu, BSD, GNU, etc etc...

So what works best? Do you stick to Windows or MAC or jump ship and try a freeby? I have considered converting to MAC purely due to 'Less crap' syndrome and after reading Edsons comments....

Would like to know your comments from a committed group of design professionals....

Thanks, Andrew

Hi Paul, just wondering how you did this....?
Was it just a vector file that was saved as .png?

Thanks in advance....
Andrew

Cheers TIG, will give it a run.....thanks a bunch!!

Andrew

Hey all,
Just back from meeting a few of the guys from Google who flew over from Mountian View to Sydney for the judging of this competition. Spent a day or so with them [and others from the Google Sydney office] and had a blast!!! Google, you shoud be proud of your people...
What a fantastic work environment!!! cafes', playstations, table tennis, and more... I am suprised anyone leaves.....

Anyhow, anouncements will be made of the winners by the powers that be in the near future i guess.

Thanks again.
Andrew

this is fantasic, I am not at all suprised....

Thanks Brad and team.

Cool. Anyone know of a uni that will offer Industrial design on-line? would love to know..... Product esign, furniture, etc...

much appreciated.

A

So,

Who is on MAC and why?

I have seen references at this place and the old one that burnt down about PC v MAC.
I am on PC and have been forever. I like the idea MAC, maybe just curious, but would like to explore my options....

So i'd like to know what pushes your buttons MAC users!!!Cheers,

utiler

Nice art Lisa, how'd you do it??

I agree with your comments about the toad.......

utiler

Hey Mike, i recall reading a little while back you changed or were thinking about changing over to MAC.... [i see a reference to MAC above.] if you did, why did you and how do you like the change? i have always been curious about MAC but never really spent the time to compare..... would you mind sharing a little insight into your experiences.....

Cheers,

utiler

Hang on... I just thought of something.....
can we "hide" a component or group in a scene and have it visable in another even if it was on layer0? If not why not? Wouldn't that help? A simple script to right-click, select "hide in current scene only" would do the trick......
A

Thanks Todd, much appreciated. just what i was after....

Hey guys,
Just wondering if someone has come up with a ruby to 'set current layer?

Function: to change layers by selecting an entity.

would like to set a hot key for it so i can toggle layers quicker than through the layer manager. besides, I don't really have to know what the layer name is I just want to set the layer current based on an entity. eg: import dwg file, need to amend say a window, SET CURRENT LAYER, pick the window which sets the layer that the window is on current, then go ahead and start drawing....

Anyone?

Thanks,

@unknownuser said:

Nice one Edson!
And as others have said, native SU is hard to beat for displaying design intent.
Stu

Stu, What's with the frog?

Andrew

It is interesting that this thread has been viewed 126 times and yet only two responents; obviously not as important as i thought it would be.....

Hi Edson, I thought there was a similar thread also, but I recall it was more to do with office file management than working from within SU.....

Couldn't recall what the subject was, although I have tried searching!!!

Cheers,
Andrew

Hey people, Just thought I'd see what your thoughts are on this Subject.

Seeing Layers in SU are used the way they are, I have set up a useful Layer naming structure that works for me.... I'd be interested in your fedback and if you have found a better way....
Generally, as I am involved in the Architectural industry so I set Layers as if i were constructing a building; Site first, foundations, floor, walls... you get the picture.

Something like this:

Layer0 [of course!!]
00A-Site
00B-Contours
00C-Site Features [Driveways, people, trees, etc]
01A-Foundations
01B-Floor
01C-Walls-Ext
01C-Walls-Int... and so on.

As you can see, file structure will be will be organised numerically them alphabetically so I find it is easy to scan the layer set and select the layer I want. Say I am looking for a 'Roof' layer I always know it will be after "Floor", "Walls", "Windows", "Doors", etc....

See the attached dummy file and open the layer Dialgue for a list of preset layers. Obviously second storey would prefix 02 instead of 01....

Your feedback is much appreciated. I am always interested in how to minimise computer tasking while modelling, especially using a program like SU which often feels like an extension to my hand....

Andrew

layers sets.skp

Thanks for responses guys, sorry if I confused you, Jackson...
[see attached image].

If I want to select the colored room of the plan then i feel it would help to have the selection window rotated. As does all orthogonal draw functions when you rotate axes.....

As for just orbiting around the plan; when I need to select geometry in a plane it is obviously easy to convert to parrallel projection and it is here that orbiting won't help. When you want to view an absolute plan of the model in PP, SketchUp always defaults to the original axes settings, not the altered axes....Maybe if this was introduced into future releases it would solve the issue...

give it a try and you'll see what i mean.

Thanks again, Cheers,

Hey people,
What do you think about this: when you change axes, should the selection window change with it? I find that when I do change axes, it is difficult to select objects in a bounding box as if it was square to the selection window....

Am I just pedantic or would it help?

Maybe a Wishlist thing...

A

Hi Guys, I have attached a file of what i was trying to achieve. Thanks to you all, I managed to work it out!!

I wanted to build a 'stick' model of a building but have the abilitiy to show doors / windows in plan even though only a single plane model. As you can appreciate, if a door or window is cut through it will appear as a continuous line thickness unless manipulated.
I have nested door swing components and the glass in the windows as a component so i can turn them off in plan view so i get a good contrast between the section cut settings and the profile line below.
Then in 3D view turn the glass back on and turn off door swings.....you dig?

Thanks again, much appreciated.

A

componentscomponentscomponents.skp

THanks again Susan, I have learnt more about Components in the past 24hours than i have in 4 years......

I will post en expamle of what i want to achieve now i knwo how to do it.

All the best.