Hello Gaieus,
Having started anew, I managed to complete the entire wooden framework of the bronze age farmhouse. I've got stuck in the final stage: putting the thatch on the roof. The flat parts are easy enough: a rectangle extruded to be painted with an imported photo sample of a thatched roof. But the conical bits above the doors and at the far end defy my best attempts. Please have a look at the model so far and the attached photograph of the real farmhouse. How shall I go about completing it ? Can I still animate the pillars first rising from the ground, then see the roof being added, perhaps horizontally from left to right and finally see the completed model blend into a live video scene ? Best regards,
Willem.

BZH scale model2.skp

Dear Gaieus, I had just downloaded and installed SU v.8 (English) when I found your v.7 example in the mail. I've seen it working. Just what I had in mind. The instructions make more sense now. They didn't in my native language version. The next job I must tackle is the rafters for the thatched roof, which extends from about 10 cm above ground level to the top, under an angle of 45 degrees all around. Should I make one single component to copy or adapt a dynamic fence that I can stretch along the parallel sides of the walls ?
Best regards and once again thanks for your help. Willem 44

Hello Gaieus,

Thank you for your swift reply. I'll try and work it out somehow, since I cannot reproduce the examples you have kindly added to my model.

Google SketchUp warns me that I have to update to version 8, to see the result, which cannot be shown in my version 7.

Best regards,
Willem44

Hello Gaieus, I've started again from scratch and discovered the free style drawing which suited me when drawing crescent shaped lime walls. However, hours of studying the 'animation of section cuts' have not yielded any working result. It's difficult to see what is ticked in the training videos and the written section does not offer a clear, step by step guide either. In the sample below I have attempted to activate the section cuts, but nothing happens at all. Where am I going wrong ? Best regards, Willem44

The third and the fourth tab (section cuts) don't work.

Dear Gaieus. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get much further with my project than what I was able to show you last May. In June I was involved with further shooting for the documentary film and following that, editing audio tracks, recording voice-overs in three languages, searching for more pictorial materials etc. Having gone back to the SketchUp project last week I realised that I'll have to start again from scratch, still with insufficient details of the roof construction and still with insufficient knowledge of the SketchUp program. I'll keep you posted. Best regards, Willem.

Hello Gaieus,
Impressive, your basilica. I like the way it rises from its foundation.
However, I cannot find any instruction on how to achieve that in the 887 page SU Helpfile.
Is that feature perhaps only available in SU Pro ?
I also noticed your basilica can be shown in 720 ppi.
That option is also absent in SU Pro, but please correct me if I'm wrong.
Is there an alternative way to let the pillars in my model rise from the ground ?
Best regards,
Willem.

Hello Gaieus,
I got somewhere, see: http://www.youtube.com/wimkootstra#p/a/u/1/nhryARNTCEg
However, just spoke with your colleague in Germany, who told me the actual building differs from the construction drawings which I downloaded from the Bronzezeithof website. He'll send me sketches and I'll start again from scratch. I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile thanks for your great advice.
Best regards, Willem.

Thanks very much Gaieus,
This really is great. I'm beginning to like the program very much.
I spend a lot of time reading the 800 plus pages of the Manual.
And I note that many concepts only become clear when trying out examples and my own inventions.
My next big challenge is the thatched roof with arches above the side door and the back door.
Best regards,
Willem.

Hello Gaieus,
Yes, I've made a component of a cross section of the pillars and pasted copies on the floor plan.
But I'm still a bit clumsy, hope it'll improve.
How do I fix a 30 deg viewing angle in the Camera field of view???
Each time I reopen the project the FOV defaults to less than 1 deg.
And how should I select animation clips to first show the pillars and then the cross sections ?
At the moment the whole lot appears at once, landing on the floor plan, i.e. the reverse of what I intend to show.
Best regards,
Willem

It works! Thanks very much, Chris.