I may have solved my problem (the novel).
After uninstalling I did a search of anything listed as Sketchup 2014 and deleted all the leftover remnants that don't uninstall after uninstalling. This included a few files and folders in various locations which includes Programs(x86), Temps, Downloads, and the App Data stuff... (I love how uninstall isn't really a full uninstall, it's merely as little as can be uninstalled so it can be called an uninstall. Freaking hell.)

Here is my thinking, but I could be wrong...
Perhaps what was binding me up was that there were some temp files, log files, two .msi files and the original .exe file(s) in various locations that all had linked to SU2014. What I'm thinking is that Windows was obviously still remembering the incorrect installation locations for the .rb files even after uninstalling and deleting the most obvious program files... so I did the extended search to find everything that was still leftover that might be pointing to incorrect locations.

or

I also rebooted after uninstalling and deleting everything before reinstalling, which may have also finally got rid of RAM info(?) concerning the paths and locations that my computer seemed to be hanging onto.

Not sure what caused it initially, but it seems to be working correctly now, or at least the files from extension warehouse.

@tig said:

What version of SketchUp - your profile says v8, but this is a v2014 thread ??

These four "su_..." RB files are specifically made for v2014 [and also v2013].
They are almost certainly not compatible with v8 which has its own equivalents kept in the 'Tools' folder.

These files will also load from different locations etc depending on the version...

In v2014 they live in the 'ShippedExtensions' folder and are auto-copied into the user's own 'Plugins' folder as SketchUp starts [making them impossible to Manage using SCF tools as their RB! files are replaced with RB by SketchUp, without asking you!]

So have you removed them from the 'ShippedExtensions' folders, or somehow changed things from the basic installation ?

Also please tell us you have NOT copied an older Plugins folder into the main SketchUp folder.
All of you Plugins belong in your own user 'Plugins' folder.
New Plugins should be installed, rather than copying potentially incompatible old ones from earlier versions...

If you have reinstalled SUp v2014 check that all of the files exist in 'ShippedExtensions' - i.e. the four 'su_...rb' files and equivalent named subfolders...

This is in SU2014. No I haven't copied my old plugins into 2014. I am aware that they go in different locations. I installed them directly from both Extension Warehouse and Sketchucation. I haven't changed anything.

the location they are installing themselves into is:
C:\Users\Eric's Graphics\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp 2014\SketchUp\Plugins

I'm not seeing any 'ShippedExtensions' folder, unless it exists in another location of the drive not associated with where the plugins are being installed.

I should note that when I do a re-install and have no third party plugins installed, this is what I get upon startup.

Error Loading File su_advancedcameratools.rb
Error: #<LoadError: cannot load such file -- su_advancedcameratools.rb>
Error Loading File su_dynamiccomponents.rb
Error: #<LoadError: cannot load such file -- su_dynamiccomponents.rb>
Error Loading File su_sandbox.rb
Error: #<LoadError: cannot load such file -- su_sandbox.rb>
Error Loading File su_webtextures.rb
Error: #<LoadError: cannot load such file -- su_webtextures.rb>

Thanks!

Ken,

I have had the same load error problem with all completely new and updated plugins, which includes plugins from their own Extension Warehouse, and I have contacted Sketchup about it. I just the received the reply today.

Here is the response I have received so far:

I understand you've installed some plugins using the Extension Warehouse and from SketchUcation but they aren't loading properly.There aren't any known issues with plugins failing so the best thing to do is remove all plugins and only install them one at a time, starting with installing from the Extension Warehouse first to ensure that eveyrthing installs properly. If removing plugins from the folder doesn't restore functionality then you may need to uninstall SketchUp and restart before reinstalling and starting the process again.

I just received this about two hours ago so I haven't had time to try their recommendation of loading one plugin at a time... which frankly seems to be an odd claim for the reason behind load errors, but whatever. When and if I get any other messages from Sketchup I will post them here.

@dave r said:

Why can't you do it with SU2013 or SU2014? I have keyboard shortcuts for toggling visibility of those things that were set up in SU6 and I've continued to use them for all versions since then.

I like to have buttons for things that I use fairly often but not often enough that I have the shortcuts programmed into my fingertips. Thos being the case, it's faster for me to have the buttons instead of pausing to remember what the shortcut is and having to try a couple of keys before I finally get it.

Otherwise you are right. Shortcuts are always faster, as long as you remember what they are.

Made a number of smaller changes and mostly finished up the back portion. I'm not 100% happy with the wing design yet. The hinges are relatively large to function correctly as a physical model, but I might make them into a sliding retractable design. Not sure yet. The jet booster/power pack is probably finished other than possible changes in scale.

Three quarter front w/closed wings

Three quarter back w/closed wings

This is actually another really good plugin for character and product design and a standard feature of high end modelling programs. Animation modelling programs implement this feature to help the designer get a better idea of a characters posture and demeanor which subtly reflects their personality. Product designers also use it for similar purposes.

Probably is a good idea to do a quick save before using it though, just in case.

@dave r said:

What if you "press" the button below the X in red? That's different in my screen shot compared to yours.

Pushing the button below the "X" makes it so that is doesn't lock to any specific axis? That works fine when I use it. It's the locking to a local axis that doesn't work.

Here's the current update:
So I tried uninstalling SU8 and reinstalling it and only loading Libfredo6 and Joint Push Pull and no other plugins installed... It still doesn't work. I'm at a total loss now. I thought for sure that would fix it, but nope.

I can try anything if anyone has any ideas?

Right, that's probably what it's come to. I was just hoping that maybe I was overlooking something.

Nope. Whether I have that "local button" toggled on or off it still sets itself to world. I've tried all sorts of variations of setting the axis and it always resorts to world axis. It almost seems like another script is overriding it as a precedence.

Sorry... I meant thanks Dan.

Maybe I'm just doing something incorrectly? But I've never had problems with it until I last updated. It had been quite awhile since I had updated, would that make a difference?

I've updated everything, but it still doesn't respond to the local toggle. I've tried to go through and get rid of any unused plugin files and I've used your 'purge obsolete files' utility but to no effect.

I guess I could just re-install everything and see what happens.

I seem to be having problems with the option of toggling axes from world to local. It doesn't recognize local, only world. I've tried it on both working models and new file. Any clues on this?

I'm surprised that more people don't use this. Having quick access for toggling on/off hidden geometry, work lines, hide rest of model, perspective and a few other of my most often used tools is invaluable to me. It saves me truckloads of time. Thanks Jim.

Give me a few days on it and I'll post something up. I won't have time to work on it this weekend, and what I have so far isn't substantial enough to give and accurate idea of what the end result will be.

As long as I'm stacking posts and tooting on about VT... I also have to express how HUGE the Gizmo is and it's right click custom settings when combined with using VT's edge extrusion function. By choosing to "release orientation" and "align to custom" combined with VTs edge extrusion, this is by far the fastest way to whip out most non-linear and organic model forms, at least in the early stages. I'm working on a curvey looking spaceship that normally I would never use Sketchup to create, but with VT (along with Artisan for the subdividing), Sketchup is now a capable option. I'll try and post it up when it gets closer to being done.

I hope that didn't sound like I was trying to put down Artisan. Artisan is great for subdividing, and the knife tool is indispensable for certain tasks, but I just wanted to make it clear what it's limitations are when flattening or aligning vertices.

@box said:

Krism, do you have Artisan, another wonderful tool.

It has a make planer tool that you can specify, Best, XY, YZ or XZ.

But the scaling in Vertex Tools works in conjunction with the axis tool so that you can specify any angle or plane in your model and have it flatten to that angle. Artisan's Make Planar only works with the default x,y,z planes and ignores the axis tool, even if you change the world axis outside of any local groupings it still references the original default x,y,z planes. I also generally prefer lasso selection tools vs brush selection tools, especially when aligning single rows of vertices to build clean geometry or frameworks for lofting with plugins such as Curviloft.

If you consider that Artisan video with the lightcycle, think how much more quick and efficient it would have been to also use Vertex Tools to properly move, align, merge etc. some of those problematic areas in the geometry where he kept having to rework.