Dana W Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Well that's not to say that SU Make (free) can't be a good tool, it can. One just has to know what they want to do with it. I for one love SU and I have seen some greats models come from it. I hope that does help you Sid. The power of SU is similar to what made Acad popular, the ability for users to write scripts and customization. Click on the link at the bottom of my post Sid to see some of the things I have done with SU. Sean I have discovered that it cannot even extrude, say a molding profile with the push/pull tool like a typical oh-gee shape because of the arcs. That also is probably because I don't know how to do it right. It will push/pull faces made of straight lines all day though. I'll be looking at some better software to use, myself. I might have the need to do 3D conceptuals of furniture in a bit, and I will need curvy stuff for that, betcha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f700es Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 It can extrude profiles I'll even share a moulding/profile add-on with you. +1 on Wings3D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana W Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 It can extrude profiles I'll even share a moulding/profile add-on with you. +1 on Wings3D It must be operator error then. I have a CAD catalog of nearly 800 profiles, and it just dawned on me that I can probably bring them into SKUP and pull my hair out trying to learn to use them on a 3D wall full of raised panel wainscot & chair rail or something. That is IF I can figure out how to get them up off the danged floor, where SKUP drops them, as a block apparently. What I really got flustered at was trying to draw a mitered joint at two pieces of molding, but that was some time ago. My SKUP skills are nearly non-existant, and now that I really want to get into the rudementary end of 3D, I have so much 2D millwork to draw, I don't have time or energy to do it right now. When it rains, it pours. I may have time to invest in a significantly lengthly SKUP thought process in a couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f700es Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Oh man then I have a surprise for you.... Tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana W Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 What? What? Whaaaaaaaaat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 Give the FREE open source Wings 3D a look. I haven't used it in a while, but as I recall it is very easy to use, I believe there are a bunch of tutorials around as well. Whoa, Nellie, SLW210, I'll have to wait a while to check out Wings 3D since I'm swamped with the other suggestions here, which I have given a concentrated look this evening. Here are my initial responses: First, I checked out SculpGL and created a very organic conglomeration that, when zoomed in on closely, really does have potential for my paintings. However, there don't seem to be any save, or, print, functions that I would need. I, also, didn't see any export tools. This web-based program is lots of fun and easy to get started with, manipulating the sphere and modifying it. That was lots of fun! Next, was Blender. I'm afraid f799es is right about a steep learning curve. Blender has a plethora of embedded menus with huge numbers of choices and nuances. I watched several video tutorials which were excellent and as clearly narrated as those for SketchUp on Matt Donley's MasterSketchUp web site (mastersketchup.com). My feeling at the moment is, all these tools would be great additions to any 3D modeler's arsenal. However, with limited time, I think I will focus most on SketchUp Make in combination with Smustard's BoolTools which should provide the missing solid tools in Make. In summary, I continue to lean toward the more "engineering" feel of SketchUp. I meshed really well with Autocad (though I really like SketchUp's more intuitive interface). I'll have to spend more time with the organic modelers before I determine their relevance to my immediate needs. Must say, all this exploring is great fun! And, I surely do appreciate all you good people! Sid You guys have been super in helping me find my direction in 3D modeling and I thank all of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 What? What? Whaaaaaaaaat? Yeah, me, too, Sean (f700es), Whaaaaaat ???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f700es Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 OK trying to upload a gif image but for some reason it changes the file type to jpg instead of gif. Oh well I had a nice animation of the tool in action. Profile Builder (free) http://www.smustard.com/script/ProfileBuilderFree I have the free one but there is one for $20 that allows custom patterns I believe. Dana, you have to remember that SU lines are "sticky" and react with other lines and faces. Using groups will get around this and allows you to extrude curved profiles better. Also look at the "Follow Me" in SU for extruding along a path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana W Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 OK trying to upload a gif image but for some reason it changes the file type to jpg instead of gif. Oh well I had a nice animation of the tool in action. Profile Builder (free) http://www.smustard.com/script/ProfileBuilderFree [ATTACH=CONFIG]51217[/ATTACH] I have the free one but there is one for $20 that allows custom patterns I believe. Dana, you have to remember that SU lines are "sticky" and react with other lines and faces. Using groups will get around this and allows you to extrude curved profiles better. Also look at the "Follow Me" in SU for extruding along a path. I'll have to look at that one. Seems pretty helpful. 20 bucks, huh. Not bad. Truth be known, I don't have a large outlet for custom profiles at the moment. People choke on the cost of getting the shaper knives made. When I used them, I was working for a guy who only did custom profiles. His stuff is in houses of more than one Reagan administration cabinet member. I'll be good to go with the typical vendor catalogs for the time being, that I currently use from time to time. Follow me has had me entrapped for several hours, since yesterday. getting the path right is the trickiest part. I spent a while just trying to see what it can do. I accidentally built a couple of alien spacecraft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 I downloaded the BoolTools plug-in from Smustard.com and am trying to add it to my plug-ins folder, but, when I click on Plugins in the SU tool bar, the only thing in there is a sub-folder for SketchUcation stuff. In the list of several SketchUcation plug-ins (?) there is an entry "Open Plugins Folder", but, when I click on that, nothing happens. Smustard's instruction for installing BoolTools is to copy two downloaded files to the plug-ins folder, but, even in Windows Explorer, the file listing for SketchUp doesn't show a Plugins folder. I've even looked in all the SU sub-folders to no avail. Help, pleeeease:cry:. Sid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Looks as though I have solved the problem with the location of the plug-ins folder---it is in the app-data subfolder. BoolTools are now showing up in SU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f700es Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Sorry I missed your post Sid but glad you got it figured out. Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Funny, but, I received an e-mail from the forum containing a message posted by Dana last night at 7ish that, at least for me, doesn't appear in the forum listing. Here is what he had to say and my response: "Microsoft likes to hide the true file structure from the user for some reason. Ever try to find the /~/user/local/appdata//, or the /~/user/local/roaming/temp// directories in Win Vista through Win 8? They don't exist in the navigation pane of Windows exploder. In fact, most of the directories AutoCad uses in the support search path list do not show up in the normal directory navigation pane. The way I find something in a "sorta hidden directory" is to do a search of the C: drive for something I know is in the general file path I am looking for. For instance. **.ctb* file extension. That search turns up all sorts of directories one normally does not see. Then I right click on one of the search results lines, and click *open file location*. Then I can navigate around at will among the privileged files. I discovered this method while tracking down An AutoCad temporary save file one day. What a pleasant surprise to suddenly have the directory tree look like Win 3.1 again." Dana W, that's pretty much how I resolved the location. What I did, was, I searched "appdata" and uncovered quite a number of instances. I went down the list of hits looking at the extended location info of each until I found the appropriate location for the BoolTool files. BTW, for searches in Windows, I strongly recommend a free little utility called Everything, from voidtools.com. In all my years, it is the slickest and best search utility I have ever seen. I urge everyone to try Everything. Sid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana W Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I only deleted that post because I had not read ahead to your posting of the solution. Once I did, I realized you had already made use of my or a similar method of finding those hidden files. I guess Microsoft thinks the directory tree they present is all the common non-geek user ever needs to see. Either that or they wanted to reduce the number of help calls about "Why is my xyz program broken now?" They used to only hide critical system files, until Vista came along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 I only deleted that post because I had not read ahead to your posting of the solution. Once I did, I realized you had already made use of my or a similar method of finding those hidden files. I guess Microsoft thinks the directory tree they present is all the common non-geek user ever needs to see. Either that or they wanted to reduce the number of help calls about "Why is my xyz program broken now?" They used to only hide critical system files, until Vista came along. Yeah, Dana W, I agree, and, long ago, developed the habit, when first opening Windows Explorer on a new computer, of heading over to "View/Show Hidden" to enable hidden files and folders. Dana W, considering the vast numbers of Windows computers in the hands of clueless casual users, it's probably a good policy on MS's part to protect the sensitive stuff by hiding it by default. After all, it's easy enough to change that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana W Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Yeah, Dana W, I agree, and, long ago, developed the habit, when first opening Windows Explorer on a new computer, of heading over to "View/Show Hidden" to enable hidden files and folders. Dana W, considering the vast numbers of Windows computers in the hands of clueless casual users, it's probably a good policy on MS's part to protect the sensitive stuff by hiding it by default. After all, it's easy enough to change that. Yeah, except my wife's middle name is Restore Point. (one of which is created automatically every morning at 2:00 AM.) I can't tell you how many times I've had to pull her chestnuts out of the fire from just trying to delete really old stuff in the documents folder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 Whoa! I know some naive young folks like your wife who incessantly type their way into computer hell. But, hey, that's a big reason why MS is smart to hide the critical files Actually, I can't imagine how ordinary people are able to use computers. If Yogi were here, he would definitely have something profound to say about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana W Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Whoa! I know some naive young folks like your wife who incessantly type their way into computer hell. But, hey, that's a big reason why MS is smart to hide the critical files Actually, I can't imagine how ordinary people are able to use computers. If Yogi were here, he would definitely have something profound to say about this. Yogi would say, "If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 Yogi would say, "If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.". That's perfect Yogi! However, in this case, I would paraphrase him and say: If you don't know what you are doing, you might wind up someplace bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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