# SU Help needed before i tear all my hair out!



## mpooley (10 Nov 2006)

I've been struggling for days with a layout plan of my property with my house etc on it.
I started it with very little knowledge of SU and made a lot of minor errors not realising how easy it was to get in a mess with Planes.
so to sort it all out i drew a new base plane and moved all the main structures to seperate layers and moved them to the new base. 
This seemed to be working ok but when i try to draw the outlines of the property and the bisecting driveway i'm still getting into a mess where the lines drawn are not actually cutting the plane eg i cant do a push pull or colour the new piece i just created off of the main plane. 
Following me? :? 
Arcs seem hardest to stick to a plane but i am being very carefull and making sure that all points of the arc are on the Face. somehow this still doesnt work?
so my question is........ is there a way to force the arc to stay on the face also lines and rectangles???
Or is there something obvious and stupid i am doing wrong?

Heeeeeeelp Please!

Mike


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## Nick W (10 Nov 2006)

Mike,

Can you post a pic of what you're trying to do?


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## mpooley (10 Nov 2006)

OK its hard to describe whats happening cos there is so much that is wierd but in the plan you an see the ground plane which i have been trying to slice off the edges to get the exact shape of my plot.
the main bit is light green and all the bits i've successfully sliced off have been done different shades to make it clear. (I hope!)
It has been a major job to get this far cos sometimes i keep having to slice little bits off at a time to make it work! But at the moment i just want to slice off the left hand bit joining onto the curved hedge behind my workshop.
I just cant do it!!!!
also if u can see the little square of gravel next to the main courtyard- I dont know where this has come from at all !!!!! and i cant get rid of it :shock: 






Hope this make it a bit clearer
Mike


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## SketchUp Guru (10 Nov 2006)

Mike, can you e-mail the file to me. I managed to get SU loaded onto the comuter I'm using. I can tell better from the model what you've got happening.

Without seeing the model, I'm only guessing but I think a clue comes from the fact that the thick line paralleling the hedge is a profile line. That tells me that it isn't connected at one end or the other. If it was really connecting at both ends it wouldn't be a profile line. As to the square of gravel, I don't know how you got it but if you turn on Hidden Geometry (View>Hidden Geometry, you should be able to change it to a grass (or green) color. 

Send me a PM if you need my e-mail address.


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## mpooley (11 Nov 2006)

Dave R":3qswpiux said:


> Mike, can you e-mail the file to me. I managed to get SU loaded onto the comuter I'm using. I can tell better from the model what you've got happening.
> 
> Without seeing the model, I'm only guessing but I think a clue comes from the fact that the thick line paralleling the hedge is a profile line. That tells me that it isn't connected at one end or the other. If it was really connecting at both ends it wouldn't be a profile line. As to the square of gravel, I don't know how you got it but if you turn on Hidden Geometry (View>Hidden Geometry, you should be able to change it to a grass (or green) color.
> 
> Send me a PM if you need my e-mail address.



Thanks dave I have already sent a plan to Nick But you can tell me what do u mean by profile line?
I've got into a mess with this and i'm thinking it might be best to start again using the knowledge i've gained to do it properly this time.
Its not all been wasted effort as i think i've learnt a lot from my mistakes.
Still got plenty to learn still though!
LOL
thanks Mate no doubt i'll be asking you lots more questions!

Mike


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## SketchUp Guru (11 Nov 2006)

Mike, notice how you've got heavier lines around the outside edges of the ground and other bits of geometry. Also notice how the lines on the upper edges of the ground aren't thick. If the curved line on the ground was actually attached to the ground face, it would also be thin because it shouldn't be a profile line. The fact that it is thick tells me that it has a problem. I would start to find the problem by zooming in very tightly on the ends of that line. If one end overlaps an edge line, trace the edge of the ground from the intersection of the arc to another intersection. when you get the right one, the line should go thin and you should be able to move on. 






First, notice the inner arc on the right hand view. It is thick--a profile edge. In this case I used the offset tool to copy the outer arc inward. This is a common way to end up with the same problem. Notice how the arc extends beyond the edge on the far side. What you can't see is the small overlap on the near side.

In the left side, I traced with the pencil tool along the straight edges to a nearby corner. See how the arc is now thin in between the straight lines.

Here's a close up view showing that little short extension.


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## mpooley (12 Nov 2006)

OK Dave Thanks
I think i can see what you are saying.
Is there any way i can avoid this in future is there no way of telling that you are not on the face without constant zooming in? some way to force a rectangle to stay on the x axis? or green red axis ?
I think in my naivete that i joined objects together that were fractionally on different planes and got my self into a big mess!
Also I've leant that i've got to make lots of components and layers - when i make a component i set it to stick to a horizontal or vertical but what does this actually do?
because there doesn't seem to be any auto placement say on a wall or ground plane - a component easily sinks through!
Thanks for listening I'm determined to get the hang of SU it is just what i've wanted!

Mike


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## SketchUp Guru (12 Nov 2006)

Mike, let me see if I can get your questions answered.

First, the big clue when you have an issue such as the one I illustrated is that the line is thick. Until it becomes an internal line (I don't know what else to call it) that encloses a face, it SU will consider the line a profile edge.

Try this: Draw a rectangle. On the face of the rectangle, start drawing a new, smaller rectangle but draw it with the pencil. Notice that until you complete the new square, the lines are profile lines. Once you complete the new rectangle the lines become thin.

There isn't a way to force edges to be parallel to the axes but the rectangle tool by default wants to draw so that the edges are parallel. When drawing with the pencil tool, make sure you pay attention to the trailer as you draw. If you are drawing parallel to an axis, the trailer color will match the axis color. Hold the Shift key to lock the direction.

If you want you can set the Display options for Color by Axis. Look under Window>Display. That will display the lines in the drawing so they match the axis they are parallel to.

I hate to say it but it might be easier to start over than to fix problems if you have a large number of them. If you do that, you could start off to the side in the same drawing so you can refer to the original model as needed.

Remember the key phrase, "Group early and group often." Or as I prefer, "Component early and component often."  :roll: 

Be careful setting components to stick to faces. It is referred to as gluing and you end up with a "gluing plane" which determines where the component sits. This works nicely when the gluinig plane is set properly but can really cause problems when it isn't. It works nicely for things like windows and sinks where part of the component needs to cut through a face. If the gluing plane is in the wrong place the component will sink through the face incorrectly. I don't use it often because I don't generally make those sorts of components.

For the time being, how about if you avoid setting that.

If you want, you can set up crossing construction lines as guides to locate a corner of a component relative to another. Go back and look at the first part of the armoire tutorial to get an idea of how I used that. Also think about where you are going to grab a component. If you wanted to set a building component on a ground surface, grab the house by a bottom corner. When you move the component and get the corner on the ground face, you'll get an On face message.

I hope all that helps. Don't worry, you'll get it.

Dave


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## mpooley (12 Nov 2006)

Thankyou very much Dave!  

I will get there in the end and it is much easier when someone like yourself is willing to give advice 8) 

I turned on axix by colour and was surprised how few lines were on an axis  
so i think I will start again - but take it more slowly this time!
I think sketchup fooled me! it looked sooooo easy and i rushed it :x 

Thanks again


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## SketchUp Guru (12 Nov 2006)

Mike, it is pretty easy but you still have to watch what you are doing. Maybe until you get the hang of it you should leave Color by axis turned on.


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## mpooley (12 Nov 2006)

Yes I think i will for now


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