Sketchup question :(

[Ray Klear]

OK so downloaded the program. Listen to a bunch of GO-2 School Podcast. Now i started a drawing and ws going to do the sphere thing. I clicked on the circle thing and as soon as my cursor hit the drawing screen it started putting hundreds of red and blue circles on the screen. doesn't do that with the square thing. So i'm stumped allready!! Any secrets out there. I tried the ESC key and it doesn't

[John Schreiber]

Ray,

Not sure, and I haven't had that happen to me, but it may be a video card incomparability. 3D programs are very demanding.

The first thing to try is Window/Preferences/OpenGL then fool with some of the different settings there.

That's the first thing to try. SketchUp is worth the fun. Hope you get it going.

[Larry James]

Ray,

Not sure, and I haven't had that happen to me, but it may be a video card incomparability. 3D programs are very demanding.

The first thing to try is Window/Preferences/OpenGL then fool with some of the different settings there.

That's the first thing to try. SketchUp is worth the fun. Hope you get it going.

John, you may be on the right track:

From Google Help
"Compatibility Issues
OpenGL incompatibility is a significant system configuration issue leading to problems with SketchUp. Difficulties with Sketchup tools, performance, and rendering (such as mysterious graphics appearing on your screen) are usually the result of a video card not fully supporting OpenGL (despite claims by the manufacturer), an out-of-date video card driver, or incompatibility with 32-bit color depth. A temporary solution is to disable hardware acceleration in SketchUp while troubleshooting the problem.

Consult the Video Card Compatibility section of the Readme file (in the SketchUp installation directory) for additional details regarding compatibility issues for specific video cards."

http://download.sketchup.com/OnlineD...ac/gsumac.html
Look under - Technical Info - Sketchup and open GL

Larry

[Ray Klear]

I got rid of the mouse trails. I turned off hardware acceleration and some GL thing. Seems like it holds a lot of promise but so far i'm not real impressed. No control over movements. It just kind of jerks from one thing to the next. It does what it wants despite preferences. Maybe my macbook is not big enough to run it. Rendering is terrible

[Jim Becker]

Ray, SketchUp! is a very computing and video intensive application--like anything of its ilk. If you have an older machine (hardware) and/or OS, it may not perform as well as it should. Check the minimum requirements online to be sure your environment is as good or better. Turning off hardware acceleration and GL is going to put performance in the toilet for any graphics intensive application, not just SketchUp!.

[Larry James]

I got rid of the mouse trails. I turned off hardware acceleration and some GL thing. Seems like it holds a lot of promise but so far i'm not real impressed. No control over movements. It just kind of jerks from one thing to the next. It does what it wants despite preferences. Maybe my macbook is not big enough to run it. Rendering is terrible

Ray, what version of the Mac OS are you using? Mac OS 10.4 is the minimum requirement for SketchUp 6.

http://sketchup.google.com/support/b...08&ctx=sibling

Larry

[Ron Dunn]

I think it is a cult.

I can't figure out how to make it do stuff in furniture-like dimensions.

[Ray Klear]

Ray, what version of the Mac OS are you using? Mac OS 10.4 is the minimum requirement for SketchUp 6.

http://sketchup.google.com/support/b...08&ctx=sibling

Larry

Hi Larry
I'm using the latest version of 10,4,1 I think. I think my problem is memory. I like the mac but it seems to spend most of its time in beach ball mode and my browsers like to lock up. I run a 19wb lcd and 250g hard drive with it at home
I downloaded SU to my windows desktop ,same config, and it runs fine on there. I miss my think-pad

[John von Buelow]

Hi Larry
I'm using the latest version of 10,4,1 I think. I think my problem is memory. I like the mac but it seems to spend most of its time in beach ball mode and my browsers like to lock up. I run a 19wb lcd and 250g hard drive with it at home
I downloaded SU to my windows desktop ,same config, and it runs fine on there. I miss my think-pad

Ray, a MacBook will run SketchUp just fine. I run it on several Macs and have had no issues for the two+ years I have used SketchUp. Click "About This Mac"under the Apple in the left corner of your menu bar and that will say for sure what OS X version and how much memory you have. You shouldn't be spending an inordinate amount of time with the beach ball unless something is amiss.

vonB

[Daniel Berlin]

I think it is a cult.

I can't figure out how to make it do stuff in furniture-like dimensions.

In the preferences, their is a section called "templates".
Change it to be Inches-Woodworking-3D

I work for Google. Not on sketchup, but I know some of the sketchup guys. I'm happy to go bug them about any specific problems.

(I'm a novice sketchup user myself, but i have used it to make plans for a bathroom vanity :P)

[Ray Klear]

I upgraded to 2 gig of ram and the mouse trail are gone but it still dont work right. The commands hang, It doesn't play nice with an open browser, it won't print all the lines in the drawing. Their on one layer. It seems to be something you spend time trying to second guess what you should do before you do something else to get things to work right. Completely bass ackwards from ACLT. Pretty disappointed right now. I really don't like the fact that you can't draw from a point of origin. you have to set construction lines for everything. If you have a surface you can't offset from one line. it offsets the whole surface. Real hassle!! I'll try a few more days probably but i don't see it being much use for anything but to get a picture of what your doing. i can sketch that out on a drafting table a lot faster.

[tim rowledge]

Ray, a MacBook will run SketchUp just fine.

Actually there is a known issue right now with MacBooks (and some evidence of a similar issue on a MacPro withan xt1900 graphics card) where the beachball takes your life away. Current favourite theory is a problem with OpenGL libraries interacting badly with some SU code.
Take a look on http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/...forum.php?f=11 for a couple of threads on the issue. My MacBook is most definitely a victim.

The good news is that it doesn't seem to affect modern iMacs - at least not mine!

[tim rowledge]

i don't see it being much use for anything but to get a picture of what your doing. i can sketch that out on a drafting table a lot faster.

You should perhaps take look at some of the work being displayed on Sketchucation. SU is very usable, very powerful and extremely extendible. I know a lot of people with autocad experience have a hard time getting used to it, partly because they simply can't believe that the simple UI can do the job. It's an attitude adjustment issue.

[Ray Klear]

You should perhaps take look at some of the work being displayed on Sketchucation. SU is very usable, very powerful and extremely extendible. I know a lot of people with autocad experience have a hard time getting used to it, partly because they simply can't believe that the simple UI can do the job. It's an attitude adjustment issue.

There doesn't seem to be much question that sketchup can do some neat things. All one has to do is look at the examples. That I think is hat is so frustrating. Maybe my karma isn't right I just want the program to work so I can make an attempt to understand. I'm still on the learning curve on ACLT but at least it works and I just have to dig up the answer. I think part of the thing with me is it seems on the surface that you have to construct things backwards with SU. I mean you start with a cube and go from there. Or do all you guys make all the sides of a piece of furniture, components. In real life you start with 2D parts and make a 3D piece
of furniture. Cadd works the same way. And if you make all the parts components aren't you basically working in 2D mode in a 3D system.

I understand that you can specify distance like in cadd but do you actually construct and use all those construction lines to "place" things. Since you have no point of reference. And do you have to spend all that time rotating thins around to get your lines placed right.

Sorry so long winded just trying to get a mental adjustment here

[Jim Becker]

Ray, it's important to remember that SketchUp! is not designed to work like a CAD system...it's a sketching system. It's not based on points of origin, distance and angle, although you can actually do a lot of work in that manner to a certain extent. If you are trying to learn two different applications at one time, especially when they "think" differently, it's not going to be an easy task. No matter...pick the one that you are most comfortable using. The bottom line is the results you get and how they please you.