Imported SketchUp Images

[ahr8tch]

I'm still having trouble getting unexpected things in the final catalog image in TFP when I import images from SketchUp.

In the attached jpg's you should be able to see a screenshot of the .skp drawing and a screenshot of the resulting woodworking planer image positioned in a TFP drawing.  The arrowheads point to lines and colored planes that don't appear in the sketchup but come through to the catalog element.  Although I've searched through the various options in SU, I can't seem to find anything that might be attributes in SU that could be modified to eliminate the portions I don't want in TFP.

Hope this makes sense.

[Allan Chesney]

Do there lines still show when you render the image? Why not post the Sketch-Up object so we can try It may also it by also help someone familiar with Sketch-Up to identify the problem.

Allan

[ahr8tch]

Great idea.  No wonder I didn't think of it. 

Here's the planer in .sku.

[Mike1158]

Cancel my last, I'm not quite myself this am.  The thing you see is caused by the model being saved whil in edit mode.  Close the model before you save and exit and you should be fine.  This should only be visible in edit mode.

[ahr8tch]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the help.

I seem to be thicker than an elephant's hide this morning myself.  Can you be a little more explicit about closing before saving.  I'm using the free SU version and if those things are possible, I don't know how to accomplish them.  Under the File menu I don't have a 'close' option and if I use the 'exit' option the file is closed with no chance to save it.  Of course, I can use the 'save' option but this is what I did that produced the lines and colored areas.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

rh

[ahr8tch]

Here's the rendered outline view still showing the unwanted elements.

Another question:

From the View menu I can do a 3D Real View and it takes a while to calculate shadows and what not, but at the 'done' message all I have is a screen image that I can do nothing with but take a screenshot.  What am I missing here?  What good does it do to process the image if you can't save it or print it?

TIA
rh

[Allan Chesney]

The Real View is what TFP is all about - creating 'photos in advance' of what you are going to build so you can really see what it will look like. When you render it saves automatically. It will keep overwriting the same file unless you remnane it. Check the Settings to see where it is saving it.

Allan

[ahr8tch]

Thanks, Allan!

This is the first program I've ever used that does something without giving you a choice or at least telling you what it has decided to do.  I have no idea where to even look for a 3D Real View file.  What extension is it saved under?  Is it included with, or linked to, the basic .bld or .bkp files?  I don't see any incremental files saved when I look at files created today.

OK, I found it!  The option under Program Settings to save rendered files was turned off.  I turned it on and set up a folder for renderings in the current project then created a 3D Real View and saved it.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that the unwanted elements persist.  I discovered that if I turned Hidden Geometry on in the view menu that the lines would appear in the SU drawing.  I can't, however, select them or erase them; so they continue to appear in any object I create in the catalog.

I wish I could find better documentation for SU than is available in the Help file.  Can't afford the price of the Pro version on a retiree's income, though 

rh

[Mike1158]

Sorry, I should have responded earlier, been busy on home maintainence.

When you have a model in sketchup you have the option of making it an component or a group.  To edit that you have to right click on it ans select 'edit group/component'.

If you save the model while still in this edit mode each time you use that model you will see the plane marker.  All you need to do is to open the model seperately, and left click away from it.  Or alternatively, select the item and see what options you get with a right click.  You can also right click away from the model and you will get the option 'close component/group'.

Here is the model in its closed state.

NB.  I also use the 'free' version of sketchup, unless you are using the program proffesionaly, the pro version does not make sense.

[ahr8tch]

Just in case others might run across this situation, here is how I fixed the catalog, after some experimentation.

First, I had to select all of the original model.  This required CTL-Z and triple clicking until I had selected all the lines and planes I wanted in SU.  I then copied the selected information to the clipboard and opened a new SU file and pasted the selected components.  I then triple checked to be sure there was no component group copied over - that I had only the lines and planes I wanted.  I then saved the new SU file.

Next, I opened TFP and navigated to the folder I wanted to put the element into.  I right clicked in the components area and chose "Add Element" and followed the wizard.  When the image to added to the catalog displayed in the options window I could see that the lines and plane were no longer appearing.  I then named the object and clicked OK to add it to the catalog.

Now I have to go back and clean up about a dozen other images of woodworking power tools that I found in a SketchUp library and import them into TFP.