Can I set a different style to the global style for a selected object

Can I set a selected object to have its own style that is different to the global style set in the styles panel?

My global style is set to Edges and Profiles. I would like to create a couple of objects that have neither of these.

Is this possible? Is there a work around?

Thanks for any help.

David Mac

Select and Hide the Edges via Entity Info or use Eraser + Shift


It’s taken a bit of experimenting to get this to stick. Both techniques work perfectly but with one catch - the minute you start using the Unhide options in the Edit menu for other objects the hidden lines re-appear.

As far as I can tell the following seems to work:

Convert the object whose edges you wish to hide into a group.

Double click the group to edit it and hide the lines with either method.

Exit group edit mode.

If you now go to the Edit menu both Unhide Last and Unhide All are available. If you Unhide Last the edges will reappear.

However if you Unhide All, for some reason, the edges do not reappear and the Unhide Last option will become greyed and no longer available.

As far as I can tell from this point on the edges remain permanently hidden and the Unhide menu can be used on other objects without having any effect.

Thank you for this. It really seems to have solved my problem.

You might consider an alternative that may be useful especially with more complex models is to use multiple image exports and combine them in your favorite image editor.

For example, the Eames chairs in the background have no edges displayed while the Penguin Donkeys do. I made an image of the chairs only with the textures but no edges displayed and another with edges displayed of the Penguin Donkeys. These were then combined quickly in the image editor. There were a couple of other images for the shadows, too. All in all, though, very quick to do.
Penguin Donkeys and Eames Chairs

The same sort of thing was done to get the textured version of this ladder back chair and the version showing hidden geometry.
Ladder Back 3Degree

Yes this I do a lot already. Switch the style globally and export multiply with different objects hidden or showing.

In this case I wanted, exceptionally, to be able to work both styles within Sketchup itself.

Thanks for the suggestion and taking the trouble to illustrate it so clearly.

David Mac

Patient … Doctor, it hurts when I do, ‘this’.
Doctor … Then don’t do ‘that’.

You’ve discovered the pitfalls of controlling visibility while modeling via the Hide/Unhide command.
It’s context sensitive after the first go and leads to insanity when employed in a complex model.

There are far better ways to organize and control visibility while modeling and for presentation.
Layers — SketchUp Help
View > Component Edit > Hide Rest of Model/Hide Similar Components — SketchUp Video Tutorial

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So far the rather bizarre method I have found seems to be ‘sticking’ fine. The edges are staying nicely hidden through multiple hides and unhides of other objects.

Time will tell … Fingers crossed.

As you point out I can always use layers. I am just not always that organised … :o(

David Mac

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SketchUp model element objects do not “have” styles. The model has a global style, and you can set a different style to each scene page.

The following linked post (and it’s thread) discuss using scene pages for style control (rather than animation definition.*) I give the link to this post because it is the one with the attached sample model template file.

You can add more “working” scene pages and additional styles for them, named whatever you wish. Then turn on the scene tabs (View (menu) > Scene Tabs) to quickly switch between the various views you have set up. Each view for a scene page, can have it’s own style assigned, and it’s own camera settings (ie, camera position, direction, zoom factor, etc.,) as well as it’s own list of what objects or layers are hidden. (It is strongly suggested you use layers to control what is hidden instead of directly switching the object’s “hidden” property.)

* (You can have both kinds of scene pages in a model. Each page has a “include in animation” property with a checkbox in the Scenes Manager.)

Yes I frequently do this. Most usually for camera angles rather than styles but occasionally for styles also. I prepare pages for 2D export like this so that I can easily come back to a given view if I need to modify it. It is very useful but it doesn’t really address my original problem.

However, for the time being at least, the workaround found does seem to provide the solution I need. The requirement is specific to this one project so I am inclined to accept it rather than seek other methods as it is unlikely to crop up again. A kind of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it approach”.

If you have SU Pro, you can also create scenes in SketchUp with different parts displayed and with different styles, and place them into LayOut and overlay them there, with the advantage of automatic update if the SU model changes,


Anssi

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