Does Sketchup Pro have any analysis tools? For example, I want to find out the radius of an existing geometry in my file. If the answer is no, is there a plugin for this sort of thing?
Thanks-
Hello. Have a look at the Entity Info window tab. It displays almost all the necessary information, like area, number of segments, sum of line length and radius of arcs and circles. Keep in mind, though, that exploding circular geometry will lose the radius information.
Thank you! Yes, I see what you mean. I notice that on a rectangle with a radiused corner, the Entity info will show me the length of the curved segment when I click on it, but not the actual radius.
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Hi Joel, hi folks.
If you click on a single arc, the Entity Info dialog box (EIDB) shows the arc radius.
The EIDB will present specific information for each basic entity (edge, arc, circle, polygon, etc.).
If you have more than one entity, the information given by the EIDB will be more a summary of information regrouping the various entities, like the total length of a path or a perimeter or the volume of a group or component if it is considered as solid, an so on.
Experiment to see what the EIDB has to offer for all kind of single entities and also selections of multiple entities.
Read the help about this Dialog Box.
Just ideas.
Jean
Iāve just noticed something peculiar. In the screenshot above, Iām showing Joel the information presented in the Entity Info when a circle edge is selected. But it says āArcā. Shouldnāt it say āCircleā? Never payed attention to it before.
I was curious so I probed the arcās metadata before and after drawing the associated line. The only change I observed was that when the line was added, the arcās end angle changed from 360 degrees to 720 degrees (which strikes me as a bug!). This leads me to believe that the Entity Info Window decides to call the entity a circle only if its sweep is 360 degrees, and an arc otherwise.
Tried it again. I mustāve accidentally broke the circle while drawing it yesterday night. Was too tired to be attentive at 6:30 am, hehe. Hereās a gif.
Hmmm. Things are getting a little weird. I went back into my file this morning and discovered a few things. (See photos.) If I select a radius in the sink, The EI info gives me segment number and length. But, if I select the radius in the countertop, the EI info gives me segments and also the radius.
I drew both of these items, nothing was imported from the 3D Library. Both items are grouped objects.
I should also mention that the sink is noted as a āSolid Groupā, and I get a definite volume value in the EI, but the countertop is noted as simply a āGroupā, and I get no volume value. I see no apparent holes in the (very simple) geometry.
How is the curve on the edge of the sink identified in entity Info? In order to show a radius, it must be called an arc by SketchUp. If it is shown as a ācurveā the radius wonāt be displayed.
A group or component must be a solid to show a volume. There may be some small line segment or an internal face or something preventing it from being solid.
If you upload the model, folks here can give you a definitive explanation.
Dave, the sink arc is indeed shown in the EI as a ācurveā. I find this odd, because to build the sink, I copied the curves on the edge of the opening in the countertop, pasted it onto a surface, trimmed the excess off that surface, then push-pulled my way to a sink. Nothing to lose sleep over, but curious how the curves were transformed into ācurvesā, and did not remain āarcsā.
On another note regarding fixing broken solids, does Sketchup have any edge tool checkers, similar to that found in Rhino?
You must have done something to make that arc a curve.
You could use ThomThomās Solid Inspector2 from the Extension Warehouse.
FWIW, I drew a quickie thing similar to yours. I copied the arcs and straight edges from the opening and used them to create a sort of sink. the arcs still report as arcs. There must be something else in the process that results in the arc being called a curve.
Well Dave you could be right. As a new user (exactly two weeks!) itās very possible Iām building my geometry incorrectly in some instances! Coming from the world of Rhino, this SketchUp does have a slightly different approach to things! If I find my error, Iāll report it for the benefit of all.
Itāll be good if you figure out what it is that caused the change. What did you do to create the sink after you copied the edges from the opening in the counter?
After I copied the countertopās cutout edge lines, I pasted it onto a surface, then trimmed away everything outside of the copied lines. I then Push-Pulled the remaining surface up around 10", making the solid. Then I offset the solidās top surface curves inward 1/8". Then I Push-Pulled that inner surface downward into the solid to make the sink hollow. The last step was to Push-Pull the garbage disposal hole at the bottom of the sink.
I just went through those steps. the copied and pasted radii show as arcs but the offset edges are curves.
Interesting. My sink shows that both the outer arc and the inner arc are both defined as curves.
So there still must be some different step in there.
