Sorry… but it’s not clear where to post user questions, so, please direct me to the right section… and how to get there.
I have been tinkering with SketchUp since it was released by google a number of years ago. I got to the point where I could draw basic 3d objects, used push pull, etc, but never got comfortable.
I have one primary “need” for sketchup or similar app, and I am posting this after seeing the “skatepark” project shown in the latest newsletter.
As a professional pilot and flight instructor, I would like to be able to draw flight paths for use in tutorials… for example, a rectangular flight path that begins at 1,000’ and descends to 0’ when the rectangle is completed.
Believe me, I have tried, but have never been successful.
This should be possible, but can you provide more information about what you mean by “a rectangular flight path…”. I’m not a pilot, so I don’t know what shape that is.
Thanks for the responses. I will spend some time with BezierSpline.
I hope I have enough basic understanding to use it.
To clarify what I am trying to do, a “traffic pattern” or “landing
pattern” is one of the simplest illustrations as an example. Attached
(don’t know if that is allowed) is a 2d illustration of this copied
from a 1940’s flying textbook. My hope is to be able to create the
same and similar illustrations in 3d that can be viewed or displayed
obliquely to give a spacial perspective.
Yes! That’s a starting point and what I have tried but been unable to achieve.
You make it look easy, but it is not… at least I have a reference… If I understand, create a cube, determine the altitude at the edges of the cube, draw the lines, then remove the cube? (the tube is graduate school for me at the moment)
Wow… you are embarrassing me! But, also showing me what’s possible.
fwiw, I learned more in this thread than months thrashing aound by myself.
I am going to be back with some detail questions… such as generating
more of a ribbon than a tube, but that is way in the future.
As mentioned, I started this a long time ago and gave up, so, I need
to go back to my notes and figures as well as the incomplete drawings,
and start over.
Your explanations show me the potential, but they also remind me that
I need to spend a lot of time getting up to speed on the tools, but,
more importantly, learning the “philosophy” of the software so that it
makes sense when using it.
As I was searching around for a solution to my problem, I came upon this thread. I hope you gents don’t mind me asking for assistance, because it sure seems that you both are leaps and bounds better than I. I have a post here:
I need to capture flight paths across a state. There are several that intermingle, etc. So far I have imported the map image and traced the paths and then deleted the map. I’m new to the program and have only self-taught a bit. Any help would be appreciated. For now, I plan to put some basic elevation in so that I can adjust later once I get more data. Here is the map:
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