I am following an example of how to group using materials (colours) as per a tutorial by SKetchup. i’d like to continue using this method as I am following there examples.
I have spent all day doing this, and I get really mixed results.
Sometimes when I group on colour the group disappears as I have the visibility turned to off and that is what I want
Other times the face just disappears and I am left with an outline, which is not what I want, do I just delete these extra edges?
It looks like you are at least sometimes forgetting to make a group of geometry before assigning a layer to the group. Example: The face shown selected has not been grouped and you just assigned it to another layer basically going back to what you had before.
You’ve done the same thing to other faces in the model as well.
You might find it easier to create a single face, select it and its bounding edges and make a group to contain those entities before you move on to the next bit of geometry.
Instead of drawing all those lines and created a bunch of loose geometry that is all attached to each other, draw out one shape, select the face and all of its edges and make a group before you move on to drawing the next shape.
I tried that in the very beginning, but if i needed to explode the group the edges and faces didn’t get reset to layer0 and I got in a real mess
Is there any other way I can proceed from this point, or is the process i am doing the right one,if cumbersumersome, and I just need to be more vigilant in my approach
Why do you need to explode groups after you make them?
My opinion is that you are working harder than you need to work. Being more vigilant is definitely a good thing. If you really must explode a group, the first thing you should do while the geometry is still selected is go to Entity Info (you should be keeping the Entity Info panel open at all times) and change the layer association back to Layer 0.
I have been exploding them if I need to add other geometry to the group, perhaps not the best approach, I have been trying to design my model and making changes as I work out ideas,
Ok, so where I am now, and based on what I have got, please would you be able to advise the best way forward. I have to submit this thing in 2 days and am getting fairly frantic,
K
Also understanding the correct workflow would be a godsend. I have been following the Sketchup tutorials and all the layout diagrams seem to have been created in Cad then imported in. I have been trying to do this layout in Sketchup.
With the method you have mentioned, do I need to group each individual discrete object, then combine them in a combined group?
I am not sure what you are trying to do but I gather that those surfaces or outlined spaces want to end up as a group on a particular layer. You mentioned a methodology and I also don’t know why that methodology in the tutorial isn’t enough.
I see you already have the layers and you have a lot drawn. I would double-click on a face, group the selection ( a face plus the bounding edges) and assign the layer. If you want more than one discrete face inside a group, hold the shift key and double click on additional faces before grouping.
Also when I say “group” you may wish to use components. That way you can name them to help you identify it thereafter.
“Group using colors.” I don’t know what you refer to specifically, but before you get into coloring I would identify the FRONT vs. BACK faces. You have painted all the back faces WHITE and you are using a style which identifies front faces by the color white (the usual default style in SketchUp). That would be confusing to me. Except in certain cases I would only apply color to the front face. To see the back face / front face, set the model view to “monochrome” temporarily. If the faces are blue, that’s a back face.
Edit- so I would remove the colors from the faces by selecting all and coloring it the default color first of all.
Each lets call them objects on my drawing is a face and each of those individual faces with their bounding edges need to be associated with a separate layer.
There’s no need to explode a group to add other geometry to it. Select the geometry to add, hit CMD-X to cut the selection to the clipboard. Then open the group for editing (double click on it with the Select tool) and hit Edit>Paste in place. This will entirely eliminate your problem with geometry ending up on layers other than Layer 0.
That’s not quite the right thinking. The primitives (faces and edges) need to be associated with Layer 0. Only the groups they get put into should be associated with other layers.
Also notice that when I have all these faces and edges selected, Entity Info shows the Layer window as blank because all that geometry is scattered about on more than one layer.
Yes, It looks like that part is right (for the RED), the group is on the new layer but all the entities are on Layer0. You can check by opening the group and “select all”. If the Entity Info window says Layer0 it means all those edges and faces are on Layer0.
(If you select edges though to add to another group, don’t “cut” edges that my belong to another face that you want to keep. “Copy” instead.)
I have to say though coloring your back faces tends to confuse the model at some point. (rather it would confuse me)
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