… yea, but … Live Components do not yet have feature parity with Dynamic Components.
Currently we can only manipulate them via the Configurator dialog controls.
EDIT: oh I see … he was a bit dramatic with this statement …
… hey … that’s a idea! “Dramatic Components” !
Yes, sort of, but it’s only the bounding box you can do that with, correct? (I’m not accomplished at dynamic components.) Can you make is so the top of the horizontal rail is the critical parameter that is aligned with a point, and pickets and post adjust themselves above that height?
It seems there have been a number of threads where people asked how to draw their own handles on some critical element only to be told it can’t be done.
That’s right only the bounding box can be scaled. With LC’s there is potential for much more, however I remain a bit skeptical.
Without complete knowledge, there’s always reason to be skeptical.
Is It going to be an additional app like Layout is and not part of Sketchup as plugins or tool is?
If yes this means we will create models in Live Component App, import them in Sketchup and have some kind of update as we have SU-Layout workflow?
I have just tested the Live Component feature to deploy production of 2 bookshelves, with the support of the CNC router, I am very excited about this new feature, hope it can be applied well in furniture design the seventh
Please take a look at this video
Hi,
I have been using Dynamic Components every day it feels like for the past 6+ years, in the video you mentioned you hoped more people would use Dynamic components on products, I have done just that.
In 2014 I was tasked with creating a way to Invent a new Steel Framed SIP Panel Residential Housing System here in Australia when our Draftsman pulled out of our Startup, I decided to go with Sketchup and taught my self, at first I was only using it for Manufacturing Drawings of our components as we had another program that suppose to do the estimating with another program called Buildercost.
When the other software didn’t work out, I start researching Sketchup and was when I learned about Dynamic Components & the Generate Report function with the ability to export a .csv file… this was a game a changer… The estimating software I was working with could read .csv files and only needed a Qty, Itemcode and length or m2 amount showing and it could create accurate purchase orders… sort of… never seen an Estimating program to date that can do the basics of 3D Modeling Estimating & Purchases from a .csv file… hence why I write this…
I have modelled hundreds of modelled components with Dynamic Component custom Attributes assigned like Name, Itemcode, Length, Width, Thickness, Type, Colour, Weight, Price, Supplier.
I used basic Excel formula’s to calculate what can change within the model it self like length, weight, thickness, width using the LenX, LenY, LenZ
for eg, My Custom Attribute is Length: my code looks like this =LenY*10
My LenY in my model just represents the Axis length and im just assigning a code to attached to it, I increase the length of Model it increase my Length Attribute, im sure u know this but for people didnt…
my biggest problem right now is,
When I model a home out of the components it will be built out of using all those dynamic attributes so I can create an accurate list of ordering materials and price, some times I need to edit a beam or post and the moment I make it its own component or I do edit it , it changes all my other copied models…
The problem attributes are Price and Weight, they are created off the models Axis and if my pricing increases from suppliers and I want to update my models I would have to search down every individual model within that home and change the price manually… this fundamentally makes sketchups estimating system within sketchup not completed,
Im in the process of creating a software program that can read less attributes in the .csv file but boy it would be cool to have this all done with a dynamic component frame work.
Assembly Item:
An assembly item is just an product that is made up of multiple components for eg,
Window 790 x 1730 + Fly Screen
Qty / Name
1 / Window 790 x 1730
1 / Fly Screen to Suit Window 790 x 1730
Pricelist Items
Pricelist items are the components that make up an Assembly items and are one of’s.
Qty / Name
1 / Window 790 x 1730
Well I know how this would look in theory - this is how assemblies work in Profile Builder.
I guess I’m not seeing how this would apply in this situation, since there’s no way to build an assembly item inside of the live component editor that I can see. So, is the assembly created by making multiple items with the live editor, then grouping them together inside of SketchUp after the fact?
Or is there additional functionality coming to this editor?
Or…is it something that’s already there that I’m not seeing? (Always a possibility 
)
‘Assembly’ is common in a more technical environment, and as @JustinTSE mentioned is how Dale have named his parametric collection of profile members and components.
Revit calls it ‘Family’
The way SketchUp handles Objects is a bit confusing from other CAD software because there is no distinction between graphical/visual stuff and the actual (solid) object it represents.
(You can draw half a car, make it a component and copy/flip it to the other side. That would be a ‘visual’ component, whereas the result when done with the design could be the merged two halves and be another ‘object’ component)
A Group of components (think all the door components on the ground floor) could be made and called Level 0-Doors, but it could also be made a Component called ‘Doors’ and be copied to the next level and be ‘instanced’ by naming the instances.
Many of us have struggled with this (at least I have)
Currently, a Live Component consist of ‘Groups’ and don’t have ‘dictionaries’ attached (not that we know of, anyhow) so basically it is just plain ‘visual’ stuff
Basically the opposite from the group of door components 
Maybe, we could call those nested groups ‘cells’ and groups of LC’s could be called ‘organisme’
Cells get to keep their LC-dna, and reunited in another Live component follow the configurations, Live components combined could be configured as ‘organisme’
Yes, the LC (‘body’?) has that dictionary, but the groups (‘cells’?) it consist’s off, don’t. Even if coder’s and extension developers find way’s to extract that data/parameters, I would like to be able to see and extract them in the ‘normal’ UI, too. (generate report, ifc-exporter,Trimble Connect)
If exposed in a uniform way (is this possible?), it is more likely that we could combine LC’s and maybe even the Groups ('cells) they consist of.
Bryce, this looks VERY interesting, with a huge potential!
My main interest is around warehouses, factories and industrial buildings. Mainly - what’s inside: racking (and there are lots of types and possibly configurations), shelving, production/processing lines etc. (as a “customer” or designer, not a manufacturer)
What is your plan to approach work on models? In terms of getting opinions and feedback fro users, or even involving them in design of new ones.
@baoca Absolutely love it! It is very rewarding to see Live Components used like this.
Me too.
Plus they ran really slowly for what they are.
To make DC/sLCs/assemblies work for us, it would be good to see a few more rules about how components interact with each other or their context.
So, for example if I place some desks into a room, and then make that room larger by moving a wall, the desks could space apart to fit the larger floor area (keeping a minimum size or spacing around each). I beleive this is the sort of thing Grasshopper is used for, to good effect. I’m not suggesting SU takes on Grasshopper, but fo th type sof things users deal with (rooms, surfaces), it should be possible to create some common rules that guide “assemblies”.
Actually I have to fix a lot with the downloaded model, it really can’t be manufactured by CNC router immediately
I tried it out. It works great!
Really an interesting concept. Looked at several different component/object types and the settings were very impressive.
Now for some questions:
When the ability to create Live Components is released, will those of us with older versions of SU be able to create them?
Is the 3D warehouse the only place where they can be used? If so, is there a way to make them private so that they are not available to the public in general?
Is there any consideration being given to allowing users to create their own library of Live Components?
Not working for Trimble, but here are the answers from my perspective as a spectator.
I very much doubt it. The only way that would work is if they were implemented as a ruby extension that was backwards compatible with older versions.
At this point it is. Although we have this statement from the OP.
Also in the OP…
Thanks for your reply. You said what I was thinking and was wanting some confirmation.
