Is it possible to make a Component with a fixed / automatic height above 0?

SketchUp Pro
1

Maybe I’m wishing for something that doesn’t exist, but maybe there’s some simple method I’m unaware of.

For light plan development, I have a collection of components that consist of a pair of items - 1 actual fixture + 1 symbol for the floorplan:

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The inefficiency I’m trying to solve is - having to vertically align the SYMBOL part to a certain height above 0 plane. This involves clicking into the component, selecting the SYMBOL half, and using DropGC to move it to, let’s say 15 feet above ground, so they all line up on the same level:

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Many electrical components are placed at various heights above the floor (0 level), so the symbols end up all over the place vertically.

Is it somehow possible to have a Component with a fixed (automatically adjusting) height above 0 level, so they all line up on the same plane without having to click into each one and adjust?

1 Like
2

You could create a custom attribute to hold a value, have it be visible as customer input. Make it equal to inches. Then reference that attribute as the Z value for the component

3

Are you using LayOut for showing the 2d plans?

It might be faster / easier to just stack a viewport over your floor plan with only the 2d symbol(s) turned on.

Otherwise if you make the pair onto a dynamic component I would probably use the symbol as the base and then set a Z height for the fixture. You could then enter the height or use a pull down.

4

Yeah, I’m using Layout, since drawing dashed curves in Sketchup is a special circle of hell.

That’s brilliant, I didn’t think of stacking viewports. It solves the problem. (Except for my OCD in terms of having everything lined up vertically in the model itself, but that’s minor). Thank you!

In-followup-to: is it possible to create a template in Layout that will handle the 2 viewports, so I don’t have to re-cut them manually every time? Assuming I’m always using the same tags for the ACTUAL and SYMBOL items.

5

So each SYMBOL component would have a “built-in” height value, and regardless of the position of the ACTUAL item below, it would stay at the same height above origin?

Would that work if it’s grouped?

6

Yes, I have templates built with SKP1 and SKP2 layers and in between I have a ‘ghost’ layer where I will sometimes use a shape in LayOut with a semi transparent color.

If you build a SKP template with scenes already set you can have it tied to the LO template with pages / viewports already setup.

7

I can’t answer for that method but if you make a dynamic component with the symbol and box component in it you could reference the Z height of the fixture to the symbol and it would always float above…

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8

Or perhaps use a plug-in like “Flatten to plane” to align the 2d symbols to 15’ high (or any other horizontal plane you choose)?

You would need to get them all into the same context, though, to be able to select them all at once. That might be more work than it’s worth though.