Layers in SU vs. Layers in CAD

[Geo]

@slbaumgartner

Unfortunately, the term “layers” was carried forward into 3D modeling where it cannot really describe the same concept.
In 3D the third dimension is inherent to the model.
The user can orbit to view from any direction, so there is no fixed notion of “in front” or “on top”.
Stacking order is meaningless.

I agree Steve @slbaumgartner,

As a group, it seems new SU users accustomed to the way layers function in in their favorite 2D image editing applications have the most difficulty understanding what keeps things separate in SU.

And while a few new SU users coming from CAD backgrounds rant and rave SU makes no sense; I get the impression the vast majority of new SU users migrating from CAD enjoy a much gentler SU learning curve.

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@illiniarchitect63

…finding it difficult since I have been using a CAD program since 1984.

I put away my trusty Vemco drafting machine in 2005 (the one I bought new in 1975)
Becoming proficient with even the simplest 2D CAD package was learning to draft all over again.

I’m certain learning SU would have been a bit more difficult without some form of CAD experience.
As I became familiar with how ‘pliable’ and fast SU is, I turned to the 2D CAD package less and less.
Fear not @illiniarchitect63, the SU learning curve is far more gentle than it appears at the moment.

[illiniarchitect63]

I greatly appreciate your help, and am looking forward to learning SU and using it as a tool to enhance my client’s experience. I am starting to get the hang of it thanks to all of the input. I didn’t figure I was the first person to encounter these problems and definitely see a light at the end of the tunnel. I was self taught on my CAD program and am hoping to learn SU the same way.

[katyakean]

@illiniarchitect63
Too bad you couldn’t be at Basecamp!
It sounds like you really, really need to learn the fundamentals of SketchUp, to learn things the easy way. I wish so much I hadn’t tried to be self-taught. I tell my SketchUp students to get Aidan Chopra’s “SketchUp for Dummies.” The 2014 version is perfectly fine. Chapter 7 explains nicely about how layers aren’t actually Layers, how Layers do NOT organize the model, and how they just hide things.
Dan said it best, at a programming level the unfortunately-named SketchUp layers are actually attributes of objects, like color. No one “puts” a wall on Yellow in SketchUp. They assign Yellow TO the wall.
I think of SketchUp Layers (can we call them SLayers? They have great destructive potential…) as hiding tags. You create a tag when you make a “Layer,” and in Entity Info, you assign that tag as a visibility attribute of the object. And as everyone keeps saying, only non-sticky things like groups or components should get a “hiding tag,” and the edges and faces need to be associated with Layer 0.