While I have purchased updates to SketchUp Pro, I continue to revert to SketchUp 8, because of a Plugin I that doesn’t seem to have been updated for SketchUP 2014 or higher. It is named Set Center Point. While it may sound like no big deal to find an alternative center point tool, it is. The alternative plugins don’t handle a simple straight line. Dividing a line in half leaves no guide point.
I very frequently need to align component parts, such as fitting a nut over a screw, and these components are seldom aligned to the principle axis. I then draw a line in a strategic place, where I know the center point of that line is also along the center line of that component and use the guide point that is created to then align the two parts.
So my question is, does any one know of a plugin that does include producing the center point for a straight line. Or perhaps the Set Center Point plugin tool is now available for SketchUp 14 and higher and I just don’t know where to look?
You’re referring to CenterPoint? It works fine in all versions of SU, including SU17.
It’s an .RB file, not .RBZ. That plugin dates back to the old days when we had to manually add all plugins to the Plugins directory. So you have to place a copy of the RB into the Plugins folder, C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp 2017\SketchUp\Plugins, and restart SU - if the program was running when you added the file.
Alternatively, zip the .RB file, replace the .ZIP extension with .RBZ, and load it through Window > Preferences > Extensions (pre-SU17).
I think @Dialamatic is referring to get > Midpoint, a plugin at Smustard.
See: Smustard(TM) - the Companion to Sketchup(TM) - Midpoint
And with this plugin downloaded > placed in the plugins folder, as described by @catamountain, you can place midpoints (a construction point !) between each two locations you subsequently click on. These locations can be on geometry or whatever: thus a virtual straight line.
Use: [quote=“catamountain, post:2, topic:33335”]
So you have to place a copy of the RB into the Plugins folder, C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp 2017\SketchUp\Plugins, and restart SU - if the program was running when you added the file.
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The plugin works in SU16 (a thanks to Rick Wilson).
p.s. The tool will be visible in the ‘right click context menu’ if something is selected. This selection however does not influence the next two clicked locations. They can be anywhere in modeling space.
Just checked a little closer. The plugin is called centerpoint.rb provided by Smustard.com. It works fine in SU 8, and shows up as “Set Center Point”. I previously( over a year ago) moved a copy to the SU 2014 plugin folder and changed name to centerpoint.rbz, but that didnt work. I am just revisiting this, since I want to use a newer version of SU Pro. I will try what catamountain suggests. Perhaps my SU2014 wasnt installed correctly and that is the problem. The folder \Roaming\SketchUp does not contain the SketchUp 2014 folder. I do see the SketchUp 2008 folder. I have SketchUp 2014 located under Program Files (x86)\SketchUp and there is where the Plugin folder is located. Also catamountain suggests zipping the centerpoint.rb file and then renaming it to.rbz. Interesting.
A .rbz is a zipfile containing the files for a SketchUp extension/plugin. It is not simply an alias for a .rb file! SketchUp will not load and run a .rbz file as such.
So, as @catamountain says, you have to zip the .rb file and then change the zipfile’s extension to .rbz. Then the “Install Extension” button in SketchUp should be able to unzip and load it into the right folder (note: the button was in the Preferences->Extensions pane up to SU 2016. In SU 2017 it is in the new Extension Manager Window but does the same thing).
That does not, however, assure that the plugin will run correctly, especially if the file was last updated for SU v8 as there have been major changes in SU’s Ruby support since then.
Since SU14, the Plugins extension directory is under
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp xxxx\SketchUp\Plugins. SU14 doesn’t read plugins people placed in the Program File directory.
When hunting for the Plugins directory, be sure follow the first part of the address pasted above as there are other Roaming directories…
After locating the directory, I like to save its location as a shortcut and pin it to my Win7 status bar.
Both SketchUp 2016 and 2017 natively support “Find Center” features for circles, polygons and arcs. Simply right click on the entity and choose Find Center. A construction point will then be placed at the center.
They do. But this seems to be about finding the center between any two locations in a modeling space, thereby marking that center with a construction point. So it’s not just for circles, arcs and polygons.
I use the native midpoint inference and Find Center a decent chunk of the time, but good ol’ centerpoint.rb is useful after I explode arcs and circles but still need to find a center, and it works for many 3D selections too.
