Hi, I am using Sketchup Make 2015. (I haven’t upgraded to 2016 because the Visualiser renderer does not work with 2016). I am looking for an extension or a method to change the location of the North direction, to change the way shadows are drawn. The “Solar North” extension is basically what I ne…

If I look at an skp file in Notepad, I can see the ‘NorthAngle’ parameter in the file, but the value is binary, so I can not change it directly without messing up the file (I assume). Could I change this parameter with Ruby? I can not program in C so using the Sketchup SDK is not really an option …

I’m not a Ruby expert but it would seem to me that since the existing plugin for setting north angle is a Ruby script. Since it doesn’t work in Make, maybe that’s a clue. What’s wrong with just rotating the model? You can rotate the model axes to make it easier to draw, too. Of course if you’re us…

A skp file is not text and I would not attempt to edit anything there using a text editor such as Notepad. Yes, the north angle can be set using Ruby. It is in the active model’s ShadowInfo object. I don’t have a copy of Make installed, so I can’t test to see what would cause the Solar North exte…

Dave, Yes, maybe rotating the model is the simplest option after all. I don’t use SU for business. In fact, I am not using it myself. I am asking this for my daughter who uses Sketchup as a hobby. I am sort of her ‘helpdesk’ :wink: She mainly draws houses and interiors in SU, just for fun. She i…

Ah… Very good. She’s doing a nice job. Keep encouraging her and being her help desk. :wink:

@DaveR . Yes, I will. Thanks! :slightly_smiling: @slbaumgartner . Steve, Ok, thanks for confirming that. This might encourage me to start playing with Ruby a little bit. I have programming experience, only not in C or Ruby … If I get a taste for Ruby maybe it will allow me to do other useful things …

Just throwing in my bit, have you looked at geo locating her models as that changes the sun position a lot.

[image] Ray_Johnson: Steve, Ok, thanks for confirming that. This might encourage me to start playing with Ruby a little bit. I have programming experience, only not in C or Ruby … If I get a taste for Ruby maybe it will allow me to do other useful things in the future. If you are feeling dari…

@slbaumgartner Thanks Steve! I will try that this evening at home.I will let you know how it goes. @Box I seem to have read somewhere (though I might be wrong) that geolocating your model only sets the location of the model but not the compass orientation …

Technically yes. But it gives you a real world position for your models so the shadows are accurate to the location. Try geo locating a fresh model to your house. It will give you an image of your house. Now build your model following the outline of your house. You can change axes to suit but the…

Setting North location

SketchUp

Anssi August 31, 2016, 5:40pm 21

Answered in Applying Different Solar Nth Settings in Different Scenes - #3 by DaveR. Turn off scene transitions.

Anssi

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Setting North location

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