Hello
I am happy to present you my new plugin SJ SectionBox.
V 1.0.0 - 2024/12/30
Initial Release
The SectionBox plugin by Simjoubert Tools allows you to place a section box with 1 to 6 nested section planes, providing precise and flexible control over cut views in your SketchUp models.
Accessing the Plugin:
From the menu: Extensions > Simjoubert Tools > SectionBox
From the toolbar: Sj SectionBox
Main Features:
SectionBox Creation
Place a SectionBox in the active path of your model.
Elements within this hierarchy are grouped into a “source” component, assigned to the SectionBox | Source layer.
Section Plane Management
Each face of the SectionBox is linked to a dedicated section plane.
These planes are paired with copies of the source component and organized into subgroups.
Subgroups are then gathered into a group called “result,” assigned to the SectionBox | Result layer.
Dynamic Updates
An integrated observer automatically updates the section planes whenever the SectionBox is modified.
Advanced Commands
Reverse: Toggle the visibility direction of the section planes. By default, the outside of the box is visible. Use this command to switch the view.
Switch Active/Inactive: Activate or deactivate the SectionBox.
Inactive Mode: Restores the model to its initial state by removing the “result” group and exploding the source component. The SectionBox changes color to reflect its status.
Active Mode: Reactivate by selecting the SectionBox and clicking the command.
Customizable Sections
Configure a SectionBox with 1 to 6 faces to suit your needs.
An intuitive dialog box lets you define the name of the SectionBox, which will be used for naming the components, groups, and section planes generated by the plugin.
Multilingual Support
The plugin automatically adapts to SketchUp’s language, available in English and French.
With SectionBox, streamline your SketchUp workflow and achieve precision through structured organization and dynamic tools tailored to your needs.
So, for what I understood, what you do is to duplicate each model into a new component, and introduce a section in that component. You repeat that, and each time you do it, you set that new component with the other so the pieces of the puzzle fit together.
It would be great that there was an UI that allowed doing this kind of multiplanar sections automatically.
There should be a way to toggle the sectionbox manipulator’s visibility.
It would be also interesting that the section lines visibility was hidden. There is an API rendering option for that, but it’s flaky and Layout does not honor it. It would be great if Trimble would fix it. @ene_su you were interested in this when you were not on the Sketchup team, what about pushing it a bit?
The option to choose the number of faces is on point! 3 faces would be what I use the most.
I just gave it a try on a little object and it was very smooth.
After testing I would already like a 4th button in the toolbar to toggle ON and OFF the orange box:
As everyone mentionned, the section lines come in the way, but there is not much that can be done for that.
In an ideal world, I would also be happy to see a line where section planes intersect:
I also tried it on a big architecture project, but I wasn’t so lucky. Of course it had to copy itself 3 times over so it took some time. The scaling also stopped being responsive, I might have done something wrong though. (The box would scale, but the section plans didnt follow)
In that kind of project I would still probably use it as a one off on a separate copy of my sketchup file, for that kind of section.
Hello
I have read your unlucky !
I want to understand what’s doing wrong!
If it’s not a secret service plan of a new military base, can you share the .skp
I want to reproduce the bug and analyse.
Thanks for your feedback
Happy new year to you!
It’s no secret military base but it’s property of my company, so I can’t share it.
I tried it again, and couldn’t reproduce that exact problem. It simply worked, though it was quite slow on manipulating the box.
A strange thing was that toggling the visibility off is fast, but toggling it back on could sometime take several minutes.
Again that’s a big file. 38.9 Mo, with a lot of geometry, some locked definitions, a few sections already in place.
Here are the stats:
We have reached the borders of Sketchup! His ability to manage some edges and components!
For each side of the section box, you multiply the number of instances by 2.
When you switch to inactive, you delete the copies, it’s a quick operation! The model has been purged of unused definitions. This is necessary to avoid future name conflicts when you activate it later.
The section box copies everything in the parent of the active path! Try to place it in a sub-branch of your model, and not in the position of the roots.
Hide the layers of elements that are not relevant to the display provided by the clip. Limiting the number of elements that will be copied will make you gain fluidity and responsiveness of SketchUp.
Hello
Yes you can
The plugin have already separate the box, the cut results and the source in 3 layers. You can stay the section box activate. And play with the visibility of the layers on yours scenes
Oh I see. Toggling the section box on and off, is not simply toggling visibility but deleting or copying back all the entities subject to the section. That explains the delay, but I like the fact that it completely clears the unused geometry when it’s off.
Yup, I did that. It certainly was lighter on the computer.
Hiding some layers contained within the context of the section box, prevent them from being copied in the other instances generated by the tool? I didn’t anticipated that. That’s good to know!
but it’s property of my company, so I can’t share it.