Hi, I’ve been using SketchUP Pro since SketchUP 2016 through to 2020 and can say during my modelling experiences the SketchUP 2020 is by far the worst for loosing faces/geometry when there are few groups touching edges together.
It’s got to the point where every project that I work on has this issue and this makes my work impossible. Resetting Zoom Extents (Ctrl+Shift+E) does help momentarily, however once I try to zoom in to the model the problem occurs again.
I have noticed that this only happens in ‘Parallel Projection’ and push come to shove I can work in ‘Perspective’ however this isn’t something I want to commit long term as frankly, the model looks out of shape in perspective and personally I find that zoom awkward to work in/look at.
I can waffle all day long about how much annoyance, grief and work inefficiency this causes to me but what I’m after here is, does anyone have a permanent solution to this without going back to SketchUP 2019? Although the same issue did occur in 2019 version it was not as frequent as it is now. Just to add copying the entire model to a new SketchUP file does sometimes resolve this issue temporarily.
No problem on the first image, see below for the issue once zoomed in on the models while in Parallel Projection:
P.S. My two colleagues at work have the same issue (one colleague has identical PC specs to mine, the other also Intel CPU and GeForce GPU but older models).
It’s called clipping. There’s already a number of threads on the topic which you can find with a simple search. Set the camera to Perspective and hit Zoom Extents. Make sure the model is close to the origin and that you haven’t got some stray geometry located a mile from the rest of the model.
Generally modeling in Perspective is easier . Save Parallel Projection for output.
Apologise for re-posting the issue and thanks for the proper name to this problem. I will browse the forum now.
As for modelling, I do normally have some geometry (in this case couple of sections of the capping beam) to the side of the model but it is fairly close to the model that had issues (they issue disappeared after saving the file). But no doubt it will creep up again.
Lastly, personally I do no like working in perspective and since 2016 have always worked in Parallel Projection.
You do have raw geometry on mixed Tags, that’s not a good thing.
But it’s hard to check when the model is no showing clipping.
It would help if you upload one that is clipping after saving.
The sheet pile (grey object in the component group) must of started as a CAD file then. I’ve always imported these as SketchUP component (Sheet Pile, and 2 groups either side of it) as I’ve had them ready for use since the start and never looked into it.
It could in some cases. This was more to the point of the edges being tagged. If the CAD file comes in with layers (that become tags in SU) and you explode the component, the contents of the component take on the tag/layer. Best practice after exploding a component or group is to immediately mark the selected geometry as Untagged.
There is a fundamental difference in how zoom is handled in parallel vs perspective. In parallel, zoom is accomplished by changing the magnification of the camera’s image on the computer view without moving the camera itself. In perspective, zoom is accomplished by moving the camera position closer or farther from the model.
In perspective, the camera’s front clipping plane also moves closer as you zoom. This creates an impression that you “move inside” the model as the things that are visually behind the camera vanish due to clipping. The effect is somewhat natural looking, but can be annoying when you zoom in tight on something and adjacent things vanish that you want to see for context. Zoom extents causes SketchUp to re-analyze the model and set the camera position and front clipping plane so that everything is visible.
In parallel, zoom won’t induce clipping because the camera and its front clipping plane don’t move. But things that were off to the side when the clipping plane was set may come to project through the front clipping plane as you pan or orbit. The visual effect is of things getting chopped off somewhere “out there in front of me”. This kind of clipping does not look natural, and zoom extents won’t fix it because that just tweaks the magnification.
Thanks everyone for the input, much appreciated. This has definitely clarified what the ‘Clipping’ is and how it is caused.
Going back to my original question, whether there is a permanent solution/fix to this issue while working in Parallel Projection, in conclusion there isn’t (correct me if I’m wrong here, don’t want to mislead anyone) as explained by slbaumgartner how zoom is handled in parallel vs perspective view in SketchUP. With this in mind I’ll mark slbaumgartner & DaveR clip as solutions to my issue.
I think you’ll find you are much more likely to induce clipping while working in Parallel Projection.
FWIW, I prefer to look at my model the way I see things in the real world thanks to my training by the likes of Filippo Brunelleschi, Masaccio, and others. SketchUp was really designed to be used that way, too. I use Parallel Projection for elevations, plan views and when I have to make illustrations for machinists who don’t see things in perspective.
Note that Eneroth3 has an extension “Eneroth Unclip Parallel” available from the EW that moves the camera to eliminate clipping when in parallel projection. This doesn’t change the tradeoffs between parallel and perspective, but can be a lifesaver if you are determined to work in parallel projection.
