As a generic tool identifying problems with SketchUp Solids especially in relation to preparing objects for 3D printing, Solid Inspector identifies hidden faces as a problem, which depending on the slicer and circumstances it might be. SI identifies and labels individual types of problems. If the only thing preventing a solid is hidden faces then they will be the only thing in the list of errors, if that is not important for your use you can ignore those errors. Indeed if you click on the question mark next to the error the reason for identifying this as an error is spelled out.
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That’s what I imagined. Solid Tools assumes users will need to export their solids and, therefore, will say that they are not solids if they have hidden faces.
However, Sketchup assumes solids that are correctly modeled but have hidden faces, to be solid.
Those objects are, therefore, solids in Sketchup.
If they are solids in Sketchup then Solid Tools 2, which works in Sketchup, should report them as being solid in Sketchup world.
At least it should state they are solid but…
Then it should be the exporter’s responsability to export a Sketchup Solid as a solid on the format it’s exporting to.
There are valid reasons for Sketchup users to hide faces in Sketchup, so Solid Tools shouldn’t report hidden faces as a fix or as an issue preventing the object to be solid.
At least, Solid Tools should have that as an option.
You could ask @thomthom if it is possible to toggle the hidden face warning on or off…
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I think others might see this differently. The whole point of having extensions is to provide different capabilities and methods and indeed ways of thinking than those included in SketchUp. Solid Inspector and native solid differ, as do the native solid tools and say Booltools or Eneroth Solid Tools.
In a way it does. If the only error in the Solid Tools list is hidden faces, you can assume this is the case.
This sounds like the perspective of someone who does not need to export solids for 3D printing on a regular basis. You could just ignore the hidden faces errors, does that not work for you? How does that prevent your workflow? Why do you need these object to be solid? (genuinely curious)
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This doesn’t affect my workflow, because if SKP entity info says it’s solid I wouldn’t even use Solid Tools…
I don’t 3d print, but for me 90% of the objects in my models (aside from windows, doors, etc.) are solid so I can trim / subtract / etc.
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Understood and agreed, there are plenty of excellent reasons to model in solids apart from exporting, it’s generally good practice.
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I don’t model for 3D printing but I tried this:
Modelled a cube. Made it a group. Hid one of its faces. Entity info still says “Solid group”. Exported to STL and imported that back into SU. The import has all the faces and reports as a “Solid component”.
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I’m not presuming which is the use case that is the most important one. I’m basing my request on how Sketchup defines a solid and Solid Inspector is, or should be, use case agnostic. It’s main function is to detect Sketchup solids, what prevents objects to become solids and eventually try to fix them. It’s ability to do this should disregard why, who, or what workflow users are trying to achieve.
You’re right, and I do, but as you might know, solid tools has a cool little button that tries to fix all errors in a go. As I work with a lot of solids, I’m usually hitting that button for fast fixes. Hitting that button doesn’t work for all fixes a solid need,s but most of my fixes are fast to achieve, as the workflow I use is generally sound. In difficult shapes, what I require mostly is to erase stray edges, reverse faces, remove internal faces, or close some open gaps (which is the most difficult part, even if not that difficult)
However, one of the fixes that the button easily fixes is hidden faces. The problem I’m having is that hidding faces to match where solids should connect, as shown in the image above, requires a very complex process, which is easily broken with that quick fix button. There are some plugins by @eneroth3 and @curic4su that try to ease this workflow, but I still find they don’t work all the time with me, so I do that manually most of the time.
As you might imagine, when I forget that a particular solid had hidden faces, instead of having a quick fix I keep getting a quick mess. Sometimes I don’t notice the mess for a while, until I create new section cut faces, or even when I’m working with Layout.
As I’m using Sketchup Solids, and as my use case is well within Sketchup conceptual bounds, I came here to try and make a stance for the issue I’m having. I imagine @thomthom might have made is work based on the solids for 3D printing workflow, but I also think he cares if his plugin is conceptually sound or not, and if it covers the wider user base possible.
I hope you can see that poorly exporting a Sketchup solid is not a problem of Solid Inspector, but of the native exporter or an exporter plugin. However, correctly detecting a Sketchup solid should be the aim and core business of Solid Inspector.
Having said that, if Thomthom, doesn’t want, or can’t update the plugin, or doesn’t have the time, or feels all this rambling is nonsense, I just have to thank him anyway. His plugin is wonderful and I’m just being spoiled by him.
It would be handy to be able to turn off/ignore Hidden faces in the same way you can turn off Short edges.
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