Trouble drawing a sphere

SketchUp
1

Sphere.skp (193.4 KB)

I’ve been having trouble drawing a sphere, using two different methods. The attachments above are from the second method based on the YouTube video How to draw a sphere in Sketchup FAST! - YouTube

The first method produces this (good?)

But I get a message that says “WARNING! The path that you have chosen does not begin or end on the Extrusion cross section. Unexpected results may occur.” The sphere looks okay, so is that a problem? What have I done wrong in the first method that my sphere isn’t whole? Please… Thanks.

2

I can’t say what you did wrong in the first case because whatever you started with is gone, the model has only the result. In the second case, the warning is generally benign and can usually be ignored. It is alerting you to a situation that could cause errors so that you know to check.

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Thanks for the information. I went back and looked at the “2nd” one and it had holes in the top and bottom. I found another method that seems to work using the arc tool. Method here: SketchUp - Using the Follow Me tool to make spheres and hemispheres - YouTube

4

Very likely it’s a case of too small for the number of segments. How many sides are you using for the circles you are starting with. What’s the radius of the sphere?

1 Like
5

FYI: Sphere and Helix have been added to the “3D Shapes” extension.
http://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/shapes

6

Ahh… There were 48 sides, 1 5/8" Radius on the horizontal circle and 1 1/2" Radius on the vertical.

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Thank you… I found one on the 3D Warehouse before I tried the third method (that worked for me). Good learning experiences, but nice to know there’s access to ready made shapes.

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No an extension is a plugin. It adds a “3D Shapes” submneu, to the “Draw” menu. It has commands for many of the most common 3D shapes (hence the name.) It is parametric driven. You enter the dimensions in an inputbox, and it draws the 3D shape at the origin. Afterward you move it wherever you wish.

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That’s pretty small. The Follow Me operation is trying to create segments that are too short and thus no faces. Try doing it again but scale the model up by a factor of 100 or 100. Although you can get a sphere out of the 3D Warehouse or view an extension, this is a basic knowledge thing and you should be able to create one with native tools.

1 Like
10

Thank you. I have added that one.

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I agree. I did find a method that worked for me. There is a lot to learn and I’m going to take it slow, so I don’t get discouraged. I remember seeing Sketchup years ago and thinking, “I’ll never need to use that”. Well, I was wrong… Glad there is such an encouraging community!