the first completed mode I on this got lost in my migration to linux and now my second is just not behaving properly (just bad lazy design on my part) to many things in different groups not interacting with each other and the thought of starting over a 3rd time is depressing I was trying to find a way to just select the 2d footprint on the bottom of the floor plan and test for continuity and then start raising walls but so far i have been unsuccessful, even tried tracing a new outline around the whole thing and couldnât get that to work either
To address the feedback directly: the punctuation point is fair. It was 2 AM and I was frustrated, trying to avoid a third restart. However, that was egregious, and it was right to call it out. In the future I will be more diligent.
That said, I want to respond to some of you specifically.
mihai.s --There is no course titled âBasics of SketchUpâ at the link provided. There is a âSketchUp for Beginnersâ course, but if completing an $800 course is the prerequisite for being treated with respect when asking a question, that expectation should really be noted somewhere during the sign-up process.
Le_Corb â The question was included in its entirety in the title. I fail to see how I could have been more direct. I then tried to provide context by explaining why this was my third attempt and what I had already tried. Simply stating âask better questionsâ without providing an example of how, really has no place in this type of forum.
Tweenulzeven â The question was straightforward and did not require a model file. I was not asking for help with design principles. And if sharing a model is the standard expectation even for basic questions, that should be stated in a âRulesâ or âStart Hereâ section, which is standard practice in most forums.
I came to the SketchUp forum and asked for help. I did not ask how to draw a line or how to make something 3D, but even if I had, this is not Reddit. Five adults chose to belittle someone rather than offer help or even guidance on how to ask a better question.
The best way to get help quickly for complicated questions is to post a model that is causing you trouble.
The second best way is to post a screen capture or images with descriptions of what is happening / failing. And be ready for people to say âplease post the model so we can really help youâ.
The worst way possible is to try and describe what you are having trouble with. It may be clear to you, but clearly it is not clear to all the folks here who give of their time to help others. Even the âsagesâ are volunteers. A picture is worth a thousand words, a model is like getting a copy of War and Peace.
AFAIK courses at the SketchUp campus are free for subscribers (and maybe others too?).
In the interest of clarity.
Your thread title doesnât really make things clear as a floorplan is generally already 2d.
The text of your thread doesnât really explain things much and even to a native english speaker it is difficult to read and interpret. What you have said about tracing around it not working leaves us questioning what the issue is. This just leaves us to make random guesses about what is happening.
We donât want to keep guessing when a quick look at your model will allow us to give a definitive answer, probably with an accompanying video.
Mihai.s is not a native english speaker and uses Google translate to enable him to give his excellent answers, but if the translation software canât interpret your issue he is stuck. So he offered you a link to the totally free Sketchup Campus as an aid to your learning some of the fundamentals that may be holding you back.
Le_Corb gave a concise suggestion basically saying we need more info without wandering off track.
tweenulzeven, also a non english speaker, simply asked for the model so we could see the issue you might be having without guessing.
None of those replies were in any way belittling.
Mine on the other hand, could be seen that way, as it may have been me putting down your literacy. It wasnât, it was just a concise way of asking your to be better at explaining your problem in a (in my mind) humorous way and Anssi, another non english speaker, joined in with the humor.
So, please be aware that the forum is made up of an international community of volunteer user who do their best to answer questions when they can, often in a foreign language, when enough info is supplied. They are also human and as such can get frustrated when trying to get to the root of the issue can be like pulling teeth.
Being straightforward, clear and concise, with models and images is the best way to get complete answers.
My guess would be that your floor plan is all loose edges and faces and you are trying to trace around the perimeter. If thatâs right, group or make a component of the floor plan before trying to trace it. That will let the perimeter trace remain as separate geometry.
My previous recommendations were removed as spam because I mentioned a website. Here it is again without specifics.
You could copy your objects to a new file, paste in place, then explode everything. (This is to prevent you from accidentally messing up your original file.) Triple click to see if everything is selected, and if not, you know you don't have continuity. Then you may need to hunt for the gaps. There are some plugins that can help identify and close edge gaps.
If everything is selected, you can proceed to create faces if there aren't any, and then merge faces to reduce the number of internal lines. Use plugins or native tools.
If your end goal is to have the perimeter footprint, continue to close any openings like doorways or windows in order to make one large face. Erase internal lines.
It's possible that everything may have continuity but if it isn't all coplanar you have other issues. A workaround here is to follow the above steps to reduce the geometry down to what you think the footprint should be. You should have something that looks continuous. I can think of a couple of ways to get to a footprint.
1. Use the Sandbox "Drape" function to transfer a non-coplanar outline to a flat plane (add a rectangle below your objects, select your objects and Drape on the the face below).
OR
2. Using a plugin (redacted), you can extrude edges by vector (the vector would be in the Z axis). Then draw a rectangular plane, raise it so it intersects your extruded edges, and then Intersect Faces> with Model. The extruded vector will "imprint" on the planar face giving you a 2D coplanar line.
I'd be happy to provide some screenshots or gifs of the processes.
After any success, group your end result, copy, and paste-in-place back into your original model.
I hope this might be helpful, but it is less so since it appears I can't necessarily mention some plugins which I've found to be useful.
While I felt the OP might've provided more information, no one in this forum responded with anything that seemed solution-oriented. Perhaps my suggestions were of no value, but I generally like to be helpful and not immediately critical. The tone in written communication is important. I took the OP's question at face value, read it thoroughly and suggested a solution. The OP was seemingly at wit's end. Forum responses may not only help the original poster but others searching for similar answers.
Be less critical be less judgmental meet people where they are not where you want them to be. (Sorry I didn't use proper punctuation.)
