Is it me or is the new 2023 Sketchup version different to 2022 regarding grouping geometry and easily having the option to make it unique? - Yes my 2023 Sketchup is also updated being that it is the 21st of March.
I’ve been using SketchUp for 3 months and have practised and observed from others that when I have to copy geometry that is not a component, I am always able to make it unique.
NOW… yikes, now I have to make my geometry a component that then needs to be grouped (because it’s a developing floorplan). From apply the advice from the below link = only then does the “Unique” tab appear. - For the purpose of creating a developing floorplan that will be edited, creating any copy to be a component and then to group it back, doesn’t make any sense to me.
I’ve also checked out: Make Unique Tool - and tried it out, but once again - my copy was changing from my original model, which is not what I wish to do.
If anyone could kindly suggest how I can copy grouped geometry that will not be linked to the original, that would help me out.
Make Unique applies only to components and is only available if there’s already more than one instance of a component in the model and your selection set is less than all of the instances of the component.
If you want a group why are you starting out making a component? Just make a group instead.
Your workflow doesn’t make any sense to me, either. Seems like you need to go back to the basics.
To help achieve your goals, some time spent at the SketchUp Campus and at the SketchUp - YouTube channel will be very worthwhile. Both sites are from the SketchUp team. On the YouTube channel, pay attention to the Square One Series. It covers the basics for each tool.
I completely agree with your statement. I have been using SketchUp for 6 months and this process that you have described has worked for me until the 2023 update back in Jan/Feb.
Strangely, I noticed that when I would make a copy of a group, the “Make Unique” tab would not be there.
Down below I have a demonstration video of this.
The make unique option is only there for components - editing a group automatically makes it unique.
If you look at the entity info , it will show how many of a specific entity are in the model.
Double clicking into the model as you have there , made it unique will show “ group (1 in model) “ for each of those windows.
Immediately after copying it will have said “ group (2 in model)
Groups are unique, you don’t have the option to male unique something that already is, you must be confusing groups with components, components are all instances of an object, so when you edit one all the other instances will be edited as well. It doesn’t have anything to do with the sketchup update, it’s always been this way.
On your model convert the object you moved to a component, right click, create component, put any name you want or leave it with the default generic name, then make copies of that object, get inside the component and make any changes, all the copies will be changed as well, now if you right click on one or more components and right click you’ll have the make unique option.
Copying a group in SketchUp will create a group that shares the same definition. So these needs to make them unique, however there is no “direct” GUI command for it.
SketchUp implicitly makes group unique when edited from the GUI, and from a user point of view groups could be thought of as always being unique.
My apologies. From what you’ve just said, I’ve just realised that when I was learning on the job that I was told to only group geometry/models as components and not to use the group tool, which only then allowed me to see and use the “Make Unique” tool.
I see now.
Thank you for your help.
Wish me luck with my ongoing self-teaching sessions.
This is wrong - you should be able to make groups unique, because until you edit them they share (at least) paint properties.
I use ThruPaint for paint, and every time I have to make them unique because I don’t want the same paint for all of them.
There are some tools that provide these options:
Fredo Scale Make Unique, but this one is sometimes buggy and you better not use it. Up to 2022 included, would crash your SU session, after 2022, it is working more often, yet sometimes freezes your SU and you have to kill it manually
Fredo Lord of The Toolbars, but doesn’t make unique nested groups, only nested components and first-level groups and components
3DS House, the most reliable of all, with the most reach options.
None of this explicitly tells you that it makes groups unique… you just discover this in practice, but Fredo Scale Warns you in a message that you will make unique “X” number of groups and “Y” number of components.
Bot none of this lets you to make unique a certain number of groups that will share the same properties (or maybe this is possible only for components) - once you make them unique, each will be only one instances.
As I wrote above, this is a behavior of groups - I don’t think it’s bad - which is taken into account by the native Sketchup tools.
The other question is how well the developer of the extension is aware of this, intentionally or unintentionally making the extension the way it is. Handling a groups differently than the UI, can be called as a feature … or as you say "This is wrong"
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