There any sketchup experts in the crowd?

[C Scott McDonald]

Looking for help on how to draw a very curved surface. I can pm/email a picture of what i am trying to draw as it is hard to explain.

Thanks,
Scott

[William Adams]

Unfortunately, last I checked, Sketchup fakes curves as poly-lines (which I hate).

That said, it's fairly easy to subtract circles and ellipses from an element w/ precision to get a desired shape --- usually if you start w/ something large and simple and subtract from it, it's pretty easy. Alternately, here's a good tutorial:

http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-Curved-Surfaces-in-SketchUp

showing techniques.

And here's an example using the soap, skin and bubble plug-in:

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=99323acf18a5897e7f0ee1f646b14891

[Chris Fournier]

Check out: http://www.srww.com/blog/. The answers you seek are all there.

[Dave Richards]

I'm not an expert but I might be able to help. Send me a PM.

Curves aren't that big of a deal in SketchUp.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8474/8120926106_656c76da3e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8294157@N08/8120926106/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8387/8605287273_2d6e7cc7f8.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8294157@N08/8605287273/)

[John TenEyck]

Dave is too modest. He's as close to an expert as you will likely need. If you look on page 2 of the current Rockler flier you will see what I mean.

John

[Paul Krause]

Check out the various vids at http://www.youtube.com/user/Fredosix?feature=watch, particularly the videos focused on the various curviloft tools. Also, if you haven't discovered http://sketchucation.com, it's an incredible source for plug-ins (lots of free ones).

[Jamie Buxton]

Check out the various vids at http://www.youtube.com/user/Fredosix?feature=watch, particularly the videos focused on the various curviloft tools. Also, if you haven't discovered http://sketchucation.com, it's an incredible source for plug-ins (lots of free ones).

Wow, that curviloft is powerful. It will let me easily draw dining chair legs the way they really are -- curving, with a changing cross section.

I poked around the sketchucation site, and found it a bit frustrating. There doesn't seem to be an index or a search function. Say I'm looking for a particular kind of component, or for a particular Sketchup tool. As best I can see, the only way to find either one is find it manually, walking through page after page of stuff that's not what I'm looking for. Am I missing something?

[Dave Richards]

Jamie,

Look under Resources at the top of the page. Also look in the Shop. Button there, too.

As for components, Sketchucation isn't the 3D Warehouse. There are some components offered in the Resources section but you'd have to search for them using the forum's search tool. Yes. There is a search function. Did you register?

There are a lot more resources for premium members, too.

Yes, Curviloft is very powerful. I used it to draw the seat curves on the Michael Fortune chairs, above. There are a number of other plugins for creating curved surfaces, too. Artisan and Vertex tools and the Extrude Tools set which I've written about on several occasions.

[Dave Richards]

Looking for help on how to draw a very curved surface. I can pm/email a picture of what i am trying to draw as it is hard to explain.

Thanks,
Scott

Scott, I tried to respond to your PM but your PM inbox is full. Delete a few old files so mine can be delivered to you. It's really long and I don't want to have to type it again. Not sure I could anyway. ;)

[C Scott McDonald]

Thanks Dave PM box is empty.

[Dave Richards]

I think I sent it, Scott.