Problem with "Filling"

[Richo]

I am pretty new to sketchup, I used it for a TAFE presentation and now i am re-visiting that design and re-doing it, with more precision and detail. I am doing this to help further my skills in the program.

Now I am doing the roof, which is of skillion design, and I am having problems where certain sections of the roof and also the building for that matter, isnt being "filled" like the rest of the house. By filled I mean that when you draw a simple square and you close it of, it turns grey and you and colour it, push-pull it etc. But no matter what I do for these un-filled sections, they arent filling.

So what am i missing? Or what do i need to do to overcome this problem?

Many thanks, oh and if you know the proper terminology for "fill", please post

[designerstuart]

i expect your lines are not co-planer? with complex designs the junctions can get a bit messy.... does the 'fill' still work elsewhere?

ps - i'd call it 'fill' too.

[Richo]

i expect your lines are not co-planer? with complex designs the junctions can get a bit messy.... does the 'fill' still work elsewhere?

ps - i'd call it 'fill' too.

i do not have a clue if its co-planer. yes the fill is working everywhere else

[designerstuart]

so if you draw a normal rectangle not touching any geometry it fills, right? if not, this is another problem......

[designerstuart]

assuming normal fill works -

make sure lines bounding face to be filled are coplanar.
try drawing diagonal lines in - if one triangle fills, problem lies in other one. repeat until you know where problem is.
try deleting and redrawing lines or geometries.

tip: use snap feature (shift) to ensure coplanar lines when drafting. google has great tutorials on youtube on this feature. i use it all the time.

if really bad, try copying lines rather than drawing new ones to ensure they are parallel / coplanar. i.e. if lines A and B join at one end, copy A from one end to the other of B, thus making a rough U shape. copy A to fill the box, or draw a line from the open ends. working like this will ensure more accurate geometry when you start drawing more complex things.

rule: there is always a more simple way to draw what you are doing ... i still find this out all the time! hope this helps. lemme know if you need links to tutorials. google is very good for these.

last point: there are rubies which help this, if you want to go down this route. i use "straylines.rb" available on sketchucation (need to register i think).

[boofredlay]

Can you post the offending file so we can take a look?
(just change the extension to .txt or .zip and post it here if you wish to share)

[Richo]

Can you post the offending file so we can take a look?
(just change the extension to .txt or .zip and post it here if you wish to share)

here it is, ignore the massive wall missing, after deleting a few lines that wall went missing. I just need to get the skillion to fill.

Also in the middle is the open courtyard, im trying to put a 600 eve on but whenever i draw the line in, the whole thing fills! So what I want to fill doesnt fill, and what i dont want to fill, fills. Frustrating!

What do you reckon guys?

[Richo]

Also while I'm here, instead of making a new thread. Once I get this roof sorted and my filling problem fixed, what are some good rendering programs?

I've heard about vray and twlight, and something called kerky. Which one is preferred? I've never used a render program, so I'm unsure on which one

[designerstuart]

SKETCHUP PODIUM COMES RECOMMENDED (caps - sorry!)

[boofredlay]

Hi Richo, I have looked over your model and I have some notes:

1. Your entire model is one piece which can cause you trouble fast. Best practice for building a SketchUp model is to make groups or components as you progress. For example, draw your floor surface then make it a group. Draw your walls then make them a group. Then start your roof... etc.

The reason for doing this is so your model is not so "sticky". Meaning that if you touch one piece of geometry it will affect the rest. Keeping geometry separate is key.

2. Your roof surface that is not filling in has a flaw at the lower corner. See first image. There is a line that is 0.1mm off. This is causing your roof to not fill in.

Final tip: in the second image I have attached you will see the Windows Panel (Window/Styles)
If you change your line color to "By Axis" you will be able to see which lines are following the axis and which are not. This can be very helpful if you are not getting geometry to fill in.

Good luck and keep us posted. I hope this helped.

E