Replies

1. 
   esch5995 | Apr 22, 2021 08:26am | #1

   I'm assuming you want to draw bezier curves, ellipses and ovals. Curves are not the strength of Sketchup, in fact they can be downright frustrating at times. I don't use Sketchup as much as I once did and I do have the Pro version so I'm hesitant to provide step by step instructions on what I do. I don't know if they will work with the free version, is your version the old Sketchup Make or the web-based Free? But try the Extensions available through the Extension Warehouse from JS for manipulating bezier curves, most are free some have a nominal $3-4 fee and see if they might provide what you are looking for.

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   user-7627473 | Apr 22, 2021 02:40pm | #2

   Will second the above. I use Sketchup Pro - drawing some curves (bezier etc.) are definitely not its strong suit natively. As mentioned, there are some extensions that may be of help. I've used Autocad for many years in my architectural work and will always use this for curves such as spline with control vertices/bezier, etc- then import the vector drawing into Sketchup. Not that difficult all in all. You would of course have to pay for Autocad LT which is the entry level version.

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   Copeauxdemonenfance | Apr 23, 2021 09:24am | #4

   Thanks for your help. Well, at least I now know what a Bezier curve is! Otherwise, I think my answer to esch5995 probably answers your comments as well. Thanks again.
   Peter

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   Copeauxdemonenfance | Apr 23, 2021 09:16am | #3

   Hi,

   Thanks very much for your help. I have to confess I'm not sure what a Bezier curve is! I'll need to look that up! I was thinking of conic section curves such as parabola, hyperbola, elipse; and catenary. Maybe I should go back to my school maths books. I can manage an elipse by scaling a circle just in one plane.
   I'm using the 2016 version of Sketchup Make, with which I'm quite familiar and I'm not keen on the Web-based version because I've only dabbled but found it very different in use. I'll have a look at the extensions assuming they're available for the version I'm using. Thanks again,
   Peter

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   esch5995 | Apr 23, 2021 09:31am | #5

   For our purposes here a Bezier curve is any curve that isn't a constant radius, such as a circle or arc, although technically I think those are also Bezier curves. They are composed of anchors(endpoints) and handles(points along the curve) The problem with sketch up is there is no native way to draw or manipulate curves that don't have a constant radius. Since Sketchup treats curves as a series of line segments if you grab one of these points and try to move it you end up with angular projections from your curve, not a reshaped smooth curve. You can draw an S curve by connecting a series of arcs but it can be tricky getting smooth transitions and manipulating it afterwards is all but impossible unless you use an Extension. Give those Extensions from JS a try I think they may help you out.

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   Copeauxdemonenfance | Apr 23, 2021 01:41pm | #6

   Cheers, I'll do that.