My First Sketchup Bowl

So, being a turner, and rather fond of CAD in general, I finally got around to messin' with Sketchup. Here's my first attempt at a bowl. It's impressively easy to do, but I do have one question. Does anyone know how to get it to draw circles using more segments? By this I mean, can the user set the number of straight lines Sketchup uses to determine a circle? I don't like how 'non-round' the bowl looks.

Thanks all!

Hutch

Yep!

Draw the circle, then freeze. Down in the bottom-right is that little input box that shows your distances & such? Type the number of segments you want in the circle there, then press ENTER.

You can also right-click on any raw circle, select "Entity Info", then change the segment count in the little dialog that pops up. If you select a bunch of circles, then right-click, you can change 'em all at once.

SOMEPLACE (I don't remember where) you can change the default number of segments in a circle.

Actually, in SketchUp you can't change the default number of segments for circles or arcs. And you need to make the change to the segment count prior to drawing the circle (you have up until just after you click for the center of the circle but before dragging out the radius or before clicking to set the first point for an arc) or arc or, as Tim notes, you can change it afterward in the Entity Info box.

If you make the change prior to drawing the arc or circle, that change will remain in effect for that drawing session. When you next start SketchUp, however, it will revert to 12/24 segments.

Did you look at the link I gave you yesterday? Did you download the plugin suggested there?

Woops, I stand half-corrected. You CAN set segment count for the circle just drawn (after drawing), but there's a syntax to it - it's not "20" for a 20-segment circle, it's "20s" for a 20-segment circle. It has to be entered before you do anything else, though. So... to use it that way (it'll set the session segment count), you'd plant your centerpoint, establish your radius (dragging or typing), then type "36s" (for a 36-segment circle) into the "Measurements Toolbar" (the little box in the lower right) and press ENTER.

If you're drawing multiple circles without switching to another tool, you can't use the set-first method on subsequent circles. It only works for the first circle after switching to the circle tool. By that I mean... turn on the circle tool & type "3" to set the segment count to 3, then draw a circle (it'll have 3 segments). If you then type "10" with the intent of changing to a 10-segment circle, it won't do that right - instead it'll change the radius of your first (3-segment) circle to 10 units. You CAN use the post-facto technique, though, of drawing your second (or subsequent) circle's center & radius, then typing "10s" immediately thereafter.

Oh so simple...

Ok cool! I went ahead an played with changing the number of segments and met with success. Thanks!

Dave, thanks for the link. I haven't downloaded the plugin yet, but I definitely will. It looks pretty sweet!

Hutch

Matt, here is a free software that I really like. It is very simple to use and was developed by an excellent turner.
http://www.billooms.com/bowlshape.html