Yep...that is the way to do it.

Thanks, Paul, for the great advice. I am just about to start populating this quadrant with "stuff"; I have been looking forward to this for weeks. I think trees will make a huge difference, too. My glass is opaque, since all of the buildings are just shells, but I will experiment with a bluer glass and see what it looks like. I am torn with the pavement. Right now, I am just using a solid color because I find that the asphalt textures really flicker badly when animating. I agree that I need to do something to make the roads look more realistic. Thanks again for taking the time to jot down your suggestions.

hmmm...workflow..haha..it varies i guess... i use whatever reference material is given and figure out the plan and pull up the walls.. add the doors, windows, etc.. then go into the details.. whatever interests me at the time..i have a short attention span so i really jump around from placing small elements on a desk... to modelling the ceiling..haha.. i try to use as many components as possible to help make detailing as easy as possible....i try to use desks and tables, etc as frequently as i can... mirroring and rotating them to help with the 'randomness'.... i dont know if that is too descriptive, but like i said...it varies with the project and with my attention span

Here you go then. Enjoy. http://www.sketchucation.com/scf/viewtopic.php?f=106&t=3623

Thanks Gaieus, I'll remember that.

Pilou, Thanks for pointing out TopMod. It looks amazing, as do the models created with it. The thing I like about SketchUp is that it puts the fewest barriers between me and the computer model. What SketchUp lacks in tools and capabilities it more than makes up -at least for me- in simplicity, intuitiveness and fluidity. Fred

@solo said: ....maybe even some 'Teletubby' Noooooo! Arghhhhh! Next thing someone will be saying they are "smurfy" looking. Fred

Futhermore, you can remove hidden faces from the tube in various ways. Your method is probably one of the fastest, but there is a faster way even: select the top and bottom Faces and Control/Option+Click the segments (not the connecting Edges) and Group them, Hide the Group. Triple-Click the geometry (which sits in the same position) and Erase it. Bring up Hidden Geometry (powerusers have a shortcut key for this) and UnHide the Group. Explode the Group. This may seem as more steps but believe me it will speed things up even more. Alternatively you can select the to-be-Erased Faces and then Group the selected Faces and Erase the group, as demonstrated in this video (skim the timeline to about 80% into the movie). [/quote] Holey Toledo Coen! That is the single most useful tip I've gotten. It has knocked the current #1 off it's perch - eraser+crl+click. Am I a power user yet?

@tinanne said: Robert, I'm not sure what lofting is (isn't that terrible! ) But I did push/pull the face of the log. Cutting out the windows/doors was a real pain in my hiney. Even with the anterior pains, It looks great.

Thanks Ross for the nice tips, I'll give it try.... Yeah some techniques are better demoed than said..I really don't like the taste of beer, is there are better tasting beer? I'm really looking for that... Thanks, allanx

thank you both for the comments yes there will be some green in the future. i plan to make my own 2d face-me trees the next block will have a park posted by Peter

tom, your stuff should be hung on a gallery wall! ever thought of printing them on very good thick paper and selling them? my respects to you as an artist!

nice image LAPX! try soft shadows.. will look more realistic!

Did these tonight for my brother. He has to choose the doors and he gets to build this one. [image: th_stevesstandcurved.jpg]

Great work Allan.

Yes, I will be putting the blade on some time this week when I get a free moment and I'll let it render over the weekend. I'll post an update when I have it.

There was no rendering of this image. It is just SU and some Photoshop tricks. The final skp file was only 1.8 MB. All of the trees, cars, and people were done in PS. We have a nice RPC library here and it adds a lot to the basic SU image - I think.

@unknownuser said: this is indeed something else ... very lekker mxx, very few of the forum users will understand the "very lekker" - maybe the Dutch users...

I'm totally turned on right now...

Thank you gentlemen. If only I could find the time to get into the shop to build some of this stuff.