Thank you andybot If you have any difficulties with my nodes(noodles) set up ask for help. You will probably have. I'll group it for you. I'll write some tuts on this, though it's easy to post the blend file without textures, append it (ask for materials only) and apply it. Insert any texture you like. That's all. In the near future we'll be able to share a library of materials. In a more appropriate way.

@cotty said: Or render pictures around the corner... Makes sense...

Went to NYC with a architect once and he said "Look up,". He pointed out what he called "Bastard Architecture". A mixture of styles & periods. Amazing brick work & carvings rarely noticed.

Thanks Richard.

Richard, we've been making s'mores for decades before the obesity problem hit us. I think the real culprit is inactivity (too much time watching TV or sitting in front of the computer, not enough activity).

Yes, it was very well done. Rowan Atkinson's skit was funny, and the Queen's, too. Also, one of the fastest parade of nations I've seen at an opening ceremony.

Neat. I can't quite decipher everything that's going on. There are some issues with collision detection and the physics, objects get very jittery when held or left to rest after interacting with another shape. The caustics are odd too, I can't tell if they're reflection mapped or light linked, I'd be very surprised if they were real. I can't read Japanese and the Google Translation is poor, so it's difficult to get good info. At any rate, it ran great on my computer. ENTER key changes between scenes. F3 temporarily removes DOF, F5 resets the scene. That's all I could figure out. Fun waste of time for a few minutes. I'd be curious about the use and abilities of the programming. It works well on a small scene with low-poly objects, but how would it do on a large scale? EDIT Here's more: Del/insert - DOF top/bottom pageup/down - zoom Home/end - focus?

About Thea biased presets; unfortunately there is still not much available, but if you can take part to Thea forums, you can get general and scene related help there really fast. If you are not familiar to photon mapping/final gathering - reading trough global illumination tutorial in Thea manual is a good idea. Then continue reading about Thea render settings (as with biased rendering one really needs to understand hows render settings effect to get the fastest possible render time for each scene); one can easily reduce render time to fraction with somewhat optimized settings. There is a new progressive render method Adaptive (AMC) mainly for interactive rendering, but you can also apply IR settings to scene and then use Adaptive (AMC) in darkroom rendering. For fast IR exterior rendering with Sun and Sky as main light source you can use settings like this: [image: rbPx_fast_AMC.png] If you have more complex light setup and/or interior scene (with many light source), then turn caustics on. (Apply settings to darkroom with the icon on far right to "General")

Thanks guys for all the responses! Funny you are away for the weekend here (SCF) and you get back to a wealth of learning on monday! We still use inches for somethings in discussion - over shorter lengths it is certainly easier to visualise. So in any discussion it wont be unusual to hear inches and metres used in the same sentance @Pete @unknownuser said: And here I was convinced it was the porn industry not willing to redefine length from inches to centimeters. Yeah I don't think those parts will change - if a woman were to say to me "wow that must be 8" long - I'm not going to correct her with "no it's actually 203mm" but rather I'm going to exclaim "yeah sorry - it is a really cold day"! Thanks again guys - it's just for some Layout scrapbooks so I'll go along with 1/8":1' (1:96) as it is probably more appropriate. BTW 1/4":1' that's a dam big representation of a floor plan!!! We are trending here for all domestic work to be on A3 size sheet (297x420mm) so 1:50 would most times would fill the sheet.

Wednesday's Non Sequitur cartoon. [image: qBf0_NonSequiturBanker.gif]

Cool this one! [image: 167.gif]

Thanks everyone. I had already used paypal a few times for invoicing, but hadn't realized until looking into it further that you didn't need to have a paypal acct. to pay. This seems like an easier method than waiting weeks for a check to arrive.

I think that Rush was merely saying that it was Jon Stewart who first made the suggestion about Bane = Bain. Rush was commenting on the Comedians who first talked about this. Its a stupid reference of course. . .on many levels. http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/07/17/comedian-likens-batman-villain-bane-to-romney-bain-capital-firm/ I don't much about the movie but my son has been following it--it seems that it is more about Occupy Wall Street than about evil Rich Guys.

Lucky shot! Nice.

I'll be interested to know how you get on with it, Bob. it's too bad you bought that tablet. I have one sitting here that I should sell. I used it a couple of times and don't like it. Nothing wrong with it but I'm left handed with a pen but use the mouse with my right hand. I am just too clumsy with my left hand to be able to work the tablet efficiently and know where I'm working in SketchUp. I tried it a few times but I decided I have too much work that has to get done to be able to spend the time getting proficient with it. I wouldn't try to switch the mouse to my left hand now, either, for the same reason. I am interested in that keyboard, though. Let us know how that works for you.

Hmmm this is what I was afraid of. It looks fine for my W7 comps but dire for 3 Vista based comps.

.... well, as I said, its behind me and on reflection I would not have had it any other way. While in the process it all seems a natural thing, then again I was young enough when Pauline and I got married (24 and 25) so we didn't give things a lot of thought. Our friends where getting married and planning to have kids and it was generally seen to be the done thing. I see over the past few years that all this cost is being quantified. Its looks like we have spent over €300K getting the kids raised and educated! As I said, we never thought much about it while it was happening, just got on with it. I sure could do with that €300K these days But as I said, I still would not have it any other way. Here is an interesting article (UK) on the cost of raising kids. How much does it cost to raise a child? http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/feb/23/cost-raising-child I see that child care is a big chunk! Back in the day, it was a case of the mother staying at home and taking care of the kids but over the past 15 years or so this has all changed. I honestly don't think its totally the case the the mothers insist on continuing to work outside the home, it looks more to be the case that they have to continuing in jobs in order to keep the roof over head. On the other hand I see no issue with the father being the parent to stay in the house minding kids, it would simply, for me, be a case of who can pull in the most from outside work. I think this arrangement is common enough in Scandinavian counties but again they appear to be more advanced in this thinking than the rest of the Western World. [image: rHxt_The-cost-of-raising-a-chi-002.jpg]

Awesome!!! (I was in fact meaning to go back to Bournemouth this weekend...)

@gaieus said: @clubber2k said: ...I...really liked bmike's work I think we all do. Though I do not post here (nor in the Gallery, general), I do keep a'count of those extremelyvalued posts. Well thanks gentlemen. The kind words are greatly appreciated.

Oh wow, just brilliant.