Augmented Reality Plug-in for Google Sketch-Up released

Graziano Terenzi · 25 Dec 2008, 18:04

We have simplified the online payment procedure: now we ask only for a valid email account, your name+surname (or company name) and then you can go on with a standard paypal transaction.

Best regards.
Graziano.

MALAISE · 25 Dec 2008, 19:09

Thanks Graziano, the key licencing procedure is quite easier than the former one. I've purchased a licence, now just waiting confirmation e-mail.

An other Xmas gift :

MALAISE

Graziano Terenzi · 27 Dec 2008, 15:05

Thank you for this other gift, Malaise!
Keep us informed with your use of ARplugin.

Graziano

MALAISE · 27 Dec 2008, 17:15

Really quite interesting plugin.
I've solve the scaling problem printing a smaller marker ( 1/2 and 1/4).
I can now display on that way, objects without resizing them before exporting.
Are some enhancements in study to associate as I rode ( Ross, Chris and Mike)
different skp files with separate markers and also as it's shown in Inglobe's Galerie ?
How could we manage the shadows created in SketchUp ?
Possibilities of animations like the " Mars's satellites " may extend plugin's use.
I 'm going to use this fantastic tool for teaching and explain mecanisms

MALAISE

cristal.swf

Graziano Terenzi · 28 Dec 2008, 10:22

Hi MALAISE,
I'm glad for your appreciations...

@malaise said:

Really quite interesting plugin.
I've solve the scaling problem printing a smaller marker ( 1/2 and 1/4).
I can now display on that way, objects without resizing them before exporting.

Yes, of course your trick is a good workaround to the scaling problem, anyway we're going to add a feature to scale up/down the model by pressing a key (of course this update will be availabe to everyone, even to already registered users...just re-donwload the updated version when it will be ready)

@malaise said:

Are some enhancements in study to associate as I rode ( Ross, Chris and Mike)different skp files with separate markers and also as it's shown in Inglobe's Galerie ?

We'll add the possibility to use many markers with different objects, but we're studying the best way to do it in SketchUp, for example one way could be to associate different 'scenes' to different markers and not only different .skp files to different markers, so...stay tuned

@malaise said:

How could we manage the shadows created in SketchUp ?

Shadows (and shaders in general) is a topic that deserves investigation. For sure shaders will be implemented in the plugin.

@malaise said:

Possibilities of animations like the " Mars's satellites " may extend plugin's use.

Adding animations is one of our next goal, our AR-media framework already manages animations and many user's interactions tasks, we just need to understand the best way to port every framework's features in the plugin as well.

@malaise said:

I 'm going to use this fantastic tool for teaching and explain mecanisms
MALAISE

Great Please let us know about how your teaching activities will proceed and about your suggestions and also about students ones.

Best regards.
Graziano

MALAISE · 28 Dec 2008, 11:43

Waw, I'm just voiceless for such a fast reply. Thanks for playing attention to my feedback.

The last test I've made: a hollowed cube with a glass face. I noticed the transparency disapears when exporting. I guess this is probably linked to texture, perhaps some parameter could be modified.

Some of my models are customers labs, and in order to preview how machines could fit, I draw the room (3D)and doors and windows...

Best regards
MALAISE

Francesco-inglobe · 28 Dec 2008, 13:14

Hi Malaise,
I'm Francesco and I work for the web area of Inglobe Technologies.
I do not speak English very well so I apologize in advance for any error.
However I think I can help you.

@malaise said:

The last test I've made: a hollowed cube with a glass face. I noticed the transparency disapears when exporting.

Assigning the material on both sides of the glass, the transparency should work.

Best regards
Francesco

pav_3j · 30 Dec 2008, 16:39

This is a real stunning piece of software, i am very impressed!

I suspect this has already been asked and has gone right over my head, if so i apologise.

I have to make a "fly-by" video for a uni project soon, could I make a video on site with the coded paper already on site and then use this program to implement the model onto it?
I'm really struggling to find a way of doing this convincingly, and this looks like a viable answer.

Pav

MALAISE · 30 Dec 2008, 21:21

Hi Francesco,

Despite,several trials I did'nt achieved to display transparent objects. I even made a non texturized
transparent color ,applied it on both faces as you suggest : no improvement. Well, i will survive .

Can we use the Plugin offline ? ( I mean the licensed version without been connected to the web ).

Best regards

MALAISE

Graziano Terenzi · 31 Dec 2008, 11:35

Hi Malaise, Hi Pav

To Malaise:
we are working to fix up minor transparecy issues. Of course we will upload newly updated versions when available. We recommend you always to download the latest version available.

With regards to offline use

@malaise said:

Can we use the Plugin offline ? ( I mean the licensed version without been connected to the web ). MALAISE

of course you can use it also when you are not connected to internet.

To Pav:

@pav_3j said:

I have to make a "fly-by" video for a uni project soon, could I make a video on site with the coded paper already on site and then use this program to implement the model onto it?
Pav

It seems that you would like to provide a previously recorded video as input to the plugin and then use it to display augmented content. Even if this function is fully supported by our ARmedia framework, we have not yet implemented it in the first version of this ARmedia plugin. It will be available in very short time. Most of all main improvements will be available soon with no additional cost to those who already have bought a license.

Last, I want to inform you that both a studentand an educational license will be released within the beginning of the new year.

Best regards and Happy New Year

Graziano

MALAISE · 1 Jan 2009, 18:06

Best wishes for 2009

Some feedback about licensed version. I displayed some model with ARPlugin, depending on, you 're connected or not, you get the unlimited one or the 30 s of the trial version with watermark. I wanted to show some friends this amazing tool, then I took my laptop outside, not linked to internet.The ARplugin worked on trial mode only, no chance to activate the license. I was told ID not recognized. Back home, all is well running, as far as you don't disconnect the Internet plug, then the next calculation switches ARplugin into trial mode.

I hope theses comments may help you

MALAISE

pav_3j · 1 Jan 2009, 23:50

cheers for the info inglobe!

i shall wait upon the updates....he he

Pav

Graziano Terenzi · 2 Jan 2009, 09:13

Hi Malaise,

thank you for your precious feedback. Actually there is a little problem with the licensing mechanism in very exceptional cases. It seems that your situation belongs to that small set. However we are fixing this too and we will upload a fixed version very soon.
Regards

Graziano

Jim · 4 Jan 2009, 00:23

Just a weird thought..

Instead of putting the model in the hands (or on the table, etc), is it possible to put ones self inside a model? Or maybe in front of a model? So if giving a presentation on a very large screen, for example a house model could be projected at actual size.

Maybe movements of the model could be pre-programmed, or controlled using some hand gestures, or something.

edit: Then he realized this could be done using straight Sketchup and a projector...

MALAISE · 4 Jan 2009, 06:29

Hi All

Another feedback, when interrupting a calculation before its achievement leads you to see a rotating Inglobe-marked cube . Only pressing <ESC> will send back to SketchUp "space".

MALAISE

Graziano Terenzi · 5 Jan 2009, 10:06

Hi Jim, Hi Malaise,

To Jim:

@jim said:

Instead of putting the model in the hands (or on the table, etc), is it possible to put ones self inside a model? Or maybe in front of a model? So if giving a presentation on a very large screen, for example a house model could be projected at actual size.

The idea of having a model at actual size and keep it fixed in a real environment while only the user is moving around is not a weird thought. Actually you could also arrange a situation like this using the ARplugin by

printing the marker at a suitable size,
setting a scaling parameter properly and
setting the right distance between camera and marker so as to focus on a significant part of the scene.

Of course this would not always be a practical solution. Indeed, issues of stability and effectiveness must be taken into account before trying to do this. Neverthless this can be accomplished by using the ARplugin as such with the forthcoming (very soon) scaling option set up.

With regards to animation, we can also think to animate the model. ARmedia allows animation, but it must implemented in association to Sketchup. Rather what you point out is something that resembles classical Virtual Reality, in which a user is immersed in a totally synthetic environment, moving around and sensing by means of suitable devices like a 3D mouse and an Head Mounted Display. This too can be done using ARmedia. Maybe we will introduce such a capability in a future upgrade.

To Malaise:

@malaise said:

Another feedback, when interrupting a calculation before its achievement leads you to see a rotating Inglobe-marked cube . Only pressing <ESC> will send back to SketchUp "space".

Actually we did not regard this as a problem. We have deliberatively introduced this standard visualization modality when calculation is interrupted. Anyway we can take into account the possibility to block this form of visualization for future versions. Let me know your thoughts about this, please.

Thank you again.
Regards

Graziano

plot-paris · 5 Jan 2009, 14:17

just tried out the plugin - what a fantastic tool!!!

in terms of scalability: it would be great, if you could use different settings, like the current system (a sort of 'fit screen' function) or 'to scale' options, where you set a desired scale (1:1, 1:100, 1:5000)

about the idea of several markers with dedicated models: would it make sense to use components for that? you can attach a lot of info to dynamic components already. maybe we could use several components within one model as separate entities.

the plugin would provide 'marker components', a rectangular component with the image of the marker as texture and the necessary info for the plugin attached. to link an element within the model to this marker, you select both and group them. the position of the marker-component in relation to the object is taken into account, as well as the marker's scale.
thus you can have several objects in a scene, linked to individual markers, and re assemble them with the printout paper-markers.

you could for example create two versions of a building, link these to individual markers and glue the printout markers to each side of a piece of cardboard. now you can use the plugin to look at the model and switch between the two options simply by flipping the printout marker...

by the way: any idea, when the student license is going to be available?

[Edit] I just played around with some models and transparency seemed to work for me - not with too good a quality, but it did work

Graziano Terenzi · 6 Jan 2009, 11:41

Jakob,
thank you very much for your feedback and suggestions, which come in the spirit of this competent and passionate community.

As anticipated, we will release ARplugin V1.1 very soon. It will include a basic scaling option.
We will also make the use of several markers available soon with a future upgrade of the ARplugin. With regards to Dynamic Components, we are studying how to employ this fantastic functionality within our framework. Your thoughts on this topic seem very interesting.
With regards to student license, we had a little delay. Anyway we plan to release the student license in one or two weeks.

Thank you again
Regards

Graziano

plot-paris · 6 Jan 2009, 12:21

inglobe, that is great news! I am eagerly awaiting the student license. really want to try out this marvelous software in more detail. your goals for future releases sound exciting and will enhance the functionality of the plugin a great deal. good luck with the coding

Graziano Terenzi · 8 Jan 2009, 10:42

I will announce a new release of ARplugin soon. It will include a scaling option, a newer and much more flexible license management system, and finally a stundent and an educational license.

In the meanwhile, I must confess that an upload on our website of a version of ARplugin endowed with the first two aforementioned features has been made today.
If you want, you can download it
http://www.inglobetechnologies.com/en/products/arplugin_su/info.php .

Graziano