What happened?

Bryan K · 27 Dec 2016, 06:46

What happened to all the artists who used to post here? I see some of you are still around but not many SketchUp Gallery posts.

My excuse is the current project I'm working on. I really want to get it finished and start making and posting a variety of things.

I also miss the step by step threads. Those helped me immensely when I was starting out. I will make some more as well after this project.

While this project is taking a long time, it is teaching me an incredible amount of new techniques and workflow. I'm doing things I thought I would never be able to do. That's why I'm ready to finish and then apply that knowledge to new projects.

Until then, keep Sketching! (remember that one?)

boofredlay · 27 Dec 2016, 14:48

I can't speak for anyone else but my participation slowed down when the economy started ramping back up. More actual work to do meant less time to play. And when play time gets in the way of pay time, play time slows down.

Bryan K · 27 Dec 2016, 16:11

@boofredlay said:

I can't speak for anyone else but my participation slowed down when the economy started ramping back up. More actual work to do meant less time to play. And when play time gets in the way of pay time, play time slows down.

No one can blame anyone for that! That's good news. Always good to hear when anyone is working steady!

My local economy slowed significantly. It's why I have time to work on the project. But the slowdown has gone on too long.

Still, I really miss many of the folks who used to and still do, post here. Some world class 3D work.

Cheers!

pbacot · 27 Dec 2016, 17:31

Yes, it is different. It was fun to see the new posts of modeling and rendering--along with the discussion on how it was done. Still there is a wealth of material to look at in the old posts.

pbacot · 27 Dec 2016, 17:49

I think though, there's been a sophisticating influence over time. With organic modelling advances, and work with Skatter, (and some of the working drawing use in LayOut) there's some more advanced work to see here in general. Then there's still occasional posts from artists who were always mind-blowing.

Stinkie · 31 Dec 2016, 02:11

I kinda miss Kwistenbiebel, Jackson and mr. Hapke. (I do miss the latter's musings on such concepts as 'porn glands'.) I miss Remus, too (what happened to him?), and Csaba.

Even Solo doesn't seem to be posting a lot of new stuff. Yo, Stoppel, what gives?

Me, I've not posted any new images for quite some time. I don't have the time, currently, to produce any new weird/depressing/arty-farty stuff.

Bob James · 31 Dec 2016, 14:15

I've needed to render my latest projects in Thea Render and the resulting files are in the 30-50 MB size range (because the requirement was for 12" x 18" at 300dpi). I'd post some, but don't know what the posting size limit is.

solo · 31 Dec 2016, 16:22

@unknownuser said:

Even Solo doesn't seem to be posting a lot of new stuff. Yo, Stoppel, what gives?

Pretty much every project this year has been with a strict NDA, Clients like NBC, Disney XD, Nickelodeon, AMC and a few national retailers. I also have not played much for a while, last time I did anything for fun was last year when I did some Star Wars models and renders.

pbacot · 1 Jan 2017, 08:32

Awesome to hear you're doing some work for some big hitters. Hope they are treating you well Pete. Happy New Year!

solo · 1 Jan 2017, 13:58

@pbacot said:

Awesome to hear you're doing some work for some big hitters. Hope they are treating you well Pete. Happy New Year!

And a happy one to you too. As much as 2016 has been a political cluster-f#ck it's been very kind to me as far as freelance work goes, I'm now only 25% archvis 50% film and theater and the rest a jumble of odds and sods.The best thing about it all is I'm really enjoying what I do again. Possibly when shows are launched I will be allowed to show my artwork (hopefully the set designers kept to my original designs)

tadema · 1 Jan 2017, 16:36

A can of worms there Brian.

Personally I stopped posting as often because I felt my contributions to the forums were becoming increasingly undervalued as time went on, questions to Admin never seem to be afforded the simple courtesy of an answer. There has always been an existence of a "them n us" attitude to the Forum especially towards new members, not sure if that will ever change but it certainly does not encourage a "first post".

anyway... Happy New Year Everyone
John

Gareth · 3 Jan 2017, 02:01

Happy New Year everyone...!!

Just a thought as to why so many people may be missing. In addition to some of the reasons given thus far, I had some thoughts on this some time ago, I don't know how valid they are but they might be worth considering :

It is possible, like most things in life, that even though many of the contributions in here (and add to this site the many other sites) are still quite amazing, that some people are not as easily excited by what they see.

Are we (and I am speaking generally here) becoming a little complacent and possibly not as appreciative as we once may have been ?

As a relative newbie to SketchUp in 2005-6 I was 'glued' to a couple of forums several times a day because I couldn't get enough of some of the stuff being produced, and I would ask hundreds of questions (and probably annoyed the hell out of some people at that time !) and those extremely generous people were always (and still are) patient, generous and willing to give their valuable time and knowledge to help those of us who wanted to improve our skills.

I see fewer questions being asked, which leads me to also conclude that many are becoming familiar with modelling and rendering much faster. There is a vast array of video tutorials which are easy to follow and provide the less experienced with instant information. Perhaps students are better educated these days too.

I suggest this because there was a time when I was blown away by a relatively simple raw SketchUp model, then came a few modellers who began creating more complex and detailed models, developers began creating amazing add-ons and then along came a few rendering engines which took models to a new level, and now those rendering engines are offering even more features and are relatively easy to learn.....all of this occurred in a relatively short period of time.

Sorry for making that a looooooong read...!!

Mike Amos · 3 Jan 2017, 07:16

You have a point, there is a changing landscape of good render programs out there, not as many as with Blender but more than 2005/6.

Richard · 18 Jan 2017, 04:11

I tend to think everyone is trying to make hay while the sun shines! We've been bitten by a downturn in the last half decade that has made us all a bit scared that the same could happen again any day!

For me personally, I've had a huge project in the pipeline, now just days away from completion and ready to post the final docs. Some nice design and LayOut works!

majid · 25 Jan 2017, 12:18

Congrats Richard. Seeing forward to see more from you.
About me the recession had drastically made a bunch of troubles so am away from quality jobs that needs renders or even quality design.

Bryan K · 11 Feb 2017, 06:45

Thanks for all the great replies everyone. I haven't looked at this thread in a while.

I'm still not working full time and even worse, I've hit a creative wall. My main project is purely speculative so if I'm not inspired, it's tough for me to slog through. I literally cannot see the solution to whatever part of the model is difficult. My other 3D just isn't coming out the way I want. I suppose more practice will fix that.

I can't complain too much. The main project has certainly made it easier to do less complex models. My phone booth was done in less than day, whereas before, it might have taken weeks. That is definitely a good achievement for me.

Good to also hear from some of you I haven't see around here in while.

Daniel · 13 Feb 2017, 15:09

My work, and a series of factors in my personal life, has veered me away from SketchUp and the forum for over a year now. But I am starting to ease back into it.