Hi I'm new (kinda)

jasonh1234 · 19 Feb 2008, 10:32

I used to be on the old board but I tended to lurk more than post. Now I'm back.
I am an intermediate level SketchUp user, a former PC Guy who switched to Mac thanks to Microsoft's great advertising campaign for Apple called Windows Vista.

My 3.0Ghz Single Core PC with 2GB RAM & x2 Nvidia 7900s in SLI has been replaced by a 2.0Ghz Mac Mini with Core 2 Duo Intel CPU, 2 GB RAM, and onboard video. (Yes it does suck for SketchUp)

I'm soon to be the owner of a MacBook Pro 2.6+GHz computer which I hope will serve me much better for SketchUp.

I'm the proud owner of a 3DConnexion Space Navigator which I also fondly refer to as "The best $60 I ever spent"
Let me tell you, using one of these with SketchUp is like gaining a mouse after working "keyboard only" for years. I seriously recommend to everyone here go out and buy one yesterday. (No I do not work for them.)

I use SketchUp in a hobby capacity right now although I hope to turn it into a business in the future doing pre-vis renders for the Construction industry. (Which is an insanely booming business in my neck of the woods.)
I smell big money doing something I love. (Or maybe it's just an excuse to get a 8 core Mac Pro with 32Gb RAM?)

I also have a strong interest in modeling for Google Earth although I seem to have a problem with keeping the detail level down. Gonna have to work on my moderation skills.

I'm a PhotoMatch junkie and am hoping to start learning more about Rendering and Post-Processing.

I obsess with learning the most efficient techniques for modeling quickly and want to be able to churn out quality models as fast as possible.

Here are some sample things I have done...

Masta Squidge · 19 Feb 2008, 12:04

I cant imagine how that PC would suck for SU, as I am on a 1.8 ghz celeron with 768 mb of ram and I had no trouble with a model of the city of Atlantis which had 375 thousand faces. And was about 80% textured. At any rate welcome to the forums, and you are already way farther ahead than most. Including me and I just use it for fun also.

solo · 19 Feb 2008, 12:49

Welcome Jason

You are in good company here, as there are many Mac users here that feel the same way as you about PC's, I guess we can expect many more debates.

pmiller · 19 Feb 2008, 13:58

Masta, I believe he was referring to the mac with onboard video....

Note that Jason took the photomatch pictures on an overcast day -- great trick since it means that shadows on in SU will work for any time of day.

jasonh1234 · 19 Feb 2008, 14:01

@pmiller said:

Masta, I believe he was referring to the mac with onboard video....

Note that Jason took the photomatch pictures on an overcast day -- great trick since it means that shadows on in SU will work for any time of day.

I wish I could take credit for such foresight but the fact is I live in the Pacific Northwest and I went out to take the pics because it just happened to not be raining that day. lol

And yes I was referring to the onboard video.

boofredlay · 19 Feb 2008, 14:40

Glad you are here.
I look forward to more of your work and wish you well in your venture.

I may just have to get me a navigator as well

Masta Squidge · 19 Feb 2008, 21:57

@jasonh1234 said:

@pmiller said:

Masta, I believe he was referring to the mac with onboard video....

Note that Jason took the photomatch pictures on an overcast day -- great trick since it means that shadows on in SU will work for any time of day.

I wish I could take credit for such foresight but the fact is I live in the Pacific Northwest and I went out to take the pics because it just happened to not be raining that day. lol

And yes I was referring to the onboard video.
Then I stand corrected, sorry lol.
Another case where I had worked all night and by the time morning came around I was brain dead.

Gaieus · 19 Feb 2008, 22:29

Ah well, Jason, welcome! As Eric (Boofredlay) said - go to the galleries and just show off...

The GE stuff is still a bit "sensitive" here but believe me; it will be cool as the old pros realise the advantages. Let's just altogether present them all those "unprecedented geographical detailes" we have been promised...

jasonh1234 · 20 Feb 2008, 19:39

@gaieus said:

Ah well, Jason, welcome! As Eric (Boofredlay) said - go to the galleries and just show off...

Ok well I added my first model to the galleries just now.

@unknownuser said:

The GE stuff is still a bit "sensitive" here but believe me; it will be cool as the old pros realise the advantages. Let's just altogether present them all those "unprecedented geographical detailes" we have been promised...

Not sure I followed your meaning there. GE means Google Earth right?

Gaieus · 21 Feb 2008, 02:44

Nice modelling!

And yes, I meant Google Earth.

jasonh1234 · 21 Feb 2008, 05:09

@unknownuser said:

I may just have to get me a navigator as well

http://www.ogleearth.com/2006/11/3dconnexions_sp.html
http://www.3dconnexion.com/solutions/sketchup.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7QQrr5AGEg

boofredlay · 21 Feb 2008, 15:04

Thanks for that.

Do you find it troublesome moving your hand off the navigator for your hotkeyes? I have my left hand on the keyboard almost the entire time I am drawing in SU.

jasonh1234 · 21 Feb 2008, 17:49

@unknownuser said:

Do you find it troublesome moving your hand off the navigator for your hotkeyes? I have my left hand on the keyboard almost the entire time I am drawing in SU.

Well I don't know if you need to look at the keyboard when you're reaching for a key or not but if (like me) you do then imagine that time you spend looking down and moving your hand and finger(s) from one key/spot to another, spent instead moving from the controller to the key/spot.

It's not bad but you do notice it at first. Doesn't take long to get used to though.

The navigator has 2 buttons on it then you can assign to virtually anything. And if you want more buttons you could always spring for one of the higher end models but those seem a bit superfluous to me.

Myself I keep the navigator much closer to the keyboard than the distance between my mouse and keyboard. I actually have it touching the side of my keyboard almost as if it were connected to it. Kinda minimizes the distraction level.

Took me about 30 minutes to get the hang of it. It's super sensitive.

boofredlay · 21 Feb 2008, 19:55

Thanks.

jasonh1234 · 21 Feb 2008, 20:19

A little bonus with the buttons is... because you can have them have different functionality in different apps you can kinda sneak in a "3rd button"

The default setup is that the 2nd button launches the preferences panel for the navigator which is very handy for making adjustments while you're using it. As handy as that is, I wanted different functions in Sketchup so I had to "sacrifice" that functionality and switched the number 2 button to go to X-Ray view instead.

BUT if I click on the desktop and have the Finder currently active, pressing the 2nd button still brings up the preferences panel. So it's almost like having a 3rd button.