I have played around with the settings and think the ones that most achieve a SketchUp 'lookalike' are 'Cad Optimized Lights' which I think is the default and 'Shaded Illustration'. I attach some screen shots of where the settings are along with a sample, Corner Cubby. Mike Corner Cubby.pdf [image: jfqk_CadOptimizedLights.jpg] [image: xOWN_ShadedIllustration.jpg]

It seems that the world is full of patent trolls nowadays. I think I'll go ahead and patent all my wild ideas so I'll be able to sue a few multinationals some years from now. Back to discussion, I bought, downloaded and installed Vue Pioneer's RenderUp module in Windows 7. So I switched to XP to see how automatic the synchronization would be. This is the result: [image: pAl3_vue8.jpg] I still have to figure out how to get the same module in XP. All I've been able to get is error messages. I guess their licensing system is not perfect after all. UPDATE: The message I posted went away after entering my e-mail and password again. Now I understand it works pretty much like Windows Live Messenge. And about the module, E-on gives you the option to download and keep an installer for each module. Even if you're such a clueless guy that you lose the downloaded installer, they allow you to download it again, up to five times.

If you apply materials in Sketchup (even just colors) then export to artlantis. Then while in artlantis you will be able to select by material. If you do not add any materials in Sketchup then it is a pain to add them in artlantis. Scott

Tx Sheik, I understand the plugin works with PC's but I have found no one yet who used Maxwell on a Mac. I thought there were a few more. Maybe the recession hit the Mac crowd harder ... There was a guy who wrote MXM reporter as a plugin and also run into to a coding problem with the path to the MXM library. He solved it somehow. I am afraid at NL they have other priorities right now. I have several different system and they all have exactly the same problem using autoMXM with the new plugin. If you test it with small files its not a problem but slightly larger files take forever to export were the previous plugin exports within seconds. Francois

I'm experiencing the same problem (in SU Pro 7.1). The Options Window workaround has no effect whatsoever. A few changes stick (e.g, inversion of a bumpmap bitmap), most are lost, no matter if I open and close the options window and save and reload the model. Changes that get lost seem to be lost the very moment I hit Apply - the material preview doesn't change, and if I reopen the panel that I just closed values will already have reverted back to their initial state. This is a pretty serious and seriously galling bug to find in software with this pricetag!

well, everything was similar to what i posted just now, just different layers of information projected onto the terrain (villages, rivers, climate, woodland, etc.), nothing amazing really. The pure displacement map generated this: [image: 15hA_aramaio.jpg] (7 minute render)

it´s working, tks jason!

As far as i know there is no easy method for getting polygon models (SU geometry) to NURBS models (solidworks geometry.)

What version of VfSU do you have? There's a SU bug with groups that makes them not render all the time. In the old version the only fix was to explode and regroup. In the new version all that's needed is to re-open the file.

When I need depth in my render I usually add the 'depth map' option in the framebuffer section of the render section and apply it in Photosoup. It might be a bit too dirty for your puristic renders, but it can get the job done quite fast and easy. Rendering real camera DOF is way more tedious (Asgvis should fix that inches bug by the way) and even then you really need to set your QMC values and color mapping values well to get nice grades in the depth. Not easy...

thomthom I opened the default opening template, resaved it and it doesn´t show anymore at the startup. thanks agrazdi

We fixed this and posted a new beta version of RPS 3D PDF. The 3D models are also to scale now, so the measurement tool in Acrobat works correctly. The new beta version, IJ02, can be downloaded from our downloads page: http://www.renderplus.com/php/download_links.php

Go to the V-Ray Option Window - expand the About section - what version number does it say there?

That was called xformclone.rb by some, Memory Copy by others.. http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=11143&hilit=xformclone

it seems to render glass fine if it is closed cube and all the faces are the right way around. ı know if it is a group it refracts the immage kind of funny. does it matter what i have painted on the SU model if i dont paint both sides with vray material?

Really really cool Miguel!!! That gives me some ideas for doing landscaping lighting in my projects. Thanks a ton!

sketchup 7.0 with the first version of vray 1.5 i dont think it was ever updated.