I'm assuming you tried going to the View>Show Materials in Viewpot>As textures? By default you have to turn them on before they are visible in Max. Are the textures showing up when you render? If not, it's probably either a normals issue, or the texture didn't export out of sketchup properly. I export to Max all the time with no real texture issues. I use .3ds format, select By Texture and check Preserve texture coordinates. Now and again there are messed up coordinates, especially on roofs, but I just apply a UVW map modifier and then use the gizmo to rotate the texture into place. Also, sketchup should be exporting the textures to a folder in the place you save your .3ds file to. Once in a while I'll have issues with max finding that folder. If that's the case, just go to Customize>Configure User Paths and browse the folder with the textures and Max will automatically apply them to the geometry.

@solo said: oooh! tough choice. I too would love to get Vray, I've played with two trials and love it. However a trip to NYC in the Spring is something special. Take the trip, it's what memories are made of, you can always wait for the next Vray version in the future. That's what I'm thinking as well. The US currency vs Norwegian is pretty high now anyway, so if I can find a discount later when the currency excahnge is lower I still get a good deal. It'll be NY if I can get the time of work. If I can't, well... ...then it's rendering time...

@akabear said: Proportion seems the same but the zoom appears to be different? So is there a simple way to correct the zoom in VRfS for the same output? Any ideas most appreciated? Toolbars will affect the viewport. If one computer has a ton of toolbars and another only a few - the two will have different setups required.

Nice link. Thanks a lot. There are lots of other Tutorials on the Tips and Tricks homepage in SketchUp, Archicad, Acad, Vectorworks and more. Good source.

I concur Doctor.

Well actually I forgot that sampling level but I think it was 7 or 9 and rendering was about hmm don't remember Maybe 2h or 1h Roof tile : [image: hTBm_RooftilesCeramic0034_1_S.jpg]

ah yes that pesky "corrupt" or unopenable file situation. recently tried out an intellicad 2009 version that would not open a fie that is otherwise working fine in my 2008 release. Go figure yeah just mentioned double cad since it has saved me spending cash on some sort of file export for cad, you gotta love the recent developments in low cost CAD alternatives. And when they come out free for ANY USE as opposed to say free for non-commercial (and what is non commercial exactly?) then I am getting really really excited about the future of electronic drawing and art BIG SHOUT TO GOOGLE for making a free sketchup too!

Roof tile? Haven't seen that, but I have seen TIG's excellent "Roof 3.0": http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=3470

Happy new year mates, If it is me that am not able to post ok Kerkythea forum, or it is the same for you? Any progress after v3.8.1 (2018)? or this is the latest version?

You might PM Solo and point him to this thread. He would probably know the answer, Chris

Yes, exactly.

Hm. Interesting. When I installed the 3DC software, it installed into my SU 7 directory with no problem. Maybe you should run the installer again? Also, there should not only be a subfolder in the Plugins folder for the device but also a ruby script (I can't recall its name now as I'm not at home where I have it but you will definitely recognise it by the name).

@al hart said: If you use RPC for other things - Revit, Photoshop, etc., then try it out with IRender nXt and let us know what you think. I am not using RPC and I don't know if other forum members do. The reason why I asked is because I would love to be able to include animated textures in my animations. Things like a moving sky with clouds, people walking, animated water etc.... I just said RPC as I don't know how it is done otherwise. (Marlin Studios moving people etc...)

Thank ya

@edson said: i just stumbled across LightZone a new, easy to learn and cheap image processing app. watching the videos left me quite impressed. there versions for windows mac and linux. Lightzone has been around for a while. It's a fairly innovating tool and also supports most RAW file format's. chris

I've forgotten to say that somitimes, months ago, everything worked. The machine are not slow (2gb ram , dual core etc)

I've been doing some experimentation and research in regards to the instancing issue with maxwell and found some interesting info. There seems to be a bug that can drastically increase render times with instances. Without going into details of my test and forum discussions, here's the deal. If your instance AND/OR the original object from which your instance is taken intersects with any other object in the scene your render times go WAY up (my tests were showing like 15x longer). However, instances CAN intersect with other instances. -Brodie

We have selected the finalists in the IRender nXt Rendering Contest. Thanks to all who participated. Take a look at: Rendering Contest Now we just need to determine the 3 winners from the 12 finalists. Also, we are letting the SketchUp Community be one of the judges. Cast your vote HERE.

@jcarchitecture said: I'm rendering with Vray for sketchup and I've got a background with overall cloudy sky. Right now, the background doesn't really look right with the amount of light comming in the building. I need to know how to diffuse the shadow and make the whole look more realistic. SO the light shinning on the floor as to be less direct and more diffuse like on cloudy days If you use an HDRI for your lighting you'll most likely get a very diffuse shadow. An alternative is to change the V-Ray Sun Size, try something like 10-20.

Thanks Scott, good share.