Thanks. But I always explode everything before exporting. Not sure what regrouping is...

Often when exporting as obj. (with the plugin for free version) the UVs will get warped.
See images below.

I'm not using the SketchUV plugin. Just plain SU.
It mostly happens when textures are scaled/rotated. I never distort or shear (obj. doesn't support that)
Anyone else getting these issues? Can it be fixed?

(Searched the thread for obj. exporter but couldn't find it)

Looks great. Love the shape. When do you start production? Put me down for 2

It's beyond me how one person can create all this.
Fast, high quality production. Your employer must love you

Would be cool to see actual renders of the Dive Bar and Maxis.

You mean rendering software? There are as many answers as there are people
Some of the popular ones built into SketchUp are V-Ray, Maxwell, LightUp, Thea and others. The price range is broad, and most offer demos/limited versions.
Kerkythea is free though.

Looks perfect. Almost too perfect - straight from the factory without a single scratch.
The wooden floor has a great bump map. Thought for a moment the grooves were modelled.

Excellent. That should keep me busy for a while.
Thanks a lot

Great, thanks.
The lighting was quickly done, without much thought to it.
Is it simple to install these HDRI in Kerkythea?
Or perhaps you have a tutorial.

Bought a funny looking, small coffee table,
so I decided to model it

With SU and Kerkythea.

I'm very new to this so harsh criticism is more than welcome.

It certainly sounds like SketchUp comes closest to what you're looking for.
It's also cheap and easy to learn, as well as well suited for architects.
Try out the free version of SketchUp, I think you'll like it.

On the other hand the lighting looks excellent
Didn't think a result like that could be obtained in Kerkythea.

If you look at 'windows > styles' you'll see many different ways of displaying the model.
Some look a bit like watercolour (sketchy edges).
To finish the look you can use the free software http://www.fotosketcher.com/

I see. It looks great. Can't find anything to criticize

Looks really great.
If emphasis is on the buildings you might want to remove a few trees; especially in the first image.

Thanks for the advice
Google Earth might be a good idea.

Hi

I make models mostly based on photos, but sometimes can't find info on the size of the object/building.

For example this castle:

Do you have any advice on how to figure out the size of the model in real life?
Sometimes there will be people in the photos and that helps a lot, but not here.

Thanks.

When right clicking a material you can choose to 'select' it.
That way all surfaces with that material in the model/models are selected.

That's fine. But materials in components are not selected this way.
Is there a way to do this without exploding them?

If I can be even more annoying; a few things that look odd:

1: As mentioned the bottom of the pool stands out perfectly as if the water doesn't distort your view at all.

2: The glasses are meant to be glass, right? Instead of green plastic. Glass would look even better, and the champaign cooler could be shiny metal.
The green lamp on the table makes everything on it look like green plastic.

3: The square boxes shadow effects look strange. I'm guessing they come from the legs of the chairs, but it doesn't look right somehow. Maybe increase shadow quality in V-Ray.

Very impressive. When can we see the whole building?