I see that the "Log me in automatically" check box had become unchecked. So I checked it again to see if it helps.

Regarding losing messages when you are not logged in properly, that was the reason I switched ot Firefox for a browser. It does a much better job of "remembering" what you typed when you have to back up. Sometimes when I am posting to a Wiki I would get a timed out message (especially with SuWiki which is unbelievably slow and subject to timeouts). With IE, the message would be lost. With Firefox, I could back up, have the whole message there, and submit it again.

For some reason, the last couple of days, this forum keeps logging me out, an I have to log in again to see attachments and make posts.

Have any changes been made?

@unknownuser said:

Materials don't have layers. Faces and edges have layers and materials.

Todd

That is true. However they have a thing that acts a lot like a material in the Color by Layer dialog:

We are able to extract the texture image from this, but not the size.

We are able get both using Skp_Reader (C++ code), but cannot access them from Ruby.

See the latest images added to the IRender users Gallery here:

http://forums.renderplus.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=74&limit=recent

We are trying to access Material by Layer information, using Ruby, for rendering and RPS 3D PDF.

We are able to extract the texture image for the material using Texture Writer.

However, we could not access the material size, and other information.

We can do this using the SDK exporter, but we would prefer to do it directly in Ruby.

Has anyone been able to access the material assigned to a layer from Ruby?

@rob d said:

My tuppence worth...

In order for SU to compete, each furniture component should come with a 2d tile representing it in plan. Once a kitchen has been designed in plan using tiles, it's then a simple matter of clicking "reload" to replace the 2d with 3d components. Anyone know of a Ruby that could automate this?

Rob

We could create a Ruby file to "Alter" each component before you place it, to put the existing 3D Geometry in a "3D Layer" within the component, and add a new 2D layer, which is a flat hidden line of the geometry. Then the user can turn these two sub-layers on or off for the whole drawing to make it easier to work in 2D mode.

We are already processing the components to allow 2D or 3D display in our component selection dialog.

NOTE: We discussed adding the 2D Layer among our group, but we felt that perhaps switching SketchUp to top view, - non-perspective, and using wire frame or hidden line would do this pretty well already...

We've added a new tool to RpTools to place a component adjacent to another component.

This should be handy for placing cabinets, or similar items, in a room, where each item is placed relative to the previous item, and rotated properly to align with the proper wall.

This is available on the Component Selector in RpTools.

See: http://forums.renderplus.com/wiki/index.php?title=RpTools#What.27s_new for more information.

First, I think asking this question is like "preaching to the choir". Anyone using this Forum is already using SketchUp.

SketchUp was originally designed to create 3D shapes, buildings etc. and I think that most people use if for that.

However, with the addition of the 3D Warehouse, I expected that more people would start using SketchUp as a good, free way to lay our components in a spatial area - such as a kitchen, warehouse, or garage to create 3D scenes. These people would not need to know much about the "power" of SketchUp - push/pull, follow me, etc. But could do a pretty good job of creating 3D scenes using existing components with little or no training, and using a very good, free, piece of software.

However, I see very few people posting questions on any of the 3 Forums which indicate that they are trying to place 3D components and having problems. (For instance, it is somewhat hard for a new user to rotate a component, harder to scale it to a desired size, and much harder to figure out how to mirror it.)

What do you think?

Why don't more people use SketchUp to place 3D components?
(People who don't use it to create 3D shapes?)

Yes, I put:

301 Moved Permanently

(www.sketchucation.com)

in the post.

There is a thread on the SU SDK forum which is trying to use SketchUp Bridge.

It used to be at: http://su.plugins.ro/, but that web set seems to be unavailable.

Does anyone know it http://su.plugins.ro/ is coming back, or if SketchUp bridge has been moved somewhere else?

I have gotten browser error messages 5 or 6 times over the past week trying to load the forum, or any pahes from SketchUcation. Perhaps the server cannot handle all the traffic...

Does it had the mouse wheel which lets you slide it left and right?

And if you do so, I presume that SketchUp pans the screen?

I have a client who claims the Dell 5 button mouse does not work properly with SketchUp.

Has anyone had any success using a 5 button mouse?

@unknownuser said:

Before loading the software for the mouse. The mouse functions just as a normal mouse. Right, left & wheel buttons all work. The tilt and side zoom buttons do not function.

After loading the software, it kills my zoom functions in AutoCAD and SketchUp. No matter what options i select, I cannot get the zoom to work in either AutoCAD or SketchUp.

When I set up the RPS forums, I chose the same forum manager as SketchUp and the same colors. (S that SketchUp users would find it familiar)

I believe this is the color scheme:

Thanks TIG - I did add geometry to the component before I made it and then removed it by editing.

If I do have problems, I will try removing the geometry after i place the dummy component. Or else I can simply hide a small piece of geometry.

@didier bur said:

Hi Al,
In the help pages they say: "Note that there is no way to get a SectionPlane object using Ruby. You must manually create a section plane with the Section Plane Tool in SketchUp and then query the entities array to find the SectionPlane object".

It looks like I can create a component containing just a section plane, place the component and explode it to place a section plane in a drawing using Ruby.

I need to play with this some more to make sure it works.

(I created the component with a face and a section plane, and then removed the face)

@dtrarch said:

Al

I checked out the Accurender site and in truth was underwhelmed by the render quality.
Also only saw one interior with lighting and same did not project light on anything. ???

Dry hole IMO.

dtr

Nxt is in Beta test mode and a few, good, AccuRender users have been helping with it.

One of its goals is to provide a "Studio" mode, in which you can render an object without adding any lights, but still ge a good rendering. (This is used by adding HDRI illumination and reflection). By eliminating the step of adding lights, it makes it easy to get a good rendering without spending time adding things to your drawing.

If I understand it correctly, this rendering was made without adding lighting to the model, but just by selecting the Studio setting. (Ignore the fact that the race car is wheel are below the floor - this is just a beta test image.)

It is great to have reflective materials, etc. but they need something to reflect. The Studio mode gives objects something to reflect without having to add a lot of geometry to the model.

@fletch said:

Hi Al,

so... basically, you are talking about writing a second 'SU2KT (SketchUp2Kerkythea)' exporter?
... sorry... I'm confused.

Have you thought about writing a universal exporter if you want to take on something like this... that will export to Kerkythea, Indigo, RenderMan, Sunflow, and all the other great free render engines... heck let's just throw in Maxwell and Vray just for fun.

No - we do not plan to write a SU2K second converter. We plan to write a routine which converts IRender light, reflection, refraction, and other settings to the format expected by the SU2KT exporter. (And to work with Kerkythea to add items which may not be in the current exporter - such as "index of refraction", etc.)

This won't be a universal exporter, but rather a piece of software which other exporter writers can use to convert IRender objects to the format they expect. (And, of course, we would be available to help the other exporter writers.)

@unknownuser said:

Al: how about developing an open specification that any render can use ?
a set of data that can be attached to attributes and a render can read and process

That is the idea TBD. We will develop a set of Ruby routines to convert IRender components, settings, etc. to SU2K formats, and then make them available to you so you (and others) can use it to convert them to Podium, (or other renderer) formats.

You can either user the conversion routines to convert IRender data to other formats, or use them as part of your export to read IRender data directly.

We hope to get our $$ from users who will be willing to purchase IRender for its wizards to create lights, materials, and other rendering settings.

The IRender Material Wizard makes it easy to preview and assign a chrome finish. (The wizard lets you easily preview how the material will render before creating the entire rendering.)

You select and define the finish, and it is stored on the SketchUp material and automatically used for rendering. (The reflection, highlighting, etc are defined by the wizard. The color comes from the SketchUp model.)

See: http://forums.renderplus.com/wiki/index.php?title=Material_Wizard