You've got a unique eye for composition.

Ahhh, sigh of relief! This is something I've been imaging should be possible for about as long as I've been using sketchup. Great work, can't wait to try it!

I believe you have to render with a black background, otherwise, the matte picks up the background.

fantastic! I agree the trees could use a little more variation, but I like the feel of the lower contrast in the image.

I updated my tutorial on the matte wrapper material during the beta, hope this helps:
http://charlottesvillearchitecturalrendering.com/?p=494

Yes, I get that you don't want it to look faceted, that's not what I meant though. You see how the texture is rough, with seams in the rock. A displacement map would break up the edges of the shadow line to match the texture underneath. Right now, the shadow just kind of floats over the texture. I understand it was a quick study - it's more a comment about the materials than the modeling.

very cool! My 2 crits:

• floor is too level and gravel seems too even sized.
• the edge of the shadows should not be so smooth (I can understand not wanting to use displacement but it's the shadows where this falls apart...)

@sketch3d.de said:

according to the FAQ it will be OSM for the maps and DigitalGlobe for the satellite imagery and terrain data.

Thanks! I saw the part about OSM, but it seemed they didn't have anything available for aerials. Glad to see it's in the pipeline. I will be interested to see the quality.

D'oh!! No aerial map will be available? Anyone know of other options that we can use after this cutoff?

@cadmunkey said:

@luziusalbin said:

Today's the day:

https://www.vray.com/vray-for-sketchup/

Does anyone know how much it is to upgrade from an old version (I think 2, 2009) to the new 3.5?
I emailed them but havent got a reply.

You could check with your reseller (Many web-pages have upgrade info up now, for example: http://trinity3d.com/vray-sketchup-plugin/).

Also, note that it's 3.0, not 3.5 (Yes, it's half a version behind.)

Also, just a note about an earlier post - you will need to rebuild your vray library if you are going to Vray for Sketchup 3.0 right now, since most old vray materials do not convert.

Projections plugin: http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20140

"Extrude line" tool is the one I have as a shortcut.

@yourpasswordis said:

@andybot said:

@valerostudio said:

We need a script to make lap and shingle siding!

my shortcut is to use extrude edges by vector.

Can you share a screenshot of your method?

I've been aspiring for months to create building renderings using SketchUp + Vray. I somehow keep returning to this exact thread as I'm sure others have as well. Hope you can share.

I love this thread Thanks for the little burst of positivity

May be useful to peruse this thread: http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=81%26amp;t=33509

@stinkie said:

Before I forget: Mar-a-Lago membership fees have doubled to $200,000 following Trump's election. That alone should get people thinking, I feel.

Plenty of people are thinking (and fuming) but the ones with power to do anything (controlling party in Congress) are perfectly happy sitting on their hands. (Or going after the real culprits: Sid the Science Kid)

@stinkie said:

From Reuters ... Again: one cannot make this up.

I'm glad you're paying attention. I just wish more people in the US were actually paying attention. Still coming to grips with just how "low-information" many voters here are. (And they "elected" the lowest information bobble-head possible!) If they are paying this little attention to what these sorts of political activities mean, you can imagine how little they care about the future of the planet.

Beautiful work, great job!

@kaas said:

I fail to see anything remotely positive in DJT presidency: his cabinet of zillionaires, the interest he his family has in business (oil pipeline), bullying Mexico & Muslims, alternative facts, etc. 1 week down, 207 to go until the next election...

so proud, our very own kleptocracy.

@Mike, True - way too many people only consume the evening news, but I think there are also quite a few other sources breaking through. At least I hope. We can all do our part to broaden the conversation.

@mike lucey said:

In all fairness the press / media had and still have their knives out for Trump. The Reason? All one has to do is look to who owns the media in the USA, five or six people! It would not surprise me if Trump breaks up this one-sided monopoly.

Mike, honestly! There are more news sources than the major papers. DJT tries to break up media, it won't stop others from reporting.

I recently installed Light Mozilla browser on a computer that was having issues with Chrome. https://sourceforge.net/projects/lightfirefox/
Very lightweight, the goodness of firefox (can use add-ons) with a lot less bloat.

@john2 said:

How do I enable material override?

In your Vray options editor - There's a checkbox in the "Global Switches" section