GOOD

Where to download OldHouse.zim?

Sorry Hans thanks for reply, I ended up sorting it out. Here is my independent review. For anyone that is using this plug in: if you want the model to be visible in the PDF you need to use perspective under camera menu. Parallel projection will take you out into space and make models difficult to find. Scenes do not work in parallel projection so forget about showing a 2D parallel plan as the program does not implement zoom extents in parallel projection. Also another note that I find frustrating is that the program will hang and ultimately relate in a bug splat if you minimise the screen and then reinstate at time of export. "I had it hang 8 times and restarted the model 8 times" loosing minor changes so if you intend on using this program save before you export. In saying that the most frustrating thing about buying the product is how long it takes to get a license after you pay your money. All in all the product is not bad, it renders well and is efficient but it is not perfect if you are in a hurry (like I usually am ). I hope Simlab takes this as constructive feedback and rectify the problems without charging for an update. I will let you know how I go. @hpw said: Hello, It s not my plugin, I only evaluated it. Contact simlab support with your problem. Regards Hans-Peter

I just tried this plugin, to no avail. For me, it ignores everything except dynamic blocks, and does not preserve layers. Feel free to check the DWF and SKP Import files yourself if you're curious. I'm currently awaiting an answer to an email I placed to Simlab Support. I'm been extremely unimpressed with both their products and their support team's attitudes in the past, so I'm really hoping they'll improve on prior experiences. I'm thankful it's a trial version. Here's the DWF (zipped because the forum doesn't accept DWF) ...and the results of import.

@dtrarch said: Check out the Adobe examples. Looks like the 3D PDF's were all produced by SimLab plugins. The one with dimensions was just not a SU export. What makes you think they were produced with the Simlab plugin? I looked at several of the 3D PDF examples on the Adobe web page but see no indication they were output from the SimLab plugin. ?? Futher, Simlab Soft support told me "Units saved in 3D PDF are always converted to meters, so all measurements will be in Meter." Yet, several of the examples I looked at have the units/scale set to inches or mili-meters. So, it seems rev 2.4 of the SimLab plugin has another problem - it won't export the units/scale from SketchUp into the 3D PDF. Without that information in there, Acrobat Reader will pop up a dialog to ask the user what units/scale they want when you go in to measure/analysis mode - which is confusing for the reader/user. I do hope the SimLab plugin gets improved soon...

I have to agree it is not the best idea I usually like to have my 3D PDFs sent by email where they are opened with the full Acrobat reader. Though there are few factors here. You need to have acrobat as the default PDF viewer in FireFox, I guess there are some other tools that may be used to open PDF in the browser. maybe installing acrobat 10 simply changed the default viewer to acrobat. Also the site traffic, when I opened the link in the morning it was fast, and the PDFs were interactive in the web page. I will prepare an example and I will post it to see if this is what you are looking for.

I just bought Composer but I didn't notice this - I must try it immediately, Anssi

@d12dozr said: About navigating in a 3D PDF, I find those controls to work great for a looking at one part like that motor, but not as well for walking through a house. I'm guessing those controls are part of the Adobe PDF reader, but something like the Walkaround tool in Sketchup would be nice for navigating larger PDF's. Our aim in SimLab Composer is to make the model designer in control of the animation. The designer, selects the cameras to be included, and selects if they are animated or not. The camera can move along a path or it can automatically switch from one room to another. If the file recipient wants to investigate a view more, he can take control of the current view, after that usually he switches control back to the animation. The idea simply is to make the designer control the animation, I hope that this helps.

I sent you all the information, waiting for the translation

@pdonner said: Are there any solutions to these shortcomings? SimLab Composer and 3D PDF plugin only supports Acrobat reader 9.0 or newer on Windows and Mac. Version 9.0 introduced new features that we are using in Automatic Camera mode, and has better support for animation, which are working on. So we decided instead of limiting the functionality, to support Acrobat reader 9.0 or newer. Upgrading Acrobat reader is a free, fast, and simple process that can be performed from inside acrobat reader itself, which by default will encourage the user to upgrade to the latest version. With this version we discontinued the free version as we described in the previous post. @pdonner said: How does Simlab's software compare to the PDF export function of the SU 8 Pro version? In addition to the 3D PDF creation capability available in the plugin, SimLab Composer adds Rendering, supports many file formats including SketchUp, has 3D Scene building, and exoirts 3D scenes to different file formats. Users who use SketchUp as their main Design application will feel more comfortable with the plugin, while users who need the additional functionality and use different design applications in addition to SketchUp will prefer SimLab Composer. SimLab Composer at this point only support importing SketchUp 7 files and prior, only the plugin supports version 8. support for version 8 will be added in the next update of SimLab Composer

I got an email today about an update, is there possibility to get a changelog? I'm still interested in the instances/components in FBX and the ability to not triangulate the mesh. Thanks.

No doubt that will be a new hit!