Don't worry, 90% of the animated objects are ordered in SU using keyframe - I can run a hi-res direct export from SU if I need to. But as we all know; the details are what really impress people so am trying to make it really "pop".

You're a champion Roland. Am just waiting to hear back on the fabled renderable GIF in TWR2.

The power of animation within sketchup with a lot of what I do is that we make rapid changes - stakeholders see the project animated and suddenly want a raft of changes that they didn't realize they wanted when they saw the original drawing.

This has a lot of power and adds to the iterative beauty of SU.

I have done a lot of elementary animations with Keyframe Animation, Proper Animation, Simfonia Animation Tools and SketchyPhysics. The powerfull element has always been that people can see the idea actually working, ask for some changes and see it working 24 hours later with the changes made. While this is possible with other workflows its a little more time intensive and therefore stressful. I'm not sure stressful is the reason I got into SU in the first place - more like "maximum return with minimum input".

5 days till deadline and here I am considering learning blender.....

Yeah I get ya Roland - and I really appreciate the offer. But I currently have Four SU files that make up the basic animation and their continually changing as we review parts of the animation. Its such an iterative process, there is literally dozens of hours of animation work to be done.

I'll PM you a short example animated with Keyframe so you can see what I mean

So for doing awesome animations from scratch, Cinema 4D or Lumion or Blender would be better?

WOW! I just watched that video, amazing stuff.

What I can't understand is if Fusion7 can handle totally fake environments that I have built in SU?

Have you guys got any experience with this? Is Fusion 7 closer to Cinema 4D or Final Cut Pro?

This would be of huge benefit to me right now

Have been hunting for this - so hard to animate wheels on a vehicle and render it. Simfonia animation does this loopable rotation but doesn't play nice with renderers.

Have we had any progress in this sphere since this thread began? I'm in need of loopable animation now.

Sketchucation should do a deal with Dell for some cheap ones

Its nice, but still a bit bulky regarding the original requirements of this post. The latest XPS 13 appears to fit the bill well.

Has anyone out there in Sketchucation land had any experience with this? How hard is it to integrate?

There is a bit of info here about the code for a mac: https://community.leapmotion.com/t/using-leap-motion-to-control-google-sketch-up/555

Yeah, hard to beat the old mouse and keyboard. But it is things like this that push the envelope.

I posted a thread some time ago about controlling SU with your voice (http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=372%26amp;t=57253) but how awesome is this using leap motion??

And this:

Elon Musk first inspired me to check this out:

So tempted to buy one and have a play but not sure they'll ship it to me

Hey Printrbot has some great looking stuff.

In your experience, how necessary is the heated platform?

Was thinking about going the cheap route (since I have no idea what I'm doing) and going with this: http://printrbot.com/shop/simple-makers-kit/ what would be your reservations on that?

PS. The Sharebot KIWI http://www.3dhubs.com/3d-printers/sharebot-kiwi looks great for a tinkerer like me and the fact that it should be easier for me to mess with is encouraging.

Anyone got experience with them?

Thanks for the feedback folks.

Regarding items manufactured in India;

@driven said:

are now made in India to a higher standard

This is true in some instances but completely the opposite in others. I have spent some time checking out products for sourcing to various industries and the variability was intimidating.

Also, if you need to get things OUT of India it can be equally tricky with layers of bureaucracy and shipping officials needing special payments. I know several people exporting from India (locals too) and they're often tearing their hair out not being able to get a container onto a boat.

So they have quoted me 82,000 INR (Currently around $1300 USD) for the I250 (not the I250+).
Has a build area of 250mm x 250mm x200mm - see attachments for more info.

What are the thoughts of those that are more experienced in this industry?

Short clip of the product:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ_HmBd-nJw

Commentary from 3dprintingindustry.com: http://3dprintingindustry.com/2014/08/06/divide-zero-shows-made-india-accucraft-250-3d-printer/

Accucraft Series 3D Printers v1.1.pdf

i250 Quote.pdf

Did you find Divide by Zero on Google or have you had some interaction with them?

Haha,

@unknownuser said:

has literally read everything ever written about it

Thats one dedicated reader or some beautifully disrespectful use of the english language....either way, I love it.

Hi all,

Am interested in getting hold of a 3Dprinter to experiment on from Sketchup but I'm a little overwhelmed with all the possibilities.
A few need to haves:

• I don't want to spend a fortune as I just want to learn about 3D printing
• I need to be able to get it in India or at least get it shipped into India
• I don't need a full on "plug and play" solution but I also don't have time to assemble something from scratch

Some "nice to haves":

• Would be really cool if it had the capacity to be modified into a 2D profile cutter (however simple)
• Would be great to have an online community supporting it
• Cheap(ish) material inputs would be nice

Suggestions please!