Hey all,
I've posted the Making-of by Stefan, the Grand Prize Winner of 'The Museum' / Maxwell Render Challenge. He sure used a lots of plugins and referenced this site 
Check it out here - http://www.ronenbekerman.com/making-of-the-museum-butterfly-effect-by-stefan-hirschsteiner/
from the article :
Anyone knows about an ETA / Expected ETA for the SketchUP 2013 version release? Obviously - it will happen during 2013 but I wonder how soon? and if something official was mentioned about this topic online or offline.
@leedeetee said:
Just thought I'd post this up in case anyone was interested in entering ...
Thanks for doing so
And yep - The prizes are great and the subject even greater. I would love to see as many SketchUP users giving this one a go.
See you on the challenge
Ronen
@andybot said:
That's actually part of my point - with the render engines, all that film/sensor size, lens length, aperture nonsense is all fungible. That's why adhering strictly to a 35mm equivalence seems kind of limited to me. The reason I mention conversions to different sensor formats is that if you are, say, trying to match a photo, it will very much depend on that particular camera setup, like for example the shallow dof of your mamiya. It won't work to just use the default 35mm dof equivalence.
I think you hit the mark here... and part of the main reason for me bringing this topic up.
Forget about us archviz artist using Maxwell Render and try to force it into real camera envelope of operation... we rarely do so, and try to "fake" it into our needs. Think of a real photographer getting into CGI in order to expand his offering and do more advanced things in his photography work. He will need a tool that talks the talk he is used too and that is all about real camera settings... sensor size, lenses, ISO, shutter speeds, aperture, shifts and more.
Not referring strictly to the SketchUP plugin here... but in general.
All the render engines since Maxwell Render was first introduced added some physical based / real camera workflow to their features - so there is something to it, a demand by us - the users. I actually use VRay most of the time... but with it's VRayPhysicalCamera and environmental HDRI's. I've also been testing Indigo, Thea and more for there "Camera Like" feature set and I really wanted to know what artists on this forum think about this.
I'm an archviz artist first, not a photographer, but I do tend to go with physically based workflow, trying to work as a photographer does. This usually gets you the most photo-real results. I don't think it is a rule you should blindly follow, but people have been accustomed to judge designs by looking at photos! the real human eye view is, oddly, not the view we judge things according to.
This is why we call it photo-real
From all the render engines out thete for SketchUP... is it safe to say Maxwell Render resembles the work with a real camera the most...
What do you think?
Here are places 5-6 + Open category lighting and texturing selections (Benjamin took the modeling category and Tolgahan the Design category)
Lighting -
Texturing -
I'm proud to share with you the winning images of the HOVER Architectural Visualization Challenge.
Please visit the [url="http://www.ronenbekerman.com/the-hover-challenge-winners-selected/"]HOVER Challenge Winner Announcement Post[/url] to get all the info and here are the winner image below.
(1 to 4 places)
Architectural Visualization Challenge II - HOVER has ended and here are the 24 finalists that will go into the judging stage.
It was a joy to host, follow and add feedback for all the participants and I want to say thanks to all those who submitted images and visited the forums. Big thanks to all the [great sponsors[/url] of this event too 
[url:ac803ubi]http://www.ronenbekerman.com/the-hover-challenge-24-finalists/]("http)
[url="http://www.ronenbekerman.com/the-hover-challenge-24-finalists/"]
[/url]
Hey all,
ONE month minus a few days left in the HOVER Challenge and here is progress spotlight 005, this time focusing on 3 entries by Jamie Holmes, Zoran Gorski, with his Judge entry & Julio Cayetano.
If you wanted to join in this is the time to do so and get it done in time too
You are all invited to visit, add your feedback and join at - http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/hover-challenge-submissions/
too
http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/hover-challenge-submissions/454-jamie-holmes.html
http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/hover-challenge-submissions/496-zoran-gorski-kizo.html
http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/hover-challenge-submissions/531-julio-cayetano.html
Cheers,
Ronen.
Hey all,
Here is HOVER progress spotlight 004, this time focusing on 3 entries by Tom Svilans, Tolgahan Gungor & Ivo Sucur. I'll try to bring you at least 3 such entries each week as the challenge gos on.
You are all invited to visit, add your feedback and join at - http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/hover-challenge-submissions/
too
http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/hover-challenge-submissions/397-tom-svilans-stompin-tom.html
http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/hover-challenge-submissions/494-tolgahan-guengoer.html
http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/hover-challenge-submissions/404-ivo-sucur.html
I've also posted the last of the birthday giveaways. First stage runs until Sunday 29th 12:00 GMT - you can win any 15 models you like from the DesignConnected Catalog. [url="http://www.ronenbekerman.com/designconnected-3d-model-giveaway/"]Enter here[/url].
The [url="http://www.ronenbekerman.com/minichallenge-01-brix/"]BRIX miniCHALLENGE is still running[/url] until September 15th you are invited to visit and take part in this... and perhaps be the winners of a BRIX LIFE TIME LICENSE!
Cheers,
Ronen.