Dave,

Playing with Greeble. How did you get the originating grid in order to use Greeble? Having a tough time getting there...

Dave, I'm pretty sure you are right. Just in case Pilou wasn't trolling these boards, I posted the same basic challenge at the MoI3D forum-- which he was one of the first to answer there too!

Frenchy, Thanks much for taking the time to show me so many examples! Much appreciated

Aha! Thanks for that! I had forgotten about that plugin-- used it years ago. Very nice and much appreciated

Does anyone have an idea on how to automatically/algorithmically build this in SketchUp using a bitmap (or other way) to drive the distribution of randomimzed height boxes (or other shapes)?

Perhaps some sort of combination of Scatter and other plugins? Thanks for any cycles spent cogitating...

Last I checked, the latest KeyShot plugin seemed to be working.

Hi all,

Many years ago, I commissioned these two plugins, Jitter and Merge, from the fabulous Jim Foltz. I used them on a Disney job I was working on.

You can download them at: https://filedn.com/lLMW4jXsJqxXkRYjd1UCoKL/3d/SketchUpDONOTMOVE/plugs.zip

UPDATE: 3/31/16
Thanks to sdmitch, the plugins now have the proper compression and extension and should load just fine in the preferences pane.

UPDATE: 4/02/16
Jim Foltz rewrote and made some minor changes to bring them up to date and avoid namespace clashes.

While they work in all versions of SU, including 2016, they don't IMPORT directly via the Preferences pane. Not sure why. Perhaps someone can take a look at them and see if there's a fix. I'm offering them up for free in the hopes they help others as they've helped me in the past.

Merge is a pretty easy concept. I use it for cleaning up geometry. Sometimes, as some of you know, there are some really small faces with verticies very close together. Merge attempts to move the points of a selected group of faces to near vertices, thus connecting or removing some of the problem areas. It's easier to understand if you look at the video below.

Jitter is an great plugin when you want to add a bit of real world randomness to a group of faces. In the case of Disney, I wanted to create some cartoon buildings which didn't have straight verticals or horizontals. So, I built the props as I regularly do, then apply Jitter with a small setting to move the vertices of the group in and out a small random bit.

https://filedn.com/lLMW4jXsJqxXkRYjd1UCoKL/3d/SketchUpDONOTMOVE/plugs.zip

Nice tute! Thanks for sharing. Did you try using any of the UV SU tools and bypass 3D Max? Would it be possible?

An idea which may or may not appeal to those of you doing plugin development...

I don't even know if SU has the chops for it, but here's what I think would be a stellar plugin worth a lot of money. I'd gladly pay $99 for it.

A fabric draper plugin.

You put a poly grid above an object(s) and let it drop and drape over. Poser has it, as does a number of other apps.

Modo video (a couple of seconds):

That to me is a plugin which would sell well.

@fluid said:

We just released FluidImporter 3.1.0. You can get it here.

Here's what's new:

• Faster import
• FluidImporter is now a full .rbz extension, with a single file for Windows/OSX
• You can access FluidImporter funtionality through the menu Extensions -> FluidImporter
• Added edge smooth option
• Options are now saved so you don't lose your settings when closing SkechUp

Looks interesting except for the "machine lock." When I purchase software, I want it locked to ME, not my machine. Even high dollar software like Keyshot allows me to put it on a computer at the office and my laptop and home. ugh.

Thanks for all the kind comments.

It's catching fire:
NBC News picked it up with a video:
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/concept-designs-for-musks-hyperloop-released-467612740001

So did Business Insider, Fast Company, hypeBeast, Austin Business Journal, and PSFK
http://www.businessinsider.com/a-hyperloop-pod-design-that-makes-travel-comfortable-2015-6
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3047457/a-practical-vision-for-the-hyperloop-experience
http://hypebeast.com/2015/6/argodesign-conceptualizes-the-interior-of-elon-musks-hyperloop-high-speed-rail
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/blog/at-the-watercooler/2015/06/heard-of-elon-musks-hyperloop-these-austin.html
http://www.psfk.com/2015/06/elok-musk-hyperloop-concept-design-spacex-hyperloop-competition.html

Interviewed with Discovery and CNBC today so I suspect they will be going forward with something too. Nice to see the response from the press-- I have to say none of this could've been accomplished without SketchUp's ability to handle massive instances for objects, like seats, capsules, rails, etc..

Thanks all for the comments.
Frenchy, I agree the original roller coaster version was just too small.
Here's a link to the PDF a book.
http://blog.chipp.com/2015/06/hyperloop-book-for-elon-musk.html

Hi all,

Just to let you know we finished our concept design for Elon Musk's Hyperloop. All the models are SketchUp. The line drawing overlays are done with SketchUp. Photographic renders created in KeyShot. It will be formally released tomorrow, so you all get a sneak preview. I'll put the book link up tomorrow when we go live.

Here's a sample:

Hyperloop Coach Cabin with underwater Tripscene display:

Terminal Level three of Capsule Jukebox:

Business Work Capsule with ground based Tripscene:

Hyperloop Terminal:

Executive Meeting Capsule:

The project was a fun one...on and off for a couple months. SketchUp is just so fast at creating these sorts of models. Thanks to ALL the plugin authors-- couldn't have done it without you!!

@cotty said:

Combination of Voronoi and Flowify tutorials...

[attachment=1:bb4e9vi0]<!-- ia1 -->voroflow.jpg<!-- ia1 -->[/attachment:bb4e9vi0]

Edit: added rendered version

[attachment=0:bb4e9vi0]<!-- ia0 -->voroflow_render.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:bb4e9vi0]

I was trying to think of a way to use flowify for this tutorial, but didn't come up with a 'product.' Yours is great!

@pilou said:

@Olishea
About Meshlab : does it possible to make a "macro" for avoid to make numerous clics on the different menus shown on the video ?

If I'm not mistaking, that's exactly what meshserver is.

@pilou said:

@Chipp
What is the hidden advantage to use the cross lines help cursor ?

I was introduced to this technique as I watched ixlrxli's videos, and so I tried it and liked it. It's especially helpful when using the move tool, as it's easier to snap to an axis. It also helps me eyeball proportions and line up drawings. I tried it and liked it.

@cotty said:

A kind of automation in this case...

Thanks. Did not know about Split Tools.

Thanks for sharing. Much easier!

@olishea said:

chipp: You may want to look at this tutorial....you can "voronoi" any model in meshlab. Start off with the SU model and then drape the voronoi over your model! It's awesome and you can do very complex models.

Thanks! GMTA. I literally was just watching that tutorial when your post notification came through! Crazy!
Is there any other workflow tutes on Meshlab and Voronoi? Thanks for sharing!

At least you have a hard drive and cache. Im pretty sure I'm only working with a single floppy drive!

Yep, I suppose so. Actually, the reason is so that I can go back in a few months and figure out what the hell I was doing when I created the tire, or rim, or voronoi pattern. I can go months between use and need to have something which reminds me how to work. Also, I work in lots of different 3D packages, and it becomes tedious remembering how flowify works in SU, vs flow in MoI, vs Lightwave's custom plugin mappers. Ugh..