Uber Fantastic! Thanks very very much!

Hola yall, I have a question for all you uber smart Sketchup minded peoples.

I had some blueprints scanned to .tif's and I want to import them into SU to facilitate making a model and I was wondering if there's an 'easier' way of scaling the drawings. Currently all I'm doing is importing the tif and scaling it to an arbitrary scale so it's big enough to read, then finding a dimension, offsetting a line to that dimension and then, using the SU scale tool, I scale a little then adjust a little, scale a little then adjust a little, scale a little then adjust a little, until it's close enough.

It's not 'hard' per se, just a little time consuming. I was hoping someone could tell me a better more efficient way of scaling drawings.

Mucho thanks

Chris

@xrok1 said:

try grouping it first. also if you press the up arrow on your keyboard while trying to move it should limit to blue axis moevment.

YEA! That did it!

Mucho Thanko!

@pmolson said:

Is this "object" a component?

If so, try right clicking on it and clicking "unglue"

Nope, it's neither a component nor group

I don't know if forcing is the right term exactly but the best I could come up with.

I've had this problem before and it's been annoying, now it's a pain in *SS!. I have an object within a model that I can't seem to move along the Z axis. Nothing I do seems to work. I drew a line on the Z axis to grab it's end points but when I try to move this one object I can't snap to any of the normal grips. However any other object, line, face, thing in the model seems to move along the Z axis just find and dandy.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to fix this?

Thanks,

Chris

I've heard very good things regarding Twilight. Unfortunately they don't make a version for OSX

@emperorgus said:

i've read all the posts of this thread...
i'm on a macbook pro
mac osX 10.6.2

I've put all the right things in their right place
libfredo6.rb --> plugins folder
lib6*.rb --> in plugins folder

and when i open sketchup 7 i get this :

Error Loading File Lib6Tool.rb
uninitialized constant Traductor::T6

someone have an idea of what is going on ??

and while im here is there a description of what all the script included in the version 3.4 of your library do??

thx to fredo who is really patient and helpfull to all!!

emperorgus,

If you figure it out let me know how you did, I've been trying on and off for weeks and I can't figure out what file goes where or what file to install first, or what pdf has the bit of needed information you need to get this plugin to work.

This may be the best plugin ever, but it's also the worst set of install instructions ever.

Goodness, more to think about! LOL

Jason - You point about not worrying about quality or price but how fluid it is, is dead freakin' on! I'm not a '3D' guy, I'm not selling my services to others. I want this to 'jazz up' my own work and to use a tool to help clients visualize designs and proposals. At this point I'm planning on using the rendering engine for SU exclusively. I'm looking for new CAD software (i.e. Archicad, Vectorwerks, et al) and I'm not sure what I'm going to end up with.

One thing you emphasized was 'use within Sketchup'. This is something that I'm aware of, but no little about. What's the difference between a render that works within SU as opposed to one that you have to export to? Are their fundamental differences? Is the rule of thumb something like the ones that render from within are easier, cheaper but not as good as the ones that you export too? I've looked for info regarding this but haven't come up with anything.

bravoddb - It sounds like you're saying that there are some serious differences between all the different engines out there. That certain ones do certain things much better than other engines. (i.e. 'Acme Render' does exterior very well but if you want to do small product stuff then 'Render X' is better)

Of those you've worked with is one more 'general use' than others? Maybe does nothing particularly well but does everything marginally well?

Again, thank you for all of your help

Chris

Shura & Earth,

Thanks for your input, I guess I have more to think about. That article was great and if it was SU specific it would have been perfect.

I know what it is I'd like shura, and if you're asking me as opposed to just suggesting I think about it, then what it is I want and need it to do is this. I'm an architect, so obviously I need exterior buildings in natural light, but interior is important also. I really have to have both ease of use and stability (this need kills Kerkythea). I've found that so many of these smaller companies have such limited tech support that if you contact them with a problem they just refer you to their user forum and I don't find that unacceptable. I don't need the output to be for anything more then emailing clients ideas and the occasional marketing picture so PIXAR quality is probably overkill for this kid.

In a nut shell, simplicity, stability, support are the most important things I'm looking for. Any Suggestions?

Thanks again

@xrok1 said:

well buy the one that works for you. it seems to me that the prices are kinda arbitrary, and have more to do with how long the programs been around than how much the program does for you. the thing is that it matters more what results YOU get from a particular renderer than what results others get. for example some users can make a lot nicer models with SU (free) than they could with 3DMax $3500. likewise i can make a lot better renders with Twilight ($99) than i could with Maxwell ($899 ??) or VRay ($500~600?). that mean Twilght is worth far more to me than both these renderers put together.

the point is that its YOUR result that counts, not the price.

xrokl - I hear what you're saying, so long as what you have works well for you, it's worth it. We're in agreement here but let me clarify a bit more (apologies for not being more clear to begin with).

Like I said, I down loaded many trial versions of the rendering software and played around with each. No one piece of software jumped out at me as the one that was best for me, in essence they all worked for me. They all seemed to be fairly straight forward when it came to usability, so in that sense everything was awash, dead even. When it came to the quality of the rendering, well that's hard to say because being trial versions, some wouldn't render to their fullest capabilities. That being said, after looking around here in the gallery, on the websites of the different companies, I'm going to assume (rightfully/wrongfully?) that they all render similarly well, or at least for my current needs.

So this is pretty much the limit of my knowledge of rendering software, but this still begs the question 'why the vast difference in price'. I have to assume (again rightfully/wrongfully) that there is/are reasons for the higher price that extends beyond just name brand, and maybe those reasons are bells and whistles that I could use, or maybe it's something like faster rendering time, technical support, additional add ons, expandability, or what have you.

So not know what all is at least available makes it difficult for me to make an informed decision, so this is why I ask if there is a review, poll, or bullet point comparison of some of the software out there.

Thanks much for you response

Chris

I've been trying to figure out what rendering program to get and I'm stymied because they all look good and I'm hoping someone here could point me in the direction of an unbiased review of some/all of the different engines out there.

I've read the posts, been to the websites and have down loaded at least 3 (probably 4-5) trial versions and pretty much without exception they all seem to do what they're designed for very well, at least to my untrained eye. What I'm finding myself stuck on is the vast pricing difference and why? Being a person that understands the concept of 'you get what you pay for', I'm not afraid of throw down some coin for a good product that I'm going to use, however at the same time I don't want to buy a Ferrari when a Chevy will do the trick just dandy.

I can't seem to find any reason why one engine is significantly more than another. When reading the developers literature the $200 engine says that it's supercalifragalistic just like the $800 dollar one. They both seem to have out puts that are off the chart fantastic, they both claim to be super simple to use, fast, produce photo realistic renderings, and provide gobs and gobs of textures, materials and other goodies. I'm sure that there's a reason for the price difference but for the life of me I can't find it.

So does anyone know of a side by side review of some of these engines? A bullet point list of 'does' and 'doesn't'? Has a poll ever been done about which rendering engine is the most used by members of this forum?

Thanks for any help

Chris

... for the life of me, I can't find the post.

I'm trying to import the Kerkythea library into SU. I have the plug in loaded, I go to Plugins/Kerkythea Exporter/Import KT Materials and follow the directions and nothing.

Does anyone know of a bug here, a button commonly missed or a an animal that needs to be sacrificed?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

C

Okay this thread is as clear as mud.

What previously named English version of Fredo do I need to install to get the non-Chinese current version of the recently name changed version for Mac?

All the links seems inter connected to form a nice vicious circle.

I want to be able to rotate and turn the joints to position the manikin pictured below in different poses but it's a real pain, as you can imagine. Is there a plugin that would 'pin' the joints in place yet allow them to rotate?

thanks

@honoluludesktop said:

Chris, SU only has rectangular surfaces, and edges. No lines, or solids. An option to "pushing" is to fill in the "line like" surface with a contrasting color.

Btw, which of the 3 rendering tools do you like, and what are your pros and cons? I have not tried lightup. My current preferences are IDX (priced right), and POV (free). They are both very easy to use, and provide quick renders for client progress meetings. IDX will not have alpha support until its next full release. The POV plugin is supported by D Burr (one person), and IDX by IMSI. With IDX, interior lighting is more complicated then exterior lighting. POV interior lighting is easier to accomplish.

So far I'm sitting right on the fence. Like I said, I've just been playing around with Podium, Lightup and IDX. Each seem to have their advantages and disadvantages. I'm really looking for a good combination of price (I really don't want to spend a buttload), ease of use (I'm not a graphics guy and I really don't want to kill myself trying to learn a program) and quality (I'm not going to be showing Pixar my work, but I would like something decent).

I've been looking for reviews or even just a pro/con list of what all the different rendering engines offer, but I haven't really found anything other than a poll.

Thanks everyone for all your help. As usual I have more to look at, investigate, experiment with and to think about than it seems I have time for.

Dale,

thanks for the feedback. Now, how do you give a line some width? I can't seem to find anything that lets you adjust the width of a line.

It's been Podium, IDX, and lightup. I've been playing with these rendering demos trying to find one that I like enough to buy. All of them remove the line work.

I have a model with some line work on the faces and I want to be able to see when the model is rendered. However, when I render the model the line work is omitted from the final object (see attached) is there any way to get the line work to make those line remain visible?

Thanks

@solo said:

Chris these are for rendering apps, do you plan to render and if Yes what render app will you be using?

I've been playing with Kerkythea but I might be playing with others just to see what else is out there.