It depends on your workflow. I like Pro because of Layout in my architectural work. I can set up scenes, add dimensions and details, and export a PDF all in one app. Like Dave says, updates are a breeze because Layout is connected to Sketchup.

Seriously cool, Oli. Would love to see that in real life - 3D printed and kitted up with an LED lamp.

Looks great Adam, how did you texture those compound curves?

Yes, somewhat matte. The red and white models here are polyamide - the red one is dyed(from Shapeways). The two translucent models are acrylic, similar to Shapeways FUD material.

@thomthom said:

Polyamide is new to me. I've not used that. I'm more familiar with ABS, but not in context of 3D printing. I'm also wondering how the finish is here, as it appear to differ quite a bit.

And I suspect I need to paint it myself in order to get ther colour I want, and then it's also a matter of how these materials react to paint.

Polymide is what I used for my 3D printed lamp.

Some people have made polyamide 3D printed guitars(pictures and video). Freedon of Creation sells lamps, shoes, and jewelery and furniture made with polyamide.

I think the best way to check out the material is to order something small like the samples available from Shapeways or i.materialise. Because the material is so porous, it is often dyed rather than painted, so that the color soaks all the way through.

Thom, those resins and Prime Grey are UV cured stereolithography, which means as time passes they tend to deteriorate. The materials that last are Polyamide and ABS. Between those two, polyamide is tough and flexible, while ABS is more brittle.

This may also help you: Sketchup Photorealistic Rendering Intro. Its a short presentation I put together for a local Sketchup meetup group (minus the live demos).

Love the model Carsten, that turned out great. Can you put a flower bud in there and snap a pic for us?

@unknownuser said:

.. period.

I see what you did there

@marvins_dad said:

...I am more interested in if it could be hacked to pick up the contours of an object and that data could be brought in and used as a 3d model...

You're right, there is a huge need for a cheap, reliable 3D scanner. With 3D printers more commonplace, people are looking for a way to quickly 3D model things in their lives, and design (and print) parts that increase their functionality. It can be time consuming even for a skilled modeler to replicate a complex object, but a good 3D scanner can make short work of it.

I'm excited to try it as well, but am not getting my hopes too high for using it in Sketchup...here's a review from a guy using it for 3D AutoCAD Integrating Leap Motion and AutoCAD: Review

Turns out its pretty hard to beat a computer mouse for precision and minimizing fatigue.

@jamesphilip said:

... a large number of pieces are required for the entire length of all the sunshades. This increases the memory requirements for sketchup and the computer froze several times. So I decided not to use it...

Have to ask..you did make it a component, right?

If the torus is a solid, and each of the helices are solid, you can use the Outer Shell tool (Tools > Outer Shell) to combine them into one solid. You may have to scale up the model by 1000x first so that all the little faces are formed.

These are excellent. Thank you, Kris!

I agree with Alan, you should skip Sketchup.

While I have laser-cut from Sketchup DWG's, the segments were all broken like yours and I had to join them in Corel before sending to the laser which is an extra step you may be able to save by figuring out the problem with Illustrator's DWGs. Can the laser cutter take an SVG or other file that Illustrator can export?

Majid, thank you for posting these beautiful photos...an excellent reminder to not take what we hear in western media at face value.

@cotty said:

I've thought that this function is a PRO feature and searched in the online help...
After this, I searched it in SketchUp an it is there in both free versions!?

Yep, its in the free version too. It was introduced with the Solid Tools, the rest of which are PRO only, but Outer Shell is available to everybody.

Looks good! That would work just fine.

If you want, you could also deboss lettering from the side to make things more interesting, like the attachment. Just make sure each part of the letter is ~1mm thick and just as deep. (also scale up to perform the operation...you can see missing faces in this quick example)

I'd remove the letters or place them somewhere else with more room and make them bigger. After you do that, use Outer Shell (Tools > Outer Shell) to join any solid components together into one single solid.