Do you still have the back-up file (.skb extension)? If so, copy it to another folder and change the extension to .skp and see if you can open it in SU.

I believe there is a PLE version of LumenRT available.

Nice, but where are the magnets?

Eagerly anticipating the update. I hope the new trees/plants aren't tropical - I've yet to find a use for banana and palm trees in East Tennessee.

@tadema said:

Thanks again everyone.
Bryan, this is how I like it without any pressure.
Daniel, I textured the road but added the puddles and reflections in PS.

John

It truly looks like a photograph.

Was that composited into a photograph, or was that road modeled/textured/rendered?

Under model info, are your units set to metric?

Those look fantastic, Jan.

that's a sharp looking model/rendering.

If you have a wallpaper material with lots of colors (a floral pattern, for example) and you want to sample just one of the colors, then no (unless someone is aware of a plugin that will sample only part of a material).

If, however, you want to match the overall color of a material, that is easy. Create a new material from the original, and deselect the "use texture image" - SU will convert it to the predominant color, as shown in the example below using a SU brick texture.

I frequently have more than one session open at a time, even on my old XP computers and previous versions of SU - no problems.

That's some incredible modeling, Lengyel.

Nicely done, Jason.

My initial reaction was that if there was so much smoke damage, there should be more fire damage - but a Google search of fire damaged bathrooms proved otherwise. Perhaps all those "beauty" products produce a lot of smoke.

Very nicely done, sir.

Beautiful renderings, sir. A theatre would not have trees in front of it, though, as they block the marquee. Not only from a visibility standpoint, but for changing the letters on it.

Are there more gems? Yes. And there seems to be new ones coming out all the time. I don't think anyone mentioned LightUp - the guy who developed it, Adam(?) is a member of Skechucation. If you go to the Gallery there is a "Render Application Homepages" thread that list quite a few. Also, if you can find a bookstore that carries the trade magazines 3D Artist and 3D World, you can find additional information - and in the descriptions of all the renderings they will list what software was used to create them.

I think you will often find that the price of the software is commensurate with how many bells and whistles it has. You'll just have to determine what you want it to do and how much your willing to pay (or save up for) for that.

Yes, LumenRT and Lumion are both expensive, but as you say they look very attractive. I had planned on saving up for Lumion, but EON Software offered me a very good deal on LumenRT, and so far I am pleased with it - it is easy and very fast. It appears to operate very similar to Lumion.

I probably don't have to tell you that you need to make sure your computer meets the system requirements for whatever software you end up getting.

The latest from our resident sunglass-wearing frog, Tadema, should be included in this gallery.

Some programs I don't think were listed above, that you might consider looking at, are:

Lumion (this looks very good on it's website, appears similar to LumenRT; I considered purchasing it myself, but I've already blown my computer budget this year)
Vue (there are many versions to choose from; I don't think Vue can be beat at creating a natural environment - but depending on what version you get, it can get pricey).
Looking in the trade magazines, most professional architectural illustrators seem to favor 3DS Max, but it costs an arm, 2 legs, and your first born.

I have Vue Infinite and LumenRT 4 Studio - the later I've just started playing around with - it's easy and fast, but the images aren't exactly photoreal. Below is a rendering using LumenRT of a coworkers sad little model - the only editing I did was to replace his trees with LumenRT trees. The program automatically recognized the glass materials and added a reflection. It took only a few minutes to create that image. If you go with an Eon Software product (Vue, LumenRT), I suggest you get the maintenance plan - it will pay for itself when updates and new versions of the program are released.

Thanks, Solo

I didn't think it possible, but you've outdone yourself, John.