@stu said:

All together now!!

Everybody's doin it...doin it...doin it

Tattle tale! hehe I'm sorry, but I have to agree with Jackson on this one. Not that my opinion holds any weight, but it does get annoying to see people set up camp in a thread and make it their personal home page. You rarely find those type of people contributing in other areas of the forum. I like how the PushPullBar handles it. Don't post a pic unless you have something informative to say. Either that or we need two separate Galleries. A "WIP" and a "Finished Work". This would tidy things up a little. Just my .02. Not trying to stir the pot.

haha, I guess I burrow. When I'm not behind the PC, I'm in the field building my designs. I'm usually in a machine moving Earth, or behind a shovel moving Earth, or on my knees with a trowel full of mortar. I love working outside!!!

So, anyone want to take bets on how long this thread stays alive - http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=14693. Ugh!

FYI - http://www.luxology.com/whatismodo/plugins/plugin_sketchup_importer.aspx

It's not compatible with Sketchup 7 files, so you need to save as SU6 before trying to import into Modo.

Silo is a great program. I got it for my 11 year old son and he models with it everyday. (It does crash quite a bit) I think it's a great introduction to SubD modeling and a good starting point before moving on to more advanced modelers. (Modo, Maya, etc.) Personally, I would suggest trying Hexagon as I find it a little more stable and robust. I don't think however, that either of these programs would meet Tom's need, as they are not geared towards presentation.

Thanks for this!

Okay, now who's gonna build it? Adam B., TBD??? There's gotta be someone out there with the brain for this!

I actually bought this book a while back - http://www.amazon.com/Ruby-Way-Second-Addison-Wesley-Professional/dp/0672328844 thinking I was going to learn the Ruby language, but I haven't had the time to dive in. From what I've skimmed through, it seems like a good book for anyone interested in scripting.

How can you take Wacov's example and apply it to an actual cloth looking mesh? I wonder if there is a way to use a dynamic component to resize the physics components to automatically add in the necessary extra springs and such.

Regis, that would be great. I would be interested in seeing a demonstration of an easier way.

Nice Nomer! I really like the IES in the Max renders. Did you use Vray camera and lights in Max?

I think the ArcViz community really regards trees and plants and merely entourage. Something to add realism, or to frame out the sight lines of their architecture. There is really no need to distinguish between one type of tree or shrub and another, nor is there reason to understand the fundamentals of horticulture in general. I will often cringe when I look at a beautiful archviz render and there are trees grouped together that would never survive together because of their zone, or when architects drop sun loving shrubs in a pure shade area, things like that.

When a landscape architect goes into a design situation, the bulk of the structural architecture is already in place and we are coming in to soften the hard lines, create warmth and curb appeal, add beauty and harmony, etc. For us, plants and trees mean a lot more to our design, as they are the focal point. We are trying to show a client what their landscape will look like as it exists with the architecture of the home. In order to use sketchup as a landscape design tool, there needs to be a more diverse selection of plant material. Especially when it comes to specimen trees and shrubs, as well as perennials.

Google has been sending out representatives to landscape architect tradeshows all over the country, in an attempt to promote sketchup as a landscape design tool. This has lead to a lot of discouragement in the amount of available plant material. It would be wise for Google to make available a wider selection of plants, or they will not retain the bulk of the landscape crowd that they are marketing to.

Jason,

Here's a few more besides the ones I sent you. Just playin' with different HDRI's.

Hi Richard,

As a fellow Landscape/Hardscape designer who uses sketchup to present my landscape designs, I found the best way to do it is by using faceme components and clipmaps instead of true 3D models. You lose a little in overall shadow and lighting quality, but you make up for it in variety and quicker turnaround times. There are several nice collections of landscape plants for sale online. I use http://www.imagecels.com quite a bit, but the best plants I have are ones I made myself.

I have running relationships with my local nurseries and growers, and they allow me to come in and photograph plants at my leisure. I'll usually take someone with me who can hold up the white background that I rigged up out of some 2x2's and a sheet. They hold this behind the plant or tree and I photograph it. Then I take them into photoshop and use Vertus Fluid Mask to remove the white background. Then I take them into sketchup and save them as faceme components. Come spring and summer, I have plans with a local grower to photograph and catalog over 300 perennials to add to my collection, or possibly turn around for commercial sale.

I think this is the only way that makes sense in our business, as one would need a vast pool of plants in order to properly design, and this would take years and years to try and model. Not to mention trying to put a few hundred plant models into a design, even at low poly, would grind sketchup to a halt. Programs like Vue and Podium will recognize the transparency of your plant components and render them transparent. This makes it fast and easy to render a high quality design and still maintain quick turnaround.

Another option, which I use quite a bit for quick designs, is to import my Sketchup model/hardscape layout into Realtime Landscape Architect (http://www.ideaspectrum.com/) and quick drag and drop from their catalog of 5000 landscape plants. The program will also put out a decent render and animation walk through, with lights, waterfalls and even birds and butterflies. It's a neat program for less demanding customers.

Anyway, below is a quick render I just whipped up in Vue, showing a few of the several hundred plants I've made, to give you an idea.

Hey Mannie,

I like your image. With a little tweaking it would be even better. I think tweaking the atmosphere will make a big difference. There is such a big hard shadow from the tree in the foreground, it would appear the sun is shining brightly. However the sky beyond the trees is dark and overcast in appearance. Correct the sky and add some more detail to the building and you'll have yourself a very artistic render. Keep up the good work!

Replace the restaurant with toll booths and it might make more sense.

Pete,

Yeah, we are feeling the hurt from the economy as well. Hope things get back to normal soon.

You should check out this plugin for Mental Ray - http://www.3dtotal.com/services/pluggins/bluecherry_shop.asp It turns Mental Ray into Podium. ....and it's only $15.

Awesome idea Alan! Breaking up Sketchup into two seperate, but connected programs.......similar to what Lightwave does.

Essentially BuildUp could be a staging software. An in-between stage before final rendering. Sketchup Studio would also be apropos. You could simply use Sketchup for your polygonal modeling, export over to Buildup and add high poly components and entourage.

I'm surprised there is not a 3rd party program that fills this need already.

I had a laugh with this one Jason! Nice work. Got that Ill Philly Flair! Would you be getting the render screen printed? If you want to send me the file, I can run it through Hypershot with a Dosch Chrome studio HDRI and make the bling really pop.

@solo said:

I have come to the end of SU as a tool from here and will need to continue in Max as SU's poly limit is about reached.

Pete,

When you say continue in Max, do you generally just assemble your scene in Max and continue to model in SU? I'm really curious about your Max/SU integration. Do you do any rendering in Max?