@olishea said:

Yes, we totally need to rethink 3D. Currently you have to be of a very technical mind to approach complex model making. Sometimes even apparently simple models can become highly stressful to the point where it feels I need a phd in physics and maths. Now I know anything is possible in 3D, but at what cost?

This is where I believe current 3D apps are failing. 99% of people don't care about polygons, meshes, voxels, triangulation, quads etc. They just want to open an app and start modelling. Some of the jargon associated with 3D modelling makes it feel kinda old-school in the fact nothing has really changed.
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I agreed. Architect don't think in term of polygons. They need tools that help them design better. Design first, drafting and modeling as needed to perfect their visions.

So I think procedural, generative and grammar based modeling would help a lot professionals to focus on designs and overview level better :

PushPull++

Generative designs:
Computer-Generated Residential Building Layouts

Interactive Furniture Layout Using Interior Design Guidelines

Carl Bass: "The Future of How Things are Made" - Solid 2014 @ 22.00

A Probabilistic Model for Component-Based Shape Synthesis

Procedural and grammar based designs:
Voxel Farm - Procedural Architecture Elements

An Algebraic Model for Parameterized Shape Editing

Also, next-gen modeling interfaces could be something like these:
MakeVR: 3D Modeling and Printing for Everyone

Control VR

Of course, SketchUp need true curves and improved performances/proxy in core

I've skimmed Siggraph 2012 to see what can benefit SketchUp and found these:

• Open subdiv from Pixar look very interesting and may help SketchUp performance and freeform modeling because user can do low poly and sub-div back and forth as needed, see 10:40
  http://youtu.be/Y-3L9BOTEtw

• 3ptools Lite - 3D Modeling plugin by 3Point Studios , Sketch for freeform modeling. Very smart tool.
  http://youtu.be/hAUSVwoUBiM

What do you think?

@mark h. said:

A bit more fodder for discussion, we just launched a new gallery of user projects. Notice anything new?

http://lumionautics.com/interview-with-ferry-marcellis/

@unknownuser said:

With Quest3D our development process is easy & fast… so there is a lot that can be done.

On the short term, our goals are to incorporate features you might find in other application you use daily too… Like the creation of normal maps using Crazybump or nD02, or video editing using Premiere and After Effects.

In the midterm we want to focus on what we do best and that is super quick end results. It is super important to us that our clients get their job done as quickly as possible and with high quality. This will allow them to do more work in less time or add more value to their own clients by providing much more revisions for example.

In the long run, maybe we might try to give modeling a shot.

It will continue like that I guess, but if it can replace Premiere and After Effects from my workflow. IThat's going to be interesting to me.
And it would be quite useful, if SketchUp or Lumion can do this:
http://youtu.be/Qhfl7dLs2fU
IMO it is positive for workflow in SketchUp, when one don' have to use rendering software for most task any more

I'm thinking about if the same thing going to happened with Trimble SketchUp. What people want to say

For some update:

After review FMX 2012. The world of film making is going up side down this year, they're moving to virtual production. And the best thing is...
After some proved successful inproduction. Most of the stage designers in film are converting to SketchUp! There're a lot of those film makers talked about SketchUp everywhere.
http://youtu.be/xD71XVbUWOY - at 0:18
http://area.autodesk.com/fmx2012#ooid=RxZDNvNDqppgJdMmwmZyVD3jxsnwiYg5&ootime=30m30s - FMX2012 Upside Down Worldbuilding for Independent movies @ 30:30 and many times.

I don't know what Trimble have in mind.
But please, Mr. John Bacus (I hope you're still monitoring this thread)... informed this to Trimble. There're a lot opportunities there too. I think they need to be informed a lot about SketchUp possibilities to widen the vision, SketchUp is not only useful for just GIS or AEC anymore.
Leave them now is like throw away money and a lot of exposure to software and Trimble

Trimble, let's buy this team it is a very nice companion with SketchUp!
I wish I can model a pretty decent rabbit in a few minutes for years.
Otherwise, I bet Autodesk or Pixology would get it pretty fast

RigMesh: putting the fun back into rigging
http://youtu.be/HbOXMuwQlyE
http://www.cgchannel.com/category/news/

Download for Free!
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4964558/rigmesh_v1.01.zip
(official links, they're so new and even don't settled a website yet!)

I've find somewhere on the web that it's about 700USD/license for 5 license package.
And for one license, it's about 1,400 USD.

And yes, contact them for pricing is the best way to get the updated price.

Or the other way around ... work 1 hour a day, go to gym for couple of hours and learn more interesting things and get a life

I want to say technologies can empowered the users, at all level. Architects license still need for long time, there must be someone who do judgement and take resposibility, which computer can't do for sure.

Let's see this research, very interesting they use SketchUp also:
http://vladlen.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/architecture-video.mov
http://vladlen.org/projects/procedural-modeling/
http://vladlen.org/papers/architecture-slides.pdf - Slides

Rhino's grasshopper users may familiar with this. I see many generate 1,000+ schematic design to find the best planning, design that fit context, ROI, energy reservation, etc, all done with these AI. But at the end of the day, it's the architect who realized it.

Updated: From the slides, it seem the demo house use up to 100,000 iterations by the AI!!! I'm love my brain so much now

In theory, any thing that can systemetically explained can become procedural.
Do you noticed that there're patterns even our everyday life ?
It's good to have pattern, so we can focus our time on useful stuffs. These AI also.

@dale said:

@findthong said:

@mike lucey said:

@jgb said:

This thread can keep voicing speculation but I don't think it will achieve much.Mike

I agreed. So here is my best SketchUp wish:
http://youtu.be/TDqbbxwLq7E
An Algebraic Model for Parameterized Shape Editing
It's exactly what I think, Dynamic Components that play as a team. No BIM is needed.

For this feature, I could live with whatever issues for a few years

Woah! this works!

And later make this model talk to BIM package and make documents automatically with Tekla.

Few click architecture, with defined architectural library, is almost possible.
It's like architects define buiding elements using their preferred and defined language to get the look applied to buildings, whatver size it is. Remember those Richard Meier house?
So users can use parametric to get the design to meet the look they want faster, with less time on manual modeling.

I know one day we would get automation to the ultimate, when production time is 10X -100X better than at the moment.

@mike lucey said:

@jgb said:

This thread can keep voicing speculation but I don't think it will achieve much.Mike

I agreed. So here is my best SketchUp wish:
http://youtu.be/TDqbbxwLq7E
An Algebraic Model for Parameterized Shape Editing
It's exactly what I think, Dynamic Components that play as a team. No BIM is needed.

For this feature, I could live with whatever issues for a few years