I think this is amazing! So many interesting articles and interactive as well. I have no problem with the pdf version either. I use Foxit Reader (no relation to Firefox!) which is so much lighter on resources and quicker to load than Adobe`s bloated program - which I uninstalled as soon as I bought the laptop.
All I need to do now is find the time to get stuck in.
Yes - then I`d be able to afford the Pro version of SU! 
Believe me when you see some of the poor quality wood they use, preventing a bit of moisture is the last thing on their minds! 
Yes the feet were done separately. On bird tables I see at work it varies . Some feet are different to others. I put the grain vertically in this case to differentiate them from the cross pieces.
I think you are right though. It`s not something most people make a point of noticing.
I just checked the skp file again and I definitely adjusted all the faces. Youre right, I did use a floor texture though. Maybe thats what is causing the problem. Ill have to try a different wood texture , one thats not a floor texture.
Thanks for mentioning that. I never realized you could rotate the texture.All this time Ive had SU and Im still learning new things. Ive been getting used to adjusting the texture on a quickly knocked up bit of wood . Ill try it out on the stand later. 
I hadnt thought about the woodgrain. Good point Dave R. I suppose that would be achieved by rotating the various different parts when using the bucket tool . Its so obvious . Thanks for the tip.
Thanks jarynzlesa & Krisidious. I upped the bump map setting a bit when using Shaderlight on this one which I think helped a lot as well.
And of course - Home TWEET Home! Why did I not think of that.
Thanks Dave. I want to try a slightly more complex one next time. As I work in a garden center I get to see plenty of different styles and I can examine them close up. For example I noticed today that I made a mistake with this one. The braces at the bottom of the stand should be slightly narrower and not the same width as the feet. I`ll bear that in mind with the next one.
Here is a couple of images of a slate roofed bird table I made. I`m really getting to enjoy woodworking in SU . Rendered using Shaderlight with a bit of post processing in Paint.Net.
Good point. Maybe a similar system to Chrome could be worked out whereby each tab is separate from the rest so if one goes it doesn`t take the rest with it.
One thing I would like to see in SU is tabs for your images so you can easily switch from one project to the next without having to open a completely new window , similar to programs like Paint.Net, Photoshop, Gimp etc. It would make working on projects so much easier.
I tried out FF RC2 recently and was disappointed to find some of my fave extensions were not compatible, but I guess they will be updated in time.
In the end though I completely uninstalled it - something I thought I would never do as I was a confirmed FF addict. What put me off was not the new UI or anything but simply that in a direct comparison with Chrome to load the same website, one I visit quite often, it was unbelievably slow . Chrome had the site rendered in no time at all yet FF took ages. I know this was still just RC2 but it was near enough the finished version. I have been looking forward to FF4 for a while but have been disappointed with it`s performance. So Chrome it is for now.
The radio and the coffee machine are superb. I particularly like the design on the radio. The house is good and gives a good impression of the scale of it but I think the light in the top left hand corner is a bit strong. Seems to drown out the building. But these are very good images. Nice one. 
Hi, this is my 3rd post on these forums so I`ve decided to post a few of my SU images. All were rendered using the Shaderlight plug in. The windows in the front view appear grey because I forgot to adjust the textures in Shaderlight.doh!
That`s great Schmeade. I love the lighting. I have Shaderlight as well, although I downloaded the free trial and now because the trial period is up I no longer have access to the lighting settings and my renders are restricted to 640x480. It still does a decent enough job though and is fine for my needs.
Hi. My name is Goonster. Ive had Sketchup for a while now but still consider myself to be something of a newbie as far as the program is concerned. I like to use Paint.Net for making pictures and doing a bit of post processing of my SU work. I also have Gimp and Terragen 2 which is great for creating photo realistic landscapes. At the moment I am concentrating on making furniture to use in a house project Im doing and last week I uploaded my first two items to the 3D Warehouse. Hopefully I`ll learn even more during my stay here.
