@steved said:

Hi grizzler. I am at a loss to explain how that model could be 40 MB. I would say with the amount of faces i can see it should be way below 3MB. I know that is slightly off subject but you must get that under control. Just a basic thing have you tried shadows... window/shadows...try turning them on for a start.

I've gone way overboard inside with level of detail ie furniture, kitchen equipment etc, but I suspect that it still probably shouldn't be anywhere near the size that it is. I took a couple of items from the SU warehouse (the cooker, washing machine & F ikea bed) and I'm wondering if they might be to blame. I've purged the drawing as I've worked on it, so it's not something particularly obvious.

Hello again Oli.

I couldn't do anything other than use the defaults as it's only the trial version you cheeky monkey

If the poll of cars was categorised ie. 'best sports car', 'best family car' etc, then it would have value. I think that if a rendering software poll was done similarly with topics such as 'best for experts', 'best for novices' etc, then it would also be good ...... so ner!

Seeing as I've unwittingly used a load of colossal components in my design, here are a couple of images (one is straight from SU and the other is a very quick render with Podium using all the default settings.

Don't worry, I'll get to grips with it one day ............ if I live long enough

Thanks for the input chaps.

I'd be very interested to know what all of you people who know what you are doing are using.

I'm getting a bit fed up of trying and failing, OK I'm only on my third renderer (Podium free trial - not too impressed so far), but surely you sages can shortlist 2 or 3 good ones. There are just too many poor options to choose from, but you don't find this out until you've already invested a lot of time in it.

Thanks

I know nothing at all about B.I.M, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that it is going to become essential to the line of work i wish to pursue. So then, who knows about it, where can I learn about it in NW England and how compatible is SU with B.I.M?

Thank you.

@unknownuser said:

I definitely work better with music on. My current play lists include but are not exclusive to the following:

.....And a boat load of Christmas music

Already?! Christmas doesn't exist in my house until 01 December

I find I get 2/3 times as much work done if I'm left alone with headphones on to get on with my work, but I usually end up listening to the same genres of music and I was wondering if any of you rabble had any musical suggestions for accompanying design work?

About 3/4 of the time I listen to 90s dance/rave via Soundcloud, but I'm also fond of a bit of swing music (Ratpack era) and Classical every now and then, but I find that they don't get me working as fast as the dance music.

Feel free to suggest what you find helps the process along ....... and don't be embarrassed, we're all friends here

@rich o brien said:

Fredo's SUClock

Tsk tsk, where are my manners - I forgot to say thank you

I suspect that the answer will be negative, but I was wondering if there is a way in SU to see how much time you have spent with a particular drawing open? This way I won't have to guess how long I've spent on a drawing.

Thanks

@tig said:

Looks like you've broken SketchUp
Can I suggest you close SketchUp and try a 'Repair' on the SketchUp app in the 'Programs and Features' Control Panel...
When you restart SketchUp what happens ?

Well as usual I feel ridiculous. So simple was the fix that I suspect you may have been winding me up TIG

Grabbing the edge to expand the box does nothing to show the layers, but simply clicking in the grey tab at the top!

Here is what I mean....

My layer manager box and button are still present and semi functional, but all the layers have gone missing in every drawing that I open. I can see that they are still there in the drop down layer viewer, but I am unable to delete or turn layers on/off as they are not visible to me in Layer Manager.

When I click on the Layer Manager button it brings up a minimized version of the usual control panel, but even when I expand it, it is empty!

@gaieus said:

Well, I am not sure if iRender licenses are transferable at all. If not, that should be a definite "NO". If yes, you may still be lucky.

I hope so, I'm not the type to be upsetting folk

Did I mention that I'm skint and I've got kids to feed (can you hear the violin playing in the background?)

@olishea said:

Yeah that is pretty cheeky! And considering irender nxt staff frequent these forums you should probably remove this post! Is there not a trial version you could play with?

If you want easy to use render software, I would definitely recommend Podium and Twilight. Both are capable of stunning images with a very small learning curve. Prices are more appealing too

Thanks for replying Oli. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong, I just thought that if anyone has bought 2 then they'd have got the third free, so if it was going to waste then I'd gratefully make use of it. Is this not allowed? Honestly mate I've no idea????

I will definitely look into the other two renderers that you have suggested - thanks dude

I've been seeking alternative methods of rendering and have so far been confused by Kerkythea and let down by Lumion, but I've just discovered "IRender nxt" which looks perfect for my needs and ability (or lack of). However, at $500 I'm not exactly pleased with the cost and was wondering if any truly kind and benevolent forum friend might have a spare licence?

I am already conceding that the chances of this are incredibly slim, but seeing as Christmas adverts are starting to be shown on TV, I thought I'd cross my fingers for a bit of early seasonal good-will

Assuming that I get a resounding "NO!", could anyone maybe give me a review of the software instead?

Thanks

@dave r said:

Go to the Layers inspector and click on the lock icons to unlock the layers. Then you can edit the title blocks and stuff. which layer(s) you need to unlock will kind of depend upon the template you've chosen.

I knew I'd feel foolish

Thanks though Dave

I'm sorry to bring this one back up, especially as I feel a bit foolish asking about something that is probably so simple......

When I go into Layout and select a new layout style that has a titleblock, how do I edit the titleblock to put my logo, project title etc? I assumed i just had to double click on them but that does nothing.

There are so many huge threads on here that it can be quite tricky to find exactly what a newbie like me requires. I've downloaded the demo version of SU Pro and would really like to know how the heck to use it, could one of you kind people provide me with a link to some kind of beginners guide please? (Once I've got it, feel free to delete this thread if you think it duplicates others - or is just plain boring)

Thanks

UH-OH! I just fired up Lumion for the first time and it crashed my laptop (the dreaded blue screen!)

I'm scared to try it again