IE9 is promising to be 'the' CSS3 browser, which sounds like a good thing.

I would still however do this using html. In my experience there are still a lot of people using IE5 & 6. As a web-designer it's incredibly frustrating and I've had to rework a number of recent designs because friends of a client (who insist that they have the latest updates and browser ) can't view CSS3 techniques or things like image transparency.

With Christmas coming up (sort of) I would like Santa to give everyone an upgrade to the latest browser.....or maybe a lump of coal to everyone who can't be bothered to do this for themselves.

@michaliszissiou said:

These plastic chairs are everywhere.

At least they're not Monoblock

Great render BTW!

Excellent tutorial

Reminds me of some of the sci-fi illustrations done by this guy:

Behance

(www.behance.net)

@michaliszissiou said:

The obj exporter should be in the free version of SU, nobody has to pay for this. Am I right? A simple request.
SU has a bad reputation around just because of this!

The next version won't have a DWG/DXF importer.

What's that about?

There I go looking on the negative side of things again ........I guess my GPP must be on the fritz!

I certainly didn't mean to give the impression that I was spitting daggers at SU.

I've only really scratched the surface when it comes to SU's potential, but I think it's a fantastic programme and I get a great deal of enjoyment out of modelling with SU........sometimes I just get a bit frustrated with issues that seem to have been a problem for a while.

Like you say, the limitations weren't designed into the software. Let's just hope that the next version allows people to push the limits even farther.

I imagine that if every issue raised on this thread was dealt with tomorrow, it wouldn't be long before the most talented SU gurus started to complain of new limitations.

@thomthom said:

These things are valid of all software.

I've never had to do this sort of thing with any other software.

Learning good layer management in Photoshop or Illustrator is the closest I've come, but this has never had anything to do with software performance.

@unknownuser said:

Keeping a clean model or drawing is essential for a good workflow.

Well it's one thing to keep a clean model, but another matter entirely if you have to jump through hoops in order to prevent SU from grinding to a halt whilst navigating.

Even if you implement all of the measures mentioned by Meaker VI (all good advice by the way), you are only delaying the inevitable.

If I have an architectural model with lots of landscaping, plants or trees I have to place these elements on a separate layers and keep them hidden if I want to make basic modelling alterations. That doesn't feel like a natural way of working to me - it feels like a workaround.

@unknownuser said:

I believe therefore that the biggest problem for new users is 5 fold:
1) They don't understand or know how to use components properly.
2) They leave shadows/textures/xray on all the time
3) They import from cad and don't purge unnecessary data (esp. layers)
4) They don't use scenes to control styles and cameras.
5) They don't use styles properly- and this is the most important part- because the Sketchup default settings are not the most efficient

You are right that these are things that most new users are unaware of - I've been using sketchup for around 2 years and I only found out about these techniques a few months ago.

It strikes me that these techniques are necessary workarounds that allow you to circumvent the limitations of the software. Doesn't this amount to treating the symptoms rather than the disease?

Thanks, I'll give your suggestions a go.

@jo-ke said:

how can I convert the model to 3ds?

sculptris allows only obj and sc1

I'm struggling with this as well. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I tried importing a Sculptris .obj into Wings3D, but it crashes every time.

@notareal said:

You cannot compare passes of different engines.

Good point - I should of mentioned that

You can find a list of in-Sketchup renderers here:

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

(sketchup.google.com)

I've tried all of them with the exception of LightUp & Hypershot. Personally I found Twilight to be the most user friendly, but your experience may differ. I think that they all offer free/trial versions, so you may as well give them a go.

Given Sketchup's limitations I prefer a render solution that provides a studio. I think that you can use Twilight and Kerkythea together in this respect (applying materials in Twighlight before exporting to KT?).

You just let it run until you are happy with the quality of the image: which is likely to be far less than 10000 passes.

For example, I'm currently rendering a scene with Thea Render (from the same developers as Twilight) and its looking pretty good at 9/10000. I'll probably leave it to run for a few more passes though.

As long as you have SU Pro.

When I was weighing up render programmes I couldn't test Max as I only have the free version of SU.

I know that this is a dumb question, but how did you create the animation? Was it done with scenes, or did you use some kind of plug-in?

Great project by the way .

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

The plug-in looks great, but I don't have a clue how to implement it.

That's true (especially when it comes to Thea's amazing material system), but I have seen similar results from both pieces of software - although I suspect that this has more to do with skill and experience than the actual software.

The main difference for me has been the learning curve. Despite some great KT tutorials and advice from the forum, I couldn't even come close to some of the KT renders shown in the forum gallery. In fact I struggled to produce anything remotely good.

By contrast I've found Thea quite easy to get to grips with (even without the sort of in-depth tutorials that will eventually become available) and I'm already producing good quality renders. The best thing is that I have only scratched the surface of what the software is capable of and my renders can only get better as I become more familiar with Thea.

Are you capable of creating a profile for the legs using a CAD programme or Adobe Illustrator?

If that is possible then you could import the profile as a DWG/DXF file and then simply create the legs with the push-pull tool.

Great model - I imagine we'll see it turn up as an ornament in many interior renders, or even as a piece of garden sculpture.

Here's just a bit of sci-fi fun:

A good start would be to look at the 'Must Have Ruby Plugins' thread:

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=16909

The ones I find most useful are Tools on Surface, Round Corner, Drop, Weld, Fredo Scale and Make Fur.

Bool Tools and Subdivide & Smooth aren't free (although reasonably priced) but I find them indispensable.

Thanks Fymoro

I was surprised at the results considering that I just downloaded the Dalek from the 3D Warehouse and quickly applied the leaves using the same presets as the bush.

I suppose it just goes show how important your lighting and environment is to a render. I'm new to rendering so I hope that the bush/hedge will look a lot better in a more realistic setting.