Posts made by jeff hammond

@mike lucey said:

LOL, I hope you are joking? But again I imagine you must be
The more important to humanity? Jeff v Bees, Jeff v Bees? Mmmm
a tough call ..... not

haha

@unknownuser said:

There are MAC version of both Modo and Cinema 4D. Also, not sure is on a MAC since he is running XP although that could be run through bootcamp.

Scott

ha, yeah.. i was looking at tim's profile instead.. my bad..
i know c4d and modo have mac versions.. just throwing a much cheaper option out there.. either way, none of these suggestions are really helpful to the OP's question because he wants free..

@unknownuser said:

If it were me I would not only look for a good render package I would also look for a program that could do modeling as well.

Luxology (a bit biased to this one since I recently purchased it) http://www.luxology.com
Cinema 4D http://www.maxon.net

Both of these are fairly easy to use and are packed with features not to mention they play well with Sketchup.

Scott

he's on a mac.. might want to check out cheetah.. $150
http://www.cheetah3d.com/

@unknownuser said:

bee population is in terminal decline

good.. i've developed an allergy to them along with fire ants and other insects with ass stingers...

excuse me, gotta go make some phone calls..

gracias

@unknownuser said:

P
No just kidding...I would love to quit smoking but that means I would have to find a way to reduce stress without a smoke in my hand.

that's part of the trap.. smoking actually increases stress..

if you're main task is driving screws and/or bolts, i highly recommend This one or This one..

these new litium ion batteries are amazing compared to what's been out there for the past few years.. very quick charging, comparatively very light and small, and so far the batteries appear to last longer (i've had two of the makitas for over a year now and the batteries are not loosing their memory)...

the impact drivers themselves are amazing simply because of the amount of torque they produce -- driving 3" screws overhead is easy now..

i use corded drills for boring holes but if i were to go back to the cordless offerings, i'd definitely get the ones with lithium batteries...

@remus said:

wow seems like theres an abundance of wal-marts in the east.

there is.. but there's also a lot more people living in the east.. the walmart infection map looks very similar to this u.s. population map..

---

this may help?..

---

i might be reading your post wrong but it sounds like you don't know that you can open new files with the settings of your choice..

set a blank(or not blank if you wish) file to your liking and then save it.. place that file in the templates folder - (mac) - HD/library/app support/google sketchup6/sketchup/resources/en-US/templates...

that file will now appear in the drop down preference list.. ( sketchup/preferences/template)..

select your new template and that will be the default for everything you open.. no bryce.. you can also have multiple custom templates..

i really am the wrong person to ask about the free version because i've used sketchup for a few years now.. before the free version came out..

i used to work out certain shapes using foam core board (and sketchup saved me the agony) but i've never tried any freestyle small scale organic models.. for that, i've done it full scale using dirt and machinery.. if i felt the need to try it, i'd probably use clay or something that allowed fairly easy experiments and manipulations.. with the foam core system i used, i'd often have to start over if i wanted to modify something...

@toxicvoxel said:

Jeff,

Did I recommend spending $1600? I do not think so.

maybe not - i might be assuming that based off of certain things you said-

***"I suggest to you that waiting for HQ to rewrite the SU code rather than spending money on a good graphics card may not be realistic advice to the initial inquiry"

"to which I have made my recommendation for a better graphics card based on my actual experience"

"While this file is obviously fairly heavy I do not have a problem working in it.(But then maybe it's because I wasted the money on the graphics card...) But you won't believe me unless you see it for yourself.
quadrofx4700-5.zip
Quadro FX4600"***

@unknownuser said:

I'm sorry that you feel that I am trying to 'mislead' anyone by working with shaded mode. Is it not clear to anyone looking at the video that that is the case, and would that not be the most 'efficient' way of working with large models? (- which is what I thought you were advocating.)

well no, it's not obvious.. there's only one tiny segment where you can actually tell.. while rotating in shaded with texture mode, the textures still disappear.. it's just that you have to wait for them to reappear before drawing anything else... with non texture mode, you don't have to wait..

@unknownuser said:

By 'very least' should I understand that you mean that there are other things which I am not disclosing?

i was just implying something deeper but it's a cheap stab so i take it back..

@unknownuser said:

And off-course you could make a movie on your video-card. With the multicore this operation would not affect Sketchup performance which is being processed on another core, which would not be the case on a single processor where both operations would be competing for processing on a single unit - a point I thought I made in my original post.

i didn't mean actually record the movie while i was also working on the file.. i meant that my computer handled the file the same as your movie shows.. i'll rephrase that to 'i could record a movie of my monitor using my handycam and it will show the same performance'

being able to record a movie while working on a file IS a testament to multicores..

@unknownuser said:

Despite your suggestion that I have alterior motives, (which is quite offensive actually) I can asure you that my intention on this thread was to help the gentleman identify why he was having difficulty working on the model with the QC. Was my advice not valid and consistent throughout and is it not supported by the video I posted? Did you yourself not request my feedback on this model in your earlier posting?

well, three people replied that their computers were having a rough time working with the file and you stepped in and said you had no problems at all.. i highly (highly) doubt any of the others were working with the model in the same manner as you but you've implied that your quadro has saved the day.. i think if you were really trying to help the OP, you would've recommend he do this as well because that is really what allowed the performance boost.. (which would coincide with earlier suggestions relating to working in a more organized fashion)...

the original poster's problem specifically mentioned his old single core computer out performed his new quad when using sketchup.. it said nothing about multitasking etc and i seriously believe he doesn't care about that in this case.. he wants to work on this file with a theoretic 4x speed boost and was wondering why that wasn't happening.. the advice to get a very fast chip and/or work more efficiently are the very real solutions and a new graphics card is not.. if you don't want to believe that then i'm ok with it.. (and yes, i think it would be dumb for him to run out and get another box to run sketchup with.. that would speed his drawing up though and he could do it cheaper than buying a quadro.. another thing you don't want to believe and sure it sounds silly atm but the next version of su will probably deal with this exact problem.. if you knew the next release was less than 6months away, would this advice still sound so silly to you?

@unknownuser said:

I think you should rather consider your own underlying motive in posting your last message instead of publicly casting doubt on someone who has offered a valid point of view based on actual experience in context with the original request.

i already considered it as i was typing.. i was being an ass.. on purpose..

@unknownuser said:

I am sorry if my own experience does not support the popular myth propagated on this forum.

that's the thing.. it's not a myth.. (again, i'm not talking about multi tasking here - i have a quad and i love the fact that i can do things with it that are virtually impossible to do with my old computers)..

i've done it before - using the method TIG described.. plot a bunch of points then connect them with a batten (1/8" masonite in my case).. overall size was ~4' x 16' aiming for +/- 1/8".. worked out well..

@gorygreg said:

Wow Jeff!
I guess I asked the right audience. It is for illustration purposes with the hope to attract investors. I wasn't precisely told to keep any secrets, but I would rather respect this guy's vision as it is going to be different than what you posted, especially the objective. Perhaps similar in some ways though(how different could it be, considiering you showed me golf course looking parks). THat is amazing that you responded so fast. I want to tell you more, but you understand, I should talk this over.Personally, I'm a surfer not a skater, and this guy who's idea it is, you probably heard of. It is going to be cool nonetheless.

understandable.. we have a couple of clients which we're under a NDA with.. we can't even show pictures of the stuff we've built for them much less mention their names..

@unknownuser said:

If all goes well, I want to output it with a 3D printer, and add trees and stuff!
The actual park may be done more "Freehand" or "spontaneous" than actually creating it exactly from what I design, just need to get the idea across and look professional!

yeah, that's basically the way it goes.. we'll generate enough drawings to lock in the job but (and we stress this in the bidding process) the actual structure is going to differ.. we're a design/build company and much of the actual designing is done as we're building.. it's always a work in progress until the final nail.. this style of building definitely results in much more functional ramps/parks than strictly building from a print (and trust me, there's a lot of these style of cookie cutter parks being built now by people with nearly zero comprehension of skating... it's a bummer)

@unknownuser said:

Do I need the Pro Version?
Are my computers adaquet enough?
Do you build these parks, starting with SketchUp?

THanks for sharing!

1).. no, i don't think so though as gaieus mentioned, you may run into output problems with the free version.. the actual drawing function will be the same..

2).. yes. my jobsite computer is an old mac laptop and it does ok (1.3ghz, 1.5g ram)

3).. no.. old fashioned pencil and napkins are a good starting point.. for the most part, i use sketchup as a sort of visual calculator.. the drawings i sometimes make look absolutely nothing like a skateboard ramp but they make total sense to me... i'll sometimes make highly detailed plans if time permits but even then, we'll make on site changes as we see fit..

@toxicvoxel said:

While this file is obviously fairly heavy I do not have a problem working in it.(But then maybe it's because I wasted the money on the graphics card...)

But you won't believe me unless you see it for yourself.[attachment=0:2vhf26pl]<!-- ia0 -->quadrofx4700-5.zip<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:2vhf26pl]

BEAR IN MIND I WAS RECORDING THE AVI IN THE BACKGROUND WHILE THIS WAS GOING ON.

• Now try doing that on your single core Pentium with a gaming card!

come on man, that's a little misleading don't you think?.. at the very least you can mention that you made the movie with shaded face style turned on (instead of shaded with textures)... i'm starting to think that you don't care that you're recommending spending $1600 (or whatever the price of that thing) for very little sketchup enhancement.. you just want to justify in your mind that it was money well spent (amongst other reasons i imagine).. i can make that same video with my lowly geforce..

(and this is actually some round about good advice to the OP.. working in that mode does speed things up considerably)

fwiw part 2...

btw - this type of stuff is built all the time.. pretty much all of the 70s skateparks were built as you describe but people still take elements from those days and incorporate them into modern times.. i could go on a picture hunting fest to give you some ideas but i don't have the energy right now.. here's one that i have close by that has a sort of 'golf course' feel.. designed in sketchup..

are you just trying to design this thing for illustration purposes or are you going to seriously try to build it? a one acre concrete skatepark is nearing the one million dollar mark in construction costs...

as far as drawing a snake run in sketchup, it is possible but i would definitely stay away from the sandbox tools.. you're better off using arcs with the follow me tool and/or the soap skin & bubble ruby for a lot of it..

do you know much about skateboarding and/or what types of radii work best with it? actually, before i ask too many more questions, i guess i'll wait to see the answer to my first question...

fwiw, this is what i do for a living... http://teampain.com

@scotty t said:

What issues do you think I could run into.

bad color management...

if your monitor isn't calibrated and/or your files aren't tagged properly, you'll be extremely lucky if your prints come out looking like you thought/hoped they would..

@remus said:

Thats a pretty weighty test file, surprisingly my system just about handled it, there was a second or two delay when orbiting, and i didnt dare to turn on shadows or xray, but you could work with the model if you needed to.

yeah, i guess if you have tons of patience it would be workable but seriously, i couldn't handle it.. i can rotate it ok, draw lines decently, etc.. the problem starts showing itself once you try drawing some stuff..

ex - it takes me 6 seconds to draw a sphere in a blank window.. with this drawing, it took me 27 seconds.. going off of that, it would take a full days work to draw something that would take 2hrs.. i'll pass.. (and i didn't have to rotate the model in order to draw the sphere - doing that would take even longer)

i would seriously look into some renderers to deal with all these plants instead of trying to draw them all in sketchup.. plus, the final output will look way better anyway..